Put on-hold during my latest anime hiatus.
If there’s anything I could compare this series to, it would be a mixture of High School DxD and No Game No Life. It has the fan service-like absurdity that is present in High School DxD, along with the guilty entertainment that is provided with No Game No Life. In terms of overall similarity, Testament is much closer to High School DxD. This being said, anyone who knows me probably already knows how well I’m going to rate this.
Not well at all.
No matter how many times it’s recycled, no matter how many “different” plots are used to make it contrast from series like it, the ecchi action/adventure genre continues to be strong to this very day. I don’t know what the exact figure is, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the creator of this light novel adaptation was rollin’ in some dough. As much as it sickens me, it’s how the world works. Take advantage of people’s instinctive sexual drives, throw in some mindless fantasy elements, and you have yourself the biggest cashgrab the anime industry has to offer. It always works. Always.
Let’s talk about Testament’s plot. Mio is the daughter of the current Demon Lord. How scary. She and her accomplice, Maria (stock foreign female name, by the way), are taken in by Toujou and his father, because why make sense when you have a heart of gold? As it turns out, Toujou and his father are also capable of magical bullshit and have their own pasts that drive them. This leads to Toujou, Mio, and Maria becoming a family and living under the same roof together. Oh, Toujou’s father decides to leave because why make sense when a harem is being formed? How I wish I had a dollar for every time that plot’s been used.
By the way, Maria is a succubus.
It’s rehashed, it’s stupid, and it’s ripe with sexual encounters and young adult-like cliches. If you’ve seen one anime like this, you’ve seen them all. Hell, go through some of my other entries for series like this. I bet they all sound similar, too. BECAUSE THERE’S NOTHING ELSE TO SAY TO DISTINGUISH THEM. There is no saving grace for Testament’s plot.
However, Testament’s characters actually have a little spark to them. And by that, I mean I cared about some of them. And by some, I mean two of them. And to be more specific, I cared about these two AT SOME POINT. All of the characters are superficial, but there are some points where it’s not as unbearable.
The two characters in question are Maria and Zest.
Maria is fucking annoying. She instigates most of the sexual encounters between Toujou and his “sisters,” and she’s typically the one who’s getting them into trouble. However, by the end of the series, she matures a little more, conveniently after she transforms out of being a loli. That last sentence is only slightly exaggerated. This is ruined by the last scene she’s shown in, but this is anime and you can’t expect anything with Harem characters.
Zest isn’t shown until later on in the series, but she’s by far the most interesting character. That isn’t saying a lot. Her motives and personality are somewhat unusual for a Harem anime, but somewhat cliche in terms of Action/Adventure. Her design is appealing (shut up), and I felt genuinely sorry for her position, even if it felt a little forced. Oh, and she didn’t join the harem… yet.
The rest of the characters range from “kill me” to “god damn it.” Toujou is the main male character in Action/Adventure series. Fill in the blanks, people. Mio is tsundere(?) and is trying to avenge her past and whatever I don’t care LOOK AT HER GIANT TITS OHHHHHHHH!!! There’s also Yuki, Toujou’s childhood friend. Kuudere(?). Harem participant. Next. The school nurse looks weird and has a big bust, so she qualifies as a character. And then there’s a bad guy whose name escapes me who helps them later on because plot convenience. He’s not horrible.
The art is lovely. However, the video player I chose to watch of this series included censors. I didn’t care enough to check other players. I’m too pure for such things. Regardless, it hampered some of the sexually gratifying scenes of Toujou pouring maple syrup on Mio’s giant tits. This anime is fucked up, by the way. Fetishes abound with no shame. Did I mention the author is probably snorting coke with all the money he’s making? The fantasy scenes were colorful and the auras were DBZ-reminiscent. Everyone looked cute and edgy and everything else required to pull at the prepubescent dicks and clits of those who fall for this garbage. If it didn’t have that, it probably wouldn’t be as entertaining.
Testament is another manufactured series that brings all the boys to the yard with its wild antics of fetishes and sexual adventures. The plot serves to keep those who actually care about anything other than tits busy, and it shows with how plain the pacing is. They move in. Someone attacks. They grope each other. Someone attacks. They lick each other. Someone attacks. New character into the harem. Someone attacks. And with all the sexual fan service, who has time to even care about what these characters think or do? It’s a good time-waster. Testament is nothing short of entertaining, but those with finer tastes need not come closer.
I’ll probably watch the second season….
The Visualist's Veranda 