Astarotte's Toy

First off: this is our first review. We decided after seeing the reviews of others that they always tend to be biased; picking out animes they were not the target audience for and bashing it down. Typically anything with fan-service tended to get picked on, anything with lolicon tended to have shots taken at it, ect ect. Thus we (my partner and myself) have decided to review for the shows without being over-biased and automatically loving or hating anything we watch.

"Astarotte No Omocha" (which means "Astarotte's Toy" when translated if we understand right) is a story that starts on another world referred to as the "Realm of Creatures" in the premiere episode. This other world has a fantasy setting with various known fantasy creatures including dragons and succubi. The biggest point of reference in this world is the Tree of Life, also known as Yggdrasil, which works as a gateway to the Realm of Humans. The tree itself looks like the tree version of a skyscraper; it just goes straight up until it vanishes into the distance.

The princess of this world is a 10-year-old succubus named Astarotte (sometimes translated to Lotte). Apparently when the succubi reach the age of 10 they have to start feeding to survive. She hates men however despite the fact that she will not survive if she doesn't begin feeding on them. In an attempt to get away from them she insists she'll only have a human male - of which there are none in the Realm of Creatures, and Yggdrasil hasn't worked for a long time as a gateway to their world. Somehow after a few spells and a mysterious fall from the dragon Astarotte rode into the tree her caretaker or sensei (we're not quite sure of their exact relationship) is sent into the human world where she finds herself in modern day Japan where she grabs the first human man she finds. Though the premiere has a conversation between Astarotte and her family and/or friends about her mother raising a harem it seems this anime is aiming more towards a single relationship with one human man with tons of awkward bonding. It could be too soon to tell though.

We loved the pack of characters that live in Astarotte's castle. They all struck me as cute, though the rest were all much older then the princess herself. The varied appearances were what really got us. We will admit the story going into a 10 year old succubus that has reached the point she needs a male to drink "life seed" from really appealed to the lolicons in us but I doubt there would be anything that perverted actually happening on-screen or implied. There is a lot of fan-service however. Even in episode 1 we've seen Astarotte and her friends naked several times - never a direct shot of course. Something would barely be in the way to conveniently censor the naughty stuff.

The downside of this anime is that it's clearly not an anime everyone would be able to enjoy. Anyone that is uncomfortable with nudity, lolicon, or has a bad taste for fan-service in general would likely be appalled. The music didn't really knock our socks off, but it was fitting for the atmosphere.

DO NOT watch this at work if you will have ANYone looking over your shoulder! While there really aren't many scenes where you see something NSFW, the dialogue (which comes up in very visible subtitles) gets extremely risque at times.

Animation and character design were of decent quality. There were a few scenes where some shortcuts were obviously made, but the story moves at a fast enough pace that it isn't a big issue. (I just get picky.)

Without writing any spoilers, I have to say I was quite relieved at the way the ending played out, even if there were several loose ends I wish the writers had tied up before ending the show. Seriously, a show about a 10 year old succubi could have any number of horrible awful squicky endings but they went with a good one (as far as resolving the story between the two main romantic interests).

just overlook the age gap (helps since this is anime) and you'll be greeted with a very well done anime :D

Do watch
if u have seen it tho did anyone else get this vibe?
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This anime was a little ..Naughty
But i still liked it it was good episodes, and a weird, crazy, sweet and funny ending :)
I really liked it, i am watching the whole thing for the 3rd time, it never gets old

The anime Astarotte's Toy is an good anime to watch for persons that is into fantasy like anime.
the characters looks like the anime hayate no gotoku, because the boy Naoya is looking as an female and its good at cooking and serving.
the girl Lotte has the same voice actor and has the same inner feelings.
About music was mah-mah although i like the intro and ending songs, but the music or other music genre was kinda a little to less.
story-line was a little strange but it was good to follow what will happen and what can you can't expect that will coming
And atleast the animation was great drawings and fun to watch ^.^

I wasn't certain that I was going to like this show initially but it was very good. I think the length of the series was perfect because you got to become familiar with the important characters and became involved in the storyline.

OK, I admit the man hating succubus thing had me laughing before I even watched an episode. Was a little uncomfortable with the 10 yr old having to start a harem, but hey, not this planet, not this dimension, not the same restrictions of our reality need apply, it is after all anime.

First of all, comedy is in the eye of the beholder. This one was like a Japanese road-runner/coyote for me. All it needed were the Acme labels and "Yikes!" signs, followed by the obligitory puff of smoke. Really enjoyed Judit, a woman after my own heart, she's suble when she needs to be but makes sure the important things get done. Effie, well, OK it's a cartoon written by men (I guess).

Secondly, the underlying theme is serious (to the characters) and is handled well. I didn't find it vulgar in the least. If you want to explain some questions small girls may ask you about sex, this series could help without hindering or embarassing you or the child. I think the reason the story works so well is that the "Toy" is not experienced himself, after all, an encounter with a mature succubus @ 13 yrs old, and he still gets embarassed easily. Perfect for Lotte, he understands her situation and treats it accordingly.

I liked this series enough to watch it 2 already, hope there's more, because I kinda like the idea of "wolf" prince as her 2nd harem choice.

As far as Music and Animation - gotta admit I don't really recall any portions of music, guess that means it blends well with the story so it doesn't stand out. Animation good, coloring is a bit intense, but I tend to watch in the dark, sue me.

Lite hearted fare, funny, Hypocrites, Prudes, and Judgemental, bible thumping morons who really only go to church to be seen, well - you shouldn't be watching this stuff anyway. Although God's probably laughing enough to bust a gut.

on the 1st story, it was kind of an ecchi one but good! The storyline wasn't bad, and looks serpent for me...anyway love it!!


Best Regards,
Takano Misaki-kun

Alright, I have loved many an Anime and this has been one of my favorites. I found myself laughing, singing, dancing, and wanting to hug these characters. It's amazing how great something so fictional can make you feel. Throughout the story you get a sense of who these characters are, I wanted to know a little more about Lotte and her mother, but that can't be helped. I believe they should have given more at the end of this story. Why cut the ending so short?! It is such a beautiful story and the ending just left me so heart broken due to it not fulfilling my wants.

I think many people would really like this. Yes, as with many Animes there are some spots that could have been done better and maybe had more cohesion, but overall I would still give this pretty good ratings. I fell in love with these characters and you know it was a great piece of work when you dream about the characters that night. ^_^ So glad I watched it.

It was a really good, funny anime!
It had a lot of talk about boobs/breast/tits, but don't most really good animes XD :3
If you're into animes such as The Beating Angel Dokuro-Chan, Lucky Star, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I highly recommend that you watch this!