At the expense of the people and things around her, Sakura has absorbed so much "happiness energy"
that she has caused an energy imbalance in the world. In order to return balance to the world, the
Poverty God, Momiji, sets out to take away Sakura's ability to absorb this energy. Will Momiji be able
to put a stop to Sakura's absorbing abilities, or will the God succumb to her happiness?
(Source: FUNimation)
~~~_Pretty, rich girl Ichiko has been blessed with an inordinate amount of good fortune, so much so
that she’s actually sucking the fortune from those around her. To correct that massive imbalance, god
of misfortune Momiji is sent to the human world to balance things out —but Ichiko isn’t willing to
cooperate._~~~
This was…really dumb, but often _entertainingly_ dumb.
The base story is simple: once Ichiko and Momiji meet, most episodes fall into a familiar pattern of
1) Momiji coming up with some way to steal Ichiko’s energy, and ruin Ichiko’s life/happiness as much
as possible, and 2) Ichiko mostly thwarting this somehow, while also becoming a slightly better person
and making friends
(Poor little rich girl is actually very lonely, whodathunk.)
The show avoids having an idiot plot not just because of the zaniness, but because Momiji opts to take
the most painful and/or inconvenient ways of approaching the “reduce Ichiko’s fortune” goal, so Ichiko
_cannot_ be persuaded.
__Very fun: Momiji is _full_ of references to other anime, frequently masquerading as other
characters__
However, the series is _obsessed_ with boobs. Ichiko’s got big ones, and gets dubbed “Titchiko” by
classmates. Momiji is flat-chested and this is used to mock her.
And then we have Bobby, a traveling monk and the lone black character, who is useful about twice
(giving Ichiko helpful magical items) and then spends most of the series being a pervert, because
“haha man likes to grope high school girls” is…not funny, but _someone_ thought it was.
The show is at its best once it settles into a rhythm of Momiji thinking up some new scheme to drain
Ichiko’s energy, and Ichiko channeling her frustration and anger into not just thwarting Momiji, but
actively attempting to beat her. (The tennis match in episode 9 was ramped up to eleven, and is a
personal favorite.)
Overall it had some really funny moments, and I’m disappointed there isn’t a second season (although
it ended fine, no cliffhanger, but clearly _could’ve_ continued; it came out in 2012 so hope for a
continuation is gone). But the boob comments and pervert-as-a-personality-trait aren’t funny, and also
make this unacceptable for playing at work.
___Verdict___
_English dub?_ Yes, by people who sound like they’re having a lot of fun
_Visuals:_ Nothing standout, but Momiji’s frequent visual references to other shows are VERY fun.
_Worth watching?_ Depends. It’s got its funny bits and I enjoyed it overall, but it’s also NSFW with
its boobs obsession (and Bobby, overall).