A unique collaboration between studios SHAFT and GAINAX, Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai (This Ugly Yet Beautiful World) was GAINAX’s 20th anniversary work, yet is fairly unknown in the anime community today. That’s probably because it was a fairly standard, forgettable story typical of the era.
Nevertheless, the studios both bought a certain visual flair and a willingness to animate otaku-pandering fanservice, making it a winner in my book!
Premise:
High school student Takeru Takemoto works part time as a (motor)bike courier. During one of his deliveries, he saw a mysterious light passing him and fell into a forest. What he had found was a beautiful girl coming out from a glowing cocoon, calling herself “Hikari.” While Takeru was quite embarrassed because of Hikari’s nudity, a strange monster suddenly showed up and immediately attacked the two. Both Takeru and Hikari demonstrated the power of their other selves before Takeru had a clue of what’s going on.
The promo artwork shows the cute, simple designs and vibrant colours!
Bloomers right off the bat!
The entrance scene for any mysterious girlfriend character is always important, and this one is certainly memorable. She floats down from the sky, cast in a warm magical light, start naked and bearing a pair of utterly perfect breasts.
The naked encounter continues!
When the friendship group gets ahold of her, they have fun measuring her!
Gainax really nailed the fine art of anime titties, and this scene proves it!
Not to mention the cute asses! The realistic proportions of this show is a big tick, especially in the era it came out in!
Need some skinship!
This scene between two of the more loli characters is a real winner. This girl’s cute body and small tits are really shown off!
Don’t worry, everyone gets the naked treatment when the onsen episode comes around!
Appreciate that they went 100% loli on one of the girls, ballsy move!
I love seeing this close friendship in the onsen, such a touching moment!
More beautiful breasts!
The beach episode goes for the cute, moe look, with maid/waitress styles. Missed opportunity for a school swimsuit though, so a little off the mark for 2004 Gainax.
I feel like they spent more time getting her boobs right than her face in this shot, but DAMN THOSE BOOBS ARE GOOD.
Despite falling off the radar, this is a good anime to go back to to appreciate the naughty 00s Gainax animation.
