Kekkon Yubiwa Monogatari

While some might enjoy ecchi anime like Tales of Wedding Rings, the wait for its adaptation felt like an eternity. Announced years ago (or so it seemed), the 12-episode series finally arrived in 2023, but it might have been better left unadapted.

Tales of Wedding Rings delivers exactly what its title, trailers, character designs, and genre labels promise: pure escapism. Don't expect a complex plot or deep characters - it's all about lighthearted entertainment. If you're okay with some silliness and predictable situations, keep reading.

Unlike Maybe's mysterious fantasy work "Dusk Maiden of Amnesia," "Tales of Wedding Rings" wears its genre on its sleeve. It's a lighthearted romantic comedy with harem elements, aiming for lighthearted fantasy romance but missing the mark. The biggest culprit? The boring protagonist, Satou. He passively accepts his hero role, following a pre-written script rather than forging his own path.

Satou's charm apparently extends far and wide. He collects princesses like trophies: Granart, Nefritis, Saphir, and Amber, each with a different elemental ring and from a different land. In this short 12-episode series, character development suffers. These princesses fall for Satou after mere encounters, lacking any real emotional depth. They simply fall into his lap, fulfilling the usual harem protagonist trope.

This anime goes heavy on the fan service, with the female characters having very attractive bodies. The main character, Satou, often finds himself in suggestive situations. It's clear the creators are aware of what they're doing, using plenty of visual gags with scantily clad characters and awkward poses. Innuendo is sprinkled throughout the dialogue, hinting at more explicit content that wouldn't be allowed on television.

As per the title, the anime is nothing but ecchi with boring story.

I was hoping some character development would happen but got disappointed very quick with an overflow of sexual content and plain dumb MC reactions. Few episodes further I expect more female nudists, hence doubt this is something that gets me keen on watching.

Recommendation: I dont see how anyone would want to watch it, even if for the ecchi content there is other +18 stuff out there with even better story.

Saying more about this title is unjust to the quality, hence filler for the required minimum review characters: XXXX.

The Manga was so nice, but the Anime is not 50% of them.

The Hero is like a dummy and the great Alabasta ist a Clown, why?

The hole fight with the Abyss feels like a Speedrun. The Storys about the Princesses is totally superficial and min. Romantic.

But there is still something positive, the studio shows a pretty good hand at adding backgrounds and characters. Backgrounds in particular are often presented in almost exaggerated detail, almost like works of art. But the whole thing doesn't come without a flaw, some scenes are just too bright and pale, almost, like there's a lack of contrast, and this isn't part of any censorship, it's somehow part of the design.

Tales of Wedding Rings is an anime that reminds me of many other stories. It's like a mix of The Lord of the Rings, Jobless Reincarnation, The Seven Deadly Sins, and a pinch of the American movie A Knight's Tale, but in the harem genre.

In short, zero originality. But even so, everything works.

Tales of Wedding Rings tells the story of a boy who must gather rings of power to defeat a legendary demon king. The catch is that these rings are wedding rings, so he must, in short, find his wives.

Therefore, the story focuses on the search for these wives. The task will not be easy. It's not that the girls will accept him easily. Moreover, all of them have complicated backgrounds that the protagonist will have to resolve.

Tales of Wedding Rings is truly an entertaining and well-told story. Each episode presents a challenge and an exciting adventure for the viewer.

What doesn't work in this anime, as I mentioned at the beginning, is its lack of originality. It's hard to get excited about a bunch of situations that have parallels in other stories. It's like traveling to a place you've been to several times. You may like the place a lot, but it's hard to get excited.

THE GOOD: A good and well-told story.

THE BAD: Lack of originality.

LOOKING FORWARD to the second season. It looks promising.

One day young Satou witnesses a girl, named Hime, and her grandfather appear through a magical portal. For the next ten years she lives in present day Japan, going to school with Satou. He knows that one day she will have to return to her own world as she engaged to be married to somebody there. He falls for her and when she returns home he follows her. During her wedding proceedings are interrupted by an Abyssal Demon. To give Satou a chance of survival she gives him a magical ring and a kiss. He kills the demon, it turns out this means they are now married and he is the one who must ultimately defeat the evil Abyss King. To do that he will need four more magical rings and that means finding and marrying four more princesses! Yes it is going to be an ecchi harem series.

This series is entertaining enough although it would have been better without the gratuitous ecchi moments. At least Crunchyroll isn't showing a censored version where is censorship detracts from the story. The central plot is fun enough, if not that original, and there is a good amount of action as well as some humour. Overall not a must see but it passes the time well enough if you don't mind the excessive fan service.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.