Review: TSF Monogatari

ShindoL was one of the mangaka that I first came across in my early foray into the world of ero-manga. His works instantly caught my attention, particularly his gender bending book TSF Monogatari. The mix of genres, luscious art and story to this day keeps it stored in my mind. On hearing of the anime adaptation I was sceptical that it could do it justice, there was only one way to find out.

Takumi Musashino is a high school he is on the brink of death because of a rare and rapidly damaging disease, the only way to save him is to perform a radical new surgery which alters his genes, this new surgery just so happens to turn him into a girl though with an unfortunate side effect. With a new lease of life and a new outlook what will Takumi do and how will he adjust to his new everyday life as a girl?

The whole diseases and surgery angle I liked as it felt a tad more real and fit in with the setting instead of having a fantastical like occurrence causing it. I also liked the setup because it is something I found unique at the time and still do and shows how difficult it can be to adapt to an entirely new body.

Takumi herself is an interesting character for sure. Becoming a girl overnight effectively would be a severe shock to the system. She copes relatively well though and tries to get on with her strange new life. Then you have her former admirer and now love interest Anri Sogahara. She also experiences a transition of sorts. She loved Takumi when she was a boy but now she is a girl she has become conflicted about what to do other than try and help her adjust to the life of a girl. Suffice to say (and without spoiling it) she eventually makes her decision and it is an interesting one to say the least.

Suddenly becoming a girl brings with it new areas to explore though and new problems. Takumi as a boy was a bit perverted thinking dirty thoughts about girls (as most boys that age do) but now he is a girl and the boys act differently, they have become attracted to this sexy new girl. They begin to pressure her to act like her old self i.e. a boy so they can see all of their friend in her new female form. As a girl she finds new pleasures and these quickly overwhelm her to the point where she becomes and slowly but surely become addicted to sex.

From interacting with her friends from when she was male the slow decline into sexual addiction it is a thoroughly erotic and sexual ride. From initial small steps such as peeing standing up in the mens toilets like the boys would showing off her new pussy to all the guys to letting them cum on her, giving them hand jobs, eating melon buns covered in cum, giving oral like there is no tomorrow and onto much more hardcore acts and even prostitution, it shows what sexual addiction can lead to.

I really, really liked this as it acts out one of many fantasies guys have, what would they get up to if they were to suddenly become a girl? It takes the path you might expect as well as Takumi succumbs to this new found pleasure and goes deeper and deeper into the sexual mire.

The sex scenes themselves offer up a fine selection. You have your usual vanilla sex to start with but descends into much more lurid, even degrading acts. Takumi is molested on a train by an old man and enjoys herself so much she takes the old mans advice and follows him to a hotel where they spend hours. She performs for a group of old men including a near naked dance as a waitress (including the moment I was first introduced to the joys of nose hooks!), a very sexual sushi meal, prostitution, gang bangs and much more.

This is definitely not a vanilla series, there are a lot of degrading acts that happen in this as described above which will put off many people so if you do not like these kinds of acts then steer clear. My one niggle here is that I do wish there were more hardcore elements and kinks explored. Now what we got was wonderful but it felt to me like a missed opportunity to go full on and really explore more extreme and depraved acts.

Aesthetically there is a lot to like here. The animation here is good for the most part, it is smooth and paced well, the sex scenes never look cheap and there is little recycling done. Pink Pineapple have been in the business long enough and their experience counted here as they know when they can cut corners or when not to skimp out without derailing it.

There is however some things lost in the transition from manga to anime and one of these is a big part of the appeal: the art. Now the mangaka for the original source is ShindoL, his art is seductive and beautiful but making the move from page to screen it loses that refinement, that something special in the art with the skin tones, body shapes, facial expressions and so on, it is still distinct but missing that extra factor to it. We’ve seen time and again that art styles do not always translate well into animated form but it was noticeable here more so because of how good the original art is.

That doesn’t mean the art is bad, no, it is as faithful as it could be given the budget and still looks a cut above most other ero-anime. Takumi looks gorgeous with her pink her and slender yet salacious body whilst Anri is fuller figured with larger breasts and more curves.

Another thing is that there is content that is cut from the manga, there are several scenes here and there which are cut entirely such as the public toilet scenario which I adored however brief it was. They aren’t detrimental to the series but having read the manga first I was sorely disappointed to see them left out. If the episodes were a few minutes longer I doubt they’d have been cut but it hasn’t affected my enjoyment much.

Despite those issues this is still an ero-anime that I wholeheartedly enjoyed. It has lovely and distinct art, the characters are interesting, the sex scenes are sensational and it caters to a variety of kinks. It does very little wrong but a feeling that there should have been more does linger. Luckily there is more, well, in the manga form anyway with the Append doujinshi volumes for you to check out.

Studio: Pink Pineapple

Episodes: 2

Release: DVD Singles

Available at: Amazon

8.5/10