In the long history of the Earth there have been several major mass extinctions each one wiping millions of life forms out of existence. Because of this over ninety nine percent of all life forms that have ever existed on earth are now gone forever. But what caused these mass extinctions what was their true purpose and When will it happen again? Following this admittedly intriguing monologue we cut to our main character Takeru Takemoto delivering a monologue of his own. He talks about war famine disease and all that fun stuff as an excuse to get out of helping his classmates clean the pool. Yes this is our main character. He then lies around wondering what he should do while doing absolutely nothing. And in the same episode he remarks that his uncle who owns his own delivery service AND dormitories where Takeru is living for free isnt ambitious enough. This is a person that I wouldnt want to be friends with under any circumstances and yet he actually has a healthy little collection of five friends that spend way too much time at his dorm and obsess way too hard over his love life. But I digress. He and his best friend Ryou are out making a delivery when they witness a bright comet shooting down from the sky. It doesnt move like an inanimate object though It moves like it has a destination in mind and after following this light Takeru discovers a beautiful naked girl with orange hair Who he names Hikari. Japanese for light of course. Because Chi. She forms an instant attachment to him Like a newborn animal would and their whirlwind romance thus begins. Much like Mahoromatic this series was a joint effort between Studio Gainax and Studio Shaft. While neither studio is perfect and theyve both released some poor looking shows in the past the animation in This Ugly is embarrassing by either studios standards. The budget was clearly bare bones and even the high points of the story are marred by obvious tricks like sudden technique changes bouncewalking and speed lines. The artwork is equally bad with flat coloring boring backgrounds and enough jagged outlines to make FMA Brotherhood look lovingly rendered. As far as the character designs theyre nothing special Derivative and forgettable are the words of the day at least for the most part. The only thing really noteworthy is the insert from the first volume DVD in which the Character Designer and Chief Animation Director himself chronicles his reasons behind each design. Without any exaggeration his explanations range from such deep complex specifications as I thought this would be cute to I wanted him to look cool to I like large breasts. Although one of Takerus buddies was apparently based on a famous Japanese motorcycle who died shortly before production began. Do with that tidbit as you will. As for the music? I didnt like it. The tunes were repeated over and over again which sucks because I find about half of them distracting and inappropriate to the series. The opening however is a thing of beauty possibly one of the top ten of 2004. In any case for the sake of Studio Gainaxs twentieth anniversary production well suspend disbelief and pretend that science doesnt exist. Well pretend that each mass extinction was caused by a supernatural being that periodically comes to earth on a comet takes the form of whatever the most intelligent creature in existence is at that time and evaluates the world to see if it needs to be demolished. We wont ask where they came from or how this system came to be or how the Earth knows to send battle monsters to stop these entities because we dont want to go to bed feeling as though weve wasted precious energy that we cant get back. The entity splits into two and this time around those two take the form of hypersexualized teenaged moe girls who are given the names of Hikari and Akari. Yes thats a spoiler but trust me knowing that in advance wont hurt anything. Hikari winds up with lazy boy Takeru and well call that Story A. Akari winds up in the home of the space cadet Ryou and well call that Story B. Story A as I mentioned in my plot summary is a romance tale. And Im going to say this up front it is a very weak romance tale. Both of our main characters are completely milquetoast with the only really interesting thing about either one being their tragic backstories. They flounder in their efforts to form a relationship and while there is a pretty good reason the awkwardness between them can sometimes be flatout painful. I mean I have Aspergers syndrome and even I wouldnt strike out in some of the situations that Takeru finds himself in. On the other side of the coin we have the B side of the story which in my opinion should have been the true A side as its a lot stronger. Ryou is a pretty damn likeable character despite all his bishieness. While laid back and easygoing hes a very paternal figure to his precocious little sister whom he allows to think that shes the one in charge. They pick up Akari and while Id be hardpressed to say she has any important role in the story shes still given much more personality and development than her sister is. I may be alone in this but I found myself enjoying the show a lot more when the three of them were on screen. They even get some pretty good blinkandyoullmissit sight gags if youre looking hard enough. Like Ryou being the only person on a test of courage to be dressed as a western monster. or Akari catching a giant fish with a nude bearhug only to be seen subtly gnawing on its severed head at lunch a few scenes later. As for the supporting cast theres little to no support to be found. Takeru has two male friends who obsess over the fact that hes living with a hot girl and two female friends who call those two stupid. Oh they also coordinate activities and make clothes for the aliens. Overall characters that need not exist as theres nothing they contribute to the plot that other characters couldnt offer. I found myself wondering why they all invested so much of their time in such a boring characters life. He Also has a cousin named Mari whos madly in love with him but didnt know it until he was taken I guess I should be disgusted by that but this is Japan and that DOES sound like typical teenage logic. Besides I cant hate a Luci Christian character. What I can hate however is the American scientist that lives in their dorm and embodies every single stereotype that the Japanese may have against American women. Shes loose shes an alcoholic shes immodest shes always making passes at her teenage costars she looks like Ritsuko Akagi Shes investigating the mass extinction and she just happens to move into the exact right dorm house. Hikari introduces herself as an alien so of course Jennifer Portmans first instinct is to shower with her. They also have two alien sidekicks named Kuon and Ionios and I actually found them to be quite funny. Now I cant talk about the English dub without addressing a very interesting little fact. For whatever reason the majority of the actors used really ridiculous false names. Was the show so bad that they didnt want their names attached to it or was this just a joke? I cant find any explanation but if I meet one of them at a con thatll be my first question. Cynthia Martinez AKA Goldie Fawn Has been a favorite of mine in some shows and I never really minded her gravely voice up until now. Her line deliveries are spot on but the tone and pitch of Hikaris voice makes HER voice sound like a dying cat. Shelley Calleen Black does a great job relaying all of Ms. Portmans eccentricities as much as I may hate the character and Hilary Haag AKA Alexis Bestman is adorable in the role of Kimi. Quentin Haag presumably related to her has only had seven acting roles to date but he does a pretty decent job in the role of Ryou. Braden Hunt doesnt fair nearly as well in the role of Takeru giving a performance thats charmless and wooden throughout. Taylor Hannah Chris Patton and Monica rial are wasted in low profile roles when they could have easily taken on the starring roles by themselves. Patton and Rial as Takeru and Hikari? Yes please But the star of the dub is Jessica Boone Or Circe Nightshade of SNL fame playing the role of Akari. Shes playing a sweet wideeyed innocent whos trying to enjoy life to the fullest as she secretly evaluates it waiting patiently for a tragedy that she knows will eventually occur Its a subtle performance and she plays with this nuance beautifully. Hell shes so good that other actors sound better just by interacting with her. Fun fact: About half of the afforementioned characters will at some point make a pretentious speech. Okay so thats not a very fun fact but its also a fact that cant be avoided. Gainax has always been known to indulge in pretense but this particular project takes that predilection to a whole new level. This anime is very pretentious and it LOVES to hear itself talk. The characters are blabbing with more ideas than the series is willing to commit to ruminating on the nature of life and spewing philosophical metaphors that barely make sense and never really get explored. This is where the collaboration of Gainax and Shaft comes to blows as it seems like the former is trying its damnedest to bring depth to the material which the latter is trying to jam with as much gratuitous nudity as possible. The basic plot could be an interesting one scientific heresy be damned but the writing that should be supporting it is awful and Im not just talking about the awkward translations. Theres barely any development way too many characters character descriptions that are told to us rather than shown to us constant otaku pandering and aimless philosophizing that serves no purpose other than to jam the characters heads up their shiny asses. The humor occasionally works and when it does the comic timing is spoton. But this show isnt focused on being funny. It tries to be serious and tell its story while dishing out wacky hijinks and harem cliches despite not really being a harem show. The filler material makes up half of the story and it can range from tolerable at best to painful at worst with the obligatory beach episode being a particularly low note. And yet even when it is focused entirely on its plot its still barely watchable as that plot relies too much on its milquetoast leads. I wont reveal how the multiepisode climax plays out but it is both catalyzed and carried through by some of the most melodramatic high school bullshit ever animated. In short I rarely ever see a story or plot that are executed this terribly. However despite my complaints I like this show. Dont get me wrong its bad theres no arguing that. It might be the worst Gainax show that Ive ever seen and it rips off former Gainax properties without mercy or restraint. But its a pleasant kind of bad The kind you pop into your DVD player when youre feeling bored and forgiving. Its lighthearted and if youre not overthinking it it isnt too insulting or offensive either. And I genuinely do like the side B story at least for what it offers. Its an ugly show without a doubt but theres still some beauty to it which is why Im going to be generous and give it a 4/10. You can shave off two full points if underaged nudity gives you the creeps and Ill understand completely.