這いよれ！ニャル子さん/Haiyore! Nyaruko-san Episode 01

Mahiro is being chased by a demon-like monster when he’s saved by a girl appearing to be his age. The next day at breakfast, she reveals self to be Nyarlathotep from the H.P. Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos. Mahiro is aware of Lovecraft’s works, having read some, but questions her appearance. She says she can change form to the one described in his works, but Mahiro would go insane. She confirms that she’s actually an alien, as are all of the Cthulhu deities, and her mission is to protect Mahiro from slavers and the like. Plus, there are smugglers looking for things like Japanese hentai doujinshi, games, etc. and she has to stop them, though she’s buying a treasure trove herself. To further prove to Mahiro that she’s serious about work (and her love for him), she brutally slaughters another monster after erecting a barrier so they won’t be noticed.

Nyarlathotep registers at Mahiro’s school as his overseas relative Nyarlko, who’s transferring to Japan and living with Mahiro while his parents are away. Mahiro’s friend Yoichi is surprised by this, and their reporter classmate Kurei asks all kinds of questions. During class, another Nightgaunt creature shows up, so Nyarlko and Mahiro race to the roof. She’s bored with fighting the same monster, so she brings out a monster ball and summons Shanta-kun the Shantak-bird, who looks like a dragon-bird, but is quite weak. After Shanta-kun is defeated, Nyarlko brutally slaughters the Nightgaunt. That night, she enters the bathroom naked as Mahiro bathes, and tries to convince him to consummate their relationship, but he refuses with a fork.

I’ve never understood why an honorific will be left in an anime’s official title, then stripped from the official subtitles for the show. Seriously? *_*

That bit of annoyance aside, I’m glad to see that the seiyuu from Haiyoru! Nyaru-ani returned for Mahiro and Nyarlko.  When Ku-ko (Cthuko) returns, she too will have her same seiyuu, even if her character designs turn her from looking cool to moe.

As to the story, I loved it. I’m not sure how much liberties are being taken from the original light novel series, but the story presented in this first episode is what I’ve been told was in the first volume of the light novels.

The parody aspects of the show are pretty darn funny.  I laughed out loud when Mahiro questioned Nyarlko’s appearance as a young, teen girl since Nyarlathotep is a creature of horror, only to have her reference the Call of Cthulhu RPG as a reason for him not seeing her in that guise.

I loved the Pokémon reference in how Nyarlko summons Shanta-kun. *lol* I thought, “Cool. The dragon beast gets a name, then gets to kick arse!” I didn’t expect it to get beaten.

The stuff about Nyarlko being a massive anime fan and loving games, doujinshi, and the like amused me as well.  The bit about, “Its only a crime if you get caught” made me laugh, especially since Crunchyroll trumpeting that the Japanese police are frantically protecting the citizens from illegal uploaders of anime and manga. *_*

The twist on the food joke rocked.  In the Nyaru-ani series, there had been some food jokes were the creation is subsequently censored do to how horrible it is.  So, that’s what I was expecting, not that the food would be considered good (and look good), only to be made of mystery meat. *lol*  Nyarlko’s version of the BLT (Byakhee, Lloigor, & Tsathoggua instead of Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato) made me laugh as well.

The ecchi aspects are here, such as when Nyarlko decides she and Mahiro need to consummate their relationship. ^_^; It is played more for laughs than for anything, but still…

I’m going to guess this is part of the light novels, but Nyarlko erecting barriers so that she can fight monsters undetected smacked a lot like the Fuzetsu barrier spells in Shakugan no Shana, which were done for the same reason.

In the end, this IS the anime series I’ve been wanting to see for ages, but for which Japan has teased me twice on.  Three times a charm, eh?  If the humor levels stay up for this series, as well as whatever actual plot there is, it will be a winner for sure.