The first episode of this show really hooked me. It just felt... different. Basara comes off as a pervert to Mio and the audience at first sight, but once you get to know him better, you realize that this couldn't be further from the truth. On a certain day after school, Mio is approached by a street gang that was about to sexually assault her. Guess what happens next? Basara comes in, beats one of them up and rescues Mio. Then, instead of thanking him, she just... apologizes. Apologizes for having the wrong impression of him. For assuming he was a bad person. Never in my life would I expect to start an ecchi anime in which the MC saves a girl from being straight up SEXUALLY ABUSED in episode 1. Basara is a really, really refreshing protagonist, especially for a show in this genre. He doesn't really lust for the girls, nor does he want to do anything remotely sexual with them. However, Basara has a troubled past. He lost control of his powers as a kid, destroying most of his hometown and many of those he used to call family in an attempt to protect a dear friend of his. As a result, they banished him and his father from the Hero Village, and he accepted it without questioning, because he knew he was dangerous. He knew he could lose control again and make more people suffer. So when he learns that his father has remarried someone, he's very reluctant towards meeting his new step-sisters due to his destructive tendencies. Starting from here, you can already imagine he's never been much of a social person, spending his entire life avoiding people to protect them of himself. Even when those step-sisters turn out to be runaway Demons and attack him, he fights back, but doesn't hurt them. Still, in order to defend himself, he had to use his powers, the same powers that once caused a large-scale massacre. After a serious talk with his father, he figures out these innocent girls were looking for a hideout while being hunted down by Demons, demons who killed Mio's parents and wanted to steal her power. And Basara had thrown 'em out of his house. Ensuing some heavy thinking, he then chooses to protect them at the cost of activating his powers once more, because he knows what it's like to lose your family. He knows the pain they must be in. Besides, they're part of his own family now, and he'll never let anything happen to his close ones... not again.
This all happens within episode 1. No pointless sex scenes, nothing. Just pure character establishing and world building. I fell in love with the premise immediately, and I got none of what I was hoping for jumping into it. To then see Basara, struggling to keep using his powers, have his motivation rekindled thanks to Mio herself, who's also fighting her own past and trying to stay strong as well is excellent. I also can't forget to mention the rope that holds this show together as it is: Maria, the cutest little succubus and my favorite character. She gives LIFE to these episodes, always trying to get the characters into awkward, erotic situations, and the lengths she'll go to pull her shenanigans off are UNBELIAVABLE. She's so funny, so cute, and since her Master-Servant Pact makes people stronger once their intimacy grows, it all comes from a place of love (and partially her own horniness as well), because he wants them to be stronger, to be closer, it's super adorable. See, that's what I really like about this show. There's a lot of genuine emotions and reasons underneath the heavy sexualization, which is something very unusual that I definitely approve of.
Speaking of the ecchi content itself, I think it's actually fantastic. The explicit scenes are really well boarded and animated, the character designs are hella slinky, some segments are absolute COMEDY GOLD, I mean, there's literally an episode where Maria secretly cooks Basara a soup with Mio's panties and he actually EATS THEM THINKING IT'S MEAT, HOW THE HECK DO YOU TOP THAT??? I don't think I've ever laughed THIS HARD to any other ecchi show. But seriously, the best thing about them in my opinion is how Basara never goes beyond boobplay. As I mentioned earlier, he doesn't want any of this to be happening. He just does it to protect the girls, to relieve/strengthen them. That's the sole thing he cares about, after all: protecting them. Fascinatingly, he eventually gets to certain breaking points in the narrative where he can't hold himself back and actually pulls the moves on some of the girls, and EVEN THEN, IT'S ALL FOR THEIR SAFETY. This is a little complicated to explain, but I'll try to use my favorite ecchi scene in this (and any other) show to illustrate: due to the Master-Servant Pact sealed by Maria, if anyone besides Mio's master takes away her chastity, that would be a major act of betrayal towards the master, so the curse would activate at its fullest and kill Mio. Once Basara learns about that, it's almost like it flips a switch inside of him, a switch that makes him unable to control himself and ALMOST gets him to have actual sex with her, except he regains consciousness right after some foreplay and apologizes, kind of like an immediate change of personality. Mio was into it, though, and she wouldn't have stopped him. They've been through so much by that point, and it just feels like a natural step, but one that Basara is still conflicted about taking, which she completely respects. And then she asks him for another kiss, tells him that it wasn't something to apologize for, and that he's free to do it whenever he's ready, OH MY GOD, it's SO FREAKING SWEET. Thanks to those words, Basara slowly starts to have more genuine intimate moments with the girls over the course of the show, learning to enjoy their time fully instead of worrying only about protecting them, which is such a nice development to keep track of. But damn, the soundtrack on that scene too, the dialogue, the pacing, the SUDDEN ATMOSPHERE SHIFT from what we're used to expect from Basara, it's SO DARN GOOD. It's quite literally something you wouldn't understand unless you watch it, because trying to illustrate it here just sounds weird. But this situation perfectly encapsulates Basara's character, his primary reason to exist is to protect the ones he loves, and sometimes this urge to protect them can be so strong that he can lose control of himself (which is what caused the childhood incident as well), doing whatever it takes to keep his loved ones safe and ignoring any other consequences, which is such, SUCH a unique character flaw.
I must say though, these ecchi scenes really do overstay their welcome sometimes. I know this is the genre of the show, but since they're taking such an eccentric and interesting route with the characters, I would've appreciated if they could tone down the porn in favor of proper character development. I swear it feels like they have to meet a certain quota of "ecchi minutes" in each episode, and as much as they try to make it all fit into the narrative, it's mostly all very superficial and unadulterated fanservice. Which, by all means, is funny, good quality fanservice, as I described, but I really think they should've focused more on the meaningful erotic scenes and replaced some of the fanservice junk with anything else. At a certain point, having 3 sex sequences per episode just feels exhausting.
Narrative-wise, I think this show has some unfortunate negatives. The plot is weirdly paced and oftentimes very ambiguous. They explain so little about the ins and outs of certain situations or even the world itself that you have very little room for speculation, because outcomes are so open that anything can happen. There's a moment in Season 2 where Jin Toujou breaks into Leohart's castle and saves a girl, AND THEN WE SEE THAT GIRL HANGING OUT WITH HIM AND WE FINISH THE SEASON WITHOUT KNOWING HER NAME OR ANYTHING ABOUT HER. NOBODY BRINGS IT UP. Why did he save her? Why is she important? Who is she? Why was she a prisoner there? Was she even a prisoner? I don't know, there's NOTHING to work off of here. That kind of stuff is frustrating, and this anime has lots of gaps like that. Plus, even though Basara is a great protagonist, the other girls have very limited development and ultimately end up as mere tools for the main character's growth. They all become overly submissive (especially during most of Season 2 and Departures) without much personality besides "I love you Basara, make me yours." Zest had a good start, coming to terms with the fact that she was a defective creation abused by her former master, envying Basara's genuine relationship with the other girls, learning that no matter where she came from she can still find people who love her, that's all great, but once that's over, she's just another of Basara's wives. Kurumi felt more like a tool to Yuki's development than a proper character, I can't honestly think of a thing to say about her. Yuki and Mio are a bit more refined, but they still lack some depth, especially Mio since she's the main girl. Maria is a HAAAAARD exception, though, she's incredibly proactive, full of energy, and hilarious all the way through, I wouldn't change a THING about her.
Shinmai Maou no Testament is a good show, great even. There's just so many things to like here; the charming characters, the interesting exploration of their emotions through intimacy, the eccentric protagonist, the first-class erotic content and its comical nature, the splendid fight scenes, you name it. Sadly, the story is severely held back in certain aspects by the sheer amount of pointless fanservice, lack of side character growth, major plot gaps, stale and sometimes repetitive narrative. Overall a mixed bag, but one that really stands out for its clever structure, strong family theme and unique tone.
