I was actually surprised that the artwork sort of reminded me of a Hayao Miyazaki anime. I almost expected a good storyline to go with the raw look, which is Miyazaki’s trademark. Don’t get me wrong, though, the art is nowhere near any of Miyazaki’s works even though they exuded nearly the same feel. Now, is this good or bad?

For what I have expected of a hentai anime, however, Balthus: Tia’s Radiance still managed to surprise me. It has the makings of a good, serious anime, one with plot that can survive even if the hentai scenes were to be chopped off. There isn’t anything spectacular about the story, but the approach has something quite different to it. There’s talk of oppression and rebellion. There’s also an inspiring story about two siblings with a significant family history. Then there’s the presence of innocent idealism, since the major conflict is resolved through divine intervention (and the light of Tia!).

Unfortunately, there seems to be not enough time for any real developments in either the characters or the general scenario. Everything went by so fast, I hardly had any moment to blink my eyes for fear of missing something juicy. At least, as compensation, the sex addict of a bad guy isn’t bad looking. In fact, he’s cute and definitely better than the lead male character. Yum yum!

Now if only the hentai scenes could be a little more detailed…

Individual Rating: Art/Animation: 6 Story/Plot: 7 Characters: 9 Sounds: 5 Ecchi Level: 6

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2001 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Balthus: Tia's Radiance, Anime Hentai. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.