The premise of 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku is that a god comes down from heaven to help a thirty year old man graduate from virginity. Given the questionable premise, the half length episodes and the animation that looked like it was done in Flash, I initially skipped over this show, but decided to give it a shot after hearing good things.

From the description, I expected this show to have its head in the gutter the entire time, but it surprisingly didn’t. It does have some jokes of that nature, but most of the more explicit content is bleeped out in some amusing applications of censorship. I am saying that it wasn’t too bad in the same season that I watched Hen Zemi though, so your mileage may vary.

The show is quite funny, and a great deal of the humor is of the absurdist variety: epic battles against the dorm master and Virgin King, love confessions piercing a robot’s barrier shield, traps, and random cosplay. The shorter episode length prevents the show from losing its punch or focus.

Don’t mistake 30-sai for anything other than a comedy, because you will be disappointed. The romance, characters and story are mostly just a plot device to bring out the laughs. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that. Definitely do NOT take anything this show says as some form of “advice”.

In conclusion, 30-sai was funny, but not hilarious, and it probably won’t be remembered well a year from now. Still, it’s worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some quick laughs.

• Plot / Script – 7 / 10 – Has its funny moments.
• Characters – 6 / 10 – Not really the focus of the show.
• Production – 5 / 10 – Serviceable animation, but you have to be able to look past that if you’re going to enjoy this show.
• Overall – C-

Recommendations – B Gata H Kei, Hen Zemi

Note: I’m still away and not posting on new shows, I’ll be back on Wednseday.