Makoto moves to a small town to live with his aunt while his parents are away, and meets his cousin Erio, who claims to be an alien and walks around wrapped in a futon. He forms a harem with two other girls, Maekawa and Ryuuko, and embarks on a quest to gain as many puberty points as possible.

Denpa Onna is cuteness overload, and this is the show’s main draw. Erio is sparkly and acts like a little kid, Ryuuko more or less is a little kid, and Maekawa’s main task is dressing up in random cute costumes. Makoto’s aunt is also disturbingly cute (see the image below). If you are obsessed with all things moe, you’ll love Denpa Onna.

If you aren’t… well, it still has its good points. It’s a SHAFT show, and Shinbo has managed to tone down his style to levels where it complements the story rather than dominates it.

As for the characters, most of them are excuses for more cuteness. Maekawa, Makoto’s aunt and Ryuuko are definitely entertaining to watch, although they aren’t particularly deep or anything. Erio really annoyed me though. She really starts out as nothing more than a moeblob who gets carried around wrapped in her futon in her cousin’s bicycle basket. She develops some over the course of the story… but not much.

The male lead, Makoto, is an improvement over your usual spineless harem protagonist. For one thing, he can hold his own in a conversation (he plays the tsukkomi). In addition, he’s a bit cynical and recognizes how boring he is in his accounting of the puberty points he earns each episode.

The dialog is fast paced and witty, as expected from SHAFT. As for the plot, we get to see a bit of Erio leaving her shell, but otherwise there isn’t much. The focus really is the cuteness.

• Plot / Script – 8 / 10 – Fast and witty script from SHAFT, not much of a plot.
• Characters – 7  / 10 – Moeblobs, but still entertaining (aside from Erio).
• Production – 9  / 10 – The usual SHAFT stylistic effects, but managed not to go overboard.
• Overall – C

Recommendations – Bakemonogatari, Haruhi, Arakawa Under the Bridge