Review of Please Put Them On, Takamine-san

Have you ever wondered what taking off your panties or your bra to rewind time would look like? No? Yeah, me neither. And yet… here we are. The concept of this anime is so hilariously absurd that you pretty much have to go into it without taking it seriously. The main heroine can manipulate time and undo events by exposing herself. Specifically, by taking off her bra or panties. Doing so allows her to change the timeline to her will. I know how that sounds. And trust me, watching it isn’t any less bizarre. Our hero, Shirota-kun, stumbles upon Takamine mid-underwear switch, and in doing so becomesher personal wardrobe. Yes. He follows her around with spare panties so she can keep breaking the laws of space and time. That’s the entire premise. And if you think that sounds ridiculous and painfully dumb, you’d be right. But let’s not kid ourselves here. If you sat down to watch Takamine-san, you probably knew exactly what kind of show you were signing up for, and you weren’t in it for the plot. This anime is so overloaded with fan service that calling it “fan service” almost feels dishonest. It dances right on the edge of adult content more often than it doesn’t.

Shirota, the male lead, is a complete brick wall. He’s constantly blushing, being awkward as hell, stammering, and overly apologizing for things that don’t need apologies to a level that get extremely annoying. You know exactly what kind of character archetype he is. He’s the textbook clueless and socially awkward romcom protagonist, oblivious to the fact that Takamine somehow developed feelings for him.

I can't lie, the story and plot is an utter mess. It’s repetitive, weird, and honestly all over the place. And yet somehow, it manages to sneak in a few surprisingly genuine romantic moments. If you filter out the excessive horny stuff, there are moments that feel like your average romcom. Sweet, even. But is that enough to justify everything else? I’m not entirely sure to be completely honest. Still, I was somehow entertained, if only for the absolute absurdity of it all. The last episode felt pretty weak and clearly seemed like it was setting up another season. Watching Shirota still not get it was frustrating as hell, and it completely robbed the finale of any real emotional payoff. I kind of expected it, to be honest… but it still let me down

Would I recommend it? Honestly, only if you know exactly what you’re getting into. And even then, it's a bit painful to watch at times. If you do decide to watch, just for the love of all that is holy, don’t watch this in public. I warned you.