Review of Vermeil in Gold

I'm surprised at the low reviews for this anime actually. Though I do notice that ALMOST all of the negative reviews are based at the episode 3 mark, when if you were here for plot, it hasn't really happened yet, and if you were here for hyper-explicit-fan-service you've been disappointed by the "tasteful fan service". So I'm guessing those here to get their rocks off are annoyed. The other negative stuff all seems to be at the episode 6 mark where they are disappointed by an instinctive move on the part of a character. Because in their mind someone who can study and getgood marks never moved without thinking everything through for 5 minutes in their life. (TLDR: Some reviewers are idiots).

It looks on the surface like low-rent ecchi anime that's just there for the fan service, and the first episode doesn't really dissuade you from that at all.

And yeah, I'm not going to lie, there is a fair amount of fan-service shots in there, all with tasteful covering etc, but it's there.
That aside there is actually a decent story and character development here, and good setup for future works (I'm assuming that's the "go read the manga" or "hang out for season 2" hooks.) There are more then a few cliches yes, but cliches are cliché for a reason. And I dare you to find an anime made that we can't point to "something" that's gone before and just say "he it's that cliché". Just pigeon holing shows as "that trope" is a disservice to the watchers, and creators. Folks need to be more original than that.

Is this show for everyone? Nope. But if you watch it through to the end (I did it all in one sitting, so may have noticed more development than folks who watched it week to week.) I think you'll find it an entertaining show, with reasonable pacing, entertaining side characters, and rather good character development.

My only real gripe was one of the side characters went from unlikeable to defensible a bit to fast.

Your milage may vary but if you are not a prude, not a total lech, and looking for something entertaining to watch, i recommend this show. However one warning. If you are looking for light-hearted anime that avoids going to some dark places and trauma, avoid this, it doesn't pull punches on some of it's character backstories.