Simple Yet Sexy (Season One) – Jimihen!! Jimiko wo Kaechau Jun Isei Kouyuu!!
It started as a challenge from his boss, but before he knew it, Ryouhei Hachiya had fallen for the office plain-Jane, Rena Yukuhashi. However, a workplace romance comes with its own challenges! Will they make it?
Simple Yet Sexy (Season One) – Jimihen!! Jimiko wo Kaechau Jun Isei Kouyuu!!
What did you watch?
It was April 2023 and I was going through my to-watch list and found a show that I had planned on reviewing for Ecchi Hunter. Anyhow, it turned out to be a hentai called Overflow. Since it was on my list and only consisted of eight six-minute episodes, I dived in… Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed it and rather unsurprisingly, the series has been quite successful at drawing views. When I finished it, I thought that would be the end of my short foray into reviewing hentai and it was until Valentine’s Day 2024. The blogosphere was full of romantic posts. I wanted to contribute but in my own way… So, I decided to review Simple Yet Sexy or Jimihen!! Jimiko wo Kaechau Jun Isei Kouyuu!!. It was by the same studio and also had eight six-minute episodes. What could go wrong?
What happened?
Ryouhei Hachiya’s boss challenged him to take the office plain-Jane, Rena Yukuhashi on a date and find out if she was a virgin. It was wildly inappropriate and Hachiya tried to object, but his boss threatened to tell the higher-ups about some work he’d failed to do if he refused. So, Hachiya asked Yukuhashi to meet him after work for drinks. Part of him expected her to fail to show, but she showed up in a way he’d never expected. She wasn’t wearing her long skirt and sweater. Her glasses were gone and her long unkempt hair was now neatly styled into a bun. In short, she looked incredible.
They drank, ate, and talked, and before long Hachiya realised he was having a great time. He found that he could talk to her openly and that she listened and continued the conversation. There was an ease to their interactions. Then, Yukuhashi caught him off-guard by asking him why he asked her out. He’d never so much as looked at her before, so what changed? Hachiya was in the middle of his drink when she asked and answered without thinking, telling her about his boss’ challenge to find out if she was a virgin. Yukuhashi stood up and stormed out.
Hachiya ran after her and told her that it may have started like that but he was enjoying his time with her and didn’t want it to end like this. Yukuhashi stared at him and then looked at the building they were standing in front of – a Love Hotel. She said that she wouldn’t mind and before they could think it through, they were inside, undressing.
What did you think?
Let me start with a couple of fun facts that I have discovered about Studio Hokiboshi, the animation studio behind Overflow and Jimihen! They seem to specialise in a serialised style of hentai focused on short episodes. “So what?” you might say. Well, apparently, they make them this way to fill short spots in TV schedules. That’s right these six-minute episodes make it onto Japanese television channels. Now, I’m sure they are further censored, but that’s fairly interesting, at least, I think so. Anyhow, this was as good as Overflow, maybe even a little better. I was surprised by how much story they managed to fit into this series as most of the episode was focused on sex. I’ve also come to realise that there are other anime, that frankly, could use a bit of sex, whether on screen or implied, to stop everyone acting so strange. I’m looking at you – ecchi harem stories with a protagonist so clueless that he wouldn’t know if a girl liked him when she had her lips pressed against his while telling him that she liked him. You know the one!
What was your favourite moment?
I really liked the ending and how they got over their fight and decided to be together no matter what, however, the best moment for me was the episode at the beach. Unfortunately, Hachiya had hurt his ankle and was left resting in the back of a car. Yukuhashi decided to stay with him as she blamed herself for his injury. In reality, he was trying to avoid her as he felt he was taking advantage of her… Well, Yukuhashi who has been fairly forthcoming with her attitude took things up a level and initiated sex in the back of the car. Then, when Rie Sekiguchi came looking for them, Yukuhashi continued while Hachiya tried to respond to Rei through the window. I loved her confidence and sense of adventure. She’s a keeper!
What was your least favourite moment?
This was the darkest moment in the series if you overlook how inappropriate Hachiya’s boss is. Yukuhashi was struggling to handle the idea that their relationship was a secret and that Hachiya had pretended that Rei Sekiguchi was his type. Every time she saw Sekiguchi with Hachiya she started to doubt herself and Hachiya. She knew it wasn’t true, but it was getting to her. So, she broke up with him! That was pretty sad, but then Hachiya demanded that she let him have sex with her one last time and that he could do whatever he wanted. It was a very uncomfortable and forced session which culminated in him telling her that he hadn’t been wearing a condom. He had. In the end, he told her he had lied, but it was more about the emotional abuse of the moment. You could feel everyone’s pain in that moment, which was a far cry from the usual tone of the show.
Who was your favourite character?
At first, I wanted to jokingly say that Rei Sekiguchi was my favourite, but that wouldn’t be true and also kind of mean. No, it has to be Rena Yukuhashi. I loved how we saw that she was the office plain-Jane and also stunningly beautiful. It’s a good message, especially when you consider that there was a moment when Yukuhashi revealed that she got a shop worker to help her with her make-up and getting dressed for their first date as she has no idea how to do any of that. Even better was Hachiya’s response to finding that out. He didn’t care. Or rather, he didn’t care how she looked. He loved the office-plain-Jane Yukuhashi, he loved the dressed-up-dating Yukuhashi, and he loved the relaxed just-been-to-the-gym Yukuhashi. We’ve all seen those Hollywood movies where they take an average-looking girl, remove her glasses, give her a cute dress and now she’s the most popular girl in school. Well, those aren’t realistic. This had a much better message. You don’t need to change!
Who was your least favourite character?
It’s a toss-up between Ryouhei Hachiya when he was angry at being dumped and his boss who was wildly inappropriate pretty much every time we saw him on the screen. The reason that I’m torn is that while I generally liked Hachiya, his boss is the reason that this entire relationship happened, regardless of what Human Resources would say about his actions.
Would you like some more?
When I finished watching and reviewing Overflow, I said that I was unlikely to review another hentai. Maybe, if there was a second season of Overflow, but otherwise it was unlikely… Well, never say never! I enjoyed Simple Yet Sexy so I’m not going to make any unachievable statements that I have to backtrack on. I doubt there will be a second season. Studio Hokiboshi have several other similar shows so I may one day check those out too. Who knows?
What have you learnt?
I probably said something similar when I reviewed Overflow, but sometimes a story needs sex. It’s a big part of the world around us. Now, it doesn’t need to be shown on the screen. A fade to black works perfectly in some situations. However, I’m noticing more and more that there are shows which would benefit greatly from the main characters not being inhumanly prudish or chivalrous virgins. I feel like this sends a message that sex is a bad thing and that abstinence is the only way to behave. That’s fine if that’s what you believe. You do you… But to deny that sex happens and is a part of stories in every medium across the world is incredibly short-sighted.
Other Posts in the Series
- Season One
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