Review: Karen

Cheerleaders are great and a constant source / inspiration for porn in the west where they are more commonplace, over in Japan though they are not, as such when an ero anime pops up which focuses on one it’s interesting to see what they can come up with. Karen is one such ero anime that I will be looking at today.

Ryo is the captain of the male cheerleaders but they are losing their respect for her and begin to rebel. Being put in this situation she says she will do anything to earn their respect back. Seizing on this Dojima, one of the cheerleaders, has a suggestion but will Ryo go through with it and will she agree to the escalating demands?

Ryo is naïve that is for sure. She believes the respect she wants will be delivered by following Dojimas demands without thinking of the consequences and it is because of her pride that she will comply with those demands. That does make for an entertaining setup though as Dojima begins to inflict increasing levels of pain, pleasure and humiliation on Ryo.

For one episodes worth of content it does manage to fit a good amount of scenes in, they feel different from each other as well with varied plays on the different kinks. The sex scenes and other sexual scenarios gradually increase in their intensity and lewdness. Ryo has to perform with a vibrator in her pussy, she has to have a gangbang with a rugby team, giving oral before succumbing to the pleasure and more.

A standout scene was after Ryo had a shower, she came out to find her clothes gone, Dojima provided her with the girls cheerleading uniform so she could experience what it is like with them. The tight fitting uniform embarrassed her as she makes her way but not satisfied Dojima removes her panties so she has to go with them baring all. Seeing her interact with the girls who catch sight of her without panties begin to play with her and give her pleasure and humiliation was salacious.

It’s a scene that plays to some of my favourite kinks, humiliation, control and even a fair bit of yuri thrown into the mix which was more than a pleasant surprise. It’s most welcome as well as it naturally follows the escalating demands from Dojima and co as well as offer a bit of variety. This is not a vanilla series by any means, there are elements of rape, blackmail and forced actions here that will deter some so be aware before going into this.

A common criticism for ero series in this genre is the level of stupidity that characters get themselves into in these series and it stands here as well. What Ryo would do to earn the respect and or support of her cheerleaders is ridiculous, incredibly so but it is also what pushed this episode along. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times, you have to have a suspension of disbelief for anime or any fictional media in general.

Being from 2002 the animation does look a bit dated now, it is low budget and the art has a distinctively older look but the camera positions never disappoint in showing the lewd situations Ryo finds herself in through close up angles of her most embarrassing areas, the look on her face as the pleasure takes hold. The girls proportions aren’t as exaggerated and the uniform styling’s match their time. The American cheerleaders influence is clear to see and makes for a nice inclusion.

At just one episode long Karen manages to set out a story and finish it in a timely manner with a satisfying ending. Not many ero anime can do that well and pack in the varied content that Karen does. It’s a nice fun, sexy and dirty 20 odd minutes that is an easy watch.

Studio: NuTech Digital

Release: 2002

Episodes: 1

7/10