#1 Should have just been hentai
That Mouse was produced with the simple and singular goal of pushing the boundaries of what ecchi can get away with is rather obvious. The characters fulfill obvious fetishes; from large-breasted blondes to eccentric tomboys. All of them voiced by actors presumably selected based on the quality of their moaning alone.
There is also full nudity on display, so make of that what you will.
What bothers me is that the need for all this ecchi content blocks the show from doing anything else of note. The characters are barren as far as writing goes; a collection of simplistic female archetypes, who are all single-mindedly in love with the main character. In fact, they are so in love that they practically revere the guy and will stop at nothing to force their sexual attention on him.
You don’t watch a porn for the story and I the same often applies to hentai, but Mouse tries to sell itself as more than that. It’s meant to be a comedy harem mixed with a detective show set in a high-tech future. A mix of genres that just doesn’t take off, because ecchi is the only aspect where Mouse succeeds. Action scenes are devoid of any excitement, the characters are utterly boring, and the stories aren’t complicated enough to make a detective show work or play to the strengths of its futuristic setting.
#2 Childish story
What confuses me is the disconnect between the kind of story that is being told and how heavily the show pushes its pornographic content. Mouse is about a master thief who performs improbable thefts to uphold his family’s legacy, joining the ranks of Sly Cooper and Carmen Sandiego.
One storyline sees the cast preparing to steal an entire building just to frustrate the police officer obsessed with the Mouse case, whereas another has the cast dive into a digital world to save a trapped friend. It’s all lighthearted and adventurous; the kind of storylines I could see working for a show aimed towards a younger audience. Except, that is not going to happen with the amount of boobs on display, now is it?
The writer would have been better off keeping either the fun misadventures of a bunch of colorful thieves or take the plot in a more serious direction better fitting for the mature-only themes of the story. Having a multi-part storyline where all the characters play dress-up to perform comedy sketches is a good example of this. If you came here for the erotic content, then you are going to have to sit through some a bunch of comedy bits that just makes you go “I am too old for this crap.”
#3 The performances
Browsing through the cast of Mouse, I was surprised to find a number of familiar names. The performances in this anime were so poor, it gave me the impression that this production was far more amateur.
L from Death Note was cast to play the titular Mouse, except he sounds only half-certain of what character he’s supposed to be voicing. Despite having handled much more difficult roles before and since, here Kappei Yamaguchi is just unable to keep a consistent tone and quality to his acting.
All the characters suffer a similar fate, but especially side-characters like the police officer are either far too over-the-top or entirely flat. The worst of the lot is the highschool student Machiko, who appears frequently and is voiced by Tomo Saeki. I am sure she tries her best, but she just ends up sounding like a thirty-something woman trying to impersonate a teenager.
I didn’t gamble on trying my luck with the English dub, but a daring friend who did informed me it sounded akin to a primary school play.
