#1 Hentai with a unique artstyle
Releasing in 2012, Peace Hame is an OVA adaptation of a hentai manga by renowned artist “Shiwasu no Okina“. While the man’s work has always been reliably good, Peace-Hame is particularly interesting for its unique artstyle.
Truth be told, I find it difficult to pin down exactly what makes it stand out so well. The warm, vibrant colors, the thick outlines on characters, the slight gloss on skin, there are a lot of little factors that make the whole artstyle come together. It looks distinctly unlike any other hentai, in a way that I can very much appreciate.
Novelty is not the art’s only strength, it’s also executed very well. Backgrounds are nice, characters look good, and there are few noticeable animation slip-ups.
#2 Goofy dork protagonist
The actual plot of Peace Hame concerns Tamao Tsukamu, who is the punching bag of his school’s kendo club. Tamao is in love with his club senpai Kiritani Konome, but he’s pretty sure that she has never noticed him. After all, he’s shit at kendo and such a dork that he panics at the mere sight of her.
One day his dreams suddenly appear to come true, when Kiritani approaches him and asks for a private conversation. Unfortunately for Tamao, she is not looking for a new boyfriend. Kiritani instead brings him to the student council president, who reveals that there are actually two yearbooks at their school. One innocuous book with the kind of photos you’d expect, and one that includes a variety of raunchy pictures donated by the female students. For reasons unclear to him at first, Tamao is chosen to help his senpai complete the latter album.
Collecting envelopes with pictures sounds easy enough and it’s an excuse to spend time with his senpai, so of course Tamao accepts. However, things soon turn awkward as he learns that there’s more to the job than advertised. There are plenty of girls who’d love to donate to the yearbook, but are currently lacking a partner. Thus Tamao goes from being a hopeless virgin to having to sate the lust of half the school’s female population. This gets him into all kinds of insane situations, while his actual crush sits on the side-lines taking pictures.
Tamao’s reactions to it all are incredibly funny. He’s a weird and unpredictable guy who easily gets flustered. In a medium characterized by its generic protagonists, Tamao stands out as an endearingly-goofy alternative. Even the sex scenes are made more fun because of him. He is so clearly out of his element and often just doing whatever comes to mind. It gives his sex scenes an air of spontaneity with a touch of awkwardness.
#3 Surprisingly involved plot
Making lewd photos of your classmate may seem like a straightforward plot for a hentai series. A simple premise to drive the protagonist from one sex scene to the next. However, it soon becomes clear that there’s more to Peace Hame than one would expect.
Even from the start, there is an interesting complication. Perhaps you’d think that Tamao and Kiritani would obviously get together at some point, given their mutual interest. However, Kiritani is in an arranged marriage… with the student council president they are both working for. She and Tamao do grow a lot closer together, but their relationship walks a thin line between acceptable and taboo. The president is a powerful man—literally and figuratively—so the two put themselves at risk anytime they let passions overtake reason.
The main plot also gets more complicated down the line, when it becomes clear that Tamao’s school is far from normal; as if the existence of a sex yearbook wasn’t enough of a hint already. As Tamao begins to wisen up to what is really happening, this puts him and his work on the album into a precarious position. One that requires him to make difficult decisions and overcome his weaknesses both physically and mentally.
The OVA sadly skips a few key chapters from the manga, but retains its more serious plot twists, as well as the intense finale. The story gets genuinely exciting, more so than you’d realistically expect from any hentai plot. And it manages to do so without that coming at the cost of the erotic content.
#4 Cute girls
Shiwasu no Okina’s artstyle is great, but the man has also yet to fail when it comes to designing characters. So far everything I’ve read by the man has had great-looking character designs, but Peace Hame is especially impressive due to the sheer amount of girls involved.
Each story arc tends to focus on one girl in particular whose story (and body) is explored. However, Peace Hame also loves to throw in scenes where Tamao has to take on entire groups or clubs at once. These crowds all feature unique characters, who all get involved with close-up action shots. Their designs are nice and very diverse, sometimes even managing to be on par with the actual main girl of that episode.
Characters have different skin tones ranging from the pale photo model Sena to dark-skinned gyaru girls. Chest sizes go from petite to severely over-encumbered, and other physical aspects have a nice range to them as well. Only fans of chubbier girls are out-of-luck, I’m afraid.
#5 Quality sex scenes
Last, but obviously not least: the sex scenes are great. I already praised the spontaneity of these scenes, but I also have to commend the variety and directing work.
Sex in Peace Hame is very busy, again partly due to its fondness for group scenes. The animation compensates for its lack of complexity by just having so much happen so quickly. The OVA cuts frequently to different angles and positions, or breaks up the sex with kissing or something else entirely. This approach to variety keeps the series feeling energetic. You literally don’t have the opportunity to ever get tired of anything, because Peace Hame will have already moved on.
The variation shown in the character design also reflects positively on the sex scenes those characters get involved in. Besides different body and personality types, the hentai tags that Peace Hame tackles are mostly in the realm of normalcy. Only episode 5 dabbles in more extreme flavors, so be sure to check the tags if there’s anything you’d find too objectionable.
