DearS: 1st Contact, Vol. 1

Take one high school student with a sensible female sidekick, add a classroom of high school seniors and a teacher so oversexed her students actually ask her to put on her clothes, and top off with a very underdressed and extraordinarily submissive stray alien girl and you've got DearS. After their spacecraft crash-landed, the alien race called DearS were warmly welcomed by the people of Earth--but not by high-schooler Takeya (anti-alien for no apparent reason), who befriends with great reluctance a newly-landed DearS whom he calls Ren. Takeya is possibly the only 18-year-old on the planet who resolves not to succumb to the beautiful Ren's need to please her "master" in any way, and the story is essentially built around the attempt to milk every sexual innuendo possible out of the scenarios. But with its focus on salacious fan service, the purported romantic comedy DearS--presented on a dual-language disc and rated 16-up--commits the cardinal sin of being neither funny nor charming. Granted, the animation is nice but even fans of the similar but more understated Chobits might have trouble warning up to DearS. Not recommended. [Note: DearS, Vol. 2 is slated for release on Oct. 18.] Aud: P. (J. Halsall)