As mentioned previously, 2.5D Seduction is a series near and dear to my heart.  There's just something that resonated with me.  It might have been the cosplay bit, maybe the photography bit, but in any case, it really caught my attention.  I've been reading it since it began.  

Our protagonist, Masamune Okumura, is the lone member of his school's manga club after all of hissenior members graduated.  He has used this opportunity to make the clubroom a fortress dedicated to his favorite manga and anime, Ashford Chronicles.  The heroine, Liliel, is featured heavily throughout the room as posters, books, manga, anime discs, and figurines.

A girl named Ririsa transfer in and beelines her way to the manga club.  Ririsa is a dedicated otaku, just like Okumura is, and has a love for Liliel that matches his.  She goes as far as to cosplay as Liliel to the point where Okumura becomes momentarily confused upon seeing her dressed up.  As Ririsa says, she wants to do her utmost to bring a character to life as much as possible.  Okumura is at first hesistant to accept her presence as he feels she is invading his sanctuary, but soon admits that she is the perfect kouhai and that he has a lot of fun with her being around.  

Liliel is Okumura's waifu and he has sworn never to betray her, but with Ririsa, those lines become blurred.  She's three-dimensional, but she becomes the two-dimensional Liliel oh so well.  Hence, 2.5D Seduction.  

In episode two, we are joined by Mikari Tachibana, a famous student model. She also happens to be one of Okumura's childhood friends. As the episode goes on, we learn that Mikari really wants Okumura to fall in love with her, and the exact reason why: Liliel. A much younger Mikari tried to confess her love to Okumura but was rebuffed as he had already fallen into the clutches of Liliel. As one of the audience members behind me said, "he's denser than a neutron star." But regardless of that density, Mikari can't give up on Okumura. She goes as far as to say, "he's been betrayed by so many other girls; I don't want to betray him too."

She's officially rival number one with Ririsa, but Ririsa doesn't even think of it that way. In fact, Ririsa recruits her into the cosplay fold.

Thus ends episode two and marks the end of this premiere.

Something that I was pleasantly surprised with is the number of people who attended the premiere. I was unsure of how many people would be coming but was not disappointed and it felt like the line went on and on. Lots of people had waited to see this premiere and the room was almost full.  There were even a couple of Liliel cosplayers and for their efforts they were gifted with signed shikishi boards from the Japanese voice cast. One thing you can count on is HIDIVE giving away goodies and they were sticking up to that reputation.

JC Staff (Danmachi, Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, To Aru series, and many others) handles animation. One thing I really enjoyed with the anime adaptation are the reaction faces spread throughout. The opening song is "Shutter Chance" by Meychan. The ending song is "Watch Me" by Kaori Maeda (Ririsa) and Akari Kitou (Mikari), and was quite cute.

Previously, I had wondered why 2.5D Seduction was being held at late night with the rest of the 18+ screenings. Well, wonder no longer; it was quite the ecchi anime so it earned that slot. Maybe because in its manga format it was nowhere near as blatant (or maybe I'm immune to it?), but as an anime, it is obvious.

For those of you who have watched My Dress-Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru), you might be wondering what the difference between it and 2.5D Seduction is. If I had to say, it's the presence of a team. Yes, both series have a heroine (Marin and Ririsa) and a male protagonist (Gojou and Okumura). But what 2.5D Seduction has more of is a team. As we've seen in episode two, Mikari has quickly joined the cast. We'll be seeing a lot more members soon enough, along with a veteran cosplayer and teacher who will guide them. The whole group plays off each other nicely and while there is a bit of love rivalry, it doesn't get in the overall way of comraderie and friendship that they all have. My Dress-Up Darling does have supporting characters but when it comes down to it, it's all about Marin and Gojou. Nonetheless, I love both series.

HIDIVE will be airing the rest of the season from here onwards. I hope you give it some of your time and check it out, and maybe you'll fall in love it with just like I have.