Asobi ni Ikuyo! was one of the very first series I blogged, and I always had a sort of odd relationship with it.  I think I said in the series review that it was “hard to love but impossible not to like” and that still seems about right.

If you view the purpose of OVAs as a chance to ramp up the fanservice above what you can get away with on TV, then this one will certainly find your sweet spot.  There’s a very, very thin excuse for a plot – namely, that Eris has decided to research game playing on Earth.  In reality, this is an excuse for the entire female cast to strip repeatedly and with extreme prejudice.  And they’re all here – Manami, poor flat Aoi, The loli Ojou-sama, even the twintails weapons dealer. For reasons I’ve yet to figure out the Catian crew of the ship are doing it too, as is the female Dogisian commander.

So if the idea of seeing Eris and the others playing strip poker, strip “Nahaopoly”, strip Mahjong, and even strip Roshambo (Kio plays too, but don’t worry – he pretty much always wins) works for you, then by all means enjoy.  As with everything else this show does there’s nothing offensive about it at all – unless you hate gratuitous fanservice.  It’s pointless, very silly, and occasionally funny.  They even manage to work the hideous speedboat skinflick that Aoi and Manami were forced to participate in into the mix as one of the prizes for winning the games.

One complaint – needs more Assistroids.  They were the funniest part of the series for me, and were sadly underused here.