It was an interesting choice from the 2009 Autumn series
So, Sora no otoshimono (aka, gift from the sky), was a 12 episode series during 2009 fall season. It’s about aboy Tomoki Sakurai who one days encounters an Angeloid Ikaros (the pink hair one) falling from the sky. She imprints on Tomoki and act as a generic emotionless servant with various abilities. As the series progress, she gets more human like. What turns out is that she is more than the “pet class” originally claimed, and the place she left, what looks to be the heaven, seem to have more plans for her.
It’s a very eccentric series, and can put people off in the very first 2 episodes. If you have a non-human servant who has the ability to grant wishes, and a pervert boy who’s making those wishes (no, this is not porn), you get a series of sometimes offensive, but most of the time hilarious scenarios.
Don’t get me wrong, i like how some of the fantasies come out, it’s just that the boldness and the crudeness of the presentation can bring bad taste in some viewer’s mouth. For example, there’s one which he requested for the time to stop so he can go full naked streak in the town~ I can fully imagine some drunk people who do that, except without the time-stopping part. 
Then it gets better in ep2. It starts out with a flashback of his Grandfather told him during a hunting trip to “shoot down the first one that flies off so the whole group won’t follow suit”, then the whole episode is about how he accidentally saw Sohara Mitsuki’s (the girl in school uniform) underpants and thought it’s too childish. He accidentally made the wish and what happens is the underpants starts to fly off, then it gets better as Ikaros mis-interprets his command and removed all the girl undies from within the 100m radius circle. Then the whole herd of undies just starts to fly in the sky, travelling across the whole world. Absurd comedy don’t usually get better than this, especially when you consider the link back to the flashback. I was laughing my ass off throughout the episode, and literally cannot breathe when the ED changed to a serious country-isk music with the videos of news from all across the world reporting that phenomenon.
ok, enough with the introductions. The comedy is still there throughout the whole series, but as usual it gets serious as the series progress. More characters are introduced, and more we get to understand the place Ikaros fell from. It’s nothing deep, but it does it’s job of keeping the story interesting than just a series of awesome stunts. I still have to say those stunts are pretty much what a harmless perverts would wish for, and the way it’s pushing the boundary is just purely hilarious.
pros:
the jokes, enough said. I rarely cringe, if ever, when watching those set pieces. Those are just awesome.
The visuals. This series is done by AIC, who’s previous famous works consist of Ah! My Goddess, Candy Boy, Bamboo Blade, and Ga-Rei Zero. I don’t think it’s one of the frontline studios at the moment, but the way they handle the visual aspect is quite superb. Most screenshots are so of high quality that it can be turn into desktop backgrounds in no time.
ED. Unlike Bakemonogatari where it changes the OP for the arcs, Sora no Otoshimono have different ED for most of the episodes. It can get from serious and epic, to sad and beautiful, to just absolutely absurd(in a good way). Each serves its purpose of finishing off an episode, and credit to the studio to finding a number of quality good old Japanese songs that fits the episode so well. Most notable mention came I think in ep7 where they choose a slow, soothing, beautiful song that’s just brilliant.
The characters. No, not Tomoki, not Sohara, not even Ikaros. The best characters comes in the form of Eishirō Sugata, a quite, ultra-serious, fascinated about finding that “New World”, living in the bushes, high school inventor/scientist. There’s also Mikako Satsukitane, the student council president who is the heiress of a yakuza family. They both provide calming contrast to the eccentric nature of the other 4 characters and the outrageous situation, and is sometimes what making the comedy so great. Also Mikako is a cunning, manipulative and highly intelligent hottie. Honourable mention goes to Nymph (the blue hair one in the picture) who receive the “best tsundere presentation/balance” award in Komica.
cons
ok, the story is on the bland side. But can’t say it has less story than the likes of Lucky star and Hayate. It’s there to keep the story along and provide more possibilities for the comedy. But if you are watching this series for the storyline you will definitely be disappointed. It’s just too bland, and got cut off when it just starts to get interesting.
the romance. Gosh I hate sappy romance. If only this series takes out parts like “how can i hold master’s hand?” from Ikaros (yes, only Ikaros), it would be so much better. I simply don’t care if Ikaros wants to have Tomoki’s children or not, just stop having those stupid boring scenes please. I blame the director for it, because although it sometimes provide a prerequisite for the comedy sequence, the way they present it is just too sappy for my liking.
Final words:
Would I recommend this series? it depends. If you likes a good comedy, while not taking offence of the character design (I’d read some previews who got put off by the blatant character design) and some of the jokes, I strongly suggest it. There are just too many of unexpected sequences that make me chuckle wtf, but overall it’s great experience. It really depends, really.
There will be more. This series is adapted from a manga from Suu Minazuk which is still ongoing, and at the end of the final episode of this series they put out a character portrait that’s still yet to come. Would I be excited for a 2nd season? I am satisfied by what they put out this season, and yes, would be interested to see how they would go in the 2nd one, though I won’t say I would be ultra excited like I am about the current Durarara! :D
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