When I read the description of KAMUI: He's Behind You, my immediate thought was that this was going to be an over-the-top sex comedy. What I ended up getting…was an over-the-top sex comedy. The series was very formulaic: Shizuka attracts a new supernatural creature, and then Kamui comes in like a JoJo character to exercise them with pelvic thrusts. What kept the series entertaining wasn't just the sex scenes, but the show's variety and comedic execution. Technically, there wasn't much different about it from a typical supernatural ghost anime. If you've watched at least one such show, you would be familiar with many of the spirits or creatures featured in these episodes, since some were well-known in pop culture while others were more rooted in Japanese urban legend.

While Kamui needed to perform his exorcism by explicitly having sex with these spirits, not all of these spirits could engage in standard intercourse. How could you have sex with a spirit that is known for only having half of a body? How could you have sex with a spirit that possesses a doll? How could you have sex with a spirit that invades a person's dreams? I admired the show's creativity for not just boiling down climaxes to Kamui sticking his dick in a hole, and I appreciated the fact that the exorcisms felt more like a payoff to a joke rather than a specific form of titillation. Even though it's very clear that sex happened, this series still censored certain body parts. You will still get a lot of compromising positions and plenty of breasts jiggling in your face, though.

For the most part, the sex scenes are where the series looks the most consistently good. In fact, I was surprised by how well animated this show was, with fluid movement and surprisingly interesting spirit designs. There were even one or two really well-animated, well-choreographed fight scenes. In some cases, the show looks way better than I ever expected, while in others it looks almost exactly like I thought it would. When the show wasn't trying to be overly sexy, the art looked rough, with lots of off-model shots, muddy colors, and silly-looking faces. This show definitely wasn't eye candy from beginning to end.

The same applies to the soundtrack department, because the show sounded very generic. There were no main themes or tracks that elevated any of the scenes, and many tracks just sounded like generic horror music. The sound effects sometimes added to the comedic punchlines, especially when a lot of fluids are involved, although the sound mixing itself was a bit off, particularly when it comes to the spirits themselves. This was most notable in the English dub, where the spirits and the main cast had a noticeable difference in quality. A few awkward line reads definitely needed another pass. However, the main cast, like Kamui and Shizuka, did such a phenomenal job that it almost made me forgive the dub's occasional dips in quality. Diana Garnet showed a wide range throughout her performance as Shizuka. She played the straight man, the damsel in distress, and hit some surprisingly squeaky notes for a comedic punchline in a short time. She gave it her all. Then there was Jesse Inocalla as Kamui, who was so committed to how serious a role this was. Despite Kamui being the most absurd character in the entire show, his seriousness and unwavering commitment make everything he does that much funnier. The show wouldn't be as funny without the character's comedic timing, which was heavily influenced by his performances in both English and Japanese.

In fact, despite Kamui being in all of this for a hyper-specific fetish to have sex with spirits, he was an upstanding guy, and his relationship with Shizuka was a wholesome emotional point for the show. Despite not taking itself too seriously and being overly indulgent at times, the show also made it clear it cared about its characters' well-being. No one was overly cynical. The characters looked out for each other, and the show had a solid grasp of emotional themes. The final few episodes got surprisingly emotional, and I ended up feeling way more invested than I ever thought I would. This was a pleasant surprise. While this is a sex comedy through and through, it is probably one of the best sex comedies that I have watched in quite some time. Carve out a nice afternoon with some snacks and friends to enjoy when you can.