How many eyes? 11eyes. Certainly more than 3×3 Eyes and The Girl with the Blue Eye, numerically at least. A fascination with eyes and in particular eyepatches (see also Rental Magica, Tenjou Tenge et. al.), this series has the standard outfitting of an enigmatic past and hidden powers connected with said eye as well as a natty patch to keep it all under wraps. Even though it exists as a blatant amalgam of many other ideas and series that have gone before it, 11eyes: Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shoujo (Sin, Damnation and the Atonement Girl) cracks the barrier of dense nomenclature and proves moderately watchable.
A lot of this is down to its refusal to wholly mollycoddle the viewer. By the middle of the second episode the cycloptic protagonist has already worked out it is him that draws those around him into the monster-infested "Red Night" and by the end of the third episode the most recently introduced cast member is given a serviceable raison dêtre. The slow reveal of new party members is still present, again robbed of any interest by the revelatory opening, and the typical standby of the desire to grow stronger and protect those close is bolted to the lead male. By keep the most interesting mysteries close and trivialising the more mundane aspects, the series' introductory episodes maintain interest but demand little further thought.
Drawing upon a panoply of sources, with hints of Shakugan no Shana, Chaos;Head, Rental Magica, Night Wizard and Persona all mixed in - there are even some traces of RahXephon in the incidental monster designs and Berserk in the primary antagonists; the result manages to refrain from pilfering too much from one source but is significantly weaker than the sum of its parts. Its derivative nature magnifies the underlying sense of familiarity: like an old blanket thrown on for no reason other than habit, the characters, plot and setting all go through all the expected motions but subsequently fail to engage or make the slightest impact. The script does nothing to help matters, the lead female's repertoire consists of squeaking the protagonist's name repeatedly until she is mercifully rendered unconscious providing time for the lead male to grunt that he wants to protect her.
Going a respectable seventeen minutes before any obvious fanservice is crowbarred in, the first three episodes are for the most part blissfully bereft of anything too crass and incidental female underwear shots are peppered about and only accentuated by a conspicuous tear in the girl's clothing. Later, a character who resembles a blonde version of Aoi Oribe from Myself; Yourself - all spunk and pep - effects some breast groping, lowering the tone somewhat; suffice to say it wouldn't be surprising to see a frivolous and inconsequential beach or hot spring storyline in succeeding episodes.
There is no one outstanding element which either saves or damns the first three episodes of 11eyes, everything from the animation to the voice acting is unassuming and lacking in ostentatiousness. It walks a fine line between mediocrity and amusement and whether the remainder of the series will expand upon the strongest story elements such as the princess imprisoned in crystal or the exiled shrine maiden-cum-swordmaster will define its eventual worth. Pleasant enough to waste time with but fundamentally lacking anything to call its own.
