Then one day, the King of the Gods and the King of the Demons arrive at school with their daughters, Sia and Nerine. Ten years ago, an event called the Great Opening connected our world to the worlds of the gods and the demons, who began immigrating to Earth. Rin and Kaede's class already contains a mix of gods and demons, who are pretty much exactly like people, though some have powers, gods have slightly pointy ears, and demons have extra-long pointy ears. But none of this is unusual. What is unusual is the blunt, artless way the kings and their daughters introduce themselves to the class, announcing that Rin has been chosen as a "prime candidate" to marry whichever daughter he chooses, which means someday he might be the king of the gods or demons himself.

Another unusual thing: Everyone seems remarkably sedate about all this. Rin himself is easygoing and mellow, as indifferent to all the girls doting on him as he is to the question of which land he might rule. Sia and Nerine are both sweet, bland girls who get into mild arguments about who's going to cook Rin's next meal but seem entirely at peace with each other. And then there's his spunky upperclassman Asa, who flirts pointedly with him, and weird underage half-mute Primula, who arrives one day and won't let Rin go. Sounds like a harem series, all right.

Yes, but who cares?

Shuffle is based on an erotic dating game, of the variety where the player's conversational choices lead toward sex with one of the five main female characters. But it's hard to tell from these first episodes, which lack sexual energy, or any energy at all. Everybody likes Rin because he's "such a nice guy"—for instance, Sia and Nerine remember him from their last visits to Earth, eight years ago, when he was kind to them—but he doesn't have any other personality traits. Watching the characters' dull, "nice," pastel interactions—"Hey, tomorrow, let's all go to school together!" "Yay!" "Hey, let's have a picnic!" "Hooray!"—it's hard to imagine anything as crass as sex entering the picture.

The character designs are similarly dull, in spite of some of the weirdest, ugliest school uniforms in recent history: a freaky concoction of white micro-dress, brown vest, giant yellow bow and shapeless hat trimmed with hip-length brown ribbons. Whoever designed them was clearly a sadist. But the characters in the dresses are far less interesting, and watching them reveal the few vague quirks that differentiate them—Sia's bad in school, Nerine can't cook—is pretty boring. Apparently there are no rivalries between gods and demons in this world—even the two kings are mild dudes who pal around together, urging Rin to make a choice.

Not that he seems in any hurry to, not with 20 more episodes to go. Instead, he smiles beatifically at everyone and encourages them to make him more food and do him more favors, which is fairly creepy. But they seem happy enough to. About the only conflict in the initial episodes stems from the various jocks in their silly team costumes challenging him for the love of one girl or another, in a gag stolen from Ranma 1/2. Later episodes inevitably reveal more about the characters, in a way reminiscent of Kanon, but viewers not instantly hooked in by the question of which sweet, subservient girl Rin will eventually pick aren't really likely to care what's revealed about their histories.