Saving the world, one lost article of clothing at a time.
"Currently, Earth is on the verge of an unprecedented crisis. However with this desolate situation 5 heroes appeared that, like the name suggests, fighter evil with H and Ero. Their names are—Super HxEros!"
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Earth has been invaded by the Censor Bugs, a strange insectoid race that have come to harvest a valuable resource: H-energy, a force tied to the human libido which, when extracted, robs their victims of their sex drive, potentially dooming humanity to a slow extinction if left unchecked.
This is where the "HxEros" come in, a division of the Earth Defense Force composed of teenagers with an excess of H-energy. By channeling their H-energy through XERO gears they are able to display powerful abilities and destroy the Censor Bugs...along with their clothing.
Second-year high school student Retto Enjō has been recruited by his uncle Jō Anno to form the Saitama Branch of HxEros together with four beautiful girls: tomboyish Momoka Momozono, diminutive erotica illustrator Sora Tenkūji, socially awkward Maihime Shirayuki... and his estranged childhood friend Kirara Hoshino, who drifted away from him after a Censor Bug attack five years ago gave her crippling androphobia.
Together, these five work together to build their H-energy, stop the Censor Bugs, and save the world. And hopefully not get arrested for public indecency in the process.
Super HxEros (ド級編隊エグゼロス, Dokyū Hentai Eguzerosu. lit. Dreadnought Formation HxEros) is a manga series written and illustrated by Ryōma Kitada. It was serialized in Shueisha's Jump Square
magazine from May 2017 to February 2021. An anime adaptation by Project No.9 aired from July 4 to September 26, 2020.
This series shows examples of:
- Actor Allusion: In the eyecatch of the episode 12, the Queen claims to be 17 years old. This is a meme originated by Kikuko Inoue, her Japanese voice actress, which became sort of a Running Gag among other Japanese voice actresses.
- And the Adventure Continues: At the end of the series, the Censor Bug Queen and Princess are convinced by the HxEros team to stand down and try to understand the concept of human sexuality, with the latter choosing to blend into humanity as a transfer student to Retto, Kirara and Momoka's high school, and Retto and Kirara finally affirm—and consummate—their love for each other. Nevertheless, as long as there remain rouge Censor Bugs who defy their Queen and continue the mission she abandoned in peace, the HxEros team will continue their fight to protect the world.
- Applied Phlebotinum: H-energy, which is created and intertwined with the human libido. Censor Bugs absorb and steal this energy though it's not mentioned why. Humans, with the help of XERO gear, can channel it for various purposes mainly as a weapon against the aliens. It can also, and only, be replenished through sexual arousal.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Played for Laughs with Maihime and Rumba, the latter having a habit of licking her, particularly her private areas, which she denies enjoying. Nevertheless, a "perfect dream" she has induced by GenmuChuu is implied to be her being surrounded by puppies and her XERO suit takes on the appearance of a dog-inspired outfit including a collar.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Because the Censor Bugs are bugs, this means they have a different type of reproduction (presumably) and thus don't understand sex like humans do. More then a few have shown disgust at the way humans display their sexuality.
- Breather Episode:
- After dealing with the dangerous HakkouChuu and JikoChuu in Chapters 1 and 2, respectively, Chapter 3 focuses on Momoka's struggles to live up to her sister's reputation, while Chapters 4 and 5 deals with Kirara trying to fix her relationship with Retto by wearing "lucky panties". Likewise, the main Censor Bug who appears in Chapters 3 and 4 is basically a nuisance and is defeated rather easily midway through the latter chapter.
- Following the raid on the Censor Bug nest and the meeting with the girls of the Tokyo Branch, the main plot of Chapter 19 is a competition between Kirara and Shiko to see who's able to win Retto's love, with no Censor Bug appearing at all in the chapter.
- Chapter 22 has the members of the Saitama and Tokyo Branches hanging out in Akihabara and taking a break from destroying Censor Bugs, with a more lighthearted and Slice of Life tone. We see the members from both branches getting to know each other better and the chapter ends with Retto revealing that he was the one who gave Kirara the hairpin she always wears.
- Chapter 23 has Retto and Kirara reminiscing about the promise they made to marry each other when they were kids.
- Clothing Damage: To the chagrin of the teens, this happens whenever they use their H-energy even accidentally, which can leave them naked in public places. Luckily, they're trained to carry extra clothes with them and the division they work for has a "clothing budget" for them to buy replacement clothing. The development of suits that don't disintegrate is a major advancement for the cast.
- Covert Pervert: All four of the girls in the Saitama Branch. Momoka and Maihime have numerous perverted thoughts, Sora enjoys and draws erotic manga, and Kirara has a reputation of being unreachable to men and indifferent to them that she's known as the "Iron Maiden". Yet as a child, a Censor Bug literally exploded when it absorbed her H-energy and she still had enough left over to be fine if traumatized.
- Crazy-Prepared: Downplayed as the teens are taught to carry extra clothes with them in case they need to use their H-energy. This is played straight with Sora who carries multiple changes of clothing.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: "Beast Mode" as called by Retto: when Chacha bites him, he is flooded with so much H-energy, he loses all rational thought and will go after any female around him. Both he and the girls agree not to use it due to both the possible implications and the ethical concerns involved.
- Deus Sex Machina: H-energy is directly formed from sexual desire and arousal.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: An interesting case for the opening theme of the series, performed by the band BURNOUT SYNDROMES (credited as HXEROS SYNDROMES) along with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (in-character as Retto). The ending theme is a more straight example, being sung by Kirara's Japanese voice actress, also in-character.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- H-energy is built up through sexual arousal leading to an explosive release of energy and involves the characters being naked.
- This series is really fond of doing close-up shots of the belly buttons of the girls during fanservice scenes, especially when they are being caressed or licked.
- Shiko, after learning that Retto and Kirara aren't a couple, decides she and Retto should be "H-Friends", a.k.a. two people to build H-energy together while not dating.
- Excuse Plot: Since H-energy can be replenished through sexual arousal, the girls will occasionally invoke this deliberately when a big battle is heading their way, such as when Momoka convinced Sora and Maihime to go rescue Kirara in skirts sans underwear.
- Extreme Libido: Seemingly essential in order to be an HxEros. The power unleashed requires both a large amount of "Eros" and a keen consciousness of it.
- Fantastic Racism: Censor Bugs hate humanity and their "obsession" with sex. Interestingly enough, however, the human characters don't seem to hold any lasting grudges against the aliens as seen in befriending Chacha.
- Going Commando:
- When the team goes to rescue Kirara from the Censor Bugs who captured her, Momoka convinces Sora and Maihime to do this in order to build their H-energy.
- When given one of the prototype "XERO suits", Momoka learns of one of the defects (the building of H-energy) and is forced to take them off and leave school early.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: Naturally, the HxEros have to resort to this whenever they use H-energy, which destroys their clothes until they can get access to spare clothing or improvise something to wear.
- Hard Truth Aesop:
- Having dirty thoughts doesn't make you a bad person, and sex isn't just lewd but also an important way for lovers to bond.
- Changing yourself to make yourself look better and more morally sound could have serious repercussions on your relationships if you go too far with it.
- Magic Pants:
- Subverted to the team's dismay as H-energy destroys clothing leaving them naked afterwards assuming they don't have a change of clothes.
- Jō begins to play this straight when he develops the "XERO suits" which can't be damaged. However, there are drawbacks: one, they look exactly like underwear and two, wearing them for any length of time causes them to steadily build H-energy.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: Naturally, since the characters' power comes from pent up horniness, this is one method some of them use on occasion to stock up. However, as demonstrated with Momoka, this can be dangerous, as going too far can result in all that energy being released in the process.
- Naked People Trapped Outside: Subverted for the most part as all of the characters carry an extra change of clothes with them in the event of a fight. Of the two events where this is played straight, it's quickly remedied by someone coming to their rescue before anyone found them.
- Open Secret: The existence of Censor Bugs. While they have been attacking for well over a decade in broad daylight, the general public doesn't seem to be all that aware of them.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Retto and the girls may have abilities that are powered by H-energy, which causes them to end up naked after every fight, but that doesn't mean they enjoy it.
- Supporting Harem: The Deus Sex Machina nature of the plot means Retto often finds himself sharing intimate moments with many different girls. In spite of that, it's obvious to everyone that he only has eyes for Kirara, much to the frustration of the girls that do fall for him.
