DAL (Date a Live) has a very silly premise, we all have to agree that the concept is fairly unrealistic and dumb if you force yourself to compare it to reality, BUT I m expecting that anyone already knowledgeable of the harem genre can bypass such trivial matters.
I have read my fair share of harem light novels, what I expect the most out of them is pure enjoyment, silly comedy and the wish fulfillement from being surround by so many cuties!
If one wants to write a sucessfull harem series, the criteria above has to be meet, the plot can suffer a bit here and there, but as long you have a interesting cast of girls (aka harem) and alot scenes that just put a smile on your face, helping you forget that rough day we all have from time to time, checkmate, you have a good harem and you are set for some fun.

I dont reccomend reading harems or seeing harem series, to anyone looking for something serious, it is common sense, you need to turn of your brain while enjoying harem, otherwise you may end criticizing alot of the weird situations the creators came with.

DAL is the definition of a great harem! Now I will go over and explain why such praise in a minute, but first I want so shed some context.
I have seen both seasons in 2014 and at the time I deeply enjoyed them but never regarded the series as anything more than great art design and some really cute moments (Tohka <3), I had almost no hype coming towards the series and my only hyped was based on some spoilers I had for volumes 10-11 & 16-18, season 2 ended at volume 7 btw.
And before I forget, this has to be the LN with some of the best designs for each character, it fits right in terms of charm, cuteness, moe but also really cool/sexy designs like D. Tokha and Nia. Art and illustrations are to be praised on DAL, seeing the newer covers and illustrations as you progress is absolute eye candy.

Currently there are 18 volumes out, 17 (fan) translated in english, with vol18 only having some short summary on facebook.
The basis of which I m writting this review is having read all the 17 volumes and spoiling myself with the summary of volume 18.

I only came to the series expecting to have some fun time, I expected to have also to go through some more tedious moments, and while they exist, as the plot further progressed, the harem got bigger, I would find myself having more and more fun reading it! The cast was only enjoyable at first, but soon enough, it started to grown on me, I found myself surprised with how good the harem cast came to be and this carried me over for the most part, it made me care for each Spirit enough, and it made me want to keep reading more, discovering new spirits, and finding the source of everything... I can now surely confide that the plot on DAL is far from what I expected, what begins in a "generic range" later on growns to scales you couldnt previously foresee, some hints where there from the beginning (mainly Kurumi's goals), the plot gets very tense later on. The creator done his work, from the beggining he had this idea, the more you read the more you catch up to what is really going on, yet anyone going onto this series with mindset of reading some fun harem will get shocked by later developments!
This is a clear example of a writter that evolves with his writting and while still in the range of what is an harem, manages improve the story overtime.

Many of the volumes end in cliffhangers that make you excited to pick the next volume and start reading, across all the LNs I have read I think it is safe to assume DAL is the one with the most cliffhangers, and they are used rather alot.
You heard it, DAL is a great harem, but it also has a great plot if you stick with it long enough! (there is even time travel arcs done right)
Be prepared for some really genuine moving moments, a good number of plot-twists and a bunch of mindfucks that will leave you nuts, not believing the plot got that good... it gets rather dark way more than you would at first believe, and this last vol18 out, only fuels the despair further. O.O


Reading Vol 1 was alot of fun, it is the first volume so are in way experiencing it for the first time, at this point I wanted to read the LN as fast as possible so I could get over to vol7 and beyond (enjoyed that arc alot in S2), what I considered the "juicy" stuff, the new content yet to adapt!
While reading this series is far from boring, it has to be said that it starts slowly, as most plots, in the beggining since the harem isnt that big yet and the plot has yet to shed its true colors, you wont see the synergy between all the girls until later on.
I myself started to really enjoy DAL alot with vol.6, vol.3 was a nice tease though, but if I have to pick favorites, definitly vol.7, 11, 15 & 16-17 are my choices.
Wont go further on each of those in the review, that would be spoilers and I actually given alot of my toughts for each of them on the forums.

For this last segment I m going to focus on the cast, mainly the harem.
First the bad, the protagonist is easily average at best and while you can at many points be in sync with him, by how good this harem gets in time, my only complain for characters would be that Shidou did deserved to be a bit more likeable. He does grow a bit in development, and there are more than enough secrets to be unveiled about him, but and being honest and subjective here, I will have to compare across the medium and in other mediums, Issei from DxD and Arata from Trinity Seven are harem MCs that broke the mold and at many times you can just enjoy these series alot already solely from the enjoyment from seeing both of these dudes going in their pervert ways.

I m not giving Shidou the shits, he has alot of cool moments, but he isnt far from the most generic harem MCs.
What makes this series so great (aside the surprising plotline first ocurring on the backstage) is the harem cast itself, mostly composed of Spirits.
Suffice to say a good harem has something to suit all kinds of tastes, and DAL delivers over and over again.
My favorites (no order) are, Tohka, Origami, Miku, Natsumi and Kurumi.

I adore Tokha's innocent side, she is a big eater, far aware of her own charms, which leads to some very cute moments, and some very Tohka's like moments too. (I wouldnt mind being stepped over by Dark Tohka!)
Yoshino she that cute shy little girl that wants to try her best an be happy everyone (probably my less favorable but still held in high regards).

Kotori the main tsundere imouto delivers some rather high quality moments here and there (always got some good laughs whenever she has to somehow punish Kannazuki, which is by no means a solution since he is major masochist and could stand all day long being Kotori's living chair, basked only in the purest of the pleasures, in short he is the biggest pervert on the series).
Mana is the other imouto, avoiding spoilers, while not exactly in the harem herself she was at the time a great addiction to the cast and seeing her, Kotori and Shidou bickering about makes for some of the most tender family moments by far!
I just wish she stopped decapitating best girl, worst spirit ojou-sama everytime they both meet eachother..

Kurumi... she was always that character that marked for being different vs the others, but I never fancied her as much as alot of the fanbase seems to do. Reading the LN (and specially later volumes) reveals alot of stuff about her that easily make her the most complex character in the series, disguised as a cold murder/avenger that also likes to tease alot, the truth is that this actually refined ojou-sama has a alot of cute points about her, being the worst spirit, and still surprisingly, the most gente one... her goals are at the core of the series plot.
According to the writter, the first character he envisioned for the series was Kurumi, and it makes sense.
If you can read volume 16 and not truly fall in love for such best girl material, then you are being heartless.

Miku is the realization of some really pervy yet pure desires of mine, I love yuri... this girl goes straight for Shidou without reserve and in the process tries to lewd out the whole female cast!! (also she is a Diva, and Shidou is her "Darling")
While tsun-tsun Miku was my favorite part, she still doesnt disappoint (found her more honest and eager/childish side also very adorable), if I was Shidou, I would tremble (but in joy) by the ultimate triple tag team that is Miku/Origami/Nia ready to hatch some plot to get Shidou's chastity for good! A much in each harem, but a female MC going for both sides?! Shameless and very enjoyable, does it exist a more powerfull team combo?! These girls will strip you of your panties in a heartbeat, much to the dismay of the rest of the harem,

Natsumi, I disliked her a bit at first, but she does grown on you (ALOT), I personally think she and Yoshino have a great vibe together. She has quite some inferioty complex, and a really vivid imagination, when she goes full negative, it is fun to read and you just want to hug her! I can understand Miku's favorite aside Darling being Natsumi, sadly for Natsumi, Miku batteries needs lots of recharging~~
Kaguya and Yuzuru at first seemed those 2 characters that I would end up liking the less out of the harem, but they do complement eachother rather very very well, their shenanigans never get old, I love their way of talking and their fierce nature.
Complement. You couldn't ask for better twins in an harem setting (also one of the most arousing scenes involves both licking an ice cream together >//<).

Origami was the dull character for me at first, that I hated at parts (in particular volume 4) but that totally "inversed" itself for me, talking about her in detail would be full spoilers, you just need to know she is the protagonist of one of the better arcs (10-11).
Her past will come clear for you, she undergoes ALOT of plot development and I just ended up cheering for her alot later on, always a leecher, she is very smart but also holder of some rather dubious skills, you will she her coming, same face expression, like a doll, and in a heartbeat she will push you down and be ready for baby making!
Disgard all kind of common sense and you will come to accept her quite well, the most divine and devilish girl, and when drunk her cuteness growns to really really dangerous levels. Thread carefull with this girl on the block, you are food, the prey, the stalking predator will soon come, kiss your innocent goodbye~~

Mukuro is Mukuro, at the point she is introduced you cant just have that much feedback about her versus others, but she didnt fail at making me care for her, "Mukuro Family" so sweet, if there are times DAL can give you some rather pure and fuzzy feels... I also came to like alot her rather oldish way of speaking, even if it made it harder to understand, she has alot of charms, like all. Having her proclaim she wanted to enter into a flesh slave covenant with Nushi-sama, was the point I dropped my guard (LMAOed lots) and fully accepted Muku's papers to officially enrol into the harem!

Last but also rather unique is Nia, she dresses like a Sister in her Astral Dress form, yet this beautifull onee-sama (despite being washboard like) behaves mostly like an old man would, and so the boy suffers quite alot at the end to this (in)mature lady. Her arc had also one of the most shocking bone-shattering torture descriptions...

I think I covered everyone I should, I didnt the main villain, I leave that yourself to find out, let me just tell, everything is solely a game, when he gets serious, say goodbye to those peaceful times, you either go to war or you die, over and over again. You will never be able to understand the villain, he exists outside common sense and that just makes him more unpreditable.
(sometimes I genuinly enjoy Ellen, others I just want her to go burn in hell, also this is me trying to avoid extreme language on the review)

That should speak volumes for the quality and diversity of the main cast here.
If you want to chill out, have some good time, watch a series grown on you, surprise you over and over, with some rather drastic tone shifts that leave you speechless, Date a Live is more than recomended, it was a surprise for me but I can easily call it one of all time's best harem series. (I read all 17 volumes in 42 days)
Just hope the anime adapts enough for people to see more of its rather epic scope.
While I gave 9 in enjoyment, at times it can be considered a 10, same for plot and cast. Only way art could be 11 was if this LN packed 5x more pics, but it is the standard flair in LNs, with the added quality in drawing you rarely see.

Warning for all Kurumi lovers, if you are an anime watcher, you havent seen the full charms on display, real Kurumi later on, is best girl material.
Unlike the anime versions so far, the number of girls I could call best girls is far too high, and for me, on an harem that is a major plus, and signals that you are indeed in the presence of a great harem (currently at the climax also, will be missed).

9.2/10 = 9