Citrus

Human relation isn't always pretty. Take someone a little broken or empty, and it becomes hauntingly confusing and just a little too dark for anyone unfamiliar with the feeling. Citrus is an honest portrayal of this dark side to relationships. It's a tragedy, a crime even, to reduce its delicacy and sophistication to just a gratification story. The story is of two people growing as individuals and as a couple. The pace is slow and unsteady, and realistically so. Yuzu and Mei take their bittersweet time becoming closer, healing and understanding themselves and each other. The show deserves to be seen and understood beyond its visual and shock factor. It's so much more than just two girls kissing because they feel like it; granted, they do kiss a lot. More than decent animation. Appropriate and truly exceptional background music. Striking opening and ending songs. Breathtaking settings. Immersive cinematography. The show makes use of elements that are notable on their own, but are directed and pieced together in a way that makes them infinitely more effective together than alone. What's most notable about Citrus is its direction. While the dialogue exchanges weren't the most memorable, they match the story and the characters' personalities so well it makes them relatable and impactful. The characters alone are interesting and emotive, but the dynamics created by these characters make the stellar storytelling. The coming together of its pictures and music in telling the story of its characters, is where Citrus shines best. However, Citrus is easy to mistake for its core and motivations. Whether this is a fault on the delivery of the story or a consequence of the story's complexity, is debatable. In that sense, its storytelling is simultaneously its strongest suit and potential deal-breaker. I watched the show on two occasions. The first time, I dropped the show on the third or so episode. Few years later, I gave it a second chance and understood it on an emotional level. And fell in love with it. Perhaps I was too young and sensitive the first time I came across the show. Perhaps I imagined the manga differently. That was when I realized I had to review this show, if only to contribute to the few who were moved by its beauty. Under the right circumstances and the right mindset, I wish people see Citrus for the gem that it is. A gem that sparkles only when placed under the right light. Citrus isn't perfect. Far from it. The animation is at times awkward. Some story arcs are lacking. Most importantly, its portrayal and dramatization can easily come across as fetishistic and/or romanticist. Preferences and subjectivity aside, it's easy to dismiss the show as terrible. But give it a chance. Wait for the shock to wear off, and you'll find that Citrus, its very nature, is more good than bad.

Coming around as seasonal mass-production on school-setting romance. Hype line through episodes to keep atention. Mostly based on market tendencies around period and yuri fetishism. Despite similarities with recent anime I like, guess I have motives to miss it. Enjoyed stereotypical char relations to some extent, although I started hating characters who could otherwise mean more. Real deal with this is how based on ideal other-worldy romantical it is. Does not treat about affection, love seems blank. Not quite angry with CGI crowds and porly draws. Not moeish. Nice FanService for those who can easily claim alienated emotion. (don't mean that in any pejorative sense) Kinda sucks and I would rather select other titles. Kiss compilation is worth smh. Be heatlhy, hydrate.

Citrus (Yuri) this was my first anime i was just surfing youtube and saw this named as "Citrus Ep1 dub" i got curious and clicked that video and i saw the real beauty of Japanese animation(Anime) i thought that anime were just photos and fan arts but then i saw this video and searched more about Anime , i really loved the plots, stories and the art of presenting Anime. i may be a boy but i really loved this show i really loved the romance between those sisters to be honest i really dont like Shoujo ai anime(s) but this anime was exception the story was something very unique. well this anime may be Shoujo ai and all about girls but this anime has something more then that the starting of this anime is about a girl who just shifted to a new girls school (only girls school) and is clueless about love, after that she mets her step-sister. the story begans there. whatever happens next see by yourself in this series... [say no to spoilers]

2018 was Year of the Yuri for GL fans. Bloom Into You introduced a dramatic story about seemingly one sided love. Happy Sugar Life brought back a yandere MC with a loli complex. And Citrus gave it's shot at stepsisters falling in love. Citrus kind of fell flat for me for a couple reasons: -It has the Stawberry Panic problem of characters throwing themselves at eachother. -The drama is played up but it's hard to empathize with the MC's love interest. -The third arc takes the pacing of the show and fucks it up with weaker characters and a poorly delivered message about loving something enough to let it go. The story is intriguing, obnoxious teenager thrown into a school after her mom remarries. Everyone else is completely bland and boring. She proceeds to break every rule she can and stands out among the student body. Later, it's revealed that her mom married the father of her new stepsister, who happens to be president of the student council and granddaughter to the chairman of the academy. The two girls struggle with their feelings for each other, unsure of whether they are romantic, sisterly, or an obligation. I felt the character designs for the main cast were really good, but the background characters are so bland it's as if the rules of the school were written around a lack of an artistic vision rather than necessity. Overall, Citrus is a mixed bag. There are plenty of yuri moments if that's all you want out of it. But character development is slow and even after an arc is finished you can be left annoyed with the way the characters handled their situation.

If I had to describe Citrus, here is what I would say : To my little sister : a heartbreaking impossible love story between 2 female teenagers that everything opposes. To my little brother : a lesbian love story. To my parents : a very interesting love story mixing true feelings and difficulties coming from family & society. To my female friends : a very catchy love story which includes modern issues such as homosexuality but also family. To my male friends : a story with girls kissing and almost having sex together, man. More seriously : Citrus represents an interesting drama / romance anime, mixing classic love codes but however placed in a contemporary world. Indeed, the relation between the 2 main characters remains modest and patient, nothing gets too quick. It is more about discovering, understanding each other slowly with passion. Nevertheless, what makes it special is that the love story happens between 2 girls (not uncommon and not forbidden where I live, so it did not shock me at all)... who are also sisters. Basically, Citrus brings both homosexuality & incest but in a soft way ; understand that it does not promote any sexual orientation but gives a kind of tolerance message to all viewers. Actually, everything opposes the 2 girls : one being a fancy lazy blonde and the other one being a serious cold-heart acting school girl with high responsibilites. This is at first a duel between 2 different classes and way of life. However this aspect quickly disappears to concentrate on the purest romance plot. The anime includes 2 triangles of love which will help both characters to highlight some of their personal aspects. I found them interesting and relevant but a bit poorly exploited. Actually, Citrus was a good show to watch but it did not bring me tears and torment my thoughts for days (unlike some stories like Nozoki Ana, which is an erotic romance / love story I loved ; you can find my review on my profile). Some viewers surely found it heartbreaking on some points or very arousing / attractive ; well I did not but it does not mean the whole show was bad. Indeed, our main characters' love story is not characterised by a single line where everything goes well, no no. Yeah, it should be drawn as russian moutains, with high deceptions but also joyful moments (with a happy expected ending, as you can guess watching the opening). Perhaps knowing from the start how it would end impeached me to fully enter the story. I also think the fact they intended to build relations with many characters (they all are secondary but still have a great role) created an interest for... too many characters in fact. To be honest, my attention was caught by the other girls lol, not saying that Yuzu & Mei were not well designed, eh. At the end, I am convinced the ending satisfied most viewers (an happy ending usually does so) but my hunger / interest was not repleted, however. In fact, I expected more, something like an 'after war' moment, where both girls act as a new created & official couple. Some might say the story leaves this upcoming (Citrus has done being aired or published, do not expect more) part to my own imagination... probably right, yeah. Well, it was still a pleasant 12-episode show to follow, even if it didn't reach my heart I enjoyed discovering a controversial love story.

Hi ! Another Robert's Too Late Review coming at you! This time, we're not so far behind (we're usually YEARS late) but fate makes up for it by the fact that this review will likely be on page 25 or further back of reviews, seen only by a single pair of mortal eyes and perhaps a bored Elder God or two. So hello fellow mortal and thanks for taking a moment to read this review! I will do my best to keep it up to the quality standards RTLR reviews are known for! I'll even discuss the RTLR wall of anime slobbery-kisses! Today we're going to be talking about the oft-discussed anime Citrus. There seemed to be a lot of expectations surrounding this title (at least in the circles I move in) and there was a good bit of (mostly) unfair judgment against the show. At first blush, I also stuck my nose in the air, but after taking some time, and getting off my preconceptions, I watched the series again, and feel I can give it a much more honest grade. Of note, I am reviewing *only* the anime. I know the manga exists, and I know many readers find the manga to be far superior, and that it fills in some of the more puzzling aspects of the characters, but this isn't appearing on an 'overall media experience' page, its appearing on an 'anime review' page, so you will get just that because that is what my first hand experience covers. Story: 7 I actually did enjoy the story in Citrus. There are some bumps and ruts that lower the score some, but overall they did a fair job of presenting the tale well. The synopsis explains the whole how blondie Yuzu and dark Mei come to be together, so check that for details. Blondie Yuzu is very honest in the story, and admits to having no experience in matters of love. Her story arc reflects this naivety perfectly, as she's easily confused and gets her feelings jumbled easily, just as one would expect. The dark headed Mei is even more interesting in that she has been jaded by past events and uses what she has as a weapon, even when she doesn't intend to do so. It's ingrained into her by her life. The big rub for many was that dark Mei's actions seemed out of place and out of character. Some claim she does the odd acts she does for nothing more than titillation value. I don't find that to be the case. What we have is a story of a girl (blonde Yuzu) who is wide open in her heart being brought together with a horribly scarred girl (dark headed Mei) who acts out on her feelings in ways she herself doesn't even understand. Coming together, blonde Yuzu being led so easily to true feelings for Mei, who is truly confused and just thrashing around, the pair work through all their issues and come to know true feelings. Dark Mei is very similar in theme to Shizuma from Strawberry Panic. They are both damaged girls who have learned to use sexuality as a defense, even as a weapon to protect their hearts. Mei's overtly sexual (well, kissing everyone that gets within arm's reach that is) actions actually have a well defined and explained reasoning behind them. Due to the trauma of her life, she becomes who she is. Many dismissed the anime because Mei seems so random, but I propose a more attentive viewing shows that Mei isn't just some crazy kissing lunatic, but instead a deeply hurt girl. The story of how both girls, on polar opposites of the spectrum, come to understand and accept real love is moving. I think a fair amount of people might not 'get' dark headed Mei's strange behavior because they have little experience with the kind of trauma that produces people like her. That's a good thing, obviously, in real life. Well, I've experienced and have people close to me that also experienced deep trauma, and I can say Mei acts in a manner that is authentic. The way blonde Yuzu works with Mei and handles Mei's meltdowns and such is very touching. Yuzu herself isn't sure about what is going on, or how her heart is telling her to react either, but she cares enough for Mei to keep working together with her to get past Mei's pain. Look at it for what it is, and that's a moving story. I can tell you from experience most people don't love deep enough to try to stay and help you through the difficulties that make you act out inappropriately. Now, why did I not score the story higher? Well, even though it hit me as very authentic, there are still parts that are handled poorly. I found the entire character of Matsuri who was brought in mid-way through as nothing more than a cop-out for true further emotional exploration. I also found the 'new' girlfriend brought in literally the last episodes to be completely rushed and not properly utilized. Another ding for me was a side character that is a long time friend of Mei's that is apparently interested in pursuing a relationship with her. She acts as a foil to blonde Yuzu for the opening handful of episodes. The idea of a 'normal' girl seeing damaged Mei and wanting to protect her is perfectly normal, to have her basically disappear after being romantically 'defeated' by Yuzu in the race for Mei's affections was just sloppy. Honestly, they could have also written that trauma in a manner that was more direct and could have been more easily related to by people that haven't had such dark experiences. I 'got' Mei because I know girls that have been hurt, and hurt badly, and could immediately see how Mei's behavior was that of a troubled kid. But most people don't have experience with such troubled little girls, and I think that made it harder for them to come to terms with why Mei was doing such odd things like she does. I think it caused confusion, and a story should always be written in a manner to eliminate confusion. Mystery in the plot is fine, but things that seem contrary or nonsensical are usually not good calls. I could see Mei being nonsensical (and heard as much from people) when viewed with a lens not fogged by personal trauma experience. Art: 10 I LOVE the art in Citrus. Everything about how it is drawn and presented just wows me. I love the detail in the faces and eyes, love the choice of coloring. I adore Mei's purple eyes, and the small detail touches they put around in different places. I often find myself thinking as I was a new (to me at least) anime how well the art matches up to Citrus. I really do think of this series as a real standard to hold up. I can easily forget it is animation I am watching and I see the characters as real people. The backgrounds look good, the styling is smart, and the colors pop. Love love love it! Sound: 8 The voices are well done. Mei's voice is very well matched to her personality. She has that dead calm, almost emotionless tone that the characters requires. Yuzu is very animated, and her voice is bubbly and fun. As the series progresses, the actress playing Yuzu does very well in accentuating the name 'Mei' every time she says it, giving the whole 'crush' on Mei a proper note in her vocals. It's like she gets a little breathless and dreamy every time she even says Mei's name. Very well acted. Harumin, who is Yuzu's best friend, is also well cast, sounds right. The mid-point antagonist Matsuri is also appropriately menacing-sounding, as much as a young Japanese girl can be (which is a LOT us anime fans know!) and over all everyone has great voices. The opening song is odd, but grew on me, and the ending is pretty and I think fits the show well enough. My ears were pleased, I think yours will be too. Character: 9 Again, Yuzu's innocence and Mei's tragic past are both well written, well fleshed out. I would have given a full 10 if not for the fact that I think Mei isn't properly explained early enough for people without experience with troubled teen girls. Perhaps my own experience in knowing girls like that makes me think they assumed too much, I will admit. Guess that's why reviews are by nature subjective. I think they could have explained better for happy people, and happy people might think that Mei's trauma was explained perfectly when it needed to …

This anime must be considered an avant garde cultural piece in to the fore of the movement into deeper, more intellectual and philosophically thought provoking Japanese Works. There are clear influences of Freudian Theories on the overall story and can be used to explain the choices and characters in the story. For example, both the protagonists, Yuzu and Mei must be considered physical representations of the positive and negative Oedipal Complex concepts. In addition to this, the subtle nods to primitive psychology are present throughout the story. Clearly the Christmas cake scene and the behavior of the characters within the setting can be explained through a deeper analysis of the more well placed details many viewers may ignore. The strawberry base of the Christmas Cake can be used to explain the behavior of the two titular characters through the fact that strawberry is a natural aphrodisiac and unleashes the primal yet provocative inner repressed natures of the two. This is truly why the anime must be regarded as a revolutionary phenom in the industry.

Citrus is the most over the top train wreck of an anime I have ever seen in my life. It’s definition of subtlety is listening to the Eminem Show on the stereo during a roll over car crash and because of that… it is a ton of fun to watch! Citrus is a very rare and special show that only comes around once every few years. There are shows that are fantastic. There are shows that are good and there are shows that are bad. However, there are also shows like Citrus, which intentionally or unintentionally redefine the “it’s so bad it’s good” genre. Citrus chooses to approach this through absurdly fake characters and an inexplicably inept grasp on reality, all while unapologetically exploiting the Yuri romance genre. The first entertaining facet of Citrus are the fictitious characters, many of whom would never, under any circumstance, exist in our reality. Yuzu is the star of the show as most every episode focuses on her and her emotions. She is extremely obnoxious, care free, and grossly over the top to the point where everyone around her has to pay attention to her. Much of the reason why she is so entertaining is because she is completely flanderized to the point where the show will disregard any realistic repercussions to her actions to accommodate her. Much of the time, we see her skipping school, disrespecting superiors, and whining to others to get her points across. However, much of the time the show considers her actions noble and justified adding to the hilarity of the show. Much of the side cast is incredibly amusing as well. Mei is a wildly entertaining depiction of a girl with sexual frustrations whose constant dead eyed expression and sand paper like dialogue produced many amusing “WTF?” moments. Matsuri is a young high school girl who acts and talks like a porn star in her late 30s. Many times the adults in the show are completely oblivious to anything happening in the lives of their young ones, which also adds to the fun because it allows the girls to work things out in their own over the top ways. The character’s ridiculous personas are so unbashful and in your face; you cannot help but laugh throughout every episode. Another fun and ludicrous aspect of Citrus is the show’s… “Unique” grasp on reality. Most of the time in other anime the character’s will have to change their personalities to accommodate for the challenges they have to face throughout the story. However, as I touched on above, Citrus chooses to depict reality in an idiotic and nonsensical way to accommodate for the character’s outlandish personalities. This means in Citrus’s reality, there are no such thing as consequences. As with Yuzu, the other characters also choose to spit in the face of universal norms in incredibly distressing ways. We see all of the girls, and I do mean ALL OF THE GIRLS choose to have illegal sexual relations with others, manipulate others through blackmail, and publicly disturb others by yelling and arguing with each other on more than eleven or so occasions. However, the show decides to not only depict these acts as normal and justified but goes one step further by rewarding these characters for their criminal actions. This depiction of reality to accommodate for the girl’s personalities and shockingly insane behavior was incredibly entertaining throughout the show. Finally, this show is a blatant exploitation of the Yuri romance genre. As someone who rarely watches romance anime, I had no expectations for Citrus going in. However, after the first few sexual scenes, that depicted Yuri romance as illegal sexual assault and then absurdly depicted these acts as normal and justified I was stunned. The show bafflingly rewarded Yuzu and others when they attempted to assault Mei throughout the show. This was even goofier because of how whimsical the writers attempted to depict these scenes. The animation also added a strange aspect to these whimsical scenes, and by that, I mean that it is good. In fact, the animation is almost too good to the point where much of the time the character’s expressions cannot keep up with the artwork during these scenes adding to the hilarity. The character’s awkward expressions combined with the in your face dialogue were so insane and shameless, I couldn’t help but laugh out of being stunned over and over again at the show’s completely unapologetic attitude throughout the anime. Citrus should be avoided by the faint of heart or anyone seeking any sort of genuine romance anime. However, its absurd reality and flagrant attitude make it a great addition to the “it’s so bad it’s good" genre that should satisfy those looking for many awkward laughs.

WARNING! Consider reading this review only after you have finnished the anime/manga. It contains some spoilers, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE ENDING OF THE SHOW! Ill try to avoid as much as i can, and focus only on the development of the show, and how its handled. English isnt my native language, so im sorry in advance for any grammar errors. Also, i didnt read the manga, so the review is solely based on the anime. Taboo topics are hard to grasp and transfer into any form of a show. That's why there are not that many good yuri series. Throwing some kind of incest into the pot? What could go wrong, right? Well.. alot. By creating an ambitious plot idea its easy to slip and fall dramatically, which sadly is the case with Citrus. There are alot of reviews of people who actually praise it for, apparently, good character design, intriguing plot, etc. I'll try to explain why i strongly disagree with any of that, especially within the Character, and Story score section of the review. It will be propably pretty lenghty, so bear with me. Art [5/10] The show immediately teases us with some really bright scenery and good looking, attractive characters. It's true, that art has some value here and there, but its very rare occurance the more you watch. The landscapes of the city that you're shown in the beginning are just forgotten after few episodes, because the show keeps you in the claustrophobic scenery for the most of the time. All you see is the same room, house, and school for around 6-8 episodes straight. That's a bad decision on the director's part, since the show has nothing to offer at the end. Why? Keep reading. As far as animation goes, it's pretty okay. Sometimes. When the shot's are close ups on the characters, they are looking gorgeous. But the further the camera is, the more awkward the animation and the art gets. Im sorry, but it gets so ridiculous sometimes with the facial expressions in the distance, that you're wondering if the character is sad, or needs to take a shit really bad. Colours are either badly composed, or too bright/sharp, very inconsistent. Nothing special most of the time, sometimes good, and VERY awkward, alot. Sound [3/10] There is nothing here to say about it for the most part. Music feels dull, and out of place sometimes, like it's from a Looney Tunes cartoon. Like, what? My ear didnt catch anything worth attention the whole story, except the main theme that plays when they kiss, etc. That's it. I liked a few voice actors, Yuzu's best friend had the best one in my opinion. The Yuzu and Mei voice actors were nothing special. Story [3/10] Alright.. here we go. Listen. You know when someone tries to do everything right too hard, and fails miserably in everything? It's really sad to see that. And im very sad that this happened to Citrus. We have a very good setup at first, the girl living with her mom, who found a new boyfriend who has a daughter, and she moves in to live with them. I leave their character design to the next section, but the plot looks kinda interesting, and it has some potential. Now here's the choice of the director. Do you want to make an anime about family drama? Or maybe about lesbian relationship drama? Maybe incest? Maybe a fucking soap opera with alot of fan service? Nah, lets just do it all at once. Look, im not saying that these cant exist together in a show, but you cant fit that many eggs in one basket and carry it without any difficulty ahead. I have a feeling that the director just threw some plots all together and mixed them without any reason. Lets talk about every option separately. Incest is hard to portrait, since its a taboo topic, that's not all that acceptable overall. I've heard it's a lighter topic in Japan, but im not sure if that's true, and im not gonna pretend i do know if it is. The anime Yosuga no Sora did handled it pretty well, not perfect but you know what was the conclusion at the end, whenever you accept it, or not. Sometimes you dont choose who you love, and with that said, there are alot of consequences, whenever you like it or not, if you decide to embrace your feelings. In the case of Citrus, all the incest plot was just so poor, and not neccesary. The struggles shown in the series felt fake, and weird, like it wasnt really a problem, but they tried to really make you believe it is. The second part, lesbian relationships. With romance there are few things to consider to make any decent story. Drama, and the feelings that people have for eachother, and the overall chemistry of the characters. If you want to throw some fan service there, go ahead, whatever. But the director in this case didnt decide what he wants to do with it. The drama was shallow, and obnoxious, alot of characters were purely plot devices (which i will come back to it later), and the story didnt mean anything at the end. Most of the kissing scenes were thrown without context or purpose, except one. They just fucking kissed, because. After i saw the third character was also a lesbian, i knew how its going to be till the end. Just alot of lesbians everywhere, because, and they want to kiss, and shit. The drama was just there to extend the show maybe, i dont know, really. The conclusion is, if you cant decide on something, its still better to pick only one, sacrifice and cut the idea abit and go with it. If you mix it all together without any thought its just a clusterfuck of everything that doesnt fit all together, and feels unfinnished, and not authentic. Character [4/10] This show has non existent chemistry between the main characters. I know they just met, and are forced to live together, and they develop some feelings along the way. But even at the end, you dont understand what is going on, what's the drive of their own decisions, and choices, especially in the case of Mei. The only likable character was Harumi, and i really wish she had any backstory to her character. Yuzu is obnoxious for the whole show, and Mei is just a stereotypical lifeless doll that doesnt speak much, has a cold personality, and does weird shit all day. At the end, you would expect a feeling that they're actually meant for each other, and feel the chemistry between them. Instead, they feel like strangers to each other, forever. About the backstory. Alot of characters dont have any backstory at all, or its so short, that you cant really tell who they are, or care about anyone. Examples are, Mei's father, grandfather, Matsuri and the twins at the end. Especially the twins. They appear at the end just for the sake of fueling the drama even more, so the main characters cant go together yet, because MORE USELESS DRAMA. Enjoyment [2/10] Overall [4/10] I've thrown enjoyment and overall conclusion together, because this review is fairly long, and there's no point of repeating what's already said. This show is dreadfuly boring, and tasteless. It's a jack-of-all-trades attempt, a pretty horrible one. This story could have some potential, but sadly, it was handled very poorly. The incest plot is unnecesary, and the mix of Yuri romance/Drama is the worst of its kind. Im giving it a 4, just because i really felt this show could be more. It had only a few good moments, and it makes me really sad. Dont waste your time on it, and i mean it. Thank you.

Objectively speaking, the romance itself is kinda cliche, other than the fact that it is between two girls. They go through some of the same romantic drama that you see in other romances. They get closer, something happens and they get awkward, then they get closer, then something happens and their fighting or something. But it was also very different because the interactions between two girls was quite different from any other real romance I've watched. Also, the characters themselves seemed a lot different to me. Maybe I've seen too many harems, but this didn't have any same old boring character types. Even though the events were sometimes cliche and predictable, the characters themselves stayed true to themselves and seemed pretty deep to me. When they resolved things, they actually grew as people. You could see the way they acted and dressed changed. Anyways, I really liked it. Even though it felt similar to some other romances, it also felt really different. and different is good after watching too much anime. To be fair, I should also mention that I like yuri, so my opinion may be biased.

I absolutely love all things Citrus (am kinda Yuri Trash) and honestly I was so happy with how this show was adapted be that both the dub and sub, my only criticism is more with the people who watched this before reading the manga, citrus is not just about the fact it is two step sisters as this really does have a deeper meaning more about what it is like to fall in love and the struggles that come with it, in a way I wish it had more than 12 episodes because for those that don't follow the manga they won't really be able to connect very well, I love the opning and endning songs and find the voices match the character so well, minus Matsuri but that is more my own issue than voice actor. Also ahou out to Funimation they did such a good job as I was kinda worried about how this would be dubbed but I have no issues with it what so ever as the voice actors are all amazing people(David Wald is such a nice guy, Megan Shipman and Amber Lee Connors are also amazing people.

Let's establish a fact: Yuri anime is very slim pickings. If you do like the genre, beggars can't really be choosers. Overall, if you're not interested in Yuri, Citrus probably won't entice you. Though it's a generally entertaining anime in it's own right and you could do a lot worse. Enjoyment - 9 - If you do like Yuri . . . Citrus is one of the best out there. Really, your enjoyment will hinge on whether you came to watch a Yuri anime or not. It doesn't pull the punches or go the innocent cutesy route which will catch the interest of many just for that. You see a full on relationship develop with interesting, well written characters. Characters - 8 - What really carries the series is its characters. Every one of them is distinct and fleshed out. And better yet, the way they interact has chemistry and feels genuine, with solid dialogue helping move episodes forward at a good pace. characters may start out as archetypes but the writing makes them so charismatic they elevate the lukewarm story. Story - 6 - Speaking of which, the storyline itself is rather cliche and sticks to a lot of tropes. Though mercifully the execution isn't terrible and in fact the show adapts the source material in a competent manner, often adding and taking away to help the pacing and smooth out rougher parts. The issue of sexual assault's a valid one. The author uses it as a plot device several times without really exploring how serious the matter is. I wouldn't blame anyone for holding it against the anime as it's a dissappointing part of an otherwise enjoyable series. Animation - 7 - Citrus not bad but not great. The anime doesn't have amazing production values or an ambitious style. Citrus has neither but it's characters are attractive, distinct and well drawn, the environments are fine and the animation's smooth. It won't win any awards or catch people's attention on its own, but the overall production doesn't hold the anime back either. Sound - 7 - Music and effects are fine, though not particularly memorable, although the anime was never hinging on either as the hook. The voice acting's solid and the characters except for one all feel well cast. Overall - 7 - Because Citrus is such a niche series, and it doesn't really do much to elevate itself beyond being a very good and enjoyable Yuri title I can't give it higher than a 7 in the overall rating. Citrus is far from perfect but also is far from bad. The characters and their interactions are really great. It's major hook is being one of the best examples in its genre, a genre which is woefully sparse.

I want to start this review by saying that I'm kind of biased when it comes to this one. I have been waiting for a Yuri anime for a while and you can tell I'm a fan of these if you look at the rating I gave Sakura Trick, which was also a 10. Now, I know that, if I were to rate this one (and Sakura Trick as well, for that matter), objectively, it would quite certainly not be a 10. I tried to be more objective when rating the story, art, sound and character design, though. In itself, the story was a bit interesting. It isn't exactly your usual slice of life anime, where nothing too fascinating happens and it just exhibits regular life for a specific group of people. Rather, it's more on the romantic drama side. I had to rate the art a bit lower. It's definitely not one of those series that you'll just look at the art and it'll turn you off to the point where you just want to drop it, but they surely could have done a better job with it. An instance where I found the art lacking was when crowded areas were being presented. You could see the main characters moving around in the middle of lots of people, while all these people were frozen in place and nobody was moving. Obviously, they were part of the background, but it just felt completely unnatural. The sound was, in my opinion, pretty good. I don't really have much to say about it. As far as the soundtracks are concerned, I enjoyed the opening one to the point where I never actually skipped it, but that's just personal taste. The character design was also quite diverse. You have Yuzu, the main character of the show, who is generally an optimistic person and tries to always look at the bright side of things. She's one of those people that are usually excessively excited, but not to the point where it gets irritating and obnoxious (I'm looking at you, Death March). To counter her personality, you get Mei, a more serious-minded and well-reserved person. She usually hides her feelings and isn't very open about them. There's also side-characters, like Harumin (Yuzu's friend) and the vice president, who either help the story progress or are just there for support. I gave this one an overall rating of 10 because, taking into account the amount of enjoyment I got from it personally, I just couldn't let myself give it anything lower than that. As I did mention, though, this is a biased score. The fact that there hasn't been many anime for a while now (or even generally), whose main focus is the romantic relationship between women, led me to rate it this high. A lot of series that I have watched do hint at such relationships, but they are never open about it, nor is that their basic focus. I would definitelly recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of the Yuri genre. I believe this one is similar to Sakura Trick, but actually has a plot this time instead of just being random scenes of girls making out. I would assume that, from a perspective of somebody who isn't big on this genre, this wouldn't be very interesting to watch. Yet, if you are into the romance genre and don't mind it being between girls, this can still be something that you'd possibly like watching. If this series were to be briefly and very vaugely described, it would be something in the lines of "an extrovert trying to get an introvert to open up to them". I guess this is obvious, but do not attempt to watch this if you're not at least okay with romance between two girls. I'm pointing this out because there were many people giving this show very low ratings due to the fact that it included such a thing. It should be understandable that it will, when you see the "Yuri" tag. There's no point in you watching it, unless you are okay with what that tag entails. To the people planning to watch this, have fun. It definitelly was one of the best series for me personally. In fact, I was looking forward to Sunday morning every time, because I'd get to sit and watch a new episode of this.

I waited so long for this anime. I like shoujo ai but isnt very common to find good ones. This one looked like it was going to be a mature, interesting one. I was wrong. The first 3-4 Episodes were good. It had plot. The 5th one was important: after this one, things could go downhill or up to the skies. They couldn't develop a good story. It was full of clichés and non-sense. Anyways. This anime is "Ok", almost bad. Poor. Was way more childish than expected, especially the characters. The good news is that it have nice art and animation. Itsnt top, but is really good.

The only people who will probably say Citrus is really good are those who are into pseudo-incestual lesbian/yuri stuff. THAT SAID, this series ended up being better than I thought it would. For some reason, every studio seemingly insists on hitting you hard with the overtly perverted vibes early on, which will probably be off-putting to anyone new to anime or to this type of genre. Underneath all of that, though, is something of a story about struggling to convey emotions and dealing with societal/family expectations. The writers ended it in a way that gave some closure, but left the story open for continuation. I wouldn't be too surprised if we get a second season late next year. The opening theme is good, as was the score. There was occasional ugly animation, but that can be said most series, so we'll call it the norm. Overall, fairly pretty, and fairly enjoyable if you're into romantic dramas. If not, it's probably best to pass this one up.

So normally when I write a review, I talk about multiple aspects of the anime to give a better image on how I view a anime. But this time, I want to do something different. Citrus is a anime I really don't like, but I have thought about why I don't like Citrus past season. And after a season of thinking and Citrus releasing its final episode, I have come up with the 2 big problems this anime has. Problem 1: The first impressions you get from this anime is bad The first four episodes are immediately the worst episodes of Citrus. All of those episodes contained incest sexual assaults and awkward pacing. This in a weird contrast to the later eight episodes which are different, but also contain their own problems which I get into later. If you wanted to watch a drama with a lot of emotions, you will get turned of by the first four episodes. Problem 2: The relationship between Yuzu and Mei constantly gets reset This needs a bit of explaining. Yuzu and Mei are the main characters of the story and the romance between them is the focus of the plot. ''So what is the plot?'' you may ask, well here it is: Mei or Yuzu get feelings for eachother, they get closer to eachother, Mei or Yuzu decides that this isn't good, distance herselve of the other and their relationship is back to square one. Repeat four times until the end. This excuse of a plot is not only lazy, but also frustrating. It feels like the author of Citrus didn't know how to make one string of building up a relatioship and just decided to build up the relationship four times. To be honest, this anime is not completely bad. The animation really fluid and the music is also pretty good, but everything else just frustrates me (including those two problems I mentioned). I do not recommend watching Citrus, but if you still want to watch it, then get ready for incest, blackmailing and rape.

Alright where do I start. I originally wanted to watch this because everyone said the manga was terrific. They were wrong. Not only was the plot garbage, but also it had absolutely NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. From episode one, Mei had the weirdest personality. She was condescending and cold for NO REASON to Yuzu. She kissed her without consent to get her to "shut up". I'm sorry what? Yes you heard me right. She kissed her to get her to stop talking. The author probably has never been in a relationship and fantasizes about no consent relationships all day. Yuzu, unlike Mei, was a bubbly happy retard who fell in LOVE with Mei the moment she was kissed without consent. Wth. She never doubted the creepiness of Mei's intrusive nature. Yuzu never really developed as a character from ep 1 to ep 12. The worst two characters by far are Matsuri and the curly haired failure that follows Mei everywhere. Matsuri was clearly raised by wolves. She tries to make moves on Yuzu and constantly calls her "onee-chan" in the most irritating and nauseating voice ever heard in the history of anime. She is about 14 years old and sexts old men to make money. Darling where are your parents? Author what are you trying to teach to young girls watching this anime? The anime literally could have done without her. Period. Now for the curly haired failure that followed Mei around like a puppy, she was just absurd and downright weird. Why is she so obsessed with Mei? Mei is an empty shell without a personality. Another thing that bothered me was the addition of Nina and her sister Sara in the last couple episodes. The author had to shove them in there because the story started to get repetitive and boring. The author also had to shove Matsuri in the anime because things started to get repetitive and boring. See the trend? Sara and Nina were both cookie cutter lame 3-year old acting girls who did not help the plot one bit. It was quite frankly nauseating watching them act like toddlers. This is what I hate about anime. They feel the need to shove toddler looking and acting girls into rom com and slice of life animes and claim that they are in high school. All in all, I thought this anime was a complete flop. A failure. A work of trash. A disgrace. The author could have written the story better and actually developed the characters ffs. But nooooo she had to lose all her brain cells before she wrote Citrus. Should have just made it a hentai. Nuff said.

Crean o no, este fue mi primera (Y capaz única) serie de genero "Yuri" que vi y que en el momento que hago esta review no he leído el manga que segun tengo entendí por comentario de tercero tiene material que no pudieron adaptar en susodicha adaptación. en fin ¡¡QUE EMPIECE EL ANALISIS!! Historia (Story): 5 La historia trata de una adolescente enérgica y extravagante en cuanto a ponerse la ropa del día, llega a una preparatoria femenina en donde de repente... <<(*¡¡Plot Twist For Plot Twist!!*)>> (Lo que ya vieron almenos el primer episodio entenderán). En fin, esta junto a otra chica, comparten polos opuesto, que a lo largo de la serie, sus formas de ser choca entre si o con personajes relacionadas con ellas. En si, este tipo de cosas puede ser visto en tu típico Shonen favorito en la que el prota tiene al obligatorio rival, solo que acá, en vez de agarrarse a golpes, suelen siempre a comerse a besos (En casi todos los capítulos). En varios casos, los sucesos tienen a caer en lo cliché del típico drama romántico (Amistad de la infancia, tercera en discordia, traumas infantiles, etc) sumado a la desesperante relación que tienen este duo haría que cualquiera "Droppeara" de inmediato la serie, en la que nos entrega un desenlace "Conformista" después de tantos problemas. Estilo artístico (Art): 7 A pesar de verse algo genérico la animación es estable, a pesar de no ser destacable, en algunas escenas me sorprenden los aspectos lumínicos en cuanto al diseño de la ciudad, hasta lo hacian perecer un jodido Wallpaper. Aunque lo que si el uso de CGI, fue medianamente sutil, si ignoramos los estudiantes sin vida que salen en las tomas aéreas de la escuela o los trenes sacados de un juego de PS2. En cuanto al diseño de personajes como ya mencione, es genérico. y siempre me incomodo el coloreado rosado en las piernas (Mayormente se nota más en Yuzu). OST/ Seiyuus (Sound): 8 En cuanto a la banda sonora, fue normalona y no destacable, pero funciona en las escenas en la que las complementan. En cuanto a las voces, fueron buenas y supieron darle vida a los personajes, aunque siempre habra alguna voz que te sacara de tus casillas. Personajes (Character): 4 En este apartado seré sincero, los personajes no fueron nada entrañables, Yuzu fue tu tipica chica buena samaritana con todos y la vez muy sumisa...demasiado diría yo. Y Mei, la peor del duo, en la que su personalidad me desespera, ya sea por su inestabilidad emocional en la que hace que la serie se alarge más de los debido, y la relación entre ellas se complique más. Luego están los secundarios que no aportan mucho y solo sirven de alivio después de escenas de besos entre las féminas. Entretenimiento (Enjoyment): 8 Después de mencionar todos los problemas y cierto puntos a favor que tiene la serie, tengo que decir que supo mantenerme enganchado (Lo vi todo en un día ¡¡OMG!!), aunque peca de mostrarnos Flashbacks continuamente de sucesos del mismo capitulo, por lo que lo vuelve cansina ¬_¬ Y sus escenas "Hot" digamos que es su fuerte, aunque cae en darnos eso en casi toda la serie y que al final de tanto lió, sentís que la historia no avanzo mucho y que hasta la telenovela de tu madre hubiera concluido mejor. En fin, no se si voy a seguir continuando de ver esta serie (Si le dan una segunda temporada) después de ciertos sentimientos encontrados junto a un hate que lleva mi yo critico, solo el futuro lo dirá. - Atte. Your Partner Max

Can we maybe, just like, cool it with all the rape please? Citrus is so frustrating, because its so very bad, but could have been so very good with only a few minor changes. Its fundamentals are very strong, and the core story its telling is fantastic. And yet at the end of the day, they need to wrap up their compelling, dramatic love story in rape and sexual assault. Why? Its a common narrative, especially when it comes to queer romances, but its also completely unnecessary to the show! And it drags the whole thing down into the realm of trash and fetishisation. So can we just stop please? It wasn't entertaining the first time and it certainly isn't entertaining now. Keep making wlw romance, just stop it with all the rape please

I wasn't really sure what to expect with "Citrus" I'm not really big on the genre in the first place and my initial thoughts were to expect the worst. However, after completing the show, I can confirm that it exceeded my expectations, I didn't think the show was bad, but that doesn't mean I thought it was good. So obviously the whole "Step sibling incest" thing is a bit of a cliché within anime. I'm not particularly fond of it myself, I just find it a bit weird, I know that it floats some people's boat, but not mine. Because of this, the show had this slightly weird feel to it. I probably would of liked the romantic angle of this show a lot more if I wasn't reminded every 5 minutes that they're sisters. One area where I think the show really did do well was in the visuals. the show looked really good and the animation was fluid and pleasing to the eye. it's definitely the best thing about Citrus. The sound was decent. I enjoyed the voice acting and there were a couple of stand out tracks from the soundtrack. However I wasn't particularly fond of either the opening or ending theme. I never usually skip opening themes but I found myself doing so on Citrus on more than one occasion. The characters in Citrus are a mixed bag. For example I really enjoyed Yuzu as a main character, she was fun and silly, but also had her share of emotional moments that I feel made her a well rounded character. She also had a great chemistry with her friend Harumin, who was always there to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, I can't really say the same for Yuzu's love interest, Mei. She seemed very one dimensional and often lacked any emotion. I know this is her character trait, but I didn't really feel any need to try and look deeper into her character that what was shown on the surface. I also don't particularly agree with her method of seduction but that's a whole different story. There were some genuinely good moments in the show. Times where the drama felt real and like it really mattered. The humour is good. It looks great and had a few likeable characters. However, there were a lot of moments that I felt just didn't really make sense or just were forgettable in general. The soundtrack was a mixed bag of good tracks and completely forgettable or overused tracks, and the whole show I feel was just tainted slightly by the slightly odd romantic incest angle. And really, that is Citrus in a nut shell. It has a few standout moments, but overall, it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I give Citrus a 5/10.