Itazura na Kiss

This anime is literal dogshit. It’s heavily flawed on every level and the ambitious premise doesn't make up for the horrible characters and misguided recurring themes in this anime. Story (1/10): Itazura na Kiss is a story about how a unintelligent girl with no redeeming qualities other than being kind, relentlessly pursues her crush, who is a scumbag, and then proceeds with a long term emotionally (and physically to some extent) abusive relationship that is for some reason framed in a positive light. Sounds awful, right? I see a lot of praise for this anime comes from the premise, which is ambitious in the sense that it covers a long period of time and touches on romance past the usual "mutually confess and get together" phase where most romance anime end. What left a bad taste in my mouth is how Itazura na Kiss's narrative tries to portray a destructive and outright disgusting romance as something acceptable and even worth striving for. The very fact that this anime even exists is a moral stain on the industry. Beyond this hollow and sickening take on what initially seemed an interesting premise, this anime still utilizes every shoujo troupe in the book but fails to execute them in a way that meaningfully adds to the characters, story, or underlying themes (which are.. problematic, to say the least). One example would be when they transitioned from high school to college, yet every character ended up at the same university in equivalent classes and situations. Even the one character who didn't make it into college conveniently found employment as a cafeteria worker at the school. Every "major" development was underwhelming and screamed lazy writing. Art (3/10): I wasn't a fan of the art style heading into this anime, I find it wildly inconsistent and lacking any artistic direction, which is why I put off watching this for so long despite the intriguing premise. The male lead is the ugliest character in the show which I'm pretty sure is opposite of the intended effect. His mouth was way too close to his nose which just highlighted his stupid gigantic chin, but I guess that’s personal preference. The MC was pretty cute and the backgrounds were run of the mill. Sound (7/10): I actually enjoyed the voice acting in this anime. The roles should have been easy considering how one-note all the characters are, so I can't heap too much praise here, but overall I thought they did well. The music was decent. Character (0/10): Awful, awful, awful, abysmal, trash, embarrassing, awful, and plain bad. The main two are the worst of the bunch, which should never be the case, and all the side characters were static and underwent absurdly predictable, cliché developmental character arcs, that were for the most part, just convenient cop-outs to force feed happy endings for everyone. Our MC is dumb, talentless, and unwaveringly in love with a guy who continually treats her like garbage and belittles her. At one point in the show she decides to become a nurse for the sole purpose of being able to better support her doctor husband. Eventually a side character points this out critically, but the show failed to delve into the critique as the MC never directly responds to the issue nor has any internal monologue regarding it. I found their dynamic, and the show as a whole, to be incredibly misogynistic, which is very discomforting considering this a shoujo. The show never decides to really point out the self-destructive nature of her character and instead casts it aside in favor of framing her as a “spunky” good hearted girl and somehow expects the viewer to find solace in her simplicity. The worst example of this was when she discovers a side character in distress and then proceeds to completely panic and cry on the phone as the male lead tells her what to do, step by step, including how to call an ambulance. Bear in mind this happens in the latter half of the series which exemplifies her complete lack of development as a competent human being. The male lead is initially a “cool” jerk, which is typical in shoujo, but usually the male lead ends up progressively improving as a person as the MC warms his cold heart, so to speak, or they were always “good” and just not great at outwardly expressing it. This male lead in Itazura na Kiss is a jerk, and a truly horrible one at that, who doesn’t become a redeeming character until the last 2 or 3 episodes. On numerous occasions he shows some compassion but then consistently reverts back to his usual disgusting self. There’s also usually a reason, such as a tragic experience or difficult childhood, for the male leads initial behavior, but here the male lead has lived a carefree life in a traditional atomic household with his loving and wealthy parents. He has an amazing support system and the show never alluded to anything negative in his past to attempt to explain his flaws. To sum it up, she is incompetent and he is lacking in basic humanity. I’m not exactly sure how these are supposed to be likeable characters. Enjoyment (1/10): I did not enjoy watching this anime whatsoever. In fact, I watched the last 5 episodes at double the speed, as in I literally sped up the video 2x, in order to avoid wasting any more of my life on this irreprehensible trash heap of an anime. The misogynistic central relationship was frankly appalling, as was the lack of character development. I will say that the ending (episode 24; 25 is a light hearted epilogue) was heartwarming and enjoyable. At this point they are in their late 20s and the MC finally shows some fortitude that isn’t directly derived from her unsubstantiated romantic feelings, and the male lead finally shows respectable character traits without ever reverting. The problem with Itazura na Kiss is that it takes 23 episodes, or approximately 10 years within the timeline of the show, for these characters to achieve this minimally acceptable level of competence and humanity. If you want to watch a terrible rom-com anime with unlikeable characters and misogynistic themes, look no further, Itazura na Kiss is the anime for you.

Okay, first of all, apologies in advance for the perhaps colorful language that I'll be using in this review. This anime, while generally average, has the highlight of having the single douchiest character that I have ever seen to date. Seriously, Irie is so impressively terrible to everything and everyone (especially the female lead) that her own musings on her potential masochistic tendencies are less musings and more an exercise in stating the obvious. This anime quite obviously tries to have an archetypical strong, silent, impassive and cold guy, but the creators obviously could not tell when enough was enough when adding from the 'cold' jar. Seriously, this guy is so extremely over the edge in the 'a-hole' department that he's in a class of his own. I seriously have no one else to compare him to. This anime deserves credit for that, if nothing else. As for the female lead, there isn't too much to say about her. Kotoko actually does manage to land perfectly in the center of her archetype, the 'always nice to everything and everyone beyond any sense of logic, duty or reason' hyperactive, cheerful kind of character. It's very easy to like and root for characters like her, but in the end she is rather forgettable. Also, my biggest gripe with her, is that I simply can not respect her. I pity her. Say what you will about having the single-minded determination to never give up on the man, no matter how rude and/or abusive he is towards her, but there is 'determined' and then there is 'self-punishingly moronic'. Watching Kotoko was painful, because in reality girls like her need professional help and a lot of support in order to get over the compulsion that keeps sending them back to their abuser and live a full and healthy life. Surprisingly, the best part of this anime was its supporting cast, though that speaks more about the low quality of everything else. I gave Itazura na kiss a 4/10. The animation was below average, the main characters were hilariously bad caricatures of people, and the plot itself was slow, predictable, and ultimately unfulfilling. Props for sending young adolescent girls all the wrong messages, I guess.

This is the most sadistic, unpleasant thing I have ever seen - on a psychological level - and I've watched those PEETA animal cruelty videos (and 'Friday' by Rebecca Black). What do they have in common you ask? They both make me cringe. The only reason I think I gave this anime a 2 is because there are moments that really engage one's sense of empathy - you laugh sometimes at the things that Kotoko does (if you're not cringing) and you cry. I really felt Kotoko's pain sometimes - and boy does she go through a lot of it. Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of Itazura Na Kiss is that it's quite dismissive of Kotoko's pain and doesn't really focus on character development at all. But then it does get difficult to feel sorry for someone like her after a while. How cool would it have been if the first couple of episodes were just to demonstrate how naive she was to begin with, and then she got it together became an awesome ball-buster of a tsundere?! It probably would have been one of my favorite animes ever. But unfortunately, as the episodes progressed it became evident that.. well, this is sadistic bull. It's really almost unbearable. The way in which Kotoko is treated by Naoki and the her utter masochistic behavior was genuinely horrifying for me to witness. I hope that no girl or woman ever aspires to be like her; it makes me so angry that people don't recognize how twisted this anime is sometimes.

I picked up this series looking for a light enjoyable shoujo anime, but finishing Itazura na Kiss proved to be one of the hardest things I've done. Starting the anime, my fears were that Kotoko would keep running after the guy after being stepped over and over with no clear reason why. That was proven correct after 3 or 4 episodes of her getting nothing from Irie but still describing him as a 'gentle person' for doing the bare minimum (holding the door of the subway for her. Noting that was the second time, since the first time he let's the door close stating he hates distracted girls). The series gets progressively worse so don't expect for a redeming ending or character growth. As adults Kotoko keeps having zero self respect and Irie keeps treating her with indifference or rudeness at occasion, absolutely nothing changes. the supporting characters are dull and not charismatic at all, but I would still rather watch them than have to watch one more second of the love Irie and Kotoko are said to share. If you don't mind the main character having no dignity, no goals or reason for her love and admirition, gor for it. But if you require any of those, stay away from this horror show.

Somewhat spoiler-free review: Seeing the high score on MAL made me think this was going to be a good Shojou Romance. I was in for a rude awakening with this one. As I have lived in Japan for over a decade, I know full well the patriarchal dominance and chauvinism of a good portion of male citizens. Naoki is nothing more than a pretty face hiding a terrible persona. Kotoko is mentally subdued by him throughout the entirety of the show. He treats her terribly 99% of the time. He mentally and emotionally abuses her. When he realizes he is losing his hold on her at a myriad of times, he uses flashy words or phrases to manipulate her into running back into his arms. He treats her like a tool to keep himself at ease with little care for her feelings until the last few episodes where he just slightly cares due to her situation (trying not to spoil too much). Many viewers were calling him a tsundere. He isn't. He is just a toxic male persona. The entire time watching all I could think of was actions speak louder than words. As I said, he used a lot of flashy wordage, but he rarely used action as proof. Naoki's family and Kotoko's father were all oblivious to the terrible way he treated her (save for his mother who sometimes got upset, but not enough for Naoki to care). They also added to the issues by not taking her feelings into account for a majority of the show. *Slight Spoiler* The biggest failure was Kotoko's father sitting down with Naoki at one point for a friendly chat about why she ran away near the end half of the series due to Naoki's treatment of her. He put his own daughter down while talking about how she is similar to his wife and even sympathized with Naoki having to deal with it. A real father would chew him out for treating his daughter like a cold-hearted jerk, not stroll down memory lane. *End Spoiler* This is definitely not an anime for kids who can't use logic when viewing as it sets a bad example of how one should act in relationships. As for the other characters they all have many terrible personas. From people only loving someone based off looks, trying to steal other people's lovers, trying to cheat (honeymoon episode), being creepy, or going as far as forcing themselves onto other characters, this is not a show worth enjoying. There are plenty of beautiful Shoujou and non-Shoujou Romance anime out there worth your time. Unless you really want to watch this to see how disgusting people can be, I advise finding something better. I found the whole story to be very cringy at best due to everything I stated above. Hence the pathetic score. The art was slightly old-school which I don't mind, but the elongated chins were odd looking. Hence the fair score. The sound was fine. Characters... It's what really drove home the terrible nature of this anime. While there was progression for everyone, most of their personas stayed the same disgusting shade. Hence dreadful. I didn't get much enjoyment out of it, but I never drop anime and watched it until the end. Overall, it was not worth it. Please don't be fooled by the score.

First off, I'm glad I had this to watch during the time I was waiting for Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza's new episodes to come out, and I would like to thank AlexisSolitaire for recommending it to me. This has become my favorite romance anime that I've seen so far. It's everything a romance junkie like me wants: a beginning, middle, and end; an anime that's 100% romance right from the start and doesn't let go until the closing seconds of the 25th episode. At first, I was under the impression that this would be a regular slice-of-life, high school romance anime. I could not have been more far from the truth. Not only did it begin in high school (at the age of about 17), it ended with the main heroine in her early 30s or late 20s. You might be skeptical at reading that, but trust me: you'll definitely end up loving it. They utilized something at perfect junctures in parts of the story when it could have gone bad. Which usually leads to anime's giving themselves self-inflicted wounds by boring the audience it's trying to entertain half to death. What they utilize so magnificently is the time-lapse. I would have never guessed that there would be a time in my life in which I would enjoy a time-lapse, a "3 years later." Did they ever prove me wrong. You know when an anime's good when I was completely satisfied at the half way point! About 14 episodes in! 14! I became skeptical again. Alright, so they've basically done all I've expected them to do, now it's just gonna get bad, how terrible. Again, I was proved wrong. I like to use analogies to describe things that are tough to put into words; as most people might often do. Well, I attribute this show in this way: Your parents give you $10 to go to the movies with friends. You're like, "Alright! Gonna have a good time. Night out with the buddies." Turns out, when you get there, you find you have an extra $20 in your pocket. Making the night even better. Then, you happen to be pulled into a side-room by Quentin Tarantino and given a private screening of his latest movie for free. You're thinking, "Wow. What a night: I got $10, found an extra $20 in your pocket, and I got to see a private screening of the new Tarantino movie! What a night!" However, your already fantastic night has one more surprise for you. Say you went with a few of your friends, one happened to be the girl you've always had a crush on. But, it turns out that after you walk out of the theater, she turns to you and says "that she's always liked you." How would you feel? How would that night be for you? Great, right? To a lesser extent, that's how I felt when this series was finished. Sad that it was over, happy that I got to experience something so amazing, and even more happy that I got to enjoy all these great surprises around each corner. I would now go into each individual category and rate the show, but this show needs to stand out from the rest that I've seen in some form or fashion. It deserves no criticism, because, that's ultimately nitpicking for the tiniest deviation from greatness. (Plus, by reviewing most of these things, it would be hard to have people properly understand what I'm talking about or referring to without giving away any spoilers.) It really did have a beginning, middle, and end. Not in terms of plot, which, of course it did, but the story of their relationship, the bond between the two is so fun and enchanting to reside over. I actually likened their relationship to that of one of those "well problems" that I got back in 5th grade: if you fall to the bottom of a 100 ft well, how long would it take you to climb out if each day you climbed 6 ft but slid down 4 ft? I would wholeheartedly recommend this to any romance fan out there looking for an engaging story of what it takes to love and what it takes to be open to love. Although some might be critical of the "superfluousness" of the later episodes, who cares? Doesn't everyone ultimately wish that they could see their favorite couple from another show develop like this one and end like this one? It's a feel good anime that never ceases to stop "feeling good." 10/10, perfect, flawless, etc. Feedback is appreciated. If you want to be told more in-depth of why I liked the show so much, send me a message. However, spoilers will probably be dolled out like soup from a soup kitchen. So ask at your own risk. Or if you disagree with my opinion, and want to talk about the show, I would love to have a profile-to-profile chat.

This anime is the one with the most developed story i've ever seen! It has about 15 episodes for starting the romance and 2 episodes after they are getting married, and having a child. This makes the story explore what happens after the "Happly ever after" part! The characters are super kawaii :3 good looking and appealing, if it weren't for all the heart shapes and glitters the kissing scens would have been pretty sexy. Opening and ending weren't bad, but nothing that sticks to our minds. The charecters: This is were things go way down! The main characters were really poorly developed, Irie-kun (main male character) started to be a mean guy who treats girls badly so i thought we has like a deep person with some dark past or trauma... but it just happens for him to be mean and thats all he is. Kotoko (main female character) just happens to be so obsessed by him that she is willing to accept everyting... There were time I just cheered up for side characters to conquer her because i couldnt just support to see her being more pushed down by Irie-kun. Although sweet Kotoko is heartbroken in more than the first-half of the anime, that was the good part because it touch our feelings. After that is just enjoyable to watch but it does not addict as much as the first episodes.

Idiotic girl falls in love with the school prince who happens to be a total jerk. The jerk plays with her feelings and humiliates her repeatedly. Any woman who has some self respect would have spat in his face and move on...But not Kotoko...She remains in love with the douchebag because...I don't know....She's a masochist?...Actually I don't even know why she fell in love with him in the first place....Of course this is a shoujo anime so I knew that the jerk would start falling for her too sooner or later.But I expected it to happen through character development...I expected Kotoko to change , to mature and earn his respect...I expected the jerk to stop being such a jerk so that it would make sense for someone to love him....But it wasn't that way...The characters remained exactly the same throughout the series.The jerk fell in love with the moron named Kotoko because....I have no idea, probably because he likes stupid women that he can control.So if you are not a masochist and if you do not want to waste your time watching some terribad ,even worse than twilight love story, then do not bother watching this anime Story :1 Art:5 Sound:5 Character:0....but I can't vote 0 so 1 Enjoyment :1

I saw this anime a few months back and I loved it. I like the fact the story progresses much further than ending when the couple get together. It is one of the few romantic anime that is fully packaged with a solid ending. I like the 2 main leads particularly Naoki Irie as he goes through the most in character development. Soundtracks within the show are really nice and fit in with the mood of the show and the OP and ED themes are very good too. However this show is really targeted at the female viewers and is very romantic though it will take a while before it gets there but worth the wait. I love this show from beginning to end. Even at the beginning when the male lead wasn't very nice it was entertaining to watch how his feelings gradually change almost episode by episode. It's very subtle. The only downside is the animation, it's mostly good but it does get a bit choppy and Naoki's character design probably suffers the most with this unfortunately. Overall, he is generally very handsome it's just some shots doesn't make him look consistently good.That's my only gripe. I would highly recommend this show, there have been a few scenes which brought me to tears and they are not sad scenes but probably the romantic moments. This could easily make the top 5 best romantic anime out there currently.

[Spoiler-less review] Having watched a fair share on different romance anime I yearned for something more, something else. Never in a milion years would I expect an anime almost my age to fullfill my needs. Why should you watch it: It is very different. It shows a love story from start to a kindof finish. It doesn't end in a first kiss, it goes after the happily ever after most shows end on. In a span of 25 (or rather 24 + 1 bonus story) episodes we get sweetest romance blended with slice-of-life and comedy, which slaps even after a decade and some. It should be on every romance lover's list, because it's unique, well-made, and just fun to watch. A quick quality rundown: Characters 9/10: Ah, the good 'ol smart guy - airhead girl dynamic. But this time? It actually makes sense. The characters have their own flaws: Kotoko is dumb an clumsy, Naoki is cold-hearted at times etc. But they have a counterbalance of relationships and virtues to make up for them, making them much more believable and the storytelling that much better. The supporting cast serve as more than tools, with their own sub-plots and lives (like Kinnosuke, you'll love him after some time) that again, make the story better. One thing that keeps them from getting a perfect 10/10 is that Kotoko's friends were a bit bland compared to the rest. Art 9/10: It's an old anime. So it has an old artstyle. I know, shocking. But it still looks great despite the years. One thing I have to say sbout the style is the fact the characters have more than wardrobe. It helps with consistency, but kills uniqueness. That's were ItaKiss excells. Overall, very good with some outstanding moments. Story 10/10: Hooo boy, where do I begin! It's an example that shoujo should learn from. It get's points just for showing more than the first kiss, but their whole young lives. From work, through meetings with friends, cheering, crying, to just living their lives, we see it all. One thing it lacks is the silce-of-life tag on MAL. It really goes far and beyond the romance genre to give us a good experience. Enjoyablity 9/10 (subjective): I watched the show in three days, so yeah, it was easy to binge. It reignited my love for romance and older anime. I really don't know what kept me from watching this.

This anime's story is about as deep as a puddle. The main character falls in love with an abuser and everyone's just fine with this. He continues to be mentally and verbally abusive throughout the majority of the anime. The main character herself was written with little to no redeeming qualities and constantly shows no trust in her relationships. The show resolves love triangles by making them squares and just having anyone who isn't the main two just settle. The only "enjoyable" parts of the anime where when in focused less on the main relationship and towards the end. The side characters were far more interesting then the main characters, with the exception of two. One of the two I speak of is literally a Mary Sue and the other is so obnoxious it's unbearable.

This show could have been great, and maybe it will be for you girls out there. I'm a guy that often enjoys Shoujo/Josei, but this one, I just can't even. It would have been great, but Irie is just such a piece of s***. Like he is literally worse than Hitler. Well, maybe not Hitler, but he's at least worse than Stalin. You'll keep on telling yourself as you watching, "Oh, this will be the episode when he stops being an a**hole." Nope. It never happens. And she's just so blindly loyal to him! Like get a grip girl and kick him to the curb! nope. This anime isn't disappointing, its unsettling. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I totally expected Irie to like see the error of his ways. Nope. And the worst part is that the show totally teases you, like an episode will end on a good note so that you actually expect Irie to be a good decent human being in the next episode. Nope. Sorry-not-sorry. Whats most unsettling is all the praise this show gets. Do girls really like guys like Irie? He's the worst! If you are a guy, at least, please do not watch this, unless you wish to be deeply disturbed.

It's hard to find a nice romantic anime that isn't riddled with outrageous love triangles, harems, and cheesy relationship obstacles. Itazura na Kiss brings a rare story to the genre of rom-com anime. Paradoxically, it's a realistic portrayal of how romantic relationships progress and develop in real life. I adore this anime. I love romantic comedies, and I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I've watched most of the shoujo anime that there is to watch, but Itazura na Kiss stands heads above the rest just because it's realistic and endearing. It's not overly sappy or cheesy, but it's beautifully romantic. There's not a frustrating ending with you demanding more of the main couple; you get a sense of closure and satisfaction with how their lives progressed. There's a remarkable portrayal of the struggles that couples go through--not everything is black and white, and not everything is a fairy tale. I have no criticism. I loved every minute of this anime, and I've watched it repeatedly.

_Itazura na Kiss_ is like a mountaineer who climbs up a slippery slope halfway and helplessly tumbles down to a crushingly disappointing death. Doesn't mean we don't get a few laughs when it hits some rocks and trees along the way, but in the end, it's still rather startling to see how low a series can sink from a promising starting point. Imagine a love story between a noble prince, whose only fault is his perfection, and a female slave on a pirate ship, whose only redeeming quality is the constancy of her failures. Along the way, our hero and heroine face earthquakes and dividing chasms, thunderstorms, battle of the gods, and epic Homeric warfares to test the quality of their love for each other. _Kiss_ is the modern epitome of the superfluous, overwritten romantic comedy. Characters? What characters? Characters are either plain-looking and stupid but kind-hearted, or porcelain-like gorgeous and inhumanely intelligent but cold and silent (on the outside, of course. "Deep down inside," we all know they are really lacking whatever it is that only the stupid, plain-looking characters can supply. Aah, the "secret weakness" that makes them human). Just mix and match those character traits between the sexes and you've pretty much covered most of the character interaction that can be found in _Kiss_. The sounds, however, are excellent. The ambiance supports the circumstances rather unobtrusively, heightening whatever tension left in the poorly written script without bringing attention to themselves. The opening and the endings could easily chart my personal top anime soundtrack as well. Despite all its faults, I watched through the series rather painlessly, as much as I hate to admit it. _Kiss_ manages to stay faithful to its light-hearted comedy and well-timed jokes. Watch this to appease those dead brain cells of yours while eating pork skins and potato chips for maximum pleasure.

At first glance you might think that this is a another "High School Romance", and at first it is, but this anime goes somewhere that others don't. Most series end when the characters are still in high school, but Itazura na Kiss goes past high school, into college and even into life after that. This series is truely something of a masterpiece in character develpment. The story line is the classic love story with a small twist, of course I won't go into detail, you'll have to see for yourself! The music kind of reminded me a lot of the same in different animes, but still it catchy and if there is ever a chance to get my hands on the soundtrack, I certianly will! Unless you get really into your anime, you might not feel the deep feelings that the characters have. When Kotoko cried, I cried. When she laughed, I smiled and laughed with her. When she made a complete fool of herself ... I laughed at her. But when I watch shows, I get pulled into them. So when I watched each episode, there were partes that I cried, both in sadness and happiness. So if you're looking for an anime with the same ol' story but a different twist and something a little more, Itazura na Kiss is a series you should look into. I enjoyed every minute of it and I know many more people will too. Thank you Tada Kaoru for giving the world such amazing stories.

I wanted to write this review because I did not see enough reviews criticising this show. The fans seem either absolutely blind to the content portrayed, lack critical thinking skills or are from the Victorian era. Honestly, even women in the Victorian era had better expectations from their husbands. Romance: There is absolutely NOTHING ROMANTIC about this anime unless you consider constant verbal abuse and zero chemistry to be "romance". I would rather let my kids watch hentai and take away values about love from that than Itazura na Kiss. I saw many positive reviews and it is considered to be one of those classic romance anime that you are supposed to watch. Nonetheless, I got this absolutely horrible psychological horror disguised as romance. At this point I am beginning to wonder if the untimely death of the mangaka was a good thing and spared us all. Comedy: I did not find anything funny in this show. I have watched amazing comedies, from Saiki K to Nichijou so giving this pos anime a comedy tag is straight up blasphemy. Art style: I had to wash my eyes with soap.

Itazura Kiss: An absolute abomination of an anime that also manages to throw in some horrible messages on top of it. This review of a show over a decade old will almost certainly get buried, but there are still some important things that need to be said and heard about this series. Despite the fact I am outside its target audience, I consider myself a bit of a advocate for shoujo anime, but for anyone that is not as familiar with the “genre”, either: (a) Do not watch Ita Kiss, or (b) If you have, don’t write off the whole genre because of it. There are plenty of good shoujo anime out there, but this is not one of them. Character: 2 I could name the number of people I liked in this show on one hand, and that would even be the case if I got attacked by an alligator and lost three of my fingers. But the two leads will be getting the lion’s share of the attention here. Our protagonist is Kotoko. Her defining characteristic is her lack of intelligence. Yup. To spell it out for you, she is quite simply the most bland, generic, uninspired main character I have ever come across. Her only real role is very clearly to be the “self-insert character”. Then we have Irie, the main love interest. He is smart, rich, and good-looking, but also a cold, pompous a-hole. Oh, and Kotoko has been in love with him for two years despite having never spoken to him. What. The. Hell. The only rational explanation is she is just shallow almost beyond belief. Crush is one thing, but love? But you might be thinking, “hey, once she gets to know what an abhorrent human being he is, she’ll come to her senses, right?”. Oh boy would you be wrong. No matter how much he bullied her, abused her emotionally, mentally, and verbally, her feelings seemed to grow and grow. Watching her grovel for his attention and swoon anytime he as much as looked in her direction was one of the most pathetic displays I’ve seen in the medium. Like have some self-respect, jesus. So why would one of the smartest and best-looking guys in the country fall for a girl like her? Well, in reality, he wouldn’t, but she is the main character after all, so he basically had no choice. The plot demanded him to fall in love with her. Seriously, though, never has an anime couple made less sense and been this unlikable. As far as the other characters, the only one really worth talking about was Irie’s mother. The bar set by the two leads was exceptionally low, but she might’ve been even worse. Ok, so she instantly wants the two to get together. Why? I have no idea, because Kotoko is a bore and a half. But alright, that in and of itself is not a deal-breaker, but the meddling. My god. Obnoxious wouldn’t even begin to cover it. It actually got to the point of sabotaging other potential relationships and trash-talking her own son to turn other girls against him. Are you kidding me? Irie’s mom is just the worst of the worst. Story: 4 The story is dumb and predictable as well. Read the synopsis and there won’t be a ton of surprises, I assure you. Kotoko is rejected by Irie and has to move in with his family after an earthquake destroys her family's house. Great. Outside of the fact the romance lasted past high school, there was never a single interesting or original aspect to the story. But now to touch on the “horrible messages” I alluded to in the opening line. Irie, as we’ve covered already, is intelligent, attractive, rich, well-bred, etc. But here’s the thing, just because you’re Mr. Hot Stuff or whatever, does not mean you get a free pass to treat everyone around you like human trash. Seriously, some of the things he said or did, specifically to Kotoko, were repulsive. And not only did he get away with it, she was still madly in love with the guy. Whether you’re a guy or a girl, you should not be allowed to treat people they way he did just because you have enough desirable traits. And this anime, and especially Kotoko, proved the exact opposite of that. I sincerely hope there aren’t any young, impressionable guys or girls out there watching this and thinking this is normal or ok, let alone the ideal love story. Art: 3 The art, likewise is atrocious. Kotoko looked like a giant, confused toddler in most scenes. This was the case for a lot of the female characters in show. Irie’s model shifted so much you didn’t know if he was going to have the perfect shoujo bishie or deformed face look. It’s amazing this show is from 2008; it looks worse than most shows 5 years older. Sound: 4 If you’re thinking the saving grace is the sound, you would be wrong. None of the OP/EDs were anything but skippable and there wasn’t a single VA performance that stood out. The two leads in particular gave flat, often-times grating, performances. Enjoyment: 1 If it wasn’t for my self-imposed “no-drop policy”, I would’ve stopped 1 episode in. Every second was excruciating. I genuinely mean that. Overall: 3 What do you get when you pair the most boring, self-insert MC ever with the world’s biggest sociopathic jerk, and do literally nothing else well or revolutionary? You get this unspeakable mess that should’ve never been put out into the world.

To put it simply, I felt that this anime was shit. I gave it an overall rating of 4 (not 1) because though it was shit, it had the saving grace of being smooth while coming out of my ass, and not in the form of diarrhea or constipation. That's my honest opinion of it. i don't want to delve too much into the long list of details, but primarily, the characters and plot were laughable enough for me to wonder if the creators of this series were trolling. Story - 4 shows unrequited love and the "one and only" type of feel to it. they stick with these themes right to the end while attempting to make half a decent plot out of it Art - 8 good enough, but not great Character - 2 the only reason why i'm giving it a 2 is because of the guy mc's mom. if she weren't there, score would be (-100). First, you meet the male mc. you will soon realize that he's a selfish and abusive piece of shit. it's fine to go for the whole "cold" character, but this was forced on the audience too much. then you meet the female mc. she is a hardcore masochist for toxic relationships. her obsession is also laughable. enjoyment - 3 had to force myself to finish watching it cause i already started, hoping it would get better. i was very wrong overall - 4 (average) this felt like a cheap anime version of 50 shades of grey, except with shittier character and development.

In a word : 'awkward'. Itazura na Kiss is an anime that wants you to genuinely care for the relationship of a girl with the intelligence of a sea urchin and a guy with a capacity for love equal to that of a dead fly. Worse yet, that riveting "love" story is set against the background of even more equally nonsensical and brain numbing tales of how two completely incompatible people can be brought together for no reason whatsoever. You will gain a new ability after watching this cocktail of outlandish romance - the ability to pulverise anything with a single headbutt. Warning, some SPOILERS might be involved. In summary, the male lead is an ambitionless, heartless and emotionless monster. Then there happens to be a brain dead girl who falls in love with him because he's "cool". Now how the lack of ambition, empathy and emotion can make one "cool" is beyond me but what follows afterwards is a story that was pulled straight from someone's ass. In essence the guy doesn't give a shit. He treats her horrendously, humiliates her in front of others and generally waits for the moment to give her the slip. The girl on the other hand keeps repeating the same retarded statement all throughout the show "I love him, he's cool." That's it - end of story. Well, end of main story that is. We (the watchers) will still be treated to other anally extracted sub-stories throughout this 25 episodes of pure misery. A woman from the British royal familly marrying a Japanese chef (we know that happens every day). A perverted sensei who wants to get into the pants of his students. A kid who grows up to be an asshole because other people are... assholes. Absolutely riveting. In some cases, some of those sub-stories could have been interesting if executed in the proper way, Itazura na Kiss does everything but that however. The coup de grace comes in the last few episodes of this anally grand anime. Enter Keita Kamogari. The ONLY rational, realistic, and emotionally engaging character. The only one to truly care for another human being for what they really are. Nah, fuck him. Swept under the carpet by the writer like an irradiated cockroach. Finally, the drama that binds all these characters and allows the progression from one plot device to another just doesn't exist and when it does it's unbelievably superficial and feels as though it was written by a 6 year old. Same goes for comedy. It is by far the worst I've seen in any anime to date. As an example - in one of the episodes the brain dead girl is stopped, grabbed and nearly dry humped by a burly american policeman. When the emotionless monster intervenes it turns out she didn't understand him (the policeman) and he only wanted to know if she got lost. HA-HA-HA. Take notes kids. If you want to know if someone got lost, grab their arms, get as close to them as possible and thrust your pelvis into their abdominal area. The only two good points would be the art and sound. The OST did contain some interesting pieces, too bad they had to be accompanied by such an awful anime. The art itself was alright although it did lose its focus fairly often. The most well drawn characters were the sea urchin and emotionless monster. Every other character was drawn with less care all the way to the insignificant background characters which took on various shapes, from lamppost like figures to curious levitating black blobs. All in all, Itazura na Kiss is the equivalent of an exploding anus. It's full of shit.

I happened to stumble upon this little pearl of an anime while browsing for something new to watch. Even though the recommendations were very positive, I was a little bit hesitant due to the possibility of yet another shojo with identical plot and storyline - but boy, was I surprised :) And pleasantly so, no less. Sure, in general "Itazura na kiss" isn't that inventive - most components of a classic "boy and girl meet, go through a struggle of some kind, and end up happy"-shojo, but there's just something in the way the story is told, that is too compelling to not make you engrossed by this anime. And that actually says pretty much since I am a cynical person and get very bugged over sugarcoated sugar mixed with sugar, which usually is the case with a lot of shojos. I like Kare Kano, Hana Kimi, Hot Gimmick and a few other shojos, but generally I tend to avoid them since they don't give me very much. (Sure, I have a couple of exceptions like "Ouran" and Fruits basket - which are kind of silly - but I like 'em anyway.) I tend to stick to other types of anime and manga, but a well told love story is kind of universal and should be recognizable for anyone. This is hilarious and entertaining at the same time as it's romantic and serious. The weird thing is that it actually even pulls it off. But I say as another viewer mentioned in a recommendation somewhere - what's up with all the excessive ER-visits? Boy, are they prone to illness and accidents in the Irie-family... Also I wonder what makes that baka girl so extremely attractive to all guys out there in her world... She IS, as Naoki says - annoying, loud, stupid and silly... Sometimes, the story takes a pretty slow pace and becomes slightly repetative, but it doesn't really bother, it kind of stresses the fact that "Itazura na kiss" actually spans a long period of time. This isn't really the kind of anime with cliffhangers or made to make you bite your fingernails. This is more of a story about two people that go through a lot to end up together, and it's a pure joy to follow them along the way :) Kotoko is one of the most embarrassing idiots I've ran across in any manga/anime, but she is a very sweet idiot :) Naoki makes me swoon as the stupid tsundere moe I am (ah - we always fall for it - such a victory to cure the evil and bring forth the inner softness of a jerk... but hey, news flash... some of the jerks are actually jerks even deep inside...) Actually, I like all the characters. Kinnosuke, who was extremely annoying in the beginning, kind of harrassed himself into my heart pretty fast, and he would probably be my favourite character of the cast :) And also, I personally love Jinko, although a lot of folks seem to find her annoying - her insanely horrible voice and weird personality makes me laugh :) I also can't help but to love Naoki's mom - she is too absurd not to adore. Also the brat Yuuki - the younger brother in the Irie family - is a pretty strong character, important for the whole picture :) The art and style is pretty much standard - same flaws as in many other anime, but it holds a pretty high standard with easily recognizable characters and carefully drawn surroundings - it's not sloppy work, and that's important at least for me (who draw a lot myself). Both the art and style changes and enhances a little bit towards the end, but the change is not detectable in the looks of characters and such, only that it seems a bit cleaner and brighter, characters more carefully shaped. All in all it's a great series - making one happy and cheerful, there fore the very consistent and high score. Really a little pearl among the oceans of crappy standard cut shojo. Sure, "Itazura na kiss" is very classic in it's storyline - but the author of the original manga really has managed to create some depth to the story, and I am happy I gave this series a chance :) It was definitely worth it. Also, I would say that I agree with all the guys I've seen praising this series are absolutely right - this isn't classic shojo in THAT sense - purely for girls - but rather this is bound to entertain any fan of anime, no matter gender or age. (Except for that it's too emotionally mature for younger kids than say, 14.) But watch it! You won't regret it :)