Douse, Koishite Shimaunda.

Douse, Koishite Shimaunda. tries to be a bittersweet romance but mostly feels like 12 episodes of still frames pretending to be animation, with the occasional raindrop or water ripple as the only sign of life. The story of a girl and her 4 childhood friends. 3 harboring feelings for her that could have been compelling, but it’s bogged down by glacial pacing, muted drama, and a pandemic backdrop that adds nothing. The romance tension exists in theory, but every time something might happen, the script slams the brakes and retreats to “just friends” territory. The clean character designs and pretty rain shots only highlight how static everything else is. The finale as nothing more than a non-ending where no one moves forward, no one confesses, and you're left wondering why you sat through four hours of emotional standstill. Thanks for reading.

Koishima is basically what happens if someone takes every single negative shoujo stereotype, rolls them into one and makes a series out of it. It’s not a good story by any stretch of the imagination, the characters frustrate the hell out of you, but for some reason it’s addicting. It has a similar addictive quality to Rent a girlfriend where you know you probably shouldn’t waste your time watching it, but you can’t turn your eyes away. I “hate watched” it for 3 months thinking I was going to give it a very low score, but by the end of it, I found myself caring about the characters and wanting to see how things end. Mindless entertainment is still entertainment at the end of the day. The best way I can describe this show is it’s like a soap opera. There’s so many cliches, so much wish-fulfilment, I mean drop dead gorgeous girl somehow has never had a boyfriend and is childhood friends with the 4 hottest guys in school who all are in love with and competing for her ? It’s the sort of stuff a 16 year old might write as a fanfic on tumblr. But goddamn it, I kind of liked it. The messiness was fun to watch. I like seeing drama play out and this show had it in spades. My one big issue with the story is that at times, Mizuho just feels like a prize to be won by the boys rather than an actual character. Like she’s floating back and forth between the main two dudes depending on the time of the day. Everyone just does stuff to win her over without giving her feelings any concern or trying to talk to her. The show bounces around from present day(2020) to several years in the future with Mizuho established as a manga author. This was kind of frustrating at times because we would get really invested in something in 2020 with the pandemic year and then we’d bounce around to the future and vice versa. I’m not sure if it went like this in the manga or what, but in the anime it sort of kept you engaged in watching the show because you wanted to see what happened to all the guys and who ended up winning. They gave us bits and pieces of that all the way up to the finale episode where there’s a big reveal that alone makes me want to watch season 2. The guys are all basically the sort of caricatures you’d get from a fanfic. Smart guy with lofty ambitions of being a doctor, cute twink model, the hot aggressive jock who’s way too into you, etc. All of them have their own personalities and quirks, different designs reflecting that and varying levels of aggressiveness in pursuing the MC. What I find crazy is how all of these near perfect guys end up going for the SAME girl. Like were there no other girls on this island? I also had an issue with the main guy who has some serious stalker energy.. feels like the author rewarded a guy for harassing the MC and making her uncomfortable, not respecting her personal space etc., again, really reinforcing those negative stereotypes of shoujo romance. Production values are atrocious here. It’s no doubt the worst put together series of the season. The animation is a PowerPoint, the art is passable, character designs are cute for the leads, but literally every other background character is greyed out. Not sure if that’s a stylistic choice or if it’s budget constraints as I haven’t read the manga, but it’s certainly one of the looks of all time. This show also has a very weird tendency to hold frames and scenes for way too long, creating this awkward pause in the action that makes it uncomfortable to watch. I refer to this as “dead space” because it feels like space on a video editing timeline where you’d normally cut to create a jump cut or make things flow together better. This is a constant in the series and it makes watching it feel very melodramatic and cringe at times, and this is coming from someone who LOVES shoujosei more than anything, so don’t feel like I’m attacking the demographic. Koishima isn’t a great show, but it’s like watching a train wreck. You somehow can’t take your eyes away from it even though you know it’s not a good thing. There’s a reason why the score went up from the first few weeks until the end. It does gradually grow on you and because of all the cliffhangers, you find yourself wanting more and more. I’ll be around for season 2 because I need to know how things end in present day and the past timeline. Koishima gets a very frustrating 6 out of 10.

I feel compelled to write this: I RECOMMEND THIS ANIME! If you enjoy romance stories, reverse harems, shoujo manga, just watch it, there's no shame! Some of the criticism I see is that it's full of negative shoujo stereotypes. It's not. The FL is hard working and driven, and ends up having a career around something she loves. She is *not* a stumbling crybaby whose only redeemable quality consists of cooking skills (now that would be a shoujo stereotype!). The male characters are not toxic at all, they all have positive hobbies or ambitions; they generally solve their conflicts using their words; having a long-standing friendship with the FL, they care about her and about each other, and generally behave as well as one can expect a 16 years old to. Some have a crush, maybe they are a bit pushy or competitive, or maybe they are oblivious or not honest about their feelings at all. That's the beauty of having a sparkling adolescence, which kind of is the message of this season at least. There were a few things that I liked from the beginning: the use of two timelines (makes the story much more interesting), the slow progression and quiet atmosphere focused more on their interactions and conversations (which gave me the feeling of really seeing someone's memories). Overall I liked the character design, they are all quite distinctive and memorable. And gorgeous, it's anime, it's to be expected. The animation quality has issues, some angles and proportions are not the best and there's a lot of stills, but at least it's consistent throughout. I didn't feel it worsening terribly towards the end like I've seen in other shows recently. I am not a big fan of the opening with the blurry camera frames, nor the songs, nor did I like that they draw "extras" using stick figures but at least it helps you follow the story more easily. I think there was certainly some room for improvement, and I don't know how long the story will take nor how well the relationships will evolve, but I honestly enjoyed watching it. To me this season was consistent and I am looking forward to the next one. If anything, I wish there were more reverse harems with actual romance and a decent storyline.

This anime was painful to watch. PAINFUL. And I don't mean the animations that everyone seems to be bothered about, though yes the animation could've been at least a bit less static. I really enjoyed all the rain scenes, they capture rain and water well. I think the character designs were nice and enjoyed them as well. What was so painful about this anime is the story. It's about a girl with a very nice and wholesome relationship with 4 childhood friends, out of which 3 turn out to be into her romantically. Near the end of high school 2 the guys try to stop being friend-zoned and try to actively confess their feelings. Instead of replying honestly, partially thanks to the 4th friend's (who's probably gay and into one of the male friends pursuing the heroine) advice, she tries to remain friends with all of them but somehow ends all alone anyways. As a female who hung out with my brother's friends, the terror of the loss of dearest friends because they at some point develop romantical feelings is horrible and debilitating. It ruins the friendship and there's no going back virtually ever (7+ years minimum). People whine about her passivity but this aspect of her behaviour I fully understood. There's no good exit. You're basically going to drown anyways. But while I understood it, it's not something pleasant to watch unless you're trying to wallow more in your sadness. You watch 12 episodes of this sad adult reminiscing about her youth. If you're an adult nearing 30, the lack of freedom and enthusiasm you used to have is a feeling you might know all too well. This emotion is captured exquisitely in the anime. However, nothing really happens. It ends with a depressing note and an awaiting of the second season. Honestly, I felt like 12 episodes were already too much for what I hoped would happen (she'd end up picking one of them at least as an adult, and ideally some happy ending for some of those who learned how to move on), but having gotten literally nowhere in the duration of 4 hours is truly wild. It's set in the period of the pandemic, but the restrictions are barely relevant to the story, so imo that was also a bit of a wasted opportunity. If you're a masochist or feel like wallowing in your pain you might love this anime. Especially if you are or were in any of the following situations: - gay interested in a hetero - in love with a best friend's love interest - feeling, like you will lose (all) your best friend(s) because you don't have deeper/romantical feelings - you missed love opportunities as a youth and are now suffering still in limbo - you gave up on your goals and pursued something else Ultimately I think the anime did a great job of being terrible, but it was not a pleasant watch for me and it didn't seem educative or interesting enough (as some heartbreaking but amazing animes are) so it's truly hard to rate it. However, since I think it should've just ended with 12 episodes and had some actual climax, for me they failed.

Listen. I love my yummy trash anime okay. But this is not yummy. I wouldn't even consider this trash because at least with trash, I can somehow have a good time. This is actual shite and just pissed me off the more it went on. However, I was invested enough to finish it. I'm basically rewriting what I wrote in my tags for this show but I feel that strongly about it to post it as an actual "review" lol. So first of all, I'm an anime only, but I have looked up what happens in the manga because I had theories. Unfortunately, none of them were correct. This is particularly unfortunate because I think it would've been cool/dramatic to kill off Kizuki with Covid- I mean the "infectious disease" that is cancelling all their school events (except it's really NOT because everyone is still out doing normal activities and NO ONE IS SICK). I just have to laugh for the fact that it's very clearly based off the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic (their school years take place in LITERALLY 2020) but you consistently forget that fact because IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S IMPORTANT! PANDEMIC MY ASS, AM I RIGHT LADIES? Back to my point, there are LITERAL flashbacks of Kizuki; so ill from his asthma that he could not attend school regularly in elementary school. And what did they do with that? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Which then brings me to the way present day Mizuho talks about Kizuki. "Why aren't you here wiping away my tears?". "Did you know it's been 10 years since the summer festival with everyone?". As someone who is actively working through grief, these lines imply something more impactful happened than "he broke up with me after getting so depressed from failing a swim meet and ghosted me for 3 years". At least they do to me! Maybe Mizuho is just hella dramatic (which, same). But this created a death flag in my eyes and they went nowhere with it. I like when characters die because most of the time (if the story is good), it's meaningful and propels not only the characters but the story itself forward (<- guy who really loves Gurren Lagann). You wanna know what else they did nothing with? They implied (at least to me with some dialogue) that Airu not only had feelings for Mizuho but ALSO KIZUKI and that would've made for some EXTRA JUICY DRAMA. Maybe I'm just too gay and wanted some yaoi, but this would've made for a solid love triangle instead of whatever the fuck the shit with Kizuki, Shin, and Mizuho was. WHICH SPEAKING OF SHIN, dude has the personality of a cardboard box. I was slightly interested in him reappearing in present day with the intention of proposing to Mizuho but he just LEAVES? I get he's a doctor now and was "on call" but holy shit you just killed the drama I was waiting for in present day! He never comes back btw. THE PRESENT DAY TIMELINE BORED ME TO TEARS. I do not care that Mizuho is a manga editor and the series she's in charge of got cancelled. You didn't give me a damn reason to care! Her solution to this is to regurgitate the words she was told in high school about writing a series inspired by "sparkling adolescence". To which her mangaka replies, "What sparkling adolescence?", takes a few episodes to brood on this, and then suddenly sends a manuscript for a new series in the last episode inspired by this concept because she had a sudden revelation. How convenient for Mizuho. Who I would like to add had a dream of becoming a mangaka herself. Not an editor. The reason for this switch is never explained. Present day timeline is basically Mizuho sulking the entire time with the occasional interaction with one of the four guys. It's almost painful to watch. Anyway, back to Shin's character - I don't blame him for being agonizingly boring. Because all of them are. The characters with the most personality in this show by far are Airu and Shugo, and even then we're not working with much (which speaking of, can we talk about why the subs on Crunchyroll suddenly started calling him "Syugo"? That is not my dudes name). However, despite them being the most serviceable characters, they still did not have enough personality for me to truly care. Airu has the best design so there was a higher chance for me to care, but that is not a huge feat because the animation in this show is actually atrocious. Like Kuroko no Basket mid-game levels of horrible frames. IYKYK. Not only that, but 90% of the time, nobody MOVES. You hear dialogue, but you're just staring at still images. I genuinely thought my internet had cut out a few times while I was watching this show. It was almost impressive with the amount of corners that were cut to hit those deadlines because shiet if I had this source material to adapt, I would too! I originally wasn't going to bag on the studio for this show because I like the nostalgic summer vibe that the art gives off, but it went downhill SO FAST and even if the show gets a blu-ray release, the staff would have to go in and fix the ENTIRE SHOW. Ain't no way they're doing that. No time for dat, Goku. GENUINELY SPEAKING - despite the many reviews I can see for this show on this site alone, I still feel like I am the only person alive (aside from Mother's Basement) that has seen this show. Which then begs the question - HOW THE FUCK IS IT GETTING A SEASON 2? WHO GREENLIT THIS? I WANT TO TALK. I have not been this angry about an anime since Glasslip and- I can't even finish that sentence because I'll go on a whole other tangent about how bad and much of A MISSED OPPORTUNITY THAT SHOW WAS. Anyway, this show is a dumpster fire and I don't think I have it in me to continue it in season 2. I will live the rest of my life perplexed at how it somehow is getting a second season. tldr: Do yourself a favor and skip it. Also the title sucks.

This is just bad. Lazy animation, horrible direction and just overall not good story/storytelling. I usually don't give a damn about animation, but when it's this shameless it's hard to overlook it. Budget aside there are ways to make it work, this studio didn't even try to look for compromises or try to hide the fact and that sums up the studio's entire attitude towards this anime and lack of effort. Direction is also full of interesting choices, most notably the amount of staring in this anime. It should serve as a dramatic effect, but at this point it's comedy, the characters stare at each other almost like they're confused or socially awkward. And the story, maybe the worst thing about this anime and the only thing that's not the studio's fault except for adapting it in the first place. It feels like some wattpad fantasy, it feels so amateur, everything just happens without a reason most of the time, there's no build up so everything feels forced and unprompted. It also speedruns tropes and cliches. Everyone is always seducing Mizuho in the most shameless, unreasonable and senseless ways. This could be the girls' version of some pervy shounen romance that has no value and its only goal is satisfying your "needs". The characters are just as bland as the story, it's very fitting how the 4 male MCs all look alike, literally fuckboy copy pastes. Their personalities are just as shallow, they all have their main quirk and that's their only personality. And Mizuho is as oblivious as a girl in a shoujo can be, comes very handy to fuel this trash story. There are sweet moments in the show that's for sure, the only redeeming quality, but once again the issue is that most of these moments come out of nowhere and while they're heartwarming they also feel out of place and it makes it a bit awkward, so it's not that simple to just take in these moments. Just don't waste your time on this, the only way you can enjoy this is if you're looking for some trashy, shameless reverse harem fantasy specifically.

Ah finally I finished watching this (yes, I did force myself to complete this one to see if it would improve. Spoiler, it doesn't). I honestly don't know what the point of this season is; from the start, we know she doesn't end up with any of them. Moreover, the sequences about present time (grown-up Mizuho) mainly focus on her career as an editor, whilst the anime barely focuses on manga (except at the beginning and ending). To make it more impactful we should have seen more of that in the past sequences. I did not enjoy this anime for multiple reasons so I'll just list them here: - All her childhood boy friends realize they love her, oh wow. Two of them will do nothing and accept being friends (good). - The two boys who love her both kiss her without consent. That's a big no. - One of the boys who loves her is just too forceful to the point where it's just creepy. Mizuho this, Mizuho that. - The animation is what it is, not that good. Some sequences froze on characters making it just awkward to watch. - The story feels empty. So do the dialogues. A lot focuses around the pandemic; "oh no we cannot do that event because of the pandemic" whilst they still go to school, no one wears a mask, everyone is living their lives normally as if there was no pandemic at all, so the pandemic excuse for cancelling all the events and the characters being sad about it doesn't make sens. That's it for me. This anime felt very empty. Next time I watch something like that, I will definitely not finish it.

This anime was a fucking suffocation, whenever I start a new episode, I would wish it ends quickly so I can write a shitty review about it. There's nothing good about this, you'll just end up feeling pity for every guy and you'll never feel related to the girl. This anime keeps jumping from past to present that it made me lost interest in what will happen in the future nor what happened in the past. Girl was self aware of 4 boys liking her at the same time, yet she doesn't want to commit to a relationship with the one she truly loves, making the other 3 guys fawning over for her till this day. The cringe and embarassment this series leaves every 5 mins is concerning, I have no idea how anyone could watch this with a straight face with that basic artstyle and a somewhat stiff animation. Shin was the only one that seem normal and mature when pursuing her, while the others.... you could easily tell they've caught feelings for her just because they were childhood friends, that's it. I couldn't feel a single chemistry from all the pairings, it just felt forced and wanted to make this whole series a piece of shit harem game. Not to mention, please remove that drama tag, if this is considered emotionally touching, I'll rather turn into a dead pigeon, no human will ever feel sympathy for this bullshit. Oh yeah, let's discuss the fact almost all her childhood friends have brothers that also have a crush on her aswell, if this is not y/n final boss, I don't know what is. There is no need of a season 2, word of advice: Don't waste your time on this.

Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You. - An inspired work that only panders to the hearts of the hopeless romantics of watching an actual soap opera on the cusp of collapse. Seriously, what's up with adaptations from Kodansha's Nakayoshi Shoujo-centric magazine that just end up being failures one after another? If anything, the magazine now hosting just the solid kids' franchise of Pretty Cure just tells of the sad story of the current state of works that came from one of the best-selling manga magazines. If the reboot of Tokyo Mew Mew didn't quite pander to the new fans, and its prolific author, Ema Touyama, also didn't work out with Vampire Dormitory (which gave us the rather horrible Spring 2024 anime), what reason does it have to stand that the newest and most current serialization of mangaka Haruka Mitsui's Douse, Koishite Shimaunda a.k.a Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You will ever hope to achieve some recognition for trying to be different but still being just as Shoujo-trash-astic as ever? For reference (and as context for those living in the West who are not in the know), there was a live-action movie that went by the title of "You Are the Apple of My Eye" (那些年，我們一起追的女孩, lit. 'The Girl We Chased Together in Those Years'), a coming-of-age romance film based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Taiwanese novelist Giddens Ko, that was released way back in 2011. And at the time, the film earned both fame and recognition for its "larky retro coming-of-age confection that injects a fresh, tart edge to the genre with a constantly self-mocking boys' angle (an alternative to Asian teen movies that tend to be syrupy)" that broke box office records in Asia (mainly Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore). And upon knowing that Haruka Mitsui took this idea and updated it to the standards of the modern COVID pandemic outbreak, I was feeling skeptical of how she would make a story between a girl and her 4 handsome Ikemen childhood friends, living in such a tight lockdown that's a whole different experience of their days in high school altogether, only to preempt it as a flashback between then and 10 years from now. In a sense, you could catch the fever that the author herself is trying to mask, but at the same time, make the underlying premise a fake-out, only warranting when COVID conditions are serious enough to justify cancelling events for the group of female MCs Mizuho Nishino and her childhood friends Kizuki Hazawa, Shin Kashiwagi, Airu Izumi, and Shugo Hoshikawa. These 5 young adults are having the best time of their lives being close to one another and dubbed the Koigahama Highlands boys alongside their only flower, who aspires to be a manga illustrator when she grows up. Surely nothing wrong will go between them, right? Other than the obvious implications of the pandemic limiting their choices when it comes to severe restrictions, it's the feeling of adolescence that Mizuho will one day be stolen by one of the 4 guys who all had their affections upon her, but respectively going about their own dilemmas to either play the friendzone treatment or just go for gold with building jealousy within the group that only seems to shatter the long-standing friendship that they have thus far. Sadly, as current Nakayoshi standards go, I don't quite have the confidence to say that this show has a story to tell, as disjointed as it sounds. What's the point of the 5 of them hanging out at the same known places, where the crowd doesn't mask up and maintain distance against one another? Worse still, the story feels nothing like the Taiwanese film that I've mentioned earlier in the review, instead opting for your stereotypical soap opera drama of potential boyfriend conflicts and interests against the lone girl who's trying to hide the fact that one of them has an interest in her, and they're just playing hard to get so that she can maintain the status quo. As they say, "Nothing is forever," and though Mizuho gets the gist that their friendship will break sooner than later, it's the emotional and psychological fight between her two most prominent potentials, Kizuki and Shin, that has both Shugo and Aira witnessing from the sidelines, as they're different in their views of the friendship. It's certainly not all that different from the standards of an otome game, where the anime chooses your endgame route rather than the player doing his/hers, and you have no say in what and how the direction will take you, barring the good and bad parts of it. Knowing Typhoon Graphics and their course produced this show, it just feels like you're reading a VN with non-scrolling but boring text dialogue that tells you what is going on in the minds of the boys, while we witness from Mizuho's view the shallowness of trying to play the friendship game, only to realize that she's screwed the moment any of the 4 boys pounces on her. That said, while the background art is passable, the animation is minimalistic at best, to the sheer point of barely where sacrifices can clearly be seen. With the music helmed by composer Keiji Inai, I was expecting the level of, yet another Typhoon Graphics show of Spring 2023's Kanojo ga Koushakutei ni Itta Riyuu a.k.a Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion. But even that couldn't prepare me for yet another minimalist effort that just shows the total commitment of effort to the anime overall. Aside from Marcy's ED song (which is literally just the song only), I'm quickly getting sick of new bands created to merge the J- and K-Pop feels together, as is the case for INI's OP song, and more of them have been coming into the Anisong spectrum only to grate on the ears of a Korea takeover in J-Pop. I feel almost obliged to say that if you consider Douse, Koishite Shimaunda a.k.a Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You, a Shoujo work by all means and sense, yes, it is. But its target demographic should already tell you when guys try to even watch this show and yet still cannot relate to females loving bad boys and the whole "nine yards down" shtick. Shoujo works CAN be enjoyed by both sexes, but not to a point that feels condescending just for shock value, which is exactly what the anime is trying to do here. It's true in the Shoujo sense, but you're better off with other works that have done this better.

This is like really bad, I hate watched cus it was only a chapter per week and even soo I watched it at 2x sped, not only cus I didn't wanted waste time in it but also cus it was sooooo slow, in talking 40 second slides or like one piece running scenes I really wanted to end just to find a second season announcement, even so I really think I will be watching that second season My advice is not see this cus it have a way to trap you, you know is bad bad but like a car on fire you just can't stop watching

I really liked how the main character never gives up and continues fighting for her dreams, even when things get difficult. It is also very nice to see how her friends support her and encourage her to keep going, which gives the story a warm and emotional touch. The anime is visually very beautiful, with soft colors and scenes that help convey the characters’ feelings. However, I didn’t like the part where Kisuki leaves for a while and completely loses contact with his friends, because it created a sense of distance that felt a bit sad and frustrating. Even so, for people who enjoy romance stories full of emotions, personal growth, and meaningful relationships, I highly recommend this anime.

This is my first time writing a review because It felt like I have write one! First of all... waddahell did I just watch?! I mean okay I getit it's a reverse harem anime, all cute and all but like really waddahell! I've been a reverse harem my whole anime life and watched every single one of them but what was this one!? Firstly the animation and the graphics.... terrible! The animation is stiff, the character sometimes move and something they stay still. The background images are just bad! They makes it soo clear that the studio didn't even try to make it look good. But I really wanna talk about the story development and the characters....YES! Specially the characters. Okay so Mizuho, a girl who is super confused and doesn't even try to solve a thing. 2 dudes kissed her without even her consent and forced their way into her and what she did about it? Literally NOTHING! And okay I getit that you are still not that experienced and confused about the situation but atleast don't try to make it even more confusing...like why are you even giving them green signal and then the next thing you do is like you don't care about them anymore? Okay? Girl make up your mind...from the very first you were giving a green signal to kizuki and then when shin made a move....you did nothing but went with it? Why bro?! Nextly kizuki and shin....kizuki is super childish and kinda (imo) felt very creepy...the way he was forcing himself onto mizuho was super weird and uncomfortable to was...felt like harassment! Then shin? My guy? What was that? He is just a guy with super confusion, whether to approach his crush or no. At one point he would encourage kizuki to make a move on her then the next he does is he himself make a move on her...I mean like...what us your problem? So indecisive! And also that forceful kiss was not romantic at all! The other 2 characters? Airu and shugo? I wanted to see a clear story of airu but it kept getting so boring! And shugo...he likes mizuho but wants to stay as her friend (one-sided crush thingy) and kept on helping others on approaching her! Dude! Why? These two had nothing to do but only work as cupids for those 3. Overall the story kept getting weird and it was soo uncomfortable to watch! The guys would come into her room withone any notice or consent while she was sleeping, would stare at her while she was sleeping... It felt like the story wasn't even going anywhere! There are a lot of plot holes and lot of confusion. That's all.

Omg. I'm very sad there were just a few people who could enjoy this masterpiece. As reverse harem is one of my favourite genres I have to say that all I ever wanted was this. Don't mistake me, I like fantasy, vampires and old japan... whatever. However this being an slice of live also gave me opportunity to focus on the great development of the characters in this one. The feelings are deepy explored, there is friendship between the rivals, there's evolution, there's mystery, there are plot twists... All I could ever wanted for a reverse harem, a part from dark and gothic aesthetic. This is a fair oponent to Uta no pri, Kamigami no Asobi, and so. I'm not arguing that, I'm sorry not sorry.

I did not understand what the author wanted to represent with this manga, because the only thing I see is that it represents everything you should not do when writing a manga. Its entire plot vanishes after chapter one. The problems of rejection, COVID-19, and the lack of social activities caused by the pandemic are all forgotten, and the only thing you get is a typical, super-generic story about a girl whom all the handsome boys at school talk to, while they solve their problems together. If this manga managed to get an anime adaptation, it was probably because it sold the bare minimum to an audience that dreams of these kinds of stories, where all the attractive girls or boys at school only talk to you and pay attention to you. As for the adaptation, the Typhoon Graphics studio urgently needed work after the failure of Haigakura, a project they have still not been able to finish properly. The animation and music are not bad, but they do not stand out either. Overall, the anime is very forgettable.

Gg, go next, I'm not even going to waste your time here. (For those who need more details, here you go.) Pro -the best part of this anime wasn't even the romance, it was a 3 to 5-minute reflective intro. Each ep started with the main girl character thinking how great and exciting her life was 10 years ago. (2020) Con - 2020 was five years ago( as of writing this) and the virus event lasted for about 1-2 years and the world is only now healing(2024-2025). I say this because it is high-key felt like this anime/novel tried to use that event for a cheap paycheck. They show contently references to the event for cheap conflict and drama which then was solved in a matter of 5-10 minutes in the same episode. Like… just say the event was canceled and have the characters do a smaller version of the event. Bringing up COVID was such a bloody waste of a plot point. Pro - The banter between the male characters wasn't all that bad. They were low-key amusing. Con - That is all they had going for them. The blonde love interest was somewhat interesting but the ending with him was disappointing. The other two guys in the story weren't all that bad, to be honest. The great offender was the pushy blue hair. This might be a shojo thing but they love to just overload the story with excessive boundary-breaking. Maybe I don't see the appeal but pinning a girl against a shower room wall after just confusing your feeling a day before sounds scary. Another example is blonde hair randomly taking off his shirt after the main girl character wakes up for an accidental sleepover at his place. Oh, another, brown hair say that the main girl’s shoe was untied and decided to tie it for her??? Aren't these high school kids? I just can't buy that event actually occurring and it not being weird as hell to perform. Pro - ooh, beautiful colors Con -holy, was that where all your budget went? Every 5 Seconds of motion is left with a momentary 3-second pause for meaningless suspense. The amount of time I had to check if my Crunchyroll was bugged has to be studied. The anime caused me too many times with that 5-second pump fake, I'm depressed thinking about it. Again I say gg, go next, for there is nothing you can gain from this show… well except the final ep and the 3-5 minutes of reflections.

✒👻👻👻👻 of the Past, Growing Pains & 🎆🎇🎆 For the Future °7.5° °VG° 💯%🔍 some minor spoilers The one-sentence review: The very charming AIFILWY is a well written, acted, and directed coming of age story about growing pains and what's most powerful, poignant, and meaningful in young life: Young love, particularly unrequited love. “I didn't realize it at the time, but in my teenage years, life was truly dazzling.” AIFILWY opens to the camera panning over still shots with live sound in the background. Some look like book illustrations and some look like faded photos. It sets a somber and pensive mood. The mood is confirmed by the first words: “What an awful birthday.” Opening #1 is Mizuho as an adult. She's around 30 and working as a manga editor. One of her pet projects has been slated to end, so it's a sad time. Opening #2 is her recalling her HS years and the close friendships she had. The 2nd opening is also very Reply 1988-8.6. The FL recalls growing up with 4 friends, ALL boys. In R88, the FL and her 4 friends were BROS. She had burping contests with them - and worse. When they get older and start noticing the differences between them, she goes through a couple in the group before deciding on her forever mate. In this show, we learn early on that more than one of the boys likes her as more than a mere friend, We might start in the current day, but most of the show takes place in the past. Mizuho was always a writer. That was her dream. She ends up as an editor. Life feels rather cyclical as she's mentoring a teen writer whom she believes has unlimited promise. They seem to be having nearly identical conversations to those that Mizuho had with her own editor when she was young. When she was young… None of the girls at school really understand Mizuho's relationship with these guys. “Mizuho, please take these treats to Kizuki.” “He's right there. Take them yourself,” 🙄Mizuho cannot fathom this girl's method nor her feelings. “I just couldn't. I freeze in his presence!” “What's so special about him, anyway?” Mizuho remembers the little snot-nosed kid who always followed her around. Kizuki is her little brother. That's all he is. But that is not how Kizuki sees Mizuho, and he's determined to make her see him as a man - HER man. The background is the 2020 covid protocols, which didn't get into full swing until later in the year. They don't wear masks, but I think we should allow them that artistic license. Who wants to watch an anime where everyone is in a mask? The artists likely couldn't bear to do that. Nishino Mizuho is voiced by Marie Maganda who did the voice of Sujin from True Beauty-7.5. All Mizuho cares about is getting her manga published. Her friends will often help by taking over “eraser duty” and other menial tasks. Hazawa Kizuki is a 🏆-winning swimmer, but all of his meets are getting canceled. He's younger, and Mizuho doesn't seem to notice how big, broad, and handsome he's gotten. She notices after he pulls her aside and kisses her, immediately after declaring his fervent love. The kiss that Kizuki plants on Mizuho at the end of ep1 is the sexiest anime kiss I've ever seen in my still-sort-of-new anime life. It’s a goodun, an 8/10 every day of the week. Izumi Airu of the two-toned hair is the stylish social media influencer and model. He used to be a delinquent, but now he's into only beautiful things. Kashiwagi Shin has adorned himself with an extra prickly manner. He's always berating Mizuho. He's your typical overachiever: Class president and headed for med school. Hoshikawa Shuugo prefers to stand back and watch. He notices everything, particularly everything about Mizuho. He flirts outrageously with his teacher and claims to have a hankering for older women. “He's not attached.” The teacher assesses Shuugo who has made a spectacle of his “crush" on her. “He's just using me as camouflage. The truth is, there's someone else he likes. He's afraid to get hurt, so he hides his true feelings. But if he doesn't stop this, I'm sure he will deeply regret it when he's older.” His older brother, Tougo, is at college, but comes home to do a student teaching stint. He's a bit of an egotist and won't let anyone forget that HE was Mizuho‘s first crush. “I can't believe how cute you've become!” He doesn't care if he's agitating all the younger guys. I'm not sure if I'm a noob at this point or intermediate when it comes to anime. I am just starting to learn the lingo. So, this is a “reverse harem” piece. Already I'm wondering why they don't just call it a herem, a “HERem”. The whole idea of “reverse” is that it's not the norm, while that doesn't jive with real life. That all goes back to when manga and anime was more for males and by males. Whatevs. It isn't that important. (Still, I'm not in love with women being relegated to “reverse" anything, like it's the left-hand path or something). One of the themes is: Live without regret. “It's scary to share your feelings with someone. And it's scary not to. I'm terrified of destroying what we already have, but I'm no less afraid of regret.” Mizuho cannot understand Kizuki's boldness. Why doesn't he have any fear? Kizuki has RESOLVE. He's made his decisions. “What scares me most is the thought of losing you to someone else. I won't live with regret. One day, we'll grow up, and no matter what the future holds, I've made up my mind. I want to be your first. I want to be your first and your last boyfriend.” Kizuki is kind of simple that way. That does not make him stupid. Many of life's most important things are quite simple and we get ourselves stuck in the muck by overthinking. There's a brilliance to simplicity. Two of the guys in the group end up in open war for Mizuho's affections (They'll probably regret that). They are starting to pay more attention to eachother than her! Mizuho can't stand the type of attention they are giving her, anyway. It's too much! Another theme is the disconnect of youth. “You know how people are. The less you know about something, the easier you believe it,” is a quote from the show Vincenzo. Kids know very little. Their worlds are smaller. The smartest people are the ones who can see that, the older they get, the LESS they know. Pride is the steroid of emotions, and youth is tragically in a constant roid-rage. Pride always competes, which is why gossip and comparing ourselves to others are such popular sports. All that judgment and all that comparing is actually a form of us lying to ourselves. What do we really know about other people, their abilities, their gifts, their challenges, their setbacks, their sicknesses, their background… What is there to compare? Lifting ourselves up at the expense of others is particularly pathetic, and it's another lie. We never lift ourselves up that way, we only make ourselves smaller. This is at the root of the disconnect between youth and age. Mizuho thought her editor was straight from Mars when he told her that her 17 y/o life is dazzling. She thought that until she was staring down 30 and realized he was right. She was wrong. The art is very good. People are drawn for zero fantasy, and the look is quite realistic. Backgrounds are detailed and close to looking like faded photos. The use of lighting is gorgeous. People in the background are often depicted by outlines filled with classic comic book dotting or pixilating. It's a nice technique. At the end of ep1, Mizuho is single and seems lonely, though she's still in touch with Shin and Shuugo, locally, and Airu by way of long distance (he's in France). When ep11 starts, we still don't know where Kizuki is, but that is who Mizuho is thinking of and longing for. We don't know what's going to happen - there's not many clues. S1 ends in current day, with Kizuki arriving back in Japan. The pieces are set up: It looks and feels like a game that has been frozen in place for 10 years without anyone making a move. By the end of S2, will Mizuho's lonel…