Watashi ga Koibito ni Nareru Wake Nai jan, Muri Muri! (※Muri ja Nakatta!?)

Finally, after all these years, the greatest yuri of all time has been adapted. I know that’s high praise, but I mean that from the depths of my heart. As a matter of fact, I’ll go even further, Watanare is one of the best romcoms ever. Full stop. This is the complete package from storytelling to characters, to thematics, it’s got it all. It somehow manages to balance serious themes like consent, sexual identity, relationship boundaries and parental abuse with comedy and over the top lesbian romance very well. It comes off very campy at start, but you slowly realize it’s actually respectfully handling delicate topics like Renako coming to terms with her sexuality, her desire to be accepted, conforming to societal norms and more. It’s hilarious and has great yuri ships, but most importantly Watanare is and damn good coming of age story. For being written by a man, I’m very happy with the lack of fetishisation of lesbians. Yea, there’s sprinkles of fanservice, but it’s more of the “girls like hot girls too” sort rather than being done for the male gaze like a lot of other yuri stories. It’s a must watch for any yuri fan, but also anyone who likes a romance where there’s no losers and a best girl for everyone. Polyamorous harem stories getting anime adaptations are nearly unheard of, especially yuri ones. One of the coolest things about Watanare is that all the girls don’t just like Renako, but we get mini ships among her harem, often being just as good as the main ships, if not better. I think it’s so lame when stories just have a bunch of girls falling in love with a dude and just following him around. Give us the girls dating each other damn it! Watanare author got the assignment and while in this first season, we only see the groundwork being laid for that eventual story development, it’s cool seeing how all the girls interact with each other and how the relationships differ between cast members. By far the best part of Watanare is our loveable, totally in denial about her sexuality MC, Renako. Whether intentionally or not, this girl is autistic coded and we love her for it. I don’t mean that as a joke either, she exhibits legitimate signs of being on spectrum, struggling to make eye contact, using scripts to communicate, having difficulty processing her emotions, etc. It’s actually a quite realistic depiction of a teenage autistic girl grappling with a rapidly changing environment and I found that so refreshing! Renako’s big internal struggle throughout the story is balancing her desire for friendship with the romance everyone tries to force on her. Our girl literally just wants a gaming buddy and she ends up getting multiple wives. The author actually does a really good job of showing how various actions can have different meanings to different people. For example, playing video games is something that friends do in Renako’s mind, while for some of the other characters, it’s a romantic action. They then try to turn playing video games with Renako into an opportunity to make a move on her, which makes her upset. It’s a reminder of the importance of communication as well as establishing boundaries. Speaking of boundaries, I really like how the author doesn’t gloss over characters violating Renako’s boundaries. It comes to a heat in a couple of the episodes and for the most part, the offender actually learns why forcing yourself physically and emotionally onto others is wrong and grows from it. I’m all for situations like this because too often in anime we see characters casually sexually harassing others and it’s played off as a gimmick. While this is partially a comedy series, it knows when to take things seriously and get an important message across. Also a huge fan of how the series covers things like emotionally abusive parents. While we don’t usually think of being forced to babysit as being abuse, it goes into that realm once you start making a child sacrifice their own hobbies and dreams to be your babysitter. This is something very personal to me because I’ve known several people, very close to me, irl who has severe mental issues as a result of being burdened with essentially raising their little siblings. I’m consistently impressed by the ability of this author to incorporate relevant issues teenagers actually go through into the story! Renako grappling with her sexual identity, being in denial, hiding things from her family, people pressuring you into situations in which you’re not comfortable and being gaslit into believing putting yourself first is wrong. These were very well done and relatable with a comedic twist. Production on this is incredible. The art style is gorgeous and does the LN art justice, which is actually very funny because the LN illustrator is the Sasakoi mangaka and we know how much of a disappointment that yuri series was.. no such production shortcomings with Watanare. The animation is awesome and the show really has no business looking as good as it does at times(underwater kiss). Special s/o to my girl Nakamura Kanna for doing an amazing job voicing Renako and being a big reason why this show is so good. Her reactions to situations made so many scenes even better! I can’t believe there was a point in my life where I didn’t like to watch or read yuri because I couldn’t self insert. I was so closed minded and over the last couple of years, I have really changed. Now not only am I a massive yuri fan, but I usually prefer those stories because it feels like the romance is developed better than het romances. Watanare only makes me feel better about that claim. This was near perfect for me, the 2nd best show this season, one of most enjoyable live watch experiences ever thanks to it airing on YouTube. I wouldn’t change a thing about this, other than giving Renako’s little sister more screentime! Watanare gets 10 out of 10

When I first started this show, I was actually really into it. I thought Mai was a really engaging love interest and it was going to have a lot to say about boundaries and two dummies who've never really been in love figuring out how to be in a relationship together. ...And then the Satsuki arc happened. I don't think I've ever been this disappointed that a show was a harem (or poly or whatever, quite frankly, the distinction doesn't really matter to me in this case). The inherent problem with a harem is that you then have to write that many more engaging love interests. A mono show? You have to write one good love interest. Harem? If they aren't all interesting, you either have an undercooked character you just kinda slide under the carpet or a dud swallowing up airtime that could've been used on one of the more interesting partners. Watanare has both. To be fair to Watanare, it's actually getting a sort of sequel/second cour/whatever that features the last girl (at least for now because who fucking knows now that they've broken the door open) but Kaho does not do jack, diddly, or shit this season. How are the other love interests? I think the problem is that they set up the one character I actually like as a joke or antagonist. >"Oh, I'm the great Mai Ouzuka, nothing will go wrong-" >*Renako starts grinding on the nearest girl in sight* Satsuki actively uses Renako as a baseball bat to emotionally traumatize Mai in a way that makes me just want her gone. I actively dislike Satsuki for how she treats Mai in this show. She's supposed to be the "cool beauty" of the show but the problem is that's Mai. Ajisai and even Kaho have their own niches but Satsuki never really stuck out to me except in the worst possible ways. Ajisai is... better, I guess, but she's kinda bland. She's just your industrial-grade cinnamon roll where even her crashouts are cute and sweet and pure. I guess she wasn't bad but she didn't inspire me to want any more screen time with her either. Renako, the MC, feels like if you took the introversion/social awkwardness of Bocchi, the inexplicable charisma of a harem MC, and apparently the sluttiness of Makoto Itou and put them in a blender. This show has one good love interest and chooses to clickbait you into thinking you're getting a show about her and the MC before tossing her out for the most part while they build the other characters and it just didn't work for me. For my more enthusiastic himefriends out there, maybe seeing a poly yuri is more impressive to you, maybe if you knew that's what you were going into, you'd have a better time, but not only did that actively kind of spoil the show for me, the post-Mai love interests aren't even all that interesting. Even after getting 2 arcs to explore 2 of the others, I still only want to see Mai x Renako. When the show is that? Great show, I'm here for it. When it's any other pairing, could not care less. I've definitely seen worse but proceed with caution.

A complete waste of time, and insult to viewers who stayed for the total 17 episodes! What in the world did I just watch....... This is a yuri harem anime, that has a terrible story (while interesting contemporary takes on feelings), This anime really does not dive deep enough into any cast member, and often prioritizes throwing the previous story to the wayside to throw another girl into this harem, takes precedence over any form of narrative or emotional attachment or bond built in the previous episode. With the sequel eps 13-17 being a giant anti-climatic let down, the main interest that is sold in the first season is just a massive insult to the viewers time. Visuals - solid Music - meh Animation - decent Story - awful characters - 1 dimensional

Do not fall into the Yuri trap like I did. Overall this anime was an incredible let-down, it fails at being both a Romance and a Comedy, which is unfortunate because I actually thought I was gonna enjoy it, the plot and themes may very enticing for anyone who is like me, but I hope to let others know through this review to not commit the same mistake of watching Watanare. I'll separate my thoughts about it on multiple categories so that I can at least give it some sort of compliment Writing (2/10) My main gripe with this show. The episodes feel like they alternated from endless chatter that tries to have a deep narrative behind it and episodes where stuff happens for no reason. Jokes always fell flat, even if the visuals had potential no visual gag was accompanied by a well written joke, it isn't absurd enough to be funny or smart enough for good punch-lines. Even putting the comedy aspect aside, emotional moments were too unrealistic to be taken seriously and none of the characters acted like real people, which wouldn't be a problem if the show doubled down on the absurdity of the scenarios, but it doesn't, instead trying to get taken seriously when nothing in this show is even taken seriously by the characters in it, let alone the viewer. Characters (2/10) (SPOILERS) The cast of characters looks fun and colorful, but they all act like total idiots without a care for each others feelings, and never stand up for themselves. It took the protagonist (Renako) her sister catching her getting harassed by Mai to finally snap and complain, but there were no real consequences or character growth after that, Mai kept pushing herself onto Renako throughout the entirety of the anime without any consequence, and Renako never did anything substantial about it. Sure, this could work as a plot point if used correctly, but none of the rest of characters do anything about it, Koto even makes use of the situation to get revenge on Mai, something which, in a realistically written show, would sever the relationship between EVERY character introduced so far, but we somehow end up with an episode about them playing cheap CGI battle royale to decide the course of their relationships. Sena was the only character that I liked, and was expecting to finally get to see Mai get back for all the bs she's been pulling with her over-inflated ego, but ended up with an underwhelming and unsatisfying ending where we barely got to see any reaction, or anything to bridge over to next season (which I will most definitely NOT be watching). Visuals (8/10) Visuals are very colorful and character designs are fun and bright, maybe too bright sometimes but I don't mind that. This might be the strongest suit of this show, I probably wouldn't have even considered watching it if it didn't have the art-style it has. Animation-wise, it's good, it doesn't look cheap or rushed and is perfectly serviceable. A personal pet peeve of mine is the abundance of """fan service""" (detailed naked bodies) but animators don't get the final saying if that goes into the show or not, although it did feel like they put in way too much effort into drawing those frames sometimes. Music (8/10) The opening and ending songs are really good, I specifically like the ending because it has a very distinct style and incredible music to accompany it (also because it means there were less episodes to finally finish this show lmao). Background music was forgettable but not distracting, I guess that's what background music is meant to be??? Personal score (3/10) I could never recommend this show to anyone, it does not deserve the rating it has. Characters do terrible things and always manage to get away with it because the protagonist is terribly incapable of just saying "no", so the entire show ends up being infuriating to watch. Mai is hilariously similar to modern-day rich people who have gotten into legal problems recently, so I couldn't stop making comparisons in my head.

Unless you are yuri aficionado there's no reason to watch this show, and even for those you enjoy yuri genred there are plenty other yuri, or yuri-coded shows that do things better. The basic plot setup is your classic harem show - introverted MC enters a new environment and is suddenly overwhelmed by beautiful girls who see MC's inner goodness and want to be with her. Which wouldn't be bad per say, in fact I don't think there are that many harem yuri shows, but the writing is just bad. Characters aren't anything special and most of them are quite surface level. The authors clearly seen how "conflicted character" looks in media and wanted to imitate that but the execution just felt through. Also the setups our MC find's herself in are one of the worse in the genre. The show isn't asking for plain suspension of disbelief, no - it want's you to drop it to the bottom of Mariana trench. Most of the plot lines of late 2000s, early 2010s harem shows were more coherent and believable than this thing. The only thing better in Watanare is the ending - after the 17 episodes we finally get an interesting "plot twist" and I guess if there ever is a second season it could be interesting. One additional thing to point out is that the comedy falls flat most of the times. I don't think I've laughed a single time during the show. Things like forcing the MC to pretend date one girl to get back at different girl isn't funny, isn't interesting, it's just stupid. At least the animation and technical side is quite good. No master piece - still has plenty of money saving shots with character's having covered mouths and what not. But at least the characters look quite cute and are voice acted well enough. Still hope the studio decides to adapt the second well known show from the author - Arioto. There the setup is way more insane and by extension is

WATCH THIS ANIME, it is a masterpiece. Especially if you are a fan of the yuri genre... you can think of this as kinda like I'm in Love with the Villainess (except this time the blonde girl starts off as the skirt chaser). 10/10 Animation 10/10 Audio and voice acting 10/10 Characters (And the intro is super catchy too) It is the greatest yuri anime of all time and I am CONFIDENT in saying that, it drew me in about 4 episodes into airing and for the first time in my life I watched every episode as it came out, looking forward to them all. This should tell you just how good this anime is and just how well it pulled off what it was aiming for. Several other reviewers on this site and outside of it have given this show a less than stellar or even negative review particularly talking about Mai's pushiness but if anything it feel like the show would crumble if she wasn't. There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless... succeeds where other popular yuri shows don't, because of its main cast being just 4 girls it has time to flesh every main character out (well maybe not every character, sorry Kaho) and it does extremely well pacing it. Of course you will get common anime tropes like the tall black-hair quiet girl who cant really express herself, the rich blonde girl, the protagonist who used to have social problems but is trying to become more social and even some common yuri tropes too, however they all come off as endearing. Oh yeah gotta praise that animation \[T]/. After coming off of Whisper Me a Love Song (no shade to it, still a really really good show) the animation startled me with how good it was, seriously just look up the intro, the animation is FLUID and so so expressive. The sound design is no slouch too, super good audio that sets the mood perfectly for each scene. It's really rare for a yuri to get such a high quality adaptation, usually the adaptation is lacking in some area but not this anime. Regardless that's enough gushing, GIVE THIS ANIME A SHOT!

Have you ever seen a rom-com that does whatever the hell it wants? Where every scene exudes an outrageous, yet refreshing charm? Look no further than Watanare, an explosion of over-the-top yuri romance and comedy that will suck you in with zero apologies. Watanare’s characters carry the show. Renako, the main character, is a socially anxious girl who rebranded herself as an extrovert in high school. There, she befriends other girls who are … interesting, to say the least. We meet Mai, an overconfident high school model with the balls to confess to Renako one day after becoming friends. There’s Ajisai, an angel who shows nothing but kindness to everyone. Then there’s Satsuki, Mai’s childhood friend, with a desire to finally beat Mai and knock her off her pedestal. And of course, all of them are lesbians, leading to a barrage of spicy plotlines revolving around love and friendship. These characters create an endless amount of fun; whether it’s a phone call, a date, kissing, bathing, or even playing FPS games, the way they bounce off of each other fills every scene with energy. But the show goes further than that. Watanare manages to balance chaos with serious moments that show how much it loves its characters. Everyone is flawed in some aspect. Renako is socially inept, Mai is pretentious, Ajisai feels unworthy, and Satsuki is stubborn. All of them strive to become better people, supporting each other along the way. The delicate balance between comedy and character growth makes the girls feel like real people. Even though things are exaggerated (as expected in anime), their interactions are very similar to those between a group of close friends in real life. You can’t help but love them, as flawed as they are. The dialogue, especially Renako's monologues, is fast. Although reading subtitles at that speed may be difficult, it fits with the fast-paced nature of the show. If a slice of life anime is relaxing on a lazy river, Watanare is class 5 whitewater rafting. So buckle up and get ready; once the episode begins, there won’t be any time to breathe. It has been so long since I’ve watched a rom-com with such a strong identity. Watanare doesn’t care about being correct or proper. It is sexy, over-the-top, and surprisingly sweet. And that’s what makes it great.

The show is a bit of a weird one for me. And I won't try to pretend that the fanfare this show got from its fanbase, calling it the best Yuri anime out there, has set the expectations maybe a bit too high for me. But I try to reduce that in my overall assessment as much as possible. The show definitely has its ups and downs, there are things that work, things that don't work and things that I thought were just really badly handled. But all in all, I had fun with it and it ultimately might depend hard on how this show ends as a sequel movie has already been announced. For now, it sits at "mixed feelings" because there is just too much that I personally couldn't ignore. But let's start at the beginning. The show starts off pretty promising. You have your typical MC, Renako, who is introverted and has trouble making friends. In high school, she wants to turn a new leaf, gets a new haircut and tries to get into the "cool girls group" but she quickly realises that she isn't able to keep up with them. Until the day, that Mai, the most famous person of that group finds her on the roof and they have a small talk about their insecurities which is then followed by Mai proposing her love to Renako who is not too interested in that idea, for one reason because she wants to have friends and not a relationship right now (but there are other reasons that I don't get into here because of spoilers), so they decide to have a "contest" of convincing the other. Mai tries to convince Renako to be her lover, while Renako wants to convince Mai that it's better if they are just friends. With them switching between days where they act as "lovers" and days where they act as "just friends". So a funny little RomCom set up. And in the beginning, this looks like it can work. I am not pretending that this relationship contest the two is good or healthy. Mai is clearly the more straight forward type who isn't shy on pushing her ways onto Renako. That is shown in the fact that the decision if they are playing "lovers" or "friends" is soley decided by herself. If she has her hair open, it's "lover's day", if she has it tied up, it's "friend's day" and you can already imagine, she isn't tying her hair up often. And even if she does, she has no problem in untying it to just force her "lover's idea" onto Renako with such great excuses as "In the bath, I have to open my hair" while then making advances onto Renako. And as I said, this is clearly not a healthy form of relationship or contest, but I didn't mind that at first too much, because it felt like the show was at least aware of it and this would be adressed at some point. But the show only pretends to do that. There is a moment where Mai takes things too far and seemingly has a moment of realisation, but in the following episodes, she seemingly goes back to her old ways. There is an attempt by her to make amends for it, but ultimately it is Renako who apologizes to Mai and not the other way around, which I just found to be pretty tone deaf considering what situation lead to this argument in the first place. But don't worry, we will come back to that. However, firstly, we will completely sideline that plot point, since that is what the show is doing as well. Because yes, this show is a harem, so every few episodes, we will completely change focus onto another girl, sidelining all potential character development and relationship status for the other love interests. And I am honest, that is one of the worst parts of this show. I kind of understand that this is very typical for harem shows, but it feels even more jarring in this one. While it's not like the others completely disappear from the show (especially Mai is sometimes still part of the action), the show fails at showing us the general friendship dynamic of the group. We only see bits and pieces of Renako interacting with one of the girls at a time, but never why these are even in a friend group in the first place. But even more jarring it seems that the show is doing important character development for some girls that are not the focus off-screen. And this is where we come back to Mai. Because while I wrote earlier that she goes back to her ways after the escalation, she is actually becoming a better person towards the end of the series. When did this change happen or what did actually make Mai change her behaviour? Who knows, it just is at some point. And don't get me wrong, I kind of appreciate that they are developing her character, but if her development is one of the central things, why make this a harem show in the first place if you then have to do that off-screen? It just reduced what could have been a really strong moment for one of the main characters to something "that just happened". It's still nice, but it could have been so much more. But okay, let's come back to the harem aspect, because there is obviously an important question: How well are the different girls portrayed? Can this make up for the lack of on-screen character development? It depends. The first arc, centered around Mai is, as written, generally a good one, but they failed to properly conclude it. It is only better in retrospect if we add Mai's later character development to it, but as mentioned, since that happens off-screen, it's hard to attribute it to the arc. The second arc, centered around Satsuki, is just overall pretty boring and doesn't feel like it adds much to the story at all. It's also the arc where I feel the pacing of the show is way too high as Satsuki seems like she is speaking in 1.5x speed just to get all of her backstory loaded into it. The third arc, centered around Ajisai, is probably the best one, from the overall set up until the conclusion. Though, one has to see how they can pay this one off in the future movie since that is where the show ended. The last character, Kaho, didn't have an arc yet, so she will probably part of the movie, but she is also hit the strongest by the "harem" aspect of the show, because I think, she has like 4-5 lines in total during the whole show and it seems like she is forgotten half way through it. Because while others are sidelined as well before or after their arcs, you could be excused for forgetting that Kaho even exists so little she matters to the story so far. But since that was a bit negative, let me come back to a more positive note and that is our MC Renako. Because despite her being relatively generic at first, with her just being introverted and wanting to be more outgoing, what the show manages to achieve, is to show that she is growing. She isn't becoming an extrovert type, but over all the episodes, you can feel that she is becoming a bit more self-confident, even if that part of hers can't just be erased completely. There is a weird fear she has of boys, but it's never really dealt with further, so I am not sure if that is just the excuse for why she is into girls or if that is actually used later in the sequel. Which leaves us with the technical aspects and at least the style and animation are well done. It isn't something you can praise too much, but it is also nothing to completely dismiss. What I want to say, I have seen romances with better and more creative animation, but I have also seen action shows that have worse animation than this. It's pretty much what you would expect from a romance show, maybe a bit better than that. What I did find funny was the way they were using Renako's inner monologues as she wasn't just thinking to herself, but they tried to visualize them with small gags every now and then. On the other hand, the pacing is probably a bit too high. It's not "Whisper me a love song" levels of that you feel complete moments are skipped, but there are scenes that don't even last 30 seconds and it can sometimes give this impression that things move a bit too fast. Especially with Satsuki, who is as mentioned sound like she is talking in 1.5x speed. And this high pacing might also be why the Mai characte…

The harem yuri that isn't harem One great thing in anime is when there's a confession in the first chapters, and this is one of those animes. I actually expected some kind of harem, but this goes beyond. The rich girl falls in love to the shy main girl, but she only wants friendship, then the serious girl also falls in love, and then... But, as absurd it may sound at first, the story takes it seriously, is funny, yes, but not a parody like Kimi no koto ga dai5x... and it's not the MC power. Renako just want friends but is that attitude the reason she becomes the center of the "harem". The animation is great, but there are some moments when the novel source shows up, long dialogs and monologs which are not a bad thing, but this is not Monogatari, the chibi pictures are not enough to translate a light novel into animation. Great story, and the final chapter is great, luckily, they announced a next part. Polyamory is the answer.

A harem anime with a surprisingly unique twist: it's yuri. Unfortunately, the main love interest, whom the entire plot revolves around, absolutely fucking sucks. She's a millionaire (/billionaire, i don't think it's explicitly said how rich she is, but money is absolutely not a problem for her) nepo baby completely out of touch with reality who has no concept of boundaries and is set on making everything about herself, even in the one arc that isn't about her she comes out of the blue to crash the party. Looking back, Mai reminds me a lot of Jinshi from The Apothecary Diaries, with how she has more money than god, keeps forcing herself onto the MC, and I feel a constant sense of dread at the thought that she will almost inevitably end up dating Renako by the end of the series. However, I think I dislike her slightly more because she represents a more modern archetype of real-life person. that said, if you can get past her it's a really good series.

Oh to be a lesbian with game like Renako... Watanare is the first yuri focused media I've ever interacted with and it just so happened to be soon after I realized I'm not fully male myself, so there's a lot of gender envy with the characters here and there. Surprisingly all characters are likeable and it's hard to choose which one would be the best for Renako, some even seem to be more romantically matching with each other rather than with her. It's a really cute love... square? or perhaps even a full-blown poly. It leaves you wishing to see all 5 of the girls together and happy. A lovely watch that I'd recommend to all yuri lovers and fellow introverts out there, I'm sure you will find Renako relatable to you like I did. xoxo

This is a Yuri. And reasonably good one as the genre is concerned. At least it starts strong. It is funny and has likable characters. Art, character design and animation is also good. My issue is I think they went on too long. I felt they could have ended in 4 episodes. Or maybe had two different OVAs or two different movies. Or maybe just split it into 3 OVAs or 3 movies. While the show starts strong but I felt it ended with a whimper?! I also need to mention I was bored so I skipped 1-2 episode and went to the last episode to see the finale. The only way I can make sense of the ending is maybe the show was really about the main characters character development and the ending signified her growth from all the experience she gained from the entire show. I am not recommending this to just anyone. If you are looking for comedy but don't mind yuri, then maybe you can give it a show. My Rating: 6/10 (Okay)

Good yuri anime is sadly few and far between. More often than not, these relationships are portrayed as either toxic or perverted (Bloom Into You, Citrus, Fragtime, Sakura Trick), or as silly infatuations between immature girls. The latter can certainly be fun (YuruYuri does it to perfection), but genuine yuri romcoms are extremely rare. To the point where WataNare might be the only one that truly gets it right. And it does. This show is a delightful watch from start to finish. The characters are likeable—though rather eccentric (except perhaps for best-best girl Ajisai). The MC is instantly relatable to any introvert who has stepped outside their comfort zone in order to fit in or build a social circle at school. The way she collapses after coming home from a day of being around others is something every introvert will recognize. I have no doubt the manga’s author knows exactly what he’s talking about. This yuri isn’t bait. The fanservice is minimal—if it can even be called that. With the exception of Mai Oduka, who not only has no doubt about her sexuality but also no problem announcing her love far and wide, all the other girls are still coming to terms with it. Each of them is on a journey of self-discovery. And even Mai learns humility. The characters all grow throughout the story, as they should. They are not one-dimensional—and that, I think, is where the true strength of this series lies. It’s a comedy, but it also takes its characters seriously. It’s funny, but also heartfelt, with touching and deeply relatable moments. It really has it all. All I can say is: more of this, please! We need more yuri—and better yuri. WataNare could help break new ground, and I hope its success inspires more writers and studios to give us more. And more! Technically, WataNare is very well executed. The animation is solid. Time and effort went into the backgrounds, and the character animation is undeniably high quality. The voice acting (sub, not dub) is flawless. I’m not personally a huge fan of Mai Oduka’s design, but it’s faithful to the manga and that’s not on the anime itself. Overall, WataNare feels destined to become a yuri classic.

Before I could yell, "Just scissor already" I was taken on a sweet, relatable journey of an introvert with abysmal self-esteem attain friends she learns to deeply love and cherish. A combination of refreshing youth, homoerotic tension, and a deep introspection on learning to love yourself to love others. From previews, I thought this would be a straightforward romance. Fortunately, it was not. The anime went to places I never expected, and it was an emotional rollercoaster. Tears often welled in the corner of my eyes, as all of the girls confronted their weaknesses and deapened their individual definition of love. Renako was becoming Rentarou (100 Girlfriends) level brave. Go girl, get that box queen.

"Good motivational quote" -Sun Tzu Now this anime's name is to long so I will just be calling it Muri muri I dont care what the formal nickname is ;p. Muri Muri is a lesbian harem anime wherein our Mc is Amaori Renako tries to turn a new life by behaving like ab extrovert to finally get a friends unlike her middle school life wherein she was a video game playing introvert lonely loser. But all her friends: the shining model and smart, Oozuki Mai; the strict cold academically achieving and rival of Oozuki Mai, Koto Satsuki; Good willed and kind, Sena Ajisai (there this gremlin green girl but no romace happens in this anime's 12 ep) end up falling for her wanting to be Renako's girlfriend while Renako only wanted to be their buddy and have lots of friends not girl friends. Now all the anime is where in she is trying to be friends but not being very good at it because they always end up doing gay shit and well the other person get really happy cause well they are not a closeted lesbian. Plot: Meh 4 The plot is just like how good a harem can get. Idk why I thought maybe it will deal with lgbt identity and accepting it and soceital serious aspect of it. There is none. Art: pretty nice 7 The art is pretty especially the ED art so good :D. It is not bad and is fluid it is has animation of any romance anime you pick by a small studio. OP and ED: Liked it 8 Personal opinionion i really loved it was good :X Charecters: plain 6 The characters have like some nuance they arent as bad as some harems but they are still dating sim stereotypes...every one of them. I do like the mc not being just a self insert and having some thinking. But meh. I will not say it is bad but I will not say oh it is well structured and unique type shit. Kisses bad 2 Now the kisses are like a bit... questionable. I just don't like that MOST kisses were where Renako doesnt really want or yearn for it and then the other party just kisses them and Renako doesnt mind and lets them and rather enjoys it. I just wished that there were scenes were Renako outright wanted it too not just the other character. Enjoyment 7 Yuri. It is just this genre has been really lacking in good anime. My thirst for it is the only reason I enjoyed it. If the mc was a boy this will be a "GOONER ANIME". Just yuri anime has some really bad spread so this one was fine compared to others. Overall Fine 6 A good trashy anime. It is like a burger with no sauce and only having onion as veggies with a okayish patty and slightly dried bun. It is an okay timepass. But personally, I am not really wanting to watch the S2 of this. This opnion has been manufactured by a rotting brain that has been not been able to quit evil ai chatbots and keep on roleplaying to feel how a wlw relationship would feel because I cannot take care of myself to get into a real one TT. (And yes I used a format given in a anime forum post. Bye bye hoes ;p)

There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… is perhaps the best outcome you could hope for from a first-time director with very little experience under their belt. The pacing rides a fine line between quick & peppy, and rushed beyond all reason, with the first four episodes being the most extreme example of this. I do care about the events happening on screen and feel for the characters acting them out, but so much dialogue is spat out so quickly that I often found my eyes glazing over and vaguely searching for whatever the general gist of a given conversation is. Thankfully, the production itself is mostly strong enough to carry me through the awkwardly fast pacing. It’s got that usual hyper-pastel color palette you’ve seen before, but the colors themselves are balanced beautifully and the character designs are exceptionally crisp and gorgeous. There’s not a ton of movement, but it’s shot well enough and occasionally has some glimmers of cinematic nicety. The real draw for this series, however, is how insane the girls in this cast can get. This is a full-blown yuri harem anime, which most of the potential love interests having at least some kind of crippling neurosis causing them to act in the most bonkers manner possible, with the first love interest in particular being so especially scheming and borderline sociopathic that I began to actively root against her as the series progressed. As a word of caution, the matter of consent and characters actively doing things that are non-consensual is prevalent in this series, especially in its first arc, and I’m not quite sure it was handled with all the necessary tact. So long as that’s not a huge roadblock for you, this one’s a pretty fun time if you’re looking for a romcom notably on the wackier side of things.

I was fan of the manga and read volume 4 of LN so I was eagerly waiting for a proper adaptation for it, before it was even announced, but after the disaster Sasakoi anime turned out to be i was afraid that Eku Takeshima sensei was in the same bulk as artists... let's say for example Junji Ito. Not in terms of their art style or themes they go for because they are different, but just in terms that their work cant be properly adapted because of some kind of curse that makes every studio that tries to touch their work eventually fumble terribly. Well after watching this spectacle of an anime im really glad that Watanare got time, money and most importantly the talented people that could adapt it properly and give it the execution it deserves. First of all, I would be typically oppose of fast pacing and skipping a lot of stuff from the LN, because in a normal setting it leads to cutting a lot of layers that authors try to set up for characters to make them see more interesting, but in here it works perfectly because of the chaotic nature of the material anime adapts. Watanare is in general a crazy story about a socially recluse girl trying opening up to people and suddenly lands herself in a total mayhem of a situation, so pacing it quickly so jokes can come just one after the other in quick succession made it a really enjoyable to watch. Like, these 20 minute episodes were over so quickly I've barely noticed the passage of time. And other aspects are top notch, the animation is fluid and looks good, the art style is gorgeous and matches the original character designs well, music is great, opening... is addictive as hell XD Also VA's did really solid job, all of them were nice in their roles, especially Kanna Nakamura, she was absolutely perfect as Renako and could've carried the series on her own even if other VA's were subpar (but she didn't need to, because all of them were good). If I had to complain about something it would have to be probably the fact that Kaho didn't get a lot of screen time, but it's not the anime's fault, and we get more of her in the sequel that adapts vol. 4 so i guess that's that. I'll also admit they're some problems in the story that would require me to elaborate on them using heavy spoilers making this review 3 times longer, but i don't like nitpicking in general and it wouldn't really matter in total, so ill refrain from that. So yeah, if you like Yuri in general then it's an easy must watch for you, because it's one of the best shows the genre has put out in a while. If you on the other hand just like funny, light hearted rom-coms you will probably enjoy this one as well.

As an anime-only, the first couple of episodes had me hooked, since I wanted to see more of Renako with Mai together. Although after learning it is also a Harem, I had some mixed feelings since it means I can see Renako develop feelings with other potential love interests other than Mai, it also means that characters who were introduced will potentially get sidelined for newer characters, so they can have that sweet time to grow. I was also intrigued by the anime's compelling takes, using Renako to discover what romance really is. 1. Are Renako's actions more of a lover or a best friend? - As a romance first and foremost, Renako attempts to deny the allegations and do what she thinks a great friend would do. This consists of engaging in others' hobbies, inviting each other to their home, opening up about their troubles, and being honest with one another. The anime responds by using Mai as its voice, ultimately stating that those are the actions of a lover. There is some level of truth to this, because friends don't usually begin that way, as most start with a simple act of introduction or engaging in an activity together. Doing others' favourite hobbies feels a little odd because a friend would suggest doing an activity that is easy to get into, and doesn't necessarily mean it's a favourite for the partner. Or friends don't tend to be vulnerable because if you were to be vulnerable, you'd be afraid of being judged. So a lot of Renako's actions contradict her statement, "I want a best friend." Renako tries her absolute best to not reciprocate because she thinks it's only platonic, but the anime fights back by making the next upcoming scenes of bonding with other girls ALONE and VULNERABLE. Even the anime takes a moment to show that Renako blushes at the other girls' bodies, particularly Ajisai the most. So is she a lover? I don't know, it seems that the anime wants to keep the status quo as it is until it ultimately manages to make every character have their own arc with Renako. 2. Is it a romantic relationship if the other person doesn't see it that way? - The anime begs to ask if most of Renako's relationships with 'love interests' can be considered as romantic relationships. Logically speaking, it is. Because all of the love interests that have dated Renako expressed interest in continuing a romantic relationship, even if one of them wants to play a facade. It's not proper, though, due to Renako switching up love interests once one character's development is done, like Mai, for example. The anime is more interested in showing how the love interests can really like Renako, while it repeats the same growth Renako goes through since her relationship with Mai unintentionally flourishes. Which is one of the show's few significant flaws. Because most of the cast are seen as potential love interests and quickly try to set up the next scenario for Renako with someone else, it temporarily stops their growth, or they get sidelined just so you get to see another girl's love interaction with Renako. 3. Does the story canonically recognize her past relationships? - Fortunately, it did. Although Renako begs to differ, her relationships with past girls are still, in fact, romantic. And each girl Renako dated all provided value that is supposed to teach Renako what romance means. Ajisai came later than the other love interests, while Mai still popped up from time to time, so her actions made a difference when she was a bit busy trying to hold up a facade that may look like a prank to her. Not only that, but it also ensured that her previous dates tried to help Renako understand others better. Most notable of them was Satsuki, whose role is that of an ice queen who attempts to leak information to crush her 'supposed enemy'. In the end, even if it was contrived, there is some value to find previous characters reappearing as a wingwoman for Renako. That's it. The anime, production-wise, is great. The first episode is my favourite since it was more expressive than the other episodes and obviously the most animated out of all the other episodes, but Episode 11 comes close by a slight mark. The art style and face expressions are consistent throughout the whole run, and I appreciate that the quality didn't fluctuate when I was regularly watching it. Of course, my interest in the anime started to wane when the story started focusing on the other love interests, because I would prefer to stick to being a simple Yuri Romance rather than make a harem love polygon. I was also kind of disappointed with how Renako's growth as a character became abysmal after her romance with Mai had finished, so it couldn't do much but make Renako more of a rizzing gal who would say the right words at the right time to recover her next date's psyche, which I meant that Renako felt more reactive rather than actually responding. Thank you for reading.

Story The pacing is well-balanced and easy to follow. The progression of the story, especially the relationships between the main character and the supporting cast, is handled naturally. Each episode shows noticeable development in both friendship and romance, making the story engaging throughout. Characters: I really like the design of the main character. Her appearance and personality do a great job of reflecting her background and character traits, making her feel memorable and easy to connect with. Romance: The romance is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The relationship feels so close to being perfect, yet it never fully comes to fruition, which left me feeling genuinely sad. Comedy: The comedy isn't the main focus of the series, as it prioritizes developing the main character and the romantic relationships. Even so, several episodes still managed to make me laugh and added a nice balance to the overall story. Animation: The animation quality is excellent for a romance-comedy anime. The character movements are smooth, and several romantic scenes are beautifully presented, making them quite memorable. Overall: This is the first Girls' Love anime I've ever watched, and I thoroughly enjoyed every episode. I always found myself looking forward to seeing how the relationships between the main character and the other characters would develop. It was a very enjoyable experience from beginning to end.

The anime is about an indecisive girl who just want to make friends, but cares a lot about what others think of her. It creates a bit of a mess in her relationships for the anime. Her decision by the end does throw me in a loop, but I liked it :D. This girl be getting girls because she's so earnest in her compliments, lmao. I don't find a lot of enjoyment watching Yuri animes (I've enjoyed probably a handful so far), despite wanting to watch them, but I enjoyed watching this one. All of them might be noticiable character tropes, but it adds enough of other characteristics to make things interesting. One of the these characters is Ajisai. Ajisai is the typical cinnamon roll who wants to make everyone happy and takes care of her little brothers. But she can have a temper, too (towards her brothers). But you get hints of an underlying personality besides that and it comes out when her and the MC hang out at the bath hotel thingy. Or when her and the MC are having a serious conversation. It's also fun watching the MC adoring Ajisai, like girl, are you sure you don't want to date? Lol. Mai is similar to Tamaki from Ouran Host Club. Rich, and similarly obnoxious mixed with Usagi from Junjou Romantica. She can be pushy, but she develops a bit from it. There are some themes with boundaries and consent, and is treated pretty seriously, if not a bit gray sometimes. Those themes can be a bit touchy, especially in the lgbtq anime genres. I think it's handled OK, all things considered, but still not my favorite. Overall, I would recommend this anime. I enjoyed watching it, and I enjoyed the characters. I really want to read the light novels. I read somewhere that the development for the characters are better in the light novels.