Amagami SS

If you don't know where you're from, then you don't know where you are, and you don't know where you're going. It's a fairly trite adage, but like most old sayings there's an element of truth to it. When it comes to visual media though, such sentiments seem to go out of the window, across the fields, and off into the wild blue yonder, especially where adaptations are concerned. So where does that leave Amagami SS? A number of people may already be familiar with the fact that the series is yet another adaptation of a dating sim, and given that this is the spiritual successor to Kimikiss, it's only natural that Enterbrain would attempt to emulate the relative success of the latter game and its anime adaptation. Unlike its predecessor though, Amagami SS decides to take a different approach with the storyline, and breaks things up into bite-sized relationship pieces that supposedly makes them easier to swallow, which works ... kind of. The series is split up into six short stories (and one "special" episode), that recount Tachibana Junichi's quest for high school love, and how he finds it with six different girls (and before you ask, no, this isn't School Days all over again). Along the way various relationship shenanigans ensue which cause the usual misunderstandings, reconciliations, attractions, repulsions, etc, etc. Now on the surface Amagami SS looks like the common or garden harem romantic comedy (but with the harem aspect applied in a different way). The plot follows the game's methodology by offering up multiple heroines for the protagonist to pursue, and while some may find this a refreshing approach, it's not really original as the series attempts to mask its shortcomings by adopting different narrative styles from one tale to the next. The biggest problem with short stories is that there needs to be enough content and context within the plot to justify the actions, thoughts and emotions of the characters, and it's surprising that Amagami manages to offer some semblance of a storyline over the course of each tale. Then again, the majority of development points where both the plot and the characters are concerned have really been done to death in anime and manga, so it's no surprise that there's at least a half decent story in there. After all, if you give enough monkeys enough time they can apparently produce Shakespeare (although it does make one wonder where they keep him). Each individual tale is pretty decent in its own right, but when one considers them as part of the whole a different picture begins to appear. What emerges are a series of contradictory actions and behaviours that don't really seem to make sense. Now these could be explained away by assuming that people act one way with one person, and another way with someone else, and so on, and one could easily view Amagami in this light. The problem is that this assumption ignores the portrayals of the characters in the previous stories, effectively making them little more than blank canvasses. To further compound this, certain characters seem to be clueless about the circumstances around people they've known for years. Still, if one simply treats them as a series of short stories then they can be entertaining, but the plot for each is nothing special, and the formulaic approach to each tale is, at times, a bit too familiar, and offers very little in the way of innovation, and rather a lot in the way of predictability. It's pretty obvious from the artwork that there is a large degree of genericism inherent in this anime, and Amagami does nothing to break away from the stereotypes. The high school setting, town and surrounding environs are nicely designed and detailed, but when it comes to rom-com anime, once you've seen one high school, you've pretty much seen them all. Granted there are a few exceptions to the rule, but in general there's not much difference between the various depictions on offer. The design principle is a little bit strange in one respect (which I'll come back to in a bit), as the characters are nicely envisioned, but are also as generic as they come (much like a lot of things in this anime). That doesn't mean they're poorly realised though, as they're clearly based on Enterbrain's designs from the games, and coupled with some decent animation and backgrounds, they do give the show a familiarity that can sometimes be mistaken for quality. The acid test occurs when one compares the series to its spiritual predecessor, and although Kimikiss was produced by a different animation studio, there are a number of similarities that stand out, not the least of which is the look of the heroines. But simply looking like another show doesn't mean that the design and animation is substandard, and in all honesty Amagami does manage to hold it's own in the visuals department. It simply could have been better than it is, and it's puzzling why this isn't the case, especially for such a popular gaming franchise. One of the better aspects of the series is the music, specifically the manner in which it's used rather than the actual tracks played throughout the anime (which are fairly routine affairs, but that's pretty much expected by this point). There are far too many shows out there that play music for no specific reason, so it's nice to watch a series that treats silence as golden for a change, and this is something that works in Amagami's favour as it allows the viewer to focus on the characters without having to suffer through tunes that sound a lot like the music played in just about every other high school rom-com/drama ever made. That said, the music in itself isn't bad per se. It's simply ... generic (there's that word again), and even with two opening themes and six ending themes (sung by the lead actress from each character arc), there's little on offer that really stands out. Granted there are some decent enough songs (the law of averages and all that), but in all honesty this is probably nothing more than "when you're given lemons, make lemonade", or in this case, when you're given a romantic comedy drama, make a cheesy love song. Which leaves only the acting, and in this respect Amagami is a bit of a mixed bag. Maeno Tomoaki plays the role of Junichi rather well (even though it's a bit like playing the role of a wet paper bag at times), and the strength of his portrayal gives much needed support to the lead actress roles. See, here's the problem. No matter how good the seiyuu are, there's a limited amount that can be achieved in four episodes. Granted the actors and actresses have cameos throughout the series, but it's nowhere near enough time for them to truly come to grips with their characters. In this respect Kimikiss is actually superior, as by the end of that anime the seiyuu had grown accustomed to their roles and were able to play their parts with a confidence that, with the obvious exception of Maeno (who plays the only continuous lead character), none of the seiyuu in Amagami can match. All of which leads to the characters themselves, and in a nutshell they're as generic (I seem to be using that word a lot these days), as they come, but once again that doesn't automatically mean that they're bad. Junichi could very well be a poster boy for harem lead males, and fits just about every stereotype going, especially the ones about nice guys and being a little slow on the uptake. That said, he's a pleasant enough character, and as the only lead in focus throughout the series there is some development to be had, but the nature of the story dictates that this tends to be repetitive. Unfortunately the female leads aren't as clearly defined, and the reason for this is the relatively small amount of screen time they get. While they also grow as characters, this is tempered with a necessary urgency that precludes any substantial development. The supporting characters also suffer from the "resetting" of their personalities as this leads to repetitive behav…

"Nii nii~~" "Nii nii no baka" - Miya Tachibana To put it simply, the combination of each of the heroines to the main protagonist is like a fireworks show. All of them are pretty. The Story: 9/10 -------------------- The story starts with our main male protagonist Junichi Tachibana being stood up on a Christmas Eve date which occurred two years ago. Having a hard time warming up to others, he does not have a girlfriend. In the seven arcs which comprises of four episodes each,(except for Risa Kamizaki who is given one episode) each arc is given one main heroine girl in which Junichi is their personal love interest. Each arc is set in a parallel universe, so the jumps from arc to arc do not follow up. Each arc is unique in itself. Not only are you given a different girl for each arc, but the circumstances and problems encountered are all different for each girl. This brings a little more flavor to the anime rather than being around the same issue. The only thing that affects the main story line that isn't changed in each arc is the fact that Junichi was stood up, so each arc starts from the same point as all the other arcs do with the characters being in the same relationship with Tachibana each time unless it is the heroine girl. The pacing of the story is about the same in each arc, but there would be times where you’d have little segments from the past being put in and the switches are noticeable so don’t worry with not being able to keep up. Each of the arcs endings are very satisfying. The Art: 9/10 --------------- The art in Amagami SS was fluent and definitely consistent. The art style was about the same for each character, though their physical appearance may look quite different the outlines are still the same - it doesn’t become annoying though. The color shading was very neat and precise, the backgrounds astonishing. There were some sweet lake scenes where you could really appreciate the art. Color overall in the anime went very well with the atmosphere created by the main girl's emotion. There were times where the background would blur a little bit but you rarely take much notice of it. The art was not up to the particular par of Kyoto Animation (known for Clannad) but was very watchable for an anime aired in 2010. Overall the art was very fitting for the story in Amagami. The use of colour at different angles makes each scene enticing and memorable. The Sound: 10/10 --------------------- Sound in Amagami SS was very crisp and clear. The OP, 'I Love' is an immensely addicting song for a romance anime. The EDs were sung well, and one thing to note is that each main heroine sings her own version of the closing song. The voice acting here was very smooth. Each of the main girls’ voice suited the type of appearance and personality they had. Another thing to note is that Amagami SS does not come in a dubbed form- for all those dubbed watchers out there-, from what I have searched. There might be a couple of fan dubs but it is doubted they’ll be any better than subbed. The Characters: 9/10 -------------------------- The characters were all unique. We are presented with Tsukasa, Haruka, Sae, Ai, Rihoko and Kaoru as the six main girls and Risa as the seventh. Each of the girls has their own unique traits, hobbies and personalities, of which all of them are very entertaining and likable (depending on what type of person you are). Tsukasa appears to be a kind class representative, Haruka the popular senior, Ai and Sae as Miya’s friends, and the two childhood friends Rihoko and Kaoru. Junichi, the main male is kind, thoughtful and slightly perverted, but this side of him always ends up to be used in a form of comedy which ended up being very repetitive- overused until it just wasn't funny. The supporting characters do not have much effect on the story line; in fact, they don't really do much at all. There is little-to-no development of them at all, but it does not get agitating, unless one of them was your favourite character. In the Kaoru arc, there was a narrator speaking what was going on in Junichi’s mind sometimes. This was only slightly bothersome though, but it’s assured some people just won’t like it. The Enjoyment: 10/10 -------------------------- If you are new to romance or drama Amagami SS might be a good choice to be introduced to the genre, if not it might all seem a little cliché. But I don’t care; I’m a sucker for cliché. Amagami SS first started in the form of a game, which was the adapted into an anime. I’ve seen some manga of Amagami, and it goes into a little more detail than the anime- not that the anime hasn’t touched on the subject at all but that it shows what is occurring at an event much better. Re-watching this anime definitely added to my personal enjoyment of the series. The satisfaction in seeing your favourite pair come together in the arc is what makes me come back to it. The anime was very memorable, even a few days after I had finished but I have to admit that it’s very less in my mind now as with all the other awesome anime I have watched. Overall: 9/10 ----------------- Thanks for reading my review, or even parts of it- I don't blame you for reading all of it, but again, thanks you.

"That was Christmas Eve, two years ago. She never showed up to the date." - Junichi Tachibana, Episode 1 No no, that's not what the story is all about. Sorry to scare you about a what you thought was a spoiler. Amagami SS hit every note correctly. As a fan of romance, it was a very, very, enjoyable series. Story: You have Tachibana Junichi. He has a calm and kind personality, and can be a pervert sometimes with his friend Masayoshi Umehara. As quoting above, he was stood up two years ago on Christmas Eve. That event derailed his happiness ever since. It affected him so much that he even made his closet into his bedroom. Present time, he now looks to overcome it. He starts to take interest in a popular senior at school named Haruka Morishima. She eventually makes Junichi her "pet" letting him carry her stuff. He then thinks it's a good opportunity to confess. He does, but all the hope he had in a relationship quickly shattered a couple seconds later. "I prefer someone who's reliable and older than me." (Haruka Morishima, Episode 1). Well, back to old ways now, right? Wrong. Junichi decides that he will keep trying. Well that's a preview of Amagami SS for you. I can write so much more, but I will try to keep it short and sweet for now. The story is set into multiple arcs, in omnibus format, meaning that these arcs do not happen in the same timeline, and happens in alternate universes. Also, as you can see from the above, the story is really entertaining. Some people will walk away from this anime saying it's cliche and all, but there's not that much cliche to begin with, or it could be that I was too busy enjoying this series. Rating: 9 Character: Character development is a must for a good romance, and Amagami does it right. Different arcs mean multiple girls. Actually, you have 6 different ones to choose from. The popular and fan favorite Morishima Haruka, the childhood friend Tanamachi Kaoru, the shy and cute Nakata Sae, the other childhood friend Sakurai Rihoko, Miya (Junichi's sister)'s friend Nanasaki Ai, and Class-rep Ayatsuji Tsukasa. They all have different traits, which makes each arc very unique and entertaining to watch. I gave it a 9 for reasons withheld, if you finish the series, you'll probably agree with me. Rating: 9 Art: The artwork is just crisp and clear, and the art makes the characters look very nice. No, I'm not talking about Morishima Haruka in her Santa costume, well, you can Google it and judge the art by the pictures, but in general, it looks really nice. I wouldn't say it's identical to Kimi ni Todoke, but it's similar in terms of it's clarity in the art. Rating: 9 Sound: I have the OST, why? Because it's one of the OSTs that I enjoy listening to. The background music fits really well with what's happening in the anime, whether it'd be Junichi depressed in his closet again, or it could be the first time meeting someone. The OPs, I Love and Kimi no Mama de are one of the most catchiest songs I have heard in an anime. The EDs feature the main girl of the arc singing their own song. I can't recall if there were multiple insert songs, but there was one insert song that I couldn't stop listening to. Anyways, the sound and music were just beautifully organized for Amagami. It made everything natural and added the atmosphere to your viewing experience. Rating: 10 Enjoyment: Amagami SS was a really enjoyable series to me, and probably one of my favorite romance anime out there. It combines well-done romance, with a generous portion of comedy. If this were a game (which it is), then the replay value would be very high, and it'd be a really good game as well. Before I go, some final words: If you're starting into the Romance genre, or a fan of Romance, or even just into comedy, give this series a chance. Overall Rating: 9

Amagami SS in short is probably the best adaption of a dating sim that stays true to its roots while feeling like it was from a collection of stories rather than a game. Each arc is wonderful to watch and fulfills the story for the viewer, in the end even actually expanding on it. Story: 10/10 It is in omnibus format meaning that the stories may contain the same characters but every four episodes they "reset" and focus on another aspect (in this case a girl) and expand the story on these "what if" moments. Overall very enjoyable each arc had it's differences and no two arcs were alike. The only similarity is the relationship building and character placing that occurred. That being said, each arc feels unique and enjoyable. Art: 8/10 Amagami SS isn't the greatest anime in terms of art I have seen, but in no means does it try to be that. The character movements are fluid and what you would expect from art style today, neither amazing or bad. Sound: 10/10 The OP's this series contains are among my favorite openings I have encountered while watching anime, as well as each ending theme for each girls arc is performed by the voice actress which I just found incredible. A few of the endings are so catchy I can play them on repeat even. In terms of the sound quality during the anime it is what you would expect from this type of show, however in some scenes the background sounds and music just make the experience much more enjoyable than most Anime I have seen. And to make an example, don't worry not a spoiler, but during a scene the sounds of the voices actually echo to show how empty/large the room actually is I haven't been that impressed for a while. (I know it's sad) Characters: 10/10 The 6 girls are all incredible in their own ways while the male lead isn't a terrible guy either, he is actually rather likable, indecisive occasionally but firm in what he thinks and should do most of the time. As for the girls they each have unique personalities and are all interesting in their own way. I will explain the girls below in the order that their arcs came. Haruka Morishima: The school idol, very outgoing and caring as well as has an overall incredible personality. (My personal favorite) Kaoru Tanamachi: The tomboyish but feminine in a sense long time friend, very funny as well. Sae Nakata: The very shy, reserved, quiet girl. Not much to say other than her voice may be perceived as annoying. (I personally do think so too. But it doesn't take away from the arc) Ai Nanasaki: An underclassman on the swim team, seems cold at first but warms up to MC, great personality not afraid to say what she thinks. Rihoko Sakurai: The childhood friend, she is gentle and caring as well as somewhat ditzy at sometimes, great character as well. (Will need to watch second season for more development if this is your favorite character.) Tsukasa Ayatsuji: Definitely the most interesting arc as well as character, being the Class Rep and a perfectionist with a few twists and turns along the way. This arc is a must watch, the character development in four episodes is amazing, I can't say enough. Enjoyment: 10/10 This will probably stay my favorite anime of all time I can't express enough of how much I enjoyed this series as a whole and how it stayed so true to form and how so much development of the characters could be done in four episodes while some take at least 3x that amount to get somewhere in romance. Overall: 10/10 tl;dr Just watch it, all of it. Just once. Cheers!

A countless number of visual novel to anime adaptations have seen the light of day and it takes no genius to figure out the trend in story-telling. Divide the show into a series of character arcs, whilst following an over-arching story/plot; or just follow a single character arc and be done with it. This has proven to be quite an effective method for telling these kinds of stories but it's not ideal for pleasing all the character's fans. Now in comes Amagami SS, a series that takes a step in a new direction by telling each of the character's stories, as a 4 episode standalone arc. Amagami SS basically has every arc begin the same, by introducing our protagonist Junichi Tachibana, who's suffering from some form of PTSD, after being stood up on Christmas eve sometime ago (I know, it's pretty pathetic... just roll with it). Stuff happens and then it wraps it up, in pretty much the same way for every single arc. So yeah, there's really not much to say about the story, well stories, since they all follow a distinct pattern that's easy to pick up on. Boy meets girl, boy & girl bond through some arbitrary activity, mutual romantic feelings develop and well you catch my drift. Sure each character arc provides a fairly different story from the last, yet it's difficult shake off the feeling that you've just seen this story but with some differences. So by the end I really couldn't find pleasure when Boy A finally got together with Girl B, when he also hooked up with Girl A,C,D,E & F. Speaking of the girls, they are just about the best thing about the series and the director & writers did a good job in combating the obvious favouritism we are used to in harems by developing each of the girls equally. My only gripe with this method is that even the characters I didn't care about we're also developed. As for the male protagonist, he's just what you expect from your average high school boy who sneaks off with his friend to enjoy the odd dirty magazine. Although the creator tried adding some subtle quirks for each individual character arc. Some of these quirks work but others don't. Like hiding in the closet (that's just waiting for a joke). I've heard a lot of praise regarding the art and animation of Amagami SS and sure I must admit that the character designs are great. With character's looking like people you expect to meet in real life, doing away with the annoying multi-coloured hairstyles that plagues this genre. But apart from that the animation is just above average. All one has to do is pay attention to the background. As for the sound design, there's really nothing remarkable about it; the same seiyuus we anime veterans are all used, working well with the roles they are given and completed with some typical light-hearted melodies. Like I said... nothing remarkable. All in all, Amagami SS is a collection of 6 run-of-the-mill highschool romance stories and with 6 stories/girls to choose from you're bound to like at least 1 of the stories/girls. So I'll give the show credit for allowing me to enjoy multiple romantic short stories. Did I enjoy them all? No, but I enjoyed enough... sort of. The good thing is that the obvious fanservice tropes, like pantyshots & breast jiggles are kept to moderate levels throughout but that's because the very nature of this anime is fanservice. That in itself made the show watchable for me however it doesn't excuse the unfunny humour the show is filled with and fact that it became a repeatable conquest, like with every visual novel on the market. Some may take pleasure in what Amagami SS has to offer, I cannot refute that, but I didn't. So you can accept what I've written about Amagami SS, or take it with a grain of salt, but either way I'm sure you did not click on this review assuming that I wholeheartedly liked the show now did you?

'Amagami SS' is based on galge (non-hentai dating-sim) 'Amagami'. The title means "light bite", which probably describes the playfulness and cuteness of the heroines (half of them do bite or get bitten). "SS" is believed to stand for "Short Stories". It is the most comprehensive and game-like anime I have ever seen that's based on a dating-sim. STORY: 'Amagami SS' is made up of 7 short stories where the protagonist goes after a different girl each time. The heroines are made up of the most common archetypes for galge or moe anime. The reason I say this series is the most comprehensive, however, is because there's a wide spectrum of heroines and the protagonist's personality also changes depending on who he's going after. What we have here is not just an average indecisive main character in a harem, we get to see all kinds of personality match ups, and it's more realistic because we behave differently in front of different people, especially in romantic relationships. In addition, there were all sorts of hentai fetishes and endings for each arc. I will touch on this subject little more in the Character section, but I really liked this about 'Amagami SS' because it's harder to get tired of the story even if same events are repeated 7 times. Another thing that really struck me was how watching this series really felt like playing a galge. There's been plenty of galge/eroge anime adaptations before, but most of them seemed to follow a single route or one combined route. Every such series I have seen so far gave me a sense of a set story. Boy meets girl(s), everyone fall for him, but eventually he ends up with "girl A" over all other girls, or unable to choose for the indecisiveness. In 'Amagami SS', we know exactly who we're going after like picking a route in advance, and then protagonist come in contact with the heroine like every other series. But here, they clearly spell out the possible options; the protagonist frequently think to himself "should I do this or that?" or another character asks "are you coming or not?". While this may be considered poor scriptwriting, it gives us a sense that the main character is actually making a choice himself rather than fate or where the wind takes him. It actually feels like he's consciously making decisions to win over a girl, just like how a player should in the game. Sometimes it's the girl trying to win him over too. The final episode also explains why the other girls back off when he goes after a particular girl (assuming it's when Risa gives up). CHARACTER: One of the better harem protagonist around. There are moments when he gets reluctant or miss the signals, but he is not nearly indecisive nor thickheaded as our typical anime main character. He actually goes after the girls most of the time, and confess his love every single time. In rare occasions when the girls are chasing after him, he notices the girl's unnatural behavior. The girls are still more interesting in him than they should be, but it's far more tolerable because he worked for all of their attention. He also has just the right amount of perversity, which gave us viewers the right amount of fan service, and had relatively rational motives. The heroines are very diverse, each with a distinct personality and status. The main character behaves differently to win them over, and indulges in all sorts of fetishes in the process. To summarize each arc, [Name]: [Personality type (Translation)] [Status] - [Fetish] Morishima Haruka: Nonki (Carefree) Princess - Behind the knee Tanamachi Kaoru: Yancha (Boyish) Girl Buddy - Bellybutton Nakata Sae: Uchiki (Shy) Kouhai - Student/instructor play, maid play, loli Nanasaki Ai: Cool (Composed) Athlete - Flat chest, cosplay Sakurai Rihiko: Tennen (Airheaded) Childhood Friend - Huge boobs Ayatsuji Tsukasa: Seijun (Pure/Innocent) Valedictorian - Trapped in room Kamizaki Risa: Osekkai (Nosy) Stalker - None ...Who are we kidding? Ayatsuji Tsukasa: Tsundere Slave Queen - Masochist play All the girls are not as dumb as typical harem heroines, and behaved rationally with exception of Ayatsuji. There's at least 1 girl that suites your taste no matter what kind of girls you're into. Character developments are poor and love triangle didn't exist, but for the purpose of galge anime adaptation, their cameo-like appearances were very appropriate since they didn't detract from the main story. ART: All the girls are cute and pretty as they should be, very visually pleasing. Backgrounds are decent. Nothing particularly impressive about it, but tried and tested style that projects the peaceful high school life atmosphere. There were also couple of scenes with great composition and camera movements. SOUND: With exception to Konno Hiromi (Sae), everyone sounded like they should. She is a shy character, but the strained high-pitch voice was just too annoying. Itou Shizuka (Haruka) and Satou Rina (Kaoru) were solid as usual. BGM is rather ordinary, but fits the romantic scenes pretty well. OP1 'i Love' by azusa was an extremely strong theme song for a seishun series like this, and the OP animation had a nice flow that introduced the heroines well and represented their personality well with their signature poses. OP2 and EDs were above average as well, and appropriate. ED3 is a soft song that makes us reflect on all the girls conquered before. OVERALL: 'Amagami SS' is a rather conservative seishun (coming of age romance) series that was wonderfully executed. Although things go a bit too well for the protagonist and character development was limited, it depicted the flushing, awkward, and bittersweet high school romance very well. A great simple heartwarming romance anime. The comedy series was also pretty funny without being distracting to the romance, and came off very naturally. It was a very solid series all around that I enjoyed a lot more than I expected from a galge adaptation.

Next on my line of harems to spite comes Amagami SS (Jesus, I’m still on letter A). This anime is somewhat weird to talk about as it is constantly deletes the progress in the story. Before I get to nerdraeg about the show, first I must clear my thoughts on one of the most dreaded recent additions to one of the stalest and lamest anime categories ever. There is this scenario format where the story resets every few episodes, just so the lead character can choose a different action in some point in his life that will change the later events of the story. It is an element introduced by date sims, where there you chose a girl and move towards winning her. Replaying the game by choosing a different girl, meaning following a different path. This in anime terms, means that time resets and you get to see the same things again, only this time the character will go for a different girl. This is the chance to win all the girls, one at a time … and it sucks. I am vertically negative towards such a trope in anime form, thus I am writing a biased review from the start (as if hating harems wasn’t enough already). Some may like the option of having the guy winning all the girls and making time reset so to see how things will turn out if you make a different choice somewhere in your life. Although this concept was quite interesting in movies such as Groundhog Day or The Butterfly Effect for showing you how fragile the outcome of the future can be, here it is nothing but a lame excuse to render all character development and the gravity of one’s choice completely useless. Another thing I want to mention is that unlike in the above movies where the lead remembers each reset, here he does not. Every time is like we watch a different alternative reality, making even the notion of maturing and learning from your past (or possible future) mistakes equally useless. And finally, I want to make clear that Amagami IS A HAREM despite some refusing to accept it as one because the lead goes for one girl at a time and there are no cat fights. Well excuse me but one guy surrounded by pretty chicks, and he needs to pick one, counts as a harem, even when the choice is clear from the start. The oldest and most famous harems are Love Hina and Ah My Goddess and there the chosen girl was also clear from the start. Thus Amagami IS A HAREM like it or not. So starting from the worst part, the story, I say it is bollocks. Using the reset button after the lead wins a girl means we practically watch 7 short romantic comedies of roughly 4 episodes each. The same characters are present in all of them but their interactions are different each time, so you might as well consider this a collection of similar short romantic school life stories, with the same actors in each one (sometimes called an Omnibus). Thus we practically have a typical slice of life school romance that begins and ends in 4 episodes maximum before throwing to the bin all that happened and going back to square 1, where we see the same formula, but with a different girl being the main target. Some may like this gimmick for making them feel like they are watching a date sim in anime form … but I find it stupid as heck. Here I am watching a story unfold and then is deleted like it doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like I reject the notion of the reset. It is ok in date sims and it was great when they implemented it in Tatami Galaxy. Using it here, in a typical story about typical people, feels disappoint. What is the point? Some will say it is a great way to please all shippers, which are guys who prefer one specific girl to end up with the lead and even argue with others who prefer a different girl. All these dudes can just choose the arc where the lead wins their favorite girl and reject all others, so everybody is happy. Again, I am against that. Making an important choice in your life means to reject all other possible options. Winning something means at the same time losing everything else. The little pebble you chose out of a huge rubble of other pebbles will be more important to you that all the rest you sacrificed just to get this one. So what is this crap; doing anything I want and forgetting everything just to do something different? It sounds like cowardice in the least. Where is the importance of choosing? What is the point in having free will without the notion that you can’t undo what you chose to do? Enough with that babble; it’s practically off-topic and random rant visualized by a biased mindset that loves to space out and overanalyze shitz. Let’s talk about the cast a bit; shall we? What we basically have here is seven girls and a main lead, teasing each other in a game of who gets to win whom. The lead is not the usual spineless dork of harems, as he is quite open with his feelings. Well, it’s not like he had the time not to be; he is roughly given enough time to waste in indecisiveness in a show of short arcs. He practically fools around a bit and confesses his love rather fast, the girl also agrees rather fast, the arc ends in a weird or funny moment and abracadabra we are transported in a different alternative reality where he now pulls the same with a different girl. Takes away all sense of progress or meaningfulness. … Woops, again with that off topic fuss. The girls themselves are practically seven basic archetypes, found in many date sims, each accompanied by some clothing fetish to act as a vague character trait, just so we can set them apart easier. Yeah, we get to remember them as an archetype and a fetish; how romantic and noble for the female genre. But it is true that although they are stereotypical caricatures, they get colorized very well throughout the series. The nice visuals, the good voice acting, the romantic foreplay, all that work fine at bringing out all that it’s available on each archetypical trait. So they may all be omelets but you will not get to confuse one omelet with another, thanks to the cooks’ ability to bring out a special and unique flavor on each one of them. After that, it all has to do with your own personal perverted fetish … errr, I mean taste. If girl A is better than girl B will be up to you and not because some are not as well done … errr, well presented as others. Other than that, they are not special or memorable for any given reason. Animation and sound do their work in a fine way, helping you to get in the light and fuzzy feeling of the show. The backgrounds and the character figures are nicely drawn and colored, there is attention given to various lightings effects and camera angles. Voice acting is good, if you don’t find the rather high pitched voices that weird. Music themes are good and fitting for such a type of show. But again, after all is done I found nothing memorable in all this fuss. It was just an average school setting with average people doing average things. Average is a hard thing to remember you know; it is so much easier to remember very happy or very bad moments. But this comes to no surprise for a show made by studio AIC, which is infamous for its anime soups. The director is also some nobody who never managed to produce a good anime. It has a very good pacing and atmosphere for its kind, while visuals and sound are quite nice. Other than that, there is nothing overall WOW in it; just a typical omelet that was cooked nicely. Plus that reset thing GOD I HATE IT. If we had a story about a guy gradually mating and separating with girls until he finds the proper one in the end, as corny as it would be it would still be more solid and memorable than THIS mess.

This is my first legitimate review, so please bare with me. Ok, let's get on with the review. Amagami SS isn't your typical visual novel adaptation. Unlike other adaptations, such as the Key VNs (Kanon, Air, Clannad) or the TYPE-MOON works (Fate, Tsukihime), this follows an omnibus format. For those that don't know what that means, it's basically several different arcs told separately, with each arc reseting after the final episode. This, in turn, gives Amagami an interesting experience. Due to the omnibus format, each arc is treated differently. The personalities of characters, storytelling, and even pacing are different; which makes it feel as if you're watching a different series each arc. I personally enjoyed the format since it was more focused on each of the heroines in the VN. Story (9): The story follows the typical boy-meets-girl and they fall in love type of story. What makes Amagami SS stand out from the typical is the approach of each heroine. Due to their different personalities, each arc presents you with a different type of approach. Each story arc was able to be fleshed out due to the focus on each character and their side characters. It caused less interference with the storyline itself. Art (7): Probably one of the less impressive aspects of the series. The art seems fairly generic. You have the girl with long hair, the girl with short hair, the guy with hair swiped to the side. Typical anime features to say the least. Although, what did catch me was the hair colors for each character. There weren't any crazy, unrealistic colors, so that gets a plus. The environment was alright. You have your school, home, park, beach, restaurant. Nothing out of the ordinary here. It isn't as impressive as (insert anime series by impressive studio here), but it's passable. Sound (8): The seiyuus chosen for most of the characters seemed to match the way I interpreted them. However, I did have one problem with one of the heroines, which I will not mention in this review (you'll probably know who I'm talking about). Background music was pretty good as well. It fit each of the scenes well enough that it didn't seem forced. Silly was silly, serious was serious. Character (8): Most of the characters, mainly the heroines, can be put under each of the archetypes for characters. However, the main character, Junichi, goes through some pretty interesting personality changes between each arc. If you didn't know the series was in an omnibus format, you'd think he was bipolar or suffered from a personality disorder or something. Side characters can be seen in one arc, and almost completely disappear in the next one. That was somewhat disappointing, since I thought there were some side characters that seemed more interesting than the mains. Enjoyment (9): For people looking for an interesting experience, this is your series. The different arcs provide a variety of stories. It's as if you were watching a different series each arc, which I thought was a huge plus. Overall (9): I have to say, at first I thought I wouldn't enjoy the series. The pacing would feel odd with only four episodes for each heroine (and only one for a special heroine!), but I was surprised how well the pacing of each arc felt. Although some arcs felt rushed, it was pretty understandable. Sometimes I even yearned for more story since I liked the arc so much. The omnibus format also helped the anime series get this rating from me. For me, each arc could be considered a different genre (Drama, comedy, etc.). It created quite the ride. And now, in the end, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and am sad that it is over. Goodbye Amagami SS.

Amagami SS is one of those anime where I couldn’t decide if I should watch it or not. After watching a few episodes, I had to say that it was magnificent. You probably thought that Amagami SS would be cliché and boring, but it is not! It is nothing like your boring beta main character and girls falling for the main character for no reason. One reason that made me hesitate to watch Amagami SS is because it was based off a dating game. I didn’t expect a game to be made into a good anime. What can we expect of Tachibana Junichi? To start off, the plot is amazing. Each arc is significant in its own way. The staff made it that you can see what is happening to other female protagonists in each arc. It is pretty unique since each arc is another parallel universe. For me, if you mention a character, you would have to show some interactions between the main characters. It is odd to just leave a character that was highlighted. Each arc has a unique approach. For an example, some may have unique narration; some may even have unique concepts. You may think that the girls are somewhat going to fall for him in a cliché way, but I guarantee you that it is not cliché. You know that childhood friend trend? Well bet your ass that they made the childhood friend win and make it look good. I wished I could have explained the arcs, but then it would be long. The arcs can be related in real life and have some unique foreshadowing. The romance is great throughout the anime. I believe this is one of my favorite since it is kept short and organized. As of now, I can't really watch anime with romance that takes more than 10 episodes to develop a relationship. I'm not saying that they're bad, but I want to know more. There is also drama which I felt put a unique feeling in the anime. The dramatic approach is good in certain aspect and Amagami SS played it out well. Besides the plot, the character development is amazing. An example of this would be a shy girl and a boy. Having a shy girl in an anime is difficult to build up plot and development since the girl is obviously shy. Amagami SS took a nice approach to this and was able to tie the knots. Each girl has their own insight. Since this is based off a dating game, it would be pretty awkward to have girls with similar personality and approaches. The flags that were raised were smart and were implemented perfectly. I guess you can say that Junichi is quite smooth. Throughout Amagami SS, Junichi is a great character. Being heartbroken is one of the worst feelings anybody can have. Especially if you were waiting for your date on Christmas Eve yet that person doesn’t show up. If that happened to me, I would never open my heart to anyone. Due to that, Junichi has a unique way to build up his character in each arc. Another thing I like about Amagami SS is that the staff didn’t make him change drastically (out of the ordinary change that doesn’t match his character). The audio is amazing. It is very detailed. An example of this is when there is a scene in a classroom full of classmates; you can hear other people talk. This is important because it describes the scene and brings light to it. The OST is well put in the anime. The music is amazing and it highlights certain scenes. It is nice to hear soothing music along with a nice scenario. What I favor the most in music is piano and they did have beautiful piano plays. Music and cinematic plays an important role in shows. The opening is one of my favorite. The lyrics are catchy and the animation for it is good. The translation of the lyrics is quite good for a love song. Another great part is that each arc ending is sung by the main female protagonist. It is just like Bakemonogatari. The lyrics for the ending are well put and it describes the feelings of the female protagonist who sung it. The art style is good for 2010. I believe this anime has more focus on the plot and audio rather than the art. The art style is not bad, yet it is not superior. Amagami SS is made in 2010 so I can’t argue and compare it to modern anime (2012~2013). I take art very seriously and I can’t watch anime with badly drawn characters or bad coloring. I can say that the art was still beautiful in certain ways. If I have seen Amagami SS when it was airing and compared it to the airing anime, it would be near the top. Besides the art, we have the animation. The animation is pretty good. There are beautiful events where I feel that are touching. There were great camera angles and such. The animations are detailed along with the background and such. Overall, it is clean and does not look like a potato for sure. Finally, we have reached the conclusion. I felt like I should have explained the arc in this review, but then again it would have been too long. I already had explained three arcs, but then I decided to erase them because then it would feel like I’m writing my opinions with relation to life. There is nothing wrong about writing my opinion as it is for a review, but then I want to hit the point to why Amagami SS is a great anime and add my points. The romance is surely amazing. I guess nice guys don't always fail. I’ve enjoyed writing this review just as much as I’ve enjoyed watching Amagami SS. I’m really happy that there is a sequel, but I had to stop and take my time to write this review. If you found reading this review interesting and good, you would definitely enjoy watching Amagami SS (vice versa). Here is what to expect while watching Amagami SS: http://imgur.com/a/0SbqD

Amagami SS is a lighthearted romantic high-school anime with a little bit of humour here and there, telling the story of Junichi Tachibana, who had his heart broken two years ago on Christmas when he got stood up by his date. Therefore, he has a hard time opening up to his feelings and fears that he will have to spend another Christmas alone. Luckily for him, there are plenty of girls in his high school that he will soon get close to. This anime consisting of twenty-five episodes is divided into story arcs, each leading to a different path for Junichi as he gets involved with different girls. There are six girls in total, each developing a deeper relationship with Junichi over the course of four episodes, after which everything resets and it starts with a different story arc. The last episode is sort of an arc on its own, and it’s mainly there to explain some stuff such as why our hopeless romantic protagonist got stood up two years ago. Watching Amagami SS can be kind of an unstable experience, as some episodes may be better than others, or even entire story arcs could go right or wrong for each individual viewer. I did enjoy most of it, although there were indeed some ups and downs here and there, and by the end it was pretty obvious to me how I felt about each story arc in particular. As such, I’ll be giving you a closer look into each arc and why exactly I liked or disliked it. This remains, however, my own personal opinion, and I’m sure some may have a different view on the whole thing. Let’s get started now, shall we? Some minor spoilers ahead. Haruka Morishima The first story arc starts in a pretty great way and I have to say that even though I did not expect much going into this anime, I was entirely captivated by the first episode. It was very entertaining and kept things at a casual level, which made it an easy and pleasant experience. Regarding Haruka Morishima, she’s in her final year and is considered one of the most popular girls in Junichi’s high school. Like I said, this story arc had a good start, but over its course I kinda felt more and more turned off by it. First of all, there’s a scene involving a weird fetish that even though is somewhat cute, feels awkward and ultimately throws that entire episode off balance. Then there’s Haruka’s personality – her insensitive manners and the way she treats Junichi at times doesn’t give much credibility to their whole “love story.” Plus, there’s little to no chemistry between them, which makes things even worse. The 10-years-later scene at the end of the arc was a nice little touch, though. Kaoru Tanamachi A huge improvement over the first story arc, this one works much better as it features a good sense of progress between the leads’ relationship and some drama over its course keeps things interesting and more emotionally involving. One of Junichi’s childhood friends, Kaoru Tanamachi is in the same class as him and works a part-time job as a waitress. There’s a good sense of development between them as the story goes on and the final episode delivers a satisfying conclusion, even if it feels a little rushed. The chemistry between Junichi and Kaoru is also excellent and their interactions are quite enjoyable, often accompanied by some good laughs. One of the better story arcs of the series, for sure. Sae Nakata Next up is Sae Nakata, an underclassman and friend of Miya’s, Junichi’s younger sister. Sae is extremely shy and the reason why Junichi and her end up spending so much time together is because Junichi decides to help her improve her social skills. Do not be surprised if you find her voice to be annoying, which many actually did. For those who enjoy Sae’s personality, this should prove to be a really nice arc, as it does pretty much everything right, including the ending. Ai Nanasaki Another friend of Miya’s and around the same age as her and Sae, Ai Nanasaki is part of the school’s swimming team and her first encounter with Junichi leads to her calling him a pervert. Unlike many of the other girls, Ai’s personality is easily likeable and her relationship with Junichi develops in a natural and pleasing way. Unfortunately, there were some weird stuff in this arc as well, including a trip to the amusement park that makes for some odd moments that just don’t fit in this anime. Nevertheless, Ai’s arc is an enjoyable one and has become my favourite, especially due to the well-done ending. Rihoko Sakurai Rihoko Sakurai is another childhood friend of Junichi, although their relationship has been minimal over the years and mostly held at a casual level. Most of this arc centers around Rihoko’s battle with her unusually big appetite as she tries to go on a diet. For me, this arc has been by far the least interesting, especially considering that nothing really happens, even in the final episode, as Rihoko and Junichi actually don’t end up being together, although it isn’t out of the question in the long run. Tsukasa Ayatsuji Coincidentally or not, the final story arc is the one I’ve been looking forward to the most, as I found Tsukasa Ayatsuji quite intriguing as the anime progressed. Unfortunately, this one took a surprising turn when it was revealed that Tsuakasa actually had two personalities and her real one was marked by extreme tsundere qualities. Not to say that the arc wasn’t interesting, because it really was, and the ending was satisfying enough, especially since it showed us another “10-years-later” scene, but Tsukasa’s sudden change of personality simply ruined my view of her for the rest of the arc. Still, it’s one of the most well-done arcs in the entire series. Final episode and closing comments The final episode features yet another girl, Risa Kamizaki, with her very own little story arc that develops in the last twenty minutes, as well as explaining why Junichi got stoop up on his date two years ago. I was mostly lukewarm towards this episode, although it was somewhat of a nice addition to the end of the series. Risa’s actions, however, made it hard to root for her or even like her, but it seems that Junichi had no problem with that at all. All in all, Amagami SS turned out to be quite a good anime and made for some really pleasant experiences. I found it to be very addicting to watch, especially since everything develops so fast and new story arcs always make for a breath of fresh air. On a visual level, Amagami SS looks great. The art is very fitting and the animation is very well done. You won’t likely end up calling this one of your favourites, but it’s still a series well worth watching.

Yes, this is indeed another generic romance story. A love story between a boy and a girl in high-school which sparks into a relationship, except it is six different girls this time (and no it is actually not another lame harem). Amagami SS is told in a dating sim style that separates the show into 6 arcs, Each arc focuses on one of the six girls that the main character can end up with. Just this already sets Amagami apart from the other animes from its genre because you get to see individually how each girl interacts with the main character for a straight four episodes. In other animes of this genre, they would have focused on one girl then quickly switch to another in the next episode. Doing that makes it hard for you to get to know a character. However, Amagami SS does it right by really focusing on each of their characters and developing them each very well. This method of story telling does have a major flaw though. Four episodes for six different characters is not nearly enough. It was enough to make me enjoy each character fairly well, but it is not enough to fully develop them. There will be times when the story feels rushed and it will appear as if a whole step was skipped in the main characters relationship with a the girl. Even though each arc was too short, the story for each them are still very unique and different from each other. Each one is different than the one before it, so by the time your done you'll defiantly have a specific girl your rooting for. Some have more happy endings than others, but by the end of each you will definitely be satisfied with what you've seen. After one arc is over,the story switches to a alternate world or something. The events of the previous arc is null and void, so the main character is not just some player who moves from girl to girl Like i mentioned in the second paragraph, this way of story telling lets you get to know the characters more without having random interruptions. Each episode of each arc focuses solely on the relationship between the main character and the heroine and nothing more (so no fillers yay!). Moving on to the art of the anime, it was pretty "meh" in my opinion. It was nothing too special and did not stand out way too much. I actually preferred bland/plain art style for the characters though In your average anime, all the characters would usually have hair colors ranging from purple to pink and busts that are pretty much unattainable for the average person in real life. The characters in Amagami SS look and act more realistic while still being very likable. They have normal hair colors (dark hair and some brunettes) and not every other girl is a f-cup. I usually don't enjoy the type of music on these pure romance animes as much, but for Amagami SS i had to make an exceptions. Both openings," I Love" and Kimi No Mama De", were very catchy and soothing. They fit the mood of a happy relationship very well and are now a part of my favorite openings list. The rest of the sounds in the anime (music/OSTs/voice acting) were also very well done. The music when played would fit the mood, and the characters voice actors would fit their role. The only complaint i have would be the voice for one the heroines, Nakata Sae. It is probably just my personal distaste, but her voice kind of annoyed me. I realize her character is supposed to be shy, but it was just too much for me. The other heroines voice acting were pretty good, but the side characters did voice acting did not seem too stick out too me very much (probably cause their side characters). Overall, i really enjoyed this anime. The characters are all very likable and you really cant hate on any of them (except the main character for being a lucky a-hole). The arcs, despite being cut off every four episodes, are actually very enjoyable. It might feel a bit rushed at times because of the lack of episodes for each arc, but they still manage to rap things up very well by the time an arcs over. Even though i really liked it, i still cannot deny that the whole anime is actually pretty generic (a boy and a girl fall in love and relationship ensues). As a whole, the anime is not something spectacular, but that does not mean it is not fun to watch. It is still a very amusing group of love stories, and i recommend you all to check it out.

(Sorry for this being such a long review, but please enjoy.) "They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever." - Oscar Wilde Many believe that love is eternal, and that even after death those who love, will always love. Some may disagree, but I believe that romance will last forever, as long as the two who are in love, love the other until death. Romance is not spoiled by trying to make it last forever. If the ones in love don't believe it will last forever, then they most likely have doubt in their love, and it will most likely end at some point. The opening may have seemed random, but it helps me describe what I want to say. Amagami SS, doesn't allow the thought of love lasting forever to occur for very long. The relationships that were built, crumble into nothing when the story moves to the next arc. When I finished the series, I couldn't find enjoyment from the romance as much, because I don't know what actually occurred. My disbelief of this anime centralizes on one question, who did the protagonist end up with? This question can not be answered because, the protagonist ended up either with none of them, or all of them. But for either of those answers to happen, it would have to be either a dream, or there would be multiple dimensions where the protagonist falls for each girl. You may be saying right now that "anime isn't real, stop putting so much thought into it", but let's think of it like it actually is real. The most likely occurrence would be that this was a dream. I can't go with the multiple dimension option because I don't know for sure if there actually are, so I'm choosing the more realistic thought. The problem is, nowhere in the anime does it say that it's a dream, which disapproves that idea. So basically, with all of that ranting over, I'm trying to say one thing, why did it have to be split into different arcs? I'm not saying I'm unhappy with it, because my favorite heroines got the guy, but it doesn't allow any story to grow. So, let me explain what I like when I watch romance anime. I enjoy happy endings where my favorite heroine gets with the protagonist. It sometimes doesn't work out like how I want it to, but if the ending is a good one, then I will most likely enjoy it overall. I like a central storyline about the love interest with possible multiple heroines, but without the harem ending. I think the protagonist should choose instead of messing with all the girls and trying to keep them all. Sometimes the person who's picked may seem like a dumb decision to me, but at least it doesn't end without a decision. The heroine can't be a complete idiot, or someone who is really lame, but somehow always does the right thing, and obtains the girl. The story can't be too cheesy and have things that would never happen, actually occur. Romance anime should be made with at least some sense of reality. Oh, also I hate super, perverted protagonists. For example Ichigo 100% (he really bugged me). A little perversion is fine, as long as it isn't taken to a whole new level. Well, actually the perversion in this was sort of taken to a new level, in a funny way, not a super annoying, ecchi way. (You will see when you watch the first and second arc.) Now back to the review. Amagami SS defies what I look for in a romance anime in both a good way and a bad way. It splits the story up into 6 different parts, one for each heroine (plus a final episode for an extra heroine). The plus side to this is that all the heroines get a chance to be with the protagonist. Nobody is left in the dust with unrequited feelings, and all the characters are happy. The one thing that I truly dislike is that, after one arc, the relations that were built are reset, basically saying that the story had no meaning behind it. I'm not saying that I rather have a harem where the protagonist gets all of them at once and everyone miraculous agrees to it (which happens in a lot of harems), but I think the story should have only focused on one love, or make him to choose in the end (which would be a great twist that doesn't happen in many anime). How the story is split really effects the chance to know the characters better, and to like them more too. It pains me to see the protagonist interacting with the females from the older episodes when it's brought to a new arc. Nothing beforehand happened, and it's basically a new anime with the same characters. I know it's based off a dating sim game, but it doesn't need to go down all the different paths. I sort of went off on a tangent with my rant on why the separate arcs bugged me, so I'll get back on track. The story is basically six different stories which I enjoyed on the most part. But, as I was saying before (without digressing from the review) it's not enough for each character, and I think more of a story should be put into it. (Note - I know Amagami SS+ plus is out but I'm writing this as if I didn't know about it.) The art is a more realistic type. It doesn't have any unproportionate characters, with wacky hair colors. (Note - I don't really look into the art as much when watching anime so sorry if what I said doesn't help at all.) The sound is splendid. I highly enjoyed the second op, and a lot of the random music put throughout which makes the scenario even more interesting. Each arc also has the seiyuu singing their own ending. I didn't enjoy the endings so much, but that's just my preference. (Note - I also don't really look into the music very much when watching anime, but I did hear many little tunes that do add a great touch to the story.) The characters are wonderful on the most part, but you don't really get to know them due to the way it's split into arcs. The protagonist, Tachibana Junichi sort of falls into traditional harem protagonists. One who is perverted (only a bit), had trouble with girls in the past, innocent with girls, and other things that I'm too tired to list, but you most likely get it. Junichi, isn't fully like the harem protagonist, but I'm only saying this because Amagami SS isn't really a harem, so it's hard to explain. Overall, this anime was a fun one to watch. Nothing really disappointed me other than the way it's split and how short each arc was. I enjoy seeing all the girls ending up with the guy instead of allowing the story to end as a harem. So, basically if you enjoy a good romance, I would recommend this, as long as you're fine with it focusing on six different short stories instead of one.

Because it's a multiple arc-ending Anime for six heroines, there won't be any filler episodes. At the end of every arc, it immediately goes into setting up the foundation for the next heroine in the next episode. There isn't any link between arcs either; it's as if the whole story restarts from the beginning for each arc. If you can get past that, this was a very enjoyable series. Each heroine is given four episodes, so some people (myself included) may say that each heroine can be not as detailed compared to Junichi Tachibana or other main characters from another Anime series.

In anime where there's a love triangle, you wish that the writers made the main character (MC) end up with the other girl. You fantasize about that story line, hoping someday the writers will give the other girl some spotlight. If you do find yourself in that position, watch Amagami SS!! You will be guaranteed that every girl gets her own story. Amagami SS is in the omnibus format (a story format that I'm unfamiliar with) so the anime is divided into different arcs. So, as soon as one arc ends, the next arc begins as if the previous story never occurred. What's also cool is that you can jump around story arcs so if you start with Rihoko's arc, you can easily pick up Morishima's arc without feeling that you missed some plot lines. The general plot of Amagami SS is that it follows our male lead Junichi after he gets his heart broken on Christmas eve. From there, he will eventually meet 6 different girls. What makes the omnibus format awesome is that each girl gets her own story. So if you find yourself liking one of the female leads, you can directly skip to her episodes and you would not have missed a thing! What I found that the anime did well was that each story arc was well-tailored to the female lead's personality. For example, in Tsukasa's story arc, she is a class president and thus, the story revolves around Junichi helping with her responsibilities and through those actions, he grows closer to Tsukasa. This was definitely an area that the writers for Amagami SS did well. Where this anime fell was the humour. There are sexual innuendos, references, fan service, you name it, everywhere. In fact, the anime just shoves it shamelessly in your face. While it is pretty hilarious in the first few episodes that you watch, they get bland by the time you reach the last arc. But if you are into these things, you will find each episode very entertaining. The artwork was really well done. I especially liked the backdrops to each scene. They put a lot of detail into those. Also, each girl is beautifully drawn. Each of them is drawn in a unique style so you will definitely find one character who is drawn to your liking. I particularly liked Ai Nanasaki's character art because her proportions are drawn really well and her chin-length hair basically won me over. The body proportions are definitely well done for each character. The two opening versions are some of my favourite openings. I love how each one is a soft ballad, which really set me up for the romance in each episode. They are going onto the iPod very soon. Another unique thing about Amagami SS is that each character has her own ending sung by that voice actor. I thought that was pretty cool. Other than the opening and ending themes, the music in the anime was nothing spectacular but was not obtrusive in any way. Each female lead in Amagami SS represents a certain character personality. That's a very good thing because you won't get confused as to which character is which. Here's a quick run-down of each character in order of their appearance: Haruka Morishima - a guy's dream girl, has the best physical features. As a result, Junichi gets into a lot of awkward moments with her. I definitely enjoyed her episodes a lot. Kaoru Tanamachi - close to being "the childhood friend" archetype but not exactly. Junichi met her in middle school so they were friends since then. Being a headstrong character, she can be a guy's best girl-friend but she could easily friend zone you as well. Sae Nakata - the shy but cute girl (and big where it matters, if you know what I mean...). I don't particularly like this category of character so I won't go into the details of her story (this is MY opinion so if you like this kind of character, Sae probably will end up being your favourite out of the 6 girls!) Ai Nanasaki - she's close to being the Tsundere character as she starts out pretty cold but we gradually see her personality warm up. My favourite aspect of her is that she fearlessly states that Junichi is a pervert. Rihoko Sakurai - she's the "childhood friend" archetype. She's a bit chubby so her story is about her losing weight while finding her feelings for Junichi. Tsukasa Ayatsuji - the other version of a guy's dream girl. She is a ambitious leader, got the looks, but also has her flaws. In my opinion, Ayatsuji's arc is the best story. The reason being is that there is a lot of tension rising and falling between Junichi and her. I would say that she gets the best character development out of all these fine ladies. As a result, her romance story is the one you that will tug at your heart strings. There are also some supporting characters, the two main ones are Umehara, Junichi's best (and also perverted) friend, and Miya, Junichi's little sister. We don't see much character development (though Miya does get her own arc) but they are relieving to see whenever they enter the scene. As a big fan of the romance genre, I definitely felt myself enjoying Amagami SS. While I often found myself scratching my head in certain situations or just wondering how Junichi even fell for a certain girl, I rejoiced to know that I can experience another romantic story after an arc. Given that the writers only had 4 episodes to develop an entire love story, they did a really good job. Props to them! I think Amagami SS is a good starter for new anime watchers who are looking to see how romance is tackled in anime, and also for veteran romance watchers who are either looking for something short or a good general summary of all the big character types that appear in romantic stories. Amagami SS has my stamp of approval. Do check it out! Thanks for reading my review! P.S. If you were wondering, here's my ranking of the girls in Amagami SS: 1. Tsukasa Ayatsuji 2. Ai Nanasaki 3. Haruna Morishima 3. Kaoru Tanamachi 5. Rihoko Sakurai 6. Sae Nakata Who did you like? Let me know!

First, I would like to state, I love romance harem animes that are set up like dating sim games. Its one of the main reasons I liked this anime so much and others like The World God Only Knows. Story 7/10 The story and character backgrounds are nothing too great, but they also aren't out of the realm of reality. I enjoyed the actions and events that took place between each girl and thought they were well written. Art 8/10 I like the more mature looking approach to the art, instead of going to weird faces and a "moe" look (not sure if used right). Not much more to say about this, it was good none-the-less. Sound 7/10 Nothing particularly stood out, but the soundtrack was in no way bad. The voice actors were all good and did their jobs accordingly, but, again, no one really stood out. Character 8/10 First, I'll start with the main character, Junichi, he is a rare breed. A main male protagonist I actually didn't mind at all. Not saying he was anything special, which is often the case in these romance harems, but he didn't annoy me in the slightest. His personality did seem to change quite a bit depending on the arc, but that seemed unavoidable. Now, the characters that truly shine and make this anime good. All the female leads were outstanding, all of them were very unique. None of them seemed to fall back on the typical anime female characters too hard, which was refreshing, and if they did, sorry, I didn't really notice. Enjoyment 8/10 This earned its place in my top romance anime list for sure. It was very enjoyable, and I'll probably end up watching it again in the future. I recommend this to all that are fans to the romance genre, in particular, the harem romance genre. Overall 8/10 I don't like to go into too much detail when reviewing anime (AKA spoiling), so I apologize if this seems short. Anyways, I hope this was helpful to at least one person. Thank you, and have a great day! - deagosane

Amagami SS Review Presentation: The art of Amagami SS was pretty standard. I hate how the characters don't blink passively. It made some moments unnatural. They only blinks when they are performing an action. The sound design was standard as well. It was good but it did not made me go download the OSTs of the anime. I loved the first OP theme. It felt like one of those eroge video packages that presents the heroines. Even though the lyrics sounded so dull and typical, the video package saved it. I wish they kept the OP theme. It made me felt like I was about to play an eroge! They had different ending that fits the styles of the 6 heroines. I like the extra effort but I would rather have one solid ED theme than 7 different average ones. I love the voice over on this one. They did a great job on assigning them on the right character. Characters: There are a lot of them! Actually, too many for a single 25 episode season! Only 4 episodes on the main heroines and a bonus one?! The episodes were definitely QUALITY but I'd rather had a fewer arcs and more episodes to them. The main hero was normal with an overused name called "Junichi." Use another name for fucks sake! He looks too normal it pisses me off. Anyway, the heroines on the other hand was diverse to say the least. I enjoyed most of their personalities and differences. Story: It felt like an eroge, and a good one! I'll briefly state my opinions on each arcs. Morishima Arc - Probably the best arc they could start with. It got my attention with the first minute of the story. Kaoru Arc - Was sad when the first arc ended abruptly but this arc was unexpectedly good. Sae Arc - Shitty narrator. would have been much better without him. Start of the downfall. Nanasaki Arc - I was expecting more TSUN and less DERE. I was disappointed. Rihoko Arc - No progress, wasted episodes. at least they presented a different kind of ending. Ayatsuji Arc - Amazing arc. I was expecting something but it gave me something different. Bonus Arc - Deep story line for a solo episode. Was hoping for the BAD END and BLOODBATH. Too bad, maybe next time. I didn't like how it didn't had any sex scenes. Not even nipples on the BDs. Your an eroge. You audience are the perverted adults! So give us something to fap to! Verdict: 7.6/10 + Diverse characters + Feels like an good dating sim - Too many arcs - No adult scenes Nikuman out of 10.

This is the best anime adaptation of a dating sim. Bar none. And when I mean that, I mean quite literally a dating sim adaption, not an adaptation of a singular route of a dating sim. Never has there been a more fun romance anime as Amagami SS, and yet so weirdly misunderstood for incredibly basic reasons. The anime is not a Harem anime. It isn't. If anyone refers to it as such, they're literally wrong. The only way I can describe this to those unfamiliar with the Omnibus format is describing it as six romance stories, starting from the same point, that vary slightly from each other in presentation and each girl, that just so happen to star one singular MC. Ergo why it's the best adaptation. It gives as much time and attention to each of the routes as it should do, instead of stretching a singular route of one over a dozen episodes and giving an OVA to one or two others. Tachibana is perhaps the quintessential self-insert but he does his job so well I was rooting for him in every route. For a character meant to replace the video game counterpart that is usually played by yourself, they took it and ran with it and made it uniquely his, making each romance believable despite the varying personalities of the leading ladies. Amagami SS does something that, as someone who pretty much exclusively watches romance, is rarely seen in most romance anime. Or should I say, it's more so something it doesn't do. It's no brakes, no filler. Four episodes for every character (six counting the second season) yet every episode is so dense with character development, information and these small moments that make you smile. The first episode is supposed to be dedicated to Haruka, yet you get such a sufficient introduction to each of the characters it works well as both a Haruka episode, and a first episode of the series. There's never an episode you feel like skipping out of impulse. I was never bored. I've re-watched it countless times and I've never felt the need to shrug and go "I'll just get to the good stuff" because it's all "the good stuff". You enjoy the characters in their own arcs so much that when they appear elsewhere, it can bring genuine genuinely smiling because it felt like more than just a cameo because they were simply more than side characters. It extended their own character beyond simply being a one route wonder. Characters like Kaoru are the gold standard of this. She's such a fun character who's route is individually spectacular, so much so that when she appears in future characters routes you're cheering just because she shows up. I'm kind of glad it occupies this little spot away from the limelight because it means it stays protected in a little bubble away from being dragged by the mainstream because it's so perfectly unique, yet being delightfully unspectacular. It didn't need to be. There's no extravagance for the sake of extravagance. It's just some pure romance stories, told well, and it's all I ever really wanted in an anime. I wrote this review mostly for people who share this same fatigue with the genre who need at worse, some romantic fast food. At best, something very unique.

Amagami SS is 25 episodes anime set in highschool setting and splitted into multiple story arcs. Story:8 As mentioned above story is split into multiple arcs which are not connected and feature are lonely(slightly perverted) protagonist Junichi Tachibana trying to heal hes broken hearth and give love another try. Art:8 Animation and art is consistent through out the show but some characters are kinda similar. Sound:7 Sound is weakest part of Amagami since its forgettable and quite plain i found myself skipping OP and ED all the time. Characters:8 Amagami features a vast cast of characters and menage to have every archetype that is seen in similar animes.There is senior tsunderish character,fluffy girl,quiet and shy one,split personality and so on.Main protagonist Junichi is kind and slightly introvert in the begging due to events from first episode and through out show he's opening and changing. Enjoyment:8 I enjoyed Amagami some arcs were better than some and all around it was a step up from generic highschool harem series. Overall:8 I can safely recommend this show to any romance lover.this was Heralder and im out!

I won't lie, I loved the first 24 episodes of this show. I thought that each arc was well developed, each girl had her own quirks and traits that made Junichi become a different person than he was in a previous arc and every outcome was satisfying... So why did I give it such a low rating? Two words: Final episode The show felt like it was giving me a delicious piece of cheesecake. Then episode 25 comes along. It takes my cheesecake, shits on it, lights it on fire, then force feeds it to me. The last episode was so unbelievably terrible that it killed any and all enjoyment I had gotten from the rest of the show, which was particularly painful since the episode before it was one of, if not, my favorite. I could completely recommend this show if you're fine with watching 6 unrelated stories of the same guy falling in love with different girls in different timelines without any connection or reason, saying you skip out on the final episode. However, I cannot in good conscience say that it is worth your time to watch this show just to see what a shitshow it ends up becoming.

This Anime in Step To Step: 1. Be sad about lost waifu 2 years ago 2. Chase Crush-Waifu 3. Get Closer to Crush 4. Love Waifu 5. Go back in time, chase a new waifu, be happy. 6. Repeat ^ This anime is fairly average. Story: Sad loser is sad about waifu not showing up at to date christmas evening. He then decides to move on, and get a new waifu. It's basically 5 Stories, with 5 different girls. Though, the last story tells you about the X-Mas night. Character: I will mention the girls shorly in 1-2 words, as they are only important for 4 episodes. :3 Junichi Tachibana, a guy who is bad at talking with girls (imo), but he is scarily lucky. He is so lucky he get's whoever he wants, apparently. Rihoko Sakurai: Childhood friend. Ai Nanasaki: Imouto-chan. (Not a waifu. No incest here.) Sae Nakata: Timid. Haruka Lovely Morishima: Senpai&Straightforward Risa Kamizaki: Bitch, stalker + Silent Yandere. (Important to the story, but only important one episode.) Tsukasa Ayatsuji: Rude, kinda Tsun-tsun. Enjoyment: 5.2 It was very decent and mediocre. It just felt like Higurashi all over again. It's 5 stories, and each story is 4 episodes, till episode 25.