Anime ATM 104 Akatsuki no Yona (Season 1)

WOW! Okay a little backstory, a while ago, and by a while ago I'm pretty sure like 2 or 3 years ago, S recommended that I watch Akatsuki no Yona. I was like "Oh yeah I'll get around to it eventually" but obviously I haven't did until now. And that was a mistake. Akatsuki no Yona is SO GOOD. I'm so happy I started it, even though I did so in the middle of quarantine and in the middle/tail end of midterms season, but it's alright. Also, I was inspired to start this because I saw some random anime account that posted a series of screenshots of Hak and...I fell in love. Haha. It's only kind of a joke.

It's been so long since I've watched an anime with plot. Okay I did watch Boku no Hero Academia. And yes that does have a plot. But there was something about the pacing of this anime that really gelled with me. Each arc was around 4-ish episodes and it felt really satisfying to see Yona grow and her cohort of fellow OP characters. I think that's what I've been doing wrong all along really. I kept relegating myself to just fluffy shoujo stuff thinking that that's what I really enjoy. But actually, having gone back to something with plot was so refreshing and I binged 9 episodes in one day. That's how good it was.

Anyways, this is a pretty old anime; it came out in 2014. So, there's probably lots of good reviews out there, but let me just glorify it further.

{Spoilers!}

A basic synopsis would be there's this princess named Yona in Kouka Kingdom that lives a really privileged and pampered life. She thinks her life is super great, she's about to turn 16 and her father is a great, if a little softhearted king, not believing in war or weapons. This anti-violence agenda irks some of the kingdom and leads to Yona's childhood friend Su-won leading a coup to murder Yona's father. The king dies and Yona was next, but she escaped with her bodyguard and other childhood friend Hak.

From then on, Hak and Yona end up as travelers around Kouka Kingdom under instruction by Ik-su, a priest who can communicate with God to find the four dragons from the creation myth of Kouka Kingdom. There's different arcs that follow their happening upon each of the dragons and the adventures that they have together. That's a super cheesy description, but in the most simple terms that's what happens.

I think what I found most engaging about the whole thing was the fact that the pacing was really nice. It was the right proportion of action happening while also character development and interpersonal relationship building. For example, when you think about Shinha and his sub-arc, there's a little bit of everything. You've got this little kid that just wants to make friends, but has been shunned because of rumors about his powers causing people to be paralyzed and then his mentor dies after becoming blind (oml when he put the bells on his mask so Ao would know where he was) there was a lot of heavy stuff going on there. But there was also this relationship built between him and Yona as the two are able to find support in one another as Yona is able to bring him into the light and Shinha offers her comfort and strength. In the same vein, all of the dragons in their own way lend their strength to Yona after realizing the benefits that it gives each of them and the bond that ties them altogether.

It was a nice touch too to have each of the dragons come from four incredibly different backgrounds. It gave diversity beyond just them having four different powers, but also delved deeper into how each dragon trait would be accepted by people and how each of their backstories led to them leading four different lives. Still they all converged and are on this shared quest with Yona and Hak.

It was really heartwarming as well to see how the group is growing in terms of numbers but also in terms of character development. It wasn't just an instant connection between them or Yona not doing anything to prove herself, there was a mix of everyone doing their part to better themselves.

I'm still not really sure how I feel about Su-won. I think from a purely political standpoint, he might be good for the kingdom. The sub-arc where he goes to the Earth Tribe and hypes up the Earth General was super smart. He bolstered the tribe's morale, strengthened its economy and inter-kingdom trade, and sized up the Earth General's willingness to side with him. Su-won is super clever which both I respect and am intimidated by.

However, just from the first season I feel like it could end up where the four dragons and Hak help Yona rule the kingdom as the ending shows a table with multiple chairs around it instead of a throne. I feel like that could indicate her success, but if she does succeed it'll be bittersweet. But of course it would also be revenge and justice for the late king that was killed for his anti-violence agenda. However, Yona's travels through the kingdom and different tribes is showing that the late king's policies were rather neglectful. There's many hard truths to swallow in the show and I think different people could have different takeaways, but regardless I think this show is wonderful.

Please don't put it off for years like me before watching it. I highly recommend it. I'm a fan of the characters, their growth, the story's pacing, and the weird sort of OP/ED music style between the first 12 episodes and the last 12. Go check out the anime if you haven't already to know what I'm talking about.

P.S. As you can see, I've run out of scheduled content really so I'll just be posting whenever I get the chance. Unfortunately, this blog is no longer my priority, but it is my hobby! So I'll keep updating it of course whenever I do finish something. Until then, take care!

Anime ATM 91 Itsudatte Bokura no Koi wa 10 cm Datta

So we've moved back into the dorms and for some reason it feels more sad than when I first moved into these dorms for the year. Probably because I saw my family for such a long and uninterrupted period of time. That, plus the fact that I watched the Black Mirror movie made me both sad and scared at the same time. What better way to remedy this dual-negative feeling than to watch some shoujo?

{Spoilers, but not really because it's such a short shoujo series}

So first of all, this series is only 6 episodes with each episode being your standard 23 minutes. So that should already give you an idea of how easy it is to binge if you're like me hehe. And obviously you can't expect a whole lot in this 6 episodes, I mean you can only flesh out characters so much in this little amount of screen time, but what they do give you is pretty standard.

The basic story line goes something like this: there's a group of three boys in the Movie Club shooting their graduation film project and there's a group of three girls in the Art Club and there's mutual love between all three pairs. No love triangles here folks. All six of them are graduating soon. The story revolves mostly around one main couple: Haruki and Miou, our beautiful spring couple. As many high schoolers in shoujo are, these two are in mutual love, but are too awkward to realize. This story goes along with their gradual romantic relationship progression as well as an unexpected, but extremely foreshadowed twist. When Miou was small, she almost drowned in a river, only to be saved by someone. She can't remember who it was and she isn't allowed to meet him up until the last summer of high school. Delighted to finally meet this hero who saved her life, Miou ends up in front of the Serizawa family grave and meets the realization that the man who saved her was Haruki's older brother. This led to an immovable grief and guilt within Miou and she shut herself off from everyone. However, she is able to overcome this guilt through her friends' support and can finally face Haruki who was battling his own doubts as well.

I can't relate too much to this scenario, but if you're a younger sibling and you've got someone you really look up to, maybe this is something you're familiar with. You idolize your older sibling so much that you end up following what they do and end up cultivating a passion for something that questionable wasn't even of your own volition. Or that's how it'd be if you didn't get the whole story. And that's addressed in the series when prompted with the question "Why can't you have the same dream as your older sibling?" which is pretty valid. And I'll leave it at that because it's a solid stand-alone point.

You know though, their sibling relationship was super cute.

But once these individual characters have overcome these personal hurdles, it's time to graduate high school and embark on future endeavors. There's nothing quite as liberating and saddening as graduating high school. The tracks have been lifted and you're free to blaze new trails for yourself (in a very American exceptionalism and buying into the whole idea of moving westward because of manifest destiny ya know). And that leaves Haruki off to pursue film in America and Miou with her dreams lying in Japan. The two separate and if it wasn't your traditional shoujo you would have doubts of if they would stay together beyond these high school years. Hehe, but it is your traditional shoujo so of course after actualizing their dreams, they reunited and lived happily ever after.

asdfghjkl; this scene really got me. It's full of their dreams that have nothing to do with one another except for that small corner. But is that one feeling going to last those 7 years they're apart?

One thing I really enjoyed about the series was how serene it was. It had its ups and downs yes with the characters' emotions turning into a storm at some points, but those scenes where Miou and Haruki were sitting on the stairs and just sketching out ideas and illustrations side-by-side and other kind o mundane moments, there would be this serenity that would just be present in those moments. And it was really quite calming. I think as life gets more hectic, we tend to appreciate these moments more for their simplicity and presence rather than to be wowed by big things. Or maybe I'm just an old soul lol.

If you're looking for a short and sweet watch that isn't a waste of your time like other short series are, I think this could be a good fit. It's definitely a good fix for if you're craving that sweet shoujo feel and if you just want to reminisce on high school life and stuff like that. It's not anything super new or novel, but sometimes you just need that traditional shoujo stuff.

Anime ATM 64 Tsure x dure Children

The manga's still going on, but I couldn't help but watch the anime once it was finished for the season. I just feel so completely wholesome and fulfilled after watching it. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but there's just something so cute about the whole thing.

{There can't be spoilers if everything ends happily ever after with no plot twists and all your ships set sail right?}

Every episode is comprised of smaller episodes that follow the manga's format where every short chapter features one pair and whatever they're getting up to. It's not really organized in any other way besides that. I think that lends itself to being more engaging as you get a taste of the different dynamics between the different couples, but also makes it harder to form connections of fondness for them beyond a shallow level. But of course there's nothing wrong with that. Especially when all the couples are so cute. There's honestly no couple that I dislike. All of them have their problems and they're never portrayed like the perfect couple. They have problems with communication, with pressure about pacing, and overall just the discomfort that comes with having no experience. It's this portrayal of innocence that makes it so cute to watch, just witnessing their first springs and the different ways their romance unfolds. I don't want to get into the specifics of each couple because that completely ruins the point of you watching it since I don't give any explicit spoilers so I just think you should watch it and bathe yourself in the purity that is this show.

I can't say that it was the best quality anime in terms of like art or music budget. There was no ED, and the OP was alright, but this is understandable considering every episode is around 12 minutes anyways. The timing of the episodes is dangerous because it's so easy to just binge it all. Not like I did that...of course not. I'm a respectable, responsible college student. Ahaha okay don't follow my example, but it is an extremely easy watch. I was really in it just for the cute relationships. I had this stupid smile plastered on my face for most of those two or so hours. It was a good use of time I assure you.

Overall I definitely recommend you watch it. There's no stress. It's a happy time. It's so pure and there's so much awkwardness that just makes life seem like it's not that bad and you can keep going with your life. And there's guaranteed to be a character like you in there. It's got some good representation of different people in different types of relationships like the secretly jealous ones, the ones that go through a lot of misunderstands, ones with a bad sense of timing. And it's in perfect sync with how relationships nowadays are especially with smartphones and texting. Ya know, the hip and cool stuff. It's just really really really charming. 

OMG look at his face so pure ugh

asdfghjkl; how could he just not know??

T^T friendship is so close yet so far from what she wanted

How does badger badger mushroom even relate??

 

Why did I relate so much to this sequence?

Relationship goals. TBH if I were to be in a relationship I'd want to have a dynamic like this.

His friend is such a savage, but at the same time the actual best wingman besides Yo-chan

HE'S SO CRINGE WORTHY BUT SO RIDICULOUSLY FUNNY

This is gonna be me I swear

Me @ all my friends

Me when my friends tell me about awk occurrences (especially since we all started college at different places :') ok that actually made me really sad Imma shut up now)

Why are you still here? Go watch it!

Anime ATM 52 Orange

Do you like the new title? I thought about it while I was driving as a way to sort of "dole out" my opinions and thoughts on anime with an appropriate label kinda like an ATM machine. I came up with this all on my own and I'm quite irrationally proud of it.

Funnily enough I had already read the entire manga (in less than a week if I remember correctly) a couple years back and it was the first manga I read that actually brought me to tears. I remember feeling a mixture of distraught, relief, pain, and just a bittersweet wistfulness for the same chance to change my life. Not that anything that important or changeable could've happened if a letter from my 10 years older suddenly appeared. Because it took me on such an emotional roller coaster it's been one of my favorites and one of my treasures. That's why I was so hyped for the anime adaptation. And I know that I'm definitely late on the game, but when this came out I was looking for a part time job (at the convenience store lol jk) and working on college applications so sorry that this is actually so behind the hype. Also as an added bonus, an acquaintance of mine really enjoyed the live action adaptation of this, but I'm not one for live adaptations so if you're curious you could go watch it and tell me your thoughts.

The funny thing is is that if I had had a manga review blog before I could've written a long, in-depth analysis that I had before. I had this long revelation in a chat with my friend who has no idea what the heck I'm talking about when I read/watch anything and rant to him about it and it was a really long and passionate rant. But I no longer have that rant, unless I want to scroll through over 10,000 messages looking for it. Oh well, just know that I once had a deep and burning fire in my soul.

{Spoilers}

One of the problems I often have with books that are turned into movies is that there's certain things that are lost in translation or are overlooked and not put in due to time or budget constraints. Personally I felt that Orange was a perfect example of how anime adaptations should be. It was just how I remembered the manga to be, but enhanced with voices, motion, and color. 

From the get-go I was already so invested in Kakeru and Naho. And when I saw Suwa it just reminded me of why I found the manga so sad. But I think the story itself gives a satisfactory solution: parallel worlds. In a way, this is a bit of a sci fi piece, but only just a little bit. They dabble with the idea of black holes and time travel and if the passage of time was something that could be fragmented into an endless list of side-by-side occurring possibilities or if there was only one future and fate that could never be overwritten. I see it as the creator believed in the different parallel worlds more because that lent itself to the possibility and the popular question of "what if?". It was beautiful in it's own way how there were so many flashbacks between the 26 year old group and the 16 year old group. I don't remember that many being in the manga, but if there was then excuse my memory, I'm getting old. If you tried to look at the anime from the point of view of someone watching it for the first time with no context it would seem overwhelming and confusing, but that's fun in it's own way. It gives you time to puzzle through what's happening and the changes that happen in 10 years that makes the two sets of people different. 

If I'm being completely honest with you I really enjoyed the compromise that parallel worlds gave. There was a story where Suwa got his happy ending with Naho and another where Kakeru ends up living and making Naho happy. The friendship between everyone is just out of this world. I know that even without the letters they would've been just as close, but a little more naive and careless. And it's their spontaneous and carefree nature that leads to Kakeru permanently ending his life. With the letters it made the original group of five a little bit more self-aware and also a bit more awkward. But ultimately I'd say those letters served their purpose and led to a happily ever after. They were able to be proactive and take charge. You could argue that all this did was change someone else's life, but it's kind of comforting that if in a parallel world something different happened, that a different course was taken. But in all of the cases, there were certain things that stayed the same, like how Kakeru brought the other five together as a call to action, to fight for the happiness of their friend. Sorry, this is probably very convoluted, but I just have to express these thoughts before I lose them. I think I take the Suwa approach; if it's happened in another life no need to replicate it in another, let another person have his shot. It makes me sad because this Suwa's feelings were real and they should be validated, but Kakeru really needed someone to be his pillar of support. Suwa is the best boy (in this anime at least).

If the bond between the six of them wasn't as strong as it was, it wouldn't have made as much of an impact. I think the playful dynamic between all of them solidified the bond and gave you something to root for if you weren't already invested in Naho x Kakeru or Naho x Suwa. Take for example Azusa and Hagita, together the two of them were excellent comic relief, especially Hagita. In the episode they went to the shrine and Naho and Kakeru commented on each others scarves and Hagita chimed in that he was also wearing a scarf or how Kakeru let Naho listen to his music but not Hagita both of which were funny instances and a nice touch. In addition the dynamic between Takako and Azusa in relation to Naho was something of mothers watching their child grow, like when Naho didn't understand that Kakeru wanted to hold hands with her (super cute ugh I love fluff like that) or when they were super happy that Kakeru got his reward for coming in first in the relay :3. 

I wanna just add though that the OP and ED aren't great. The OP feels a little bit out of place as if they were trying to do a nice artsy montage, but with the music and the leaf overlays it didn't really vibe with me. And the ED made me a bit sentimental, but it wasn't knock your socks off, blow your brains out kind of good. And if you're shallow and you care about art you might be vaguely bothered by the art style. When I watched the first episode with my friends they said the eyes were creepy, but I think the art style's just grown on me so it looks normal? Haha no one said anime was realistic.

This definitely isn't your regular fluffy slice of life high school anime. It's got drama. It's got love triangles. It's got dry humor, aka Hagita. It's got angst. It's got a bit of sci fi and the butterfly effect sprinkled in. There's a bit of a lot of different things which makes it an excellent watch and equally wonderful read. I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for a different kind of high school anime and perhaps a thought provoking one as well. Also the last episode was really rare and refreshing. First off, the season is 13 episodes long instead of 12 and secondly the thirteenth episode is close to 40 minutes! It's crazy cool, jam packed with drama and feels, and just leaves the sensation of a bittersweet kiss fading from your lips (not that I've actually felt that, but it's like in movies when you see it you kinda know how it feels? Just me? Kay).

Okay this just kept playing throughout one episode and I really don't understand what's happening but it's really funny

Look at him sadly smiling and hiding all his pain. Ugh he tried so hard to keep it in and preserve the happiness his friendship with everyone gave him and then tried to tell his Tokyo friends but they were mean to him and that montage of his troubled mind episode was so painful ugh.

This just made me so angry because he started dating that senpai for her looks and she dated him for his reputation and status and it just left a sour taste in my mouth because of how unhealthy they were and reminded me, and should remind everyone, to date someone because of something else besides their physical features or trying to gain something if you can.

Montage of Takako and Azu being the absolute best friends to Naho and how great of a duo they are

Hagita is such an underrated character. You might go as far to say that he's unnecessary. But he's the reason Kakeru didn't take his bike. He helped to make Kakeru laugh. He's Azu's love interest. He was a part of that super great relay race. He should be more recognized. He even kind of protested against changing anything in case it messed everything up, just in case there wasn't a parallel world and instead just the one which made him seem like the least kind, but as seen in the first picture he cares as deeply for Kakeru as the other four. Plus his 26 year old self is super cute without glasses. >3<

Montage for Suwa because he's so precious. Look at the bottom picture when his beloved Naho thanks him and he's so touched you can see his tears and it shows that real men cry and show their feelings. And the middle one where he's trying to reassure Taka and Azu that he's okay with letting Kakeru have Naho in this reality. And the top one where he wants to hug Naho and confess, but he also prioritizes Kakeru and he's just the most selfless and amazing person.

Romantic isn't it? It makes me really happy that Naho could be happy with Kakeru. *satisfied*

This was really touching. As I head off to college I hope my friends and I still stay as friends and don't grow distant. Wishful thinking, I know *watery smile*

The sports episode was super tense, let's be honest, but it was also super funny because the boys didn't wanna be honest about how kawaii their girls were 

Signing off with this one because it's adorable

Anime Blurb 50 Hiyokoi OVA

So I watched this long, long ago before the war was even conceptualized. I dunno what this means, but it sounds cool right? I had forgotten how blatantly awkward and relatively succinct everything was. Huh...

{Spoilers, but who really cares because you could always watch it in 22 minutes and then come back to read this to relive the kawaii-ness}

So the premise of this story is that there's this really short girl that got hit by a bus (??!) which prevented her from starting school with the others. I really don't understand how you can recover from getting hit by a bus in less that six months but okay??? And since she's really shy it's hard for her to make friends, but since she made friends with the popular kid she made hecka friends in one day. If you didn't get the hint already, this is a highly ideal situation and not likely to happen in real life like ever. And the guy is super tall so if you really like the extreme height difference trope maybe this is something you wanna check out.

Overall this anime OVA is extremely short at less than 23 minutes. There's a manga if you want more of this kind of thing. It's really cute for the doki-dokis. We've got some lil colorful spheres going on floating around and spinning flowers. Really good stuff here. And we've got some nice supportive characters. Honestly if you have 22 minutes then you have no real reason not to watch this OVA. It's short, it's cute, and it's kind of relatable if you're awkward like me. I can't say that you can find the best quality of this, the Youtube video is literally 240 pixels (which is why my screenshots suck, excuse me T^T I have failed), but it's a really good short watch. You don't have to think too much about whether to watch this or not because it just fills you with really fond fuzzies inside.

This is gonna be me my whole first year at college >~< I'm really not looking forward to the social part

This is probably the most iconic scene of Hiyokoi, actually kinda all I remember from watching the first time. The pain! The horror! The trauma!

I can't get over the lil chick on her head. If they sold a barrette of this I'd be down to wear it.

I could've ended it with a picture of Hiyori's blooming love...but I really just enjoy the relatable awkwardness which is her so...ya here you go

Anime Blurb 49 Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou

So I accidentally rewatched this one. The story behind this one is I think I started watching it three years ago, finished it, and watched something with a similar protagonist or something so I completely forgot that I finished it. I ran across a gif set of the series on Tumblr and thought to myself, "Self, did I ever finish that series?" And I thought to myself, "Self, no I don't believe I did." Which led to me fabulously rewatching the series. Amazing memory. In my defense though slice of life anime don't have a clear plot in the traditional sense some of the time. They're meant more for relaxation and different arcs/experiences rather than an action packed series with ups and downs. I couldn't remember the ending is what I'm trying to say.

As far as rewatching it went, it was rather pleasant. I wouldn't say you should watch this in public though. If you value your reputation as a respectable member of society I wouldn't recommend you watch this in places you could be seen. There's a lot of ecchi in here if I'm being honest. At first I thought that it would get better with time...it doesn't. I think it was because I was so innocent the first time I watched this through (thinking about this maybe this was the third-ish time I rewatched. I think the first time I didn't finish it because I forgot about it lol) that I didn't get all of the innuendos. But now watching it I'm just glad no one came into my room at the wrong time because oh my lord this was truly the stereotypical perverted teenage boy anime. I can't elaborate further so I'll just let you imagine the depths to which this anime went.

Besides that though this anime has a lot of entertainment value. Just on the surface the OP and the ED are both very cheerful and the ED is mildly vocaloid esque. I couldn't tell you which song because I never went through the vocaloid phase myself, but it reminded me of some of the songs my friend made me watch while going through said vocaloid stage. And visually it makes me really happy. The art style is so shoujo. We've got all the lens flares, all the rosy tones, and all the shoujo sparkles to make anyone's pastel aesthetic pleased. And their eyes too. It's just a very pretty anime. My friend would go so far as to say it was very kira kira. *sigh* I know, my friends are all lowkey weaboos. But the pastel aesthetic and all the sparkles are really very pretty. Just the last couple seconds of the OP are great in and of themselves. Standalone art pieces.

Beyond the surface of the anime are the interesting inhabitants of the Kawai Complex. We've got a guy that looks super suspicious but is really a huge M (Shiro aka comic relief), a country girl that underwent a complete transformation and now plays with the hearts of any and all males (Sayaka aka comic relief), the owner who facilitates this all and purposefully made the boarding house the zoo it is (Sumiko aka comic relief), a girl who can't get herself a man for long because her tastes are terrible (Mayumi aka comic relief), a girl who likes to be left alone to read (Ritsu aka main love interest), and a guy who wanted to turn over a new leaf in high school but ends up with weirdos all around him again (Usa aka comic relief while being the protagonist). As you can see there's a whole lot of comic relief, mostly because the genre itself calls for it to be. Slice of life is meant for relaxation and when you watch this you can feel very relaxed because nothing really dramatic goes on. All of the characters deal with their individual situations and congregate in the house to hang out. Something that makes it nicer than other slice of life is the varying ages of the inhabitants of the Kawai Complex. You aren't only seeing high school romance. You see the off time of office workers and of people with unconventional jobs and how their lives differ from said high school arcs. This gives some more variety as to the kind of happenings. A lot of scenes are based around the common area where everyone can get together, with the most common location being the dining area. Everyone comes together to eat, celebrate and catch up with one another. It's extra special when one of them gets to eat their favorite food. I read this one section in some packet for AP Lit talking about how eating a meal isn't just eating a meal with other people. It also reveals the dynamic between everyone. And I think in this case that's very true. There's a lot that can be revealed with how the characters interact with one another, like how Shiro interjects himself into conversations, how Sayaka and Mayumi have their cat-and-dog fights and how Ricchan, as everyone close to her refers to her, sits quietly and reads or snickers as an onlooker at everyone else's antics. I think these scenes make the series more quaint and give it warmth it wouldn't otherwise have.

Overall this is a really great anime in terms of visuals, music, mood, and aesthetics as long as you can overlook the ecchi aspect of it. If you can do that get ready to enjoy a beautiful piece that has a variety of arcs and leaves you with a homey, familial feeling.

See what I mean by aesthetic?

This was so funny just because it was so completely and utterly ridiculous. No gust of wind could only knock her book out of her hand of course, but beyond that her whole explanation and her facial expression while she was delivering her lie were priceless.

This wasn't supposed to be a sad scene, but it was definitely for me. Chinatsu became friends with Shiro because he reminded her of her weaknesses and while he was happy that she made up with her friends, he was still sad that he was alone again. Also the Rue Goldberg machine they made together was such a beautiful testament to their friendship.

Suss! I don't know why I found this so funny, but I did so here you go. Super suss!

Knight in shining armor revamped

Episode 8 was my favorite because of happideath and embaricide. It was overall adorable and gave me the doki-dokis.

The facial expressions in this show are priceless. Ah, I dont have pictures of chibi's, but chibi Ricchan's expressions are the best.

I thought it was fitting to end with a picture of the ED because they're all such cute friends.

Anime Blurb 48 Room Mate

So the other day I decided that I would find some more recent anime (as in from this year) for my friend and I to watch. From the picture and the small summary on myanimelist.net this seemed pretty promising. The palette of the clip seemed very pleasing and the episodes were only 4 minutes long. What I didn't realize...was that this is one of those otome games adapted into an anime. I don't know if I just haven't watched enough of the otome to anime adaptations to find a really good one or something, but from my experience they all suck.

So the premise of this ~48 minutes in total spread over 12 episode series is this girl couldn't get a job so her relative sent her to be the manager of her boarding house/hostel/community living space. In it are three guys: Shinya, Aoi, and Takumi. The POV is you're the manager girl (who never appears) and these three guys are just living their lives...and then fall in love with you for no reason. They try to introduce a plot by inserting a "no romantic relationships with the manager or else" rule, but that doesn't really do much. So it's basically just fuwa fuwa fluffy times. Oh and if you like shirtless guys, at the end of every episode is a picture of one or all three of the guys together with clothes on and then with lens flares or whatever other extra af edits they wanna use they reveal abs and naked upper halves. If I were a guy I can only imagine how awkward you would feel.

Overall, this was very painful to watch. There was no plot, the only content it had was the overused cliche like the supportive girlfriend, the sadistic guy that calls you a dog, the cutesy guy that tells you he'll become a man for you, the wall slam, the one compliment "I'm nice? No one's ever said that to me before" that gets them to fall for you, the list goes on and on and becomes more cringey by the minute. There's just shirtless guys and the flattest, most stereotypical characters you could ever find anywhere. Unless you're bored and you've got roughly 42 minutes to spare (save yourself 6 minutes by not watching the lens flare revealing their abs) I don't think you should watch this if you value your time. There are better things to watch, heck even playing through an otome game would be way better than watching this. Well, maybe if you were a 12 year old tween with no real understanding of relationships and you haven't been exposed to any romantic things so you think that this could really happen and you like this sort of cliche then you'd enjoy this. But to each their own I suppose.

Oh and the pacing of the nonexistent plot is very erratic

All my screenshots were Aoi because his style is my style so I resonate with him on a stylistic level

Ok I was kinda disturbed at this point because I thought Shinya was hooking up with some single mother and gonna marry into their family but it turns out it was some app and it's kinda funny how distraught he is over his game

*presents you with more cliches*