Just Because!

As another school year begins drawing to a close, the third-year high school students move steadily toward the next milestone of their lives: graduation. Among them are Mio Natsume, a girl burdened with lingering feelings; Hazuki Morikawa, a member of the concert band but distant from the others; and Haruto Souma, an athlete obsessed with baseball. Meanwhile, second-year student Ena Komiya seeks to revive the photography club to its former glory, refusing to let the organization be disbanded. Though this group lacks a strong connection with one another, their lives suddenly cross paths with the arrival of a third-year transfer student.

While a transfer so close to graduation is unusual for most, it is business as usual for Eita Izumi. Due to his father's work, he has never been able to stay in one place for very long. But as luck would have it, their most recent relocation has returned Eita to his hometown for his final semester of high school. For better or worse, it also sparks the rekindling of old relationships left behind in the past.

With graduation already causing its own share of anxieties, Eita's sudden arrival brings these students' carefree days to an abrupt end. Long-forgotten memories, deeply buried emotions, and inspiring new passions—everything is brought to light in their bittersweet final semester.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Komiya, Ena Main

Lynn Japanese

Natsume, Mio Main

Isobe, Karin Japanese

Izumi, Eita Main

Ichikawa, Aoi Japanese

Morikawa, Hazuki Main

Yoshino, Yuna Japanese

Souma, Haruto Main

Murata, Taishi Japanese

Inui, Yoriko Supporting

Sakuraba, Arisa Japanese

Suzuki, Momoka Supporting

Kondou, Reina Japanese

Saruwatari, Junpei Supporting

Amasaki, Kouhei Japanese

Satou, Mayuko Supporting

Senbongi, Sayaka Japanese

Yamaguchi, Kaoru Supporting

Kobayashi, Daiki Japanese

Kaneko, Hirotaka Producer

Oomori, Shinji Producer

Fukunaga, Keisuke Producer

Oogami, Yuuma Producer

Reviews

Dec 28, 2017

Stark700

Recommended

High school can be quite an experience for most young people these days. I remember a time during my high school years when everything seems to feel different. It’s almost like setting foot into a new world with new opportunities. Friends, activities, relationships. It’s a place beyond just about learning but for people to build a future. While it isn’t like college for career building, it definitely gives the chance for opportunities, even for relationships. For Eita Izumi, he comes back from his hometown after 4 years as he reunites with his middle school friends.

As an original anime, Just Because felt like a breath of ... fresh air despite the simplistic premise. It’s also made by Hajime Kamoshida, the brainchild behind Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. To me, this show stood out as a coming age of story about characters climbing the stairs to adolescence. It’s a time period for characters to develop and grow up to be more than teenagers. At the heart of the show, we have Eita Izumi alongside a group of classmates. The first few episodes gave me the impression of a melancholic story that’s filled with realistic themes that people can connect with. Beyond just the setting, the characters feel real and can be relatable. This is seen through the example of childhood friends Eita, Haruto, and Mio. As the story progresses, we see the relationship dynamics between the trio that will get viewers invested into the storytelling.

For a show like this to work, it had to make its characters feel they belong there. Luckily, Just Because pulls off the right stops through its characters of diverse personalities. Each of the main characters feel different ranging from Mio’s timid personality to Ena’s enthusiasm. It’s what can draw viewers in as we see how they behave around certain characters. Indeed, character chemistry is an important aspect of this show. It connects between characters visually, dramatically, and meaningfully. Romance is slowly paced and not expressed like a shoujo but rather in a melancholic style. To me, this show focuses on relationships through character building. It emphasizes on establishing character personalities first while giving them the chance to shine through them. Ena is a prime example in the show as her character interaction with Eita is often noticeable because of how different she is from him. Some people may interpret the show’s character relationship dynamics as part of destiny, like certain characters are destined to be with one another. However, that’s not truly the case as expectations can be different after realizing the person they want to be with isn’t what they would expect. Honestly, I think this show sells its ideas pretty well to express that.

To make things run better, the show never forgets about its themes such as adolescence. Every character has a goal for the future and although there’s a feeling of uncertainty, they strive to work towards that. Whether it’s becoming a photographer, be part of a band, or just to go to college, it’s inspiring and realistic. Think about the time when you were in high school and had that feeling of what you wanted to do in life. Relating to this anime doesn’t feel so different, now does it? At the same time, the storytelling continues to build relationships between the main characters. While it feels like a ship tease at times, the show never exaggerates or oversteps its boundaries. The drama is mostly lighthearted and doesn’t force it down viewers’ throats. It keeps its pace steady while getting its point across, like the way it should be. In several ways, the drama of this show is realistic enough to relate and easy to get attached to. There are some awkward segments between certain characters but the timing usually feels right. The downside about the drama is that it occasionally feels formulaic and repetitive. Not to mention, character relationships feel a bit predictable as to who will likely get who in the end. Still, it doesn’t hold the anime back. The characters are all very self-aware and realize what it means to be a high school student. Haruto is a good example as we see his life as a baseball player. The way he adapts to build his future becomes evident like a journey of life discovery. This also expands to other characters such as Mio and Ena. It’s like their chance to climb the stairs to adulthood and high school is one of the biggest steps they have to cross over.

Original anime like Just Because doesn’t suffer from adaptation standards but there’s an instinct to recognize if the amount of episode is suited enough. For 12 episodes, it honestly felt just right to sell its story without going over. The first half of the show does a well job at establishing characters like their personalities and roles. The remainder half builds on them through relationships, discoveries, and characterization. It’s like a life journey these characters take for their future and stories like this can be inspirational to viewers.

Adapted by Pine Jam, this show is expressive at crafting its visual elements. The key visual itself gives an atmospheric feel with characters being at a train station. Besides Eita and Mio, the others are going on about their daily lives like moving with their future. By raw quality though, Just Because’s biggest selling point is the character expressions. It fortifies their personalities and expresses attitude that connects with their personalities. It’s important to realize that human expressions often depict what a person feels at every moment. This anime does a clever job at capitalizing that to make them feel real. On the other hand, I can’t say the character designs are too impressive. Most of the main characters look too normal while the female cast doesn’t stand out much dynamically. Photography is also a part of the show itself and some of the photos taken by Ena doesn’t really make memorable impressions. Still, I think the show hits mark overall. Every character feels very alive and moves the story together.

For soundtrack and music, it’s clear that Just Because needed a melancholic style to make it work. Thankfully, this is accomplished thanks to the music director for its creative themes. It’s lighthearted, slow paced, and consistent to make every segment work. Both the theme songs has a very realistic tone and lyrics that matches with the style of the show. Character voice mannerism is also important to convey character personalities and it hits the mark just right. The dialogues makes the characters sound believable and that’s what it’s important.

Four years of high school really can really be quite an experience. For some people, it can feel like a quest to start a new life. For others, it may be like living a world of hell. Then, there are people who think high school may just be part of their journey to adulthood and there’s much more ahead. The characters in this show embarks on that journey and takes the viewers with them. For that reason, Just Because is worth watching as it explores high school relationships, making memories, and discovering what life really means.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 15, 2020

Intoxide

Mixed Feelings

I would like to straight away point out the fact, all that happened in 12 episodes, ending makes no sense, no development is shown leading towards the outcome of the ending.

SPOILERS:
Best girl looses, despite putting in so much effort and her character was the most developed. and we end up with the girl who liked the MC's friend and out of nowhere realizes her feelings for MC. No development is shown for ,for the MC, ending makes no sense. Bullshit.

Thats all I have to say for this anime, feel like I wasted my time watching it, komiya best girl forever.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 30, 2017

LittleKnightling

Not Recommended

(No spoilers contained in this review!)

When I first read over the synopsis for Just Because I couldn't wait to get my hands on the episodes. As a young adult not so recently out of high school myself, I wanted to torture myself by relieving the anxieties and emotions that run high during the last few months of senior year. And so as the story progressed, I couldn't help but feel disappointed in what was presented to me.

Perhaps it was my own fault for having such high hopes for the anime, but what could've been a compelling story full of heartbreak, fear for the future, and ... new hope, felt like a watered down version with ironically little depth. The story focused on a select few students, which was fine at first. That's where all the juicy bits of drama will go down, right? This is where friendships will break apart for the sake of final exams! This is where the long-standing relationship will feel the strain of their romantic clock ticking away until they have to part ways! But instead, what I found in that small group of friends was yet another cliched love triangle. (And let's be honest, we all knew where THAT was going).

I found myself having to force myself to continue, although I did manage to get through all 12 hellishly boring episodes while all the while hoping for something, anything, to HAPPEN. I'm no stranger to slice of life anime, I know they aren't supposed to be action-packed or anything but jesus, in an anime about a bunch of teenagers having to leave behind their friends and find a place for themselves in society I was expecting a few tears at the very least.

Just Because had so much potential and instead, it fell flat. The emotions never went deep enough, the drama never felt dramatic enough, it was almost like the characters just drifted through the story instead of it actually happening to them. Because of this, Just Because is currently sitting with a score of 3 on my list.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Just Because! Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Dec 28, 2017	357 replies	by cheese_011 »» Feb 19, 10:09 PM
	what exactly is the turning point for Natsume? + ending (spoilers) griddyweeb - Dec 10, 2024	6 replies	by Gimboy »» Dec 26, 2024 11:09 AM
	Poll: Just Because! Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Dec 21, 2017	110 replies	by Thyriad-oPPailov »» Nov 28, 2024 2:31 AM
	Poll: Just Because! Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Dec 14, 2017	143 replies	by Thyriad-oPPailov »» Nov 28, 2024 12:21 AM
	Poll: Just Because! Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Dec 7, 2017	112 replies	by Thyriad-oPPailov »» Nov 27, 2024 11:14 PM