Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!

Despite not understanding much about fleeting teen romance, first-year high school student Kazuhiko Nukumizu still wonders how he would react if his life were to be turned into a love story. Regardless, as a self-proclaimed "background character," Nukumizu is satisfied continuing his life as an introvert with a negligible social life. However, he suddenly finds himself too close to the spotlight when he witnesses his popular classmate Anna Yanami be rejected by her childhood friend in the middle of a family restaurant.

While Nukumizu wishes he could just forget what he saw and move on, Anna ends up forcefully confiding herself in Nukumizu, lamenting her status as a childhood friend fated to have her beloved stolen. As he becomes dragged into Anna's situation, Nukumizu soon gets caught up in the relationship drama of two more girls: Lemon Yakishio, an outgoing member of the track and field club; and Chika Komari, a shy member of the literature club. Now thrust out of his comfort zone, Nukumizu finds himself a major character in the lives of too many losing heroines.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yanami, Anna Main

Tono, Hikaru Japanese

Yakishio, Lemon Main

Wakayama, Shion Japanese

Komari, Chika Main

Terasawa, Momoka Japanese

Nukumizu, Kazuhiko Main

Umeda, Shuuichirou Japanese

Shikiya, Yumeko Supporting

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Nukumizu, Kaju Supporting

Tanaka, Minami Japanese

Basori, Tiara Supporting

Morohoshi, Sumire Japanese

Konuki, Sayo Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Amanatsu, Konami Supporting

Uesaka, Sumire Japanese

Tsukinoki, Koto Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Jinguuji, Manabu Producer

Nagamine, Rieko Producer

Inoue, Megumi Producer

Reviews

Sep 28, 2024

Marinate1016

Recommended

From the very first episode Makeine was my anime of the season and that’s not changed. The last 12 weeks have been a nonstop magical run from A-1 pictures and one of the most refreshing and enjoyable takes on the romcom genre. Makeine takes the usual harem male fantasy bait romcom formula and turns it on its head, instead focusing on platonic relationships, helping teenagers overcome heartbreak and move forward with their heads held high. I’m a big fan of the mature and somewhat realistic way the story handles this. You don’t always get what or who you want in real life, learning to accept ... and deal with that is important. Even more important is not getting bitter or angry and instead seeing it as a growth opportunity, which the show focuses on. The well written story and character dynamics combined with some of the best production values A-1 have done, make this a must watch.

The relationship between Nukumizu and Anna is the best part of Makeine and the foundation on which the story is based. Rather than your usual boy meets girl and falls in love story, Nukumizu helps Anna accept and move on from the rejection of her crush. The best part of this is that they actually feel like real friends. Guys and girls have the ability to just be cool and hang out and I like that this story reflects that. Every single scene with them is just awesome and oozes with chemistry. While there’s obviously people out there that ship them, I really enjoy their relationship as is and hope it stays that way at least for a while. Her going out with him right after being rejected would just seem forced and too tropey.

That’s something we see play out throughout the story as well. The other characters get their hearts broken one by one and Nukumizu is there to support them, learning more about himself and other people in the process. But that’s not to say it ever gets repetitive. The sheer variety of personalities in this story are enough to make each experience feel unique. All of the rejected heroines are The author is very good at showing the complexities of human attraction and romance. Like just because we as the audience love a girl doesn’t mean a guy in the story will. You can’t help who you’re attracted to and sometimes despite being a good fit on paper it just doesn’t work out. Despite the obvious pain of those rejections, the characters in this resolve to move forward and not regret their unrequited love, but embrace it as a part of life which I think everyone can learn nothing or two from. Everything in life is a learning experience and makes you who you are to this day.

So the story’s great, but the other thing that really made me fall in love with Makeine is how good it looks. I’m not sure if it’s any of the same staff that worked on 86, I know most of them are busy on Nier Automata, but it had that sort of quality. Gorgeous and fluid animation with lively and vibrant colours and character designs. It really was a visual treat. It’s this great combination of production values and storytelling that really makes it stick out among a crowded romance field this season. The direction during some of the big confession and rejection scenes was enough to give me chills on more than one occasion. Hats off to the team that worked on this.

Had a blast with every single minute of this show and it rightfully deserved the love and hype it got. While it started off getting less love than roshidere, it overtook it by the end thanks to a phenomenal social media campaign keeping track of Anna’s calories and the various hilarious moments from the show. Truly one of my all time fave romcom series that doesn’t rely on fanservice or goonbait to be enjoyable. Focus on writing good characters and have lessons applicable to the real world and you’ll have a good seasonal anime.

Makeine gets a very easy 10 out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Sep 28, 2024

RiverRode

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

There are few media as recursive as the modern light novel industry. Whenever anything succeeds in this space, there will immediately be waves of imitators trying to capitalize on that success by using the same surface level elements. You know what I’m talking about – villainesses, abandoned by my party, cheat skills, reincarnated as something unusual, the list goes on and on. But the light novel fad that most fascinates me is “self-aware”. In an environment where a large number of the works present are just Frankensteined together collections of tropes, it’s only natural that some works would emerge that make a point of drawing ... attention to how trope-y they are. And really, who doesn’t love seeing the same tired tropes again and again as long as they’re accompanied by a wink and a nudge?

The appeal of “self-aware” works for me is that they serve as an invitation to deconstruct the tropes that they’re working with. Like, it’s interesting to me how Nukumizu is himself a web novelist. It’s extremely common in this type of series to see the protagonist reading light novels or living in a room covered in Aniplex posters and figures, but this is the first example I can think of where the protagonist is a writer in this space, at least without it being central to the plot. These protagonists, loners who have trouble initiating social interactions, are meant to serve as relatable self-inserts, so this decision is Makeine presenting itself as the light novelist’s light novel.

Or, let’s break down our heroines a little bit. One of Makeine’s strong points is that neither Nukumizu or the girls are looking at each other as potential romantic partners, although the audience is still encouraged to imagine dating one of them. Or the sister, for some reason. Yanami Anna is the popular girl who would totally get you if she just took the time to get to know you, who will bring you out of your shell by introducing you to colorful new experiences. Komari Chika is basically a girl version of you! She shares all of your hobbies and interests and will always understand your otaku references. And she’s got crippling social anxiety, so you get to be her hero! And then there’s Yakishio Lemon, who’s a sporty tomboy, I guess. Honestly, I don’t see what the wish fulfillment angle is supposed to be here, and I don’t understand why she was the most favorited character from this show on this site about halfway through its run. Are you all just tanline perverts? If you’re someone who had favorited Lemon earlier in the show’s run, but have since rescinded that, I want you to know that I’m fascinated by you, and please message me, because I’m desperate to know more.

But while I’d love to talk about deconstructing light novel tropes all day, I know that’s not what you’re here for. So instead, let’s talk about what really matters. Let’s talk about Yanami Anna.

Anna is an absolutely perfect character, and completely carries this entire show. As fans of the light novel will breathlessly tell you, Nukumizu isn’t an active presence as a protagonist at the beginning of the series, often just being there to voice uncertainties or to be a shoulder to lean on for other people’s character arcs. In contrast to that, Anna is a little full of herself, and is the type to act first and leave the thinking to other people, so she gets to drive a lot of the narrative for the first two arcs, by running into other people's drama headfirst, and dragging Nukumizu along for the ride. I love how much of the series is dedicated to someone approaching the two of them for advice, which then results in them going on what is functionally a date, while the distressed party has to awkwardly thirdwheel. Their chemistry is fantastic, and it's not just a dynamic that's fun to watch; it’s clear that the reason Nukumizu is able to grow as he does over the course of the series is because he has Anna’s company influencing him.

But Anna’s perfection extends beyond her role in the narrative. It’s clear that the animators were in love with her as well, because her animation is always so lively, and even when she’s just in the background, she’ll have some fun little sight gag going on. About two thirds of the time, she's being comically owned, which does actually serve to highlight her character's self-assurance. My personal favorite background Anna moment is when the gang are all together eating sushi, and she nabs the last piece of one of the rolls just as Nukumizu begins to reach for it. It’s just a little moment, but it’s filled with personality. This is absolutely the case of an adaptation that elevated its source material; Imigimuru's character designs perfectly lend themselves to animation, even if I'll never forgive him for those stupid quadruple bowties. I will concede that I feel Anna has the weakest ED of the three girls, but it’s still not a bad song by any means, and really, I think it’s always cool when an anime has character specific ending themes.

Okay, fine, there are things I liked about Makeine that weren't Yanami Anna. I liked how Nukumizu's relationships with the girls were all platonic, at least as far as this adaptation covers. I liked how present all of the cast was in each other's arcs; there's a genuine sense of community in the literature club. I especially liked Komari's arc, in part because we had already seen her development taking shape even before she formally stepped into the spotlight. While I talked earlier about Anna being a positive influence on Nukumizu, I think the same could be said for Lemon's effect on Komari. And I liked that we did spend some time getting to know the "winning heroines", even if this distinctly wasn't their story. But still, if I could choose between the story we got, and one which throws out all of the harem tropes and instead delivered on a classic romance story with Anna, well...

Earlier this year, Sousou no Frieren and Dungeon Meshi were smash hits, and it's noteworthy that both were traditional fantasy stories, undisguised by the ironic veneer of the isekai genre, written by mangaka unashamed of their own ideas. In episode 9 of Makeine, as a girl falls down a set of stairs towards our protagonist breast-first, he remarks that he recognizes this scenario from the light novels he's read. Light novel key words may be helpful for getting an author's work discovered, but it's the substance that determines whether it'll actually be remembered. And really, I do like Makeine's substance, so I wish that the author had more confidence in their work and didn't feel the need to bury it in tropes. What I hope I've communicated over the course of this review is that I'm the type of person to approach this sort of series with a lot of cynicism, and despite that, I absolutely fell in love. I think this anime excels at what it's trying to be, so much so that I wish it had tried to be something more ambitious. I'm sure there will be another season of Makeine, and I'm sure that I'll watch it when it comes out. But I won't be watching for more losing heroines, I'll be watching for Yanami Anna.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 8, 2024

KYOTO5

Not Recommended

Funny

This anime might seem like a good cure for a broken heart, but it is the opposite. If you are into melancholy and the feeling of hopelessness this is for you. The hero is your typical "good boy" who does nothing significant, but this time also nothing significant happens to him. He is just there, watching how various girls get rejected and then bottle up their emotions because they have to see their crushes every day. It is realistic, that is true. But it depicts that cynical reality of the "I don't care, I give up" people. The anime has no point, it leads to ... no conclusion. No idea, no message, no moral... nothing. A waste of time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Make Heroine ga Oosugiru! Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Sep 28, 2024	259 replies	by N33RO_O »» Jan 19, 4:10 AM
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