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A premise about an average guy slowly bonding romantically with angel-like girl may sound formulaic. And to some degree, it truly is, but not to a point of being painfully generic. If the formula is used healthily, the final product can still be rewarding.

The title and premise are an exaggeration – that the guy is ‘spoiled rotten’, generic, dense or mindless is a bit misleading. It’s just what he thinks and blames himself for it, so he tries to reciprocate all favors she voluntarily provides him with, and that slowly builds relationship between them. They are both humane and down to earth.

When they are together, ... they just chat most of the time, and that leads to a lot of very heartwarming and sweet moments; though sometimes, it leads to unnecessary nonplussed reactions. And some of the things they do (like petting head, cooking or holding hands) would suggest they are in a serious romantic relationship, but they always deny it, and so, their friends find it weird.

Though there are some glimpses of backstory, it is not expanded upon, which brings us to a lack of character development. The amount we are presented with is not enough to fully justify their circumstances and motivations. There’s something similar going with side characters – they are just there and we know almost nothing about them. But then again, they are just side characters, so maybe it’s not necessary.

Whether one enjoys the show or not, depends on how much one finds it heartwarming. One finds out right at the first episode. Even with all mentioned flaws, one would forgive them by the last episode, which is crucial for everything to unfold, bringing a satisfying conclusion.

Pros:
+ a lot of heartwarming moments
+ satisfying conclusion
+ dialogues

Cons:
- too many unnecessary nonplussed reactions
- needs expanding on backstories

Double-edged:
+/- side characters
+/- generic, but in a favorable way
+/- couple-like behavior despite not officially dating

8/10 (VERY GOOD)

What looks like Minecraft Isekai Update in the first few episodes, turns into a thriving fantasy village life with inhabitants composed mostly of girls (forming a harem for our lucky Steve).
All Minecraft jokes aside, the show offers pretty original ‘from zero to hero’ concept.

At first, it all develops slowly. We get time and space to get to know the environment, first set of girls and monsters that decided to accompany the main character in building farm of his dreams, occasionally tasting and enjoying meals from ingredients they produce.

The pace picks up, however, way too quickly after the main girl cast is introduced and all basic ... farming activities established. The show turns the whole theme of relaxing farm life into a whole international macro-economical trading business. The farm/village forms many diplomatic relations with other kingdoms and various races (like beastmen, dwarves, lizardmen, dragons etc. and they all, ironically, view this small village as military superpower).

With faster pace, the show moves on from the personal sphere into the societal. The rest of the female characters – at least around 40(!) of them – are introduced very quickly, have very little screen time, and therefore we don’t get many opportunities to get to know them better. Female characters are losing their appeal and relevance because of this.

Even though the farming stuff gets later less relevant, the relaxing element remains. If there was more focus on farming, like early on in the show, and on all female characters (which I hear there is in the light novel in the form of… ‘child-making’), this could be one of the best titles the whole isekai catalog can offer.

Pros:
+ relaxing
+ good 'from zero to hero' concept

Cons:
- individual characters losing their relevance
- too fast paced

Double-edged:
+/- has big, but unused potential
+/- even though farming gets aside later, relaxing atmosphere remains

7/10 (GOOD)

Young angels and devils are coming to Earth living among humans and visiting high school there, spreading their influence. This is how it is supposed to go from the perspective of plot, until we drop this idea and make it a funny comedy about not so angelic angels and not so devilish devils with slice of life elements coated in cutesy loli artstyle and some magical twists.

All the cute girls (doing cute things) comedy types may sound generic and similar to each other. But sometimes, there is no need to be innovative or original. Sometimes, formulas, tropes and basic elements work well; even very well, ... and that might be the main appeal of this show.

Four main characters, two angels and two devils, who become friends, are having a blast together throughout their whole first year on Earth. Each of the four main girls have traits which make them into somewhat of an ‘original archetypes’:
Angels – one sloth; second bully.
Devils – one wanna-be-bully-that-is-bullied-the-most; second behaving like an actual angel.

Comedy is revolving around interactions between said girls and their 'archetypal' behaviors, which create funny situations, reactions and jokes. Each of these girls are portrayed with great and fitting voice performances.

For some watchers, it may get boring after a few episodes. Like all comedies, there is an element of subjectivity towards different types of humor. Either one likes the jokes or not. Besides that, everything works well for the show and for audience it is meant for.

Pros:
+ very funny show
+ does well everything even with limited creativity

Cons:
- may get boring after a while

Double-edged:
+/- comedy is subjective
+/- offers nothing to be exceptional, but doesn't need to

8/10 (VERY GOOD)

Teen school life is a rumbling period of life and this premise is perfectly portrayed in the show, hence we got School Rumble.

Story slowly progresses and more characters with relevancy are introduced over time. Relationships between characters develop only slightly and are only of small focus; though the main delinquent hero, Harima, gets development throughout the whole show and befriends some classmates. From a notorious gangster, he actually turns out to be very fine guy to be around.

All the story progress and character interactions are nice, but not the priority of the show. The main selling point is comedy and funny gags. With only a ... few dull moments, the show is successful in being funny – gags, jokes, funny reactions, situational humor…
Those dull moments include, but not limited to, a lot of misunderstandings, which are supposed to be funny (but I don’t think so).

Harima and many of his classmates have crushes, suggesting some romance development. There are some hints on potential couples, but there won’t happen anything, so don't expect any serious romance. Crushes just stay crushes, even though characters are trying to progress. But they fail every time.

A lot of cliché in modern rom-coms can be tracked here. They certainly got inspiration from this title, which shows great deal of influence that School Rumble has had.

All non-comedy elements in the show are small but great addition. But the main purpose is to make the viewers go LOLs. So come for the comedy and stay for the comedy.

Pros:
+ gag comedy
+ roles of individual characters

Cons:
- cliché rom-com elements
- gags based on misunderstandings

Double-edged:
+/- only a small focus on progressing the story further
+/- seemingly influential, for the better and also for the worse

7/10 (GOOD)

[dropped after ep 6]

Another basic rom-com with all its ups and downs. If you've seen one, you've seen most of them. Nevertheless, fans of this kind of shows are gonna like it.

Story development gets almost nowhere. The show follows a simple formula:
'small conflict arises, small conflict resolves, intensive scene with only expendable development, repeat'
And nothing else. Each episode does have its highlight moment, but what about the rest? It's plain.

We get no idea where this 'marriage experiment' originated or why it is practiced. I even thought multiple times that I must have missed the reasoning, but I also do believe that it never had an ... explanation whatsoever. I consider it a major plot hole and just a convenient tool to artificially develop romance between the main couple. Very poor premise.

Only the half of the main couple is developed – the female half. Main hero, Jirou, is plain, shows very little as a character and is mostly passive. On the contrary, the main girl, Akari, gets room for development. We get to know her, she shows a lot of affection and experiences character growth (and she also likes to show 'a lot of skin'). But other characters, like her main rival, Shiori, gets comparatively less room for development, meaning inconsistent rivalry. Jirou’s best friend, who appears here and there, is an example of unnecessary character.

Visually, it’s very bright and colorful, but without much detail; not great, not terrible.

From the rom-com perspective, it checks all required standards, but none to be considered overall good or exceptional show.

Pros:
+ each episode has some major scene of interest

Cons:
- nothing much happens most of the time; very low plot progress
- poor premise – the marriage program seems irrational and unexplained

Double-edged:
+/- Akari gets decent development, other characters don't
+/- very basic rom-com; only for enthusiasts of this genre

5/10 (AVERAGE)

With such a straightforward storytelling and pretty simple artstyle, it may be no great piece of art, but overall keeps tension well enough to keep us invested.

Many would consider this manga being too, so-called, ‘edgy’, because it shows twisted thinking of a psychopath and its victims in a very awkward way, and that may be very hard or even grueling to read for many people. Be ready for a lot of blood, torture, psychological damage and other kinds of violence.

Characters are developed just for the needs of plot progress, which is enough. The manga offers pretty good insight on what the victims of a psychopath ... may feel, particularly fear, grudge or even episodes of insanity and irrationality. The same goes for the other side. We get into the head of a psychopath and her emotions (or rather lack of them). What is especially well showcased, is her behavior, including deceit, obsession, cruelty or fanaticism.

There are also some action scenes spread throughout the story. Some other parts are very hard to get through, however, whether because of too much 'psycho-stuff' is happening, or the exact opposite – blandness of other story elements (there are some parts where virtually nothing happens). The story contains strong psychological/suspense elements, but is weak on other aspects of storytelling.

This kind of story is certainly not for everyone. But, if one happens to be in the target group, it is very likely one may get hooked until the last page. With all the insanity that accompanied the story, it was concluded well enough to be considered decent.

Pros:
+ adrenaline-filled experience
+ keeps us invested until the end

Cons:
- frustrating read
- attracts only a specific group of readers

Double-edged:
+/- lot of violence, blood, torture and other 'edgy' elements
+/- character behaviors may discourage some readers
+/- plot progress goes up and down; sometimes intriguing, sometimes boring

6/10 (OK)

In a rural area of Japan, when old legend is becoming reality, a small group of courageous locals is formed to stop the occult forces from emerging.

The show is very exciting to watch. It pulls one twist after another and keeps high degree of suspense throughout the whole story. The storytelling intensively focuses on the main plot line to keep the suspense intact all the time, not even a second is wasted. All characters play their role well.

With a lot of well animated action scenes and fights in addition to thriller-esque nature, the show will increase our heartbeat even more with its chess-like battles full ... of smarts and strategies. It also doesn’t fear to show a lot of blood and violence.

The show has also a time travel feature and its usage is necessary to defeat the villains. All the time travel and hidden dialogues revealed non-chronologically (via flashbacks) get confusing after some time. Therefore, high focus on the plot is required.

Slowly reaching the final events (without spoiling anything), it gets very strange, unpredictable and the overall conclusion only adds on it. I can see some people hating on the conclusion and others to love it. It’s neither bad nor ruined, it just hits very differently. It probably may need some time to digest since the whole story was one hell of a roller coaster.

One may miss some vital info due to dense storytelling. Perhaps, to get a better picture, it is worth rewatching after some time (I know I will).

Pros:
+ suspense
+ battle of wits
+ exciting and well animated action scenes

Cons:
- densely provided information may get confusing

Double-edged:
+/- probably needs a rewatch to connect all dots
+/- may need some time to digest the final events

9/10 (GREAT)

If you can get through the very first scene (walking-in-a-room-on-a-half-naked-female cliché), you may actually find some value in this show. It gets pretty decent romance development between said female and the guy who walked on her.

Though some events/dialogues may feel a bit over-dramatized and too far-fetched, the chemistry between Stella and Ikki works well. The affection both main characters have for each other is nicely presented; especially Stella, since she was very cold at start. She warms up to Ikki very much and becomes caring of him. They experience very memorable romantic moments throughout the show.

Unfortunately, this is where the positive features end. The rest ... of the characters are just fine. Not great, not terrible. They don't get much attention or development.
The use of fanservice is abundant, which may be a deal-breaker for some. Stella is half-naked almost every episode (if not all of them), but at least, at some situations, it balances pretty well with romantic development.

Other than that, the focus is on magical battles. There are many of them and the magical concept is very boring and undeveloped. It follows pretty generic magical school theme and the battles are gradually less interesting further the road. The whole tournament idea, action scenes and rivalries are mostly uninteresting. But they are at least decently animated.

If you want some enjoyment from this show, focus on the romantic development, not the tournament battles. Stella is passionate and compassionate, while Ikki is smart, calm, and they form together a great pair.

Pros:
+ relationship between the main couple
+ both main characters are likable individually

Cons:
- underdeveloped magical system
- uninteresting battles and tournament premise

Double-edged:
+/- overuse of fanservice; but at least it serves a small purpose towards developing romance
+/- supporting characters are not bad, but are developed only slightly

6/10 (OK)

When one asks “What do you like on your boyfriend/girlfriend the most?”
“His back!” or “Her hair!” is certainly not an answer one would anticipate. This manga has this kind of extra twist – the main couple being fetishists.

The drawings are beautiful; the character designs are beautiful and the artistic detail on hair is also beautiful, given its focus on hair fetishism. There is a lot of situations with opportunity to draw the characters in outfits and various poses (especially girls) to show even more beautiful drawings. Every panel is truly a piece of art.

The manga searches for ways to get the couple together, but is ... very slow; some chapters even feel irrelevant. It gets boring pretty quickly overall. On the bright side, it has some truly heartwarming moments and even some spicy romantic interactions. Aside from that, the story is pretty generic based on rom-com standards.

The whole manga is divided into two stories, pretty much equally long. Like most people who have read it, I also prefer the first story much more than the second. Remaining good with the visuals, the second story is just more empty and has much more visible flaws that are present in the first one. Later it reintroduces the characters from the first story, which may bring a bit of familiarity and renew interest to read further.

Nothing is really that much special about this manga. With only one very weird quirk at hand, it offers virtually nothing new. You may want to check it out for the artistic value, but not really for the story; especially the second one.

Pros:
+ very good artstyle
+ heartwarming moments

Cons:
- very slow, nothing much happens
- much weaker second plot line
- originality based solely on one goofy quirk

Double-edged:
+/- has some story progress, but very limited
+/- later combination of both stories

5/10 (AVERAGE)

As it always is with these kinds of rom-coms, it gets us hyped with first few episodes with some unique plot point – being exchanged in hospital to another family, and parents of both exchanged children decide together to get them married to each other. After this event, it is as basic and average as one can imagine.

There is no element that ruins the show. The problem is that it is incredibly plain. Nothing major happens, no real development, just day-to-day mundane life of a betrothed teen couple living together. Although the show sometimes brings some interesting twist, it fades away after some time or ... remains unsolved.

The main cast is likable and frustrating to follow at the same time. The male hero is not totally lame – he is very intelligent and shows some courage (being able to beat up delinquents) – but even with that, he is still pretty generic. He panics all the time, screams all the time like a little brat, and seriously, why is he tripping over so often…

When it comes to girl cast (three of them in total), they have each their own charm – beautiful character designs and likable personalities; interactions between the main cast are mostly fine, but nothing groundbreaking. Since these interactions are the main part of the story, it requires more focus on character development, which is lacking in this show. Jokes are cheap and cliche like in all generic rom-coms; nothing funny.

While the artstyle is beautiful and colorful, and the show sounds promising at the beginning, it abandons its premise and becomes very formulaic slice of life show right after introductory episodes with no substance or romantic development. If it was more focused on those heavy segments of the story that are scattered here and there (an actual story), I could imagine this show being way better.

Pros:
+ gorgeous artstyle and character designs
+ main female cast is likable

Cons:
- very plain – nothing really happens
- weak character development
- cheap, boring, almost non-existent jokes

Double-edged:
+/- male protagonist is a mixed bag
+/- character interactions are not bad, just generic
+/- has some very intense parts, but is overall inconsistent

5/10 (AVERAGE)