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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.