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Disclaimer: I haven't read the source material (and probably won't), I rate this show solely based of the anime. I don't know how good or bad the manga is. Also, this review may contain spoilers, so if you don't want to get spoiled, try to avoid this review.

Unlike others, who came into this anime because of hype, I came into this series without any expectations. I simply watched trailers and read the synopsis and gave the series a fair shot.

Let me tell you this, despite having 0 expectations, I was still disappointed. Me being disappointed is something that rarely happens, considering that my ... standard for "good" anime is extremely low (I rate almost all the shows I watch an 8 or higher).

So, let me explain why I dislike Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie.

Story(4): Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie is about a cute, cool girl named Shikimori and her weak feminine boyfriend Izumi. I personally don't mind the roles of a weak girl and a cool boy being swapped, but specifically for this show, it is poorly written in my honest opinion. Izumi is the victim of bad luck, which is the reason why he's considered being weak. The problem with his bad luck though, is that majority of the bad luck that is happening isn't even bad luck.

Some examples:
- Bowling: Izumi doesn't hit the pins with the bowling ball --> "bad luck"
- Football/soccer --> Izumi sucks at shooting a ball, ends up tripping because of it --> "bad luck"
- Izumi not paying attention to his surroundings, what causes him to either trip, get hit by items such as stuffed animals, tree branches, etc. and him almost being hit by a car --> "bad luck"
- Izumi not knowing whether a certain surface is possible to firmly stand on, which causes him to slip --> "bad luck"
- Izumi getting sunburnt --> "bad luck"
- An exam ticket slipping out of Izumi's hands while there is a lot of wind, because he wasn't holding onto it tightly enough --> "bad luck"

Izumi just blames everything on bad luck while most of these examples can just be prevented with simply thinking better/paying more attention, getting actually good at sports and putting on sunscreen creme. This bad luck gets so out of hand that Izumi blames even a power outage while being in a theme park, which can happen to anyone, on his bad luck. If Izumi actually had bad luck, a power outage would've happened anywhere, not just on a theme park.

For a 12 episode slice of life show, this show has awfully a lot of sports episodes. We had a volleyball episode, we had two basketball episodes, we had a swimming episode, we had a sports festival episode, we had an episode with karate in it and we had a bowling episode. 7/12 had sports in it. How original. I personally like sports, but using it this much in a slice of life romance show is just a big no.

This show contradicts itself. The show is called Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie and the show tries its best to make Shikimori look cool, but Shikimori's goal in life is being nothing more than a cute girl.

Where's the comedy of this romcom slice of life show? Just like my standard for good anime, my standard for comedy is also extremely low yet I haven't laughed even once. The bad luck gimmick had given so much opportunities to have tons of comedic scenes, but lots of them were missed. With the bowling game, Izumi could've thrown the bowling ball accidentally in the ceiling for example (it did not happen) and then falling on his feet. I don't wish Izumi harm, but pain is an easy (and maybe generic) way of getting laughs. Shikimori saving Izumi also causes the prevention of a lot of comedic scenes from happening (Shikimori saving Izumi from a car isn't one of them).

Art(8): The art of this show is really good. The artstyle makes me think of bubblegum somehow. For one this artstyle could be seen as generic, but I love it. Doga Koba is a great studio when it comes to animation. I rate this category an 8 instead of a 10, because I feel like it is missing something, but I don't know what.

Sound(7):
I'll split this category up in 2 sub-categories:
- Opening and Ending theme (9): The songs of the OP and ED are very catchy, grab your attention,
make you excited. The only negative thing I have to say about the OP and ED is that the songs aren't really my style. While they are good and enjoyable, it is not like I would listen to them on a daily basis.
- OST(5): OST is an important factor in order to make someone enjoy a show. No matter how good or bad a certain story is, people can still like a show if the OST is good. Good OST draws you into the story and makes you feel what the characters feel. The OST made me feel nothing.

Characters(5):
Shikimori(8): Shikimori pretty much carries the show. She lives up to the title of the anime. She is cool, curious, helpful, jealous, kind, etc. which makes you actually care about her. She's behaving like any human being would behave: natural. There's one flaw with her though: Shikimori being depicted as the perfect girl makes the show at times quite predictable. With sports you just know she will win. Even when she's playing terrible, she'll win. With the volleyball game, for example: she was pretty much losing by a huge margin, but then at one point she touched her hair in a bad ass way and voila, she started carrying her team to the win.

Izumi(4): Pretty much already explained in the story section: his bad luck is poorly written.
The bad luck causes him to look like an idiot who doesn't know how to solve his problems.

The side characters(Izuzuka, Hachimitsu, Kamiya, Nekozaki, etc.) (4): They are just there I guess.. They're just there to make Shikimori look better. The only side character I liked was Kamiya, she barely got any screen time, but of all the side characters she was the only one who didn't feel like an NPC.

Enjoyment(5): Honestly quite a boring show in my opinion. It's is because of my curiosity that my enjoyment rating isn't lower and is the reason why I didn't drop this show.

Overall I rate this show a 5. Despite that I quite like the romance, comedy and slice of life genres, this show is not for me. From an anime only perspective, I suggest reading the manga. It just feels to me that most of the problems I have with this show were caused by poor directing choices. Animation and the opening + ending sequence got prioritized over emotion and making the show interesting to watch.

You, as reader, can agree or disagree with me, either way is fine, but keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion. We all should treat each other politely.

Thank you for reading my review. Have a nice day.

I am someone who rates based of how much I enjoyed a series instead of rating it based of quality. Quality wise, I'd rate Zombieland Saga S2 an 8/10, but because I enjoyed it so much, I give the series a 10/10.

I never thought I would enjoy idol anime, but here I am. The show is hilarious, it has quality music and has a subjectively good story line.

The anime which are categorized as "original" are on a roll this year.

I'd recommend this anime for anyone who is in it for the enjoyment.

I can't wait for season 3 (if MAPPA is ever ... considering on making it).