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I've had this show on my list for quite some time. The art-style is captivating and I had seen good reviews about it floating here and there on YouTube and on MAL.
I really enjoyed the art style. I have seen some condemn it as being lazy, but I think everything is presented intentionally. Detail is presented only where the director wants our focus. Further, the style lends itself to lively and emotional animation that is emotive not in the way a lot of anime is, but in a distinct and very human way. Strict, on model animation would not have served the story as ... well.
Speaking of story, what is Doukyusei even about? Well, it is an hour long high-school romance. It is fairly archetypical in that one of the pair is gloomy, bookish, and a bit plain while the other one is boisterous, lively, and a smidge ditsy. I suppose I should mention that the relationship explored is expressly between 2 male characters. Though the general stigma of such a relationship (much stronger in Japan than in the US) is touched upon here and there, it isn't the focal point.
The film is broken roughly equally into 4 parts: Summer, Autumn, A Complex Fool and a Simplex Fool, and Second Summer.

Parts 1 and 2 do their job, naturally, as I am very invested in the characters by parts 3 and 4. However, I found them to be comparatively much weaker--especially part 2.

Part 1 is a bit dramatic, but it is dramatic in a way that I quite like and really focuses on budding feelings and intertwined and dual-fold motivations for the characters spending time together. It serves as a great introduction to the personalities of the characters and sets up the rest of the movie well.
Part 2 is steeped in melodrama, which sometimes serves the story and its characters well but, in my opinion, largely doesn't. It especially relies a bit on some of the trappings and tropes that make Shonen-ai a bit...assault-y and weird. But it only dips its toes into the ocean of the problematic facets encountered in others of its ilk, so, while I do think it is the weakest portion, it isn't really offensive and if nothing else allows us to track the evolution of the couples' romantic progression.

Parts 3 and 4 I liked quite a bit more, with part 3 being my favorite.
Without spoiling too much of the specifics, part 3 captured and expressed myriad facets of young and early love in a way I adore.
Particularly, I enjoyed and laud the show's expression of the experience of seeing someone you admire and love in their zone, engulfed in their element, and how captivating and entrancing that experience is.
Similarly, I also think it captures the at-odds, contradictory feeling of wanting to put distance between yourself and anything that makes you feel strongly, out of a sort of primal self-preservation--the solution to which, somewhat ironically, is surrendering to the primal bits of you drawn towards it instead.
Furthermore, the third part also captures the doubt admiration of another can instill in oneself, especially in the context of a romantic relationship. It isn't healthy to maintain a SO on a pedestal, but it does and should happen in moments. In those moments, it can shake your confidence in a 'why would someone so good want someone like me?' sort of way.
Lastly, one of my favorite bits of part 3 was how they depicted the 'brain-fry' or sensation overload of the character in their skinmanship that is, ultimately, comparatively inert. That is, it doesn't take extreme passionate acts to bring the characters to the precipice both emotionally and physically in a way that captures the early stages of such affection really well.

Part 4, while not as good as part 3, does raise the main conflict of the story and resolves it. I suppose part 3 also had such a conflict and resolution, but it is raised and resolved so quickly that it really feels like part 4 was meant to be the main act, especially given it is a bit longer.
It does a pretty good job, if a bit overboard and exaggerated, about the conflict that arises when the future is uncertain and when the goals of you and someone you've become romantically involved with split or vaguely differ, which is a common end-of-youth occurrence as folk go off to college or work.
More than that, though, I think the biggest strength of part 4 is that it depicts the moment where internal, emotional turmoil manifests physically quite well. It isn't over-dramatic, but it captures the sensation from someone experiencing it quite believably and artfully.
It also goes a bit into how people understand and contextualize their relationships and the struggles therein in very different ways (ranging from abstract, to strictly sentimental, to concrete), but it is left a bit too underdeveloped to be considered a main aspect of the movie or part.
Lastly, I think it hints at the idea that relationships are, at times, asymmetric and rely on the bit of push and pull over time to balance if feelings are to prevail. Again, a bit underexplored to be called a main theme, but it got me thinking about it at least.

This review has been pretty vague, and that is because the story is already a bit predictable and by-the-books. I don't wish to spoil the experience of anyone going into it. And it is this relative shallowness of themes and story that prevent me from rating the movie higher, despite my in-moment enjoyment of its characters, art, and the ways it invokes and captures the emotions it aims to.

Overall, I give it an 8.25/10.

This is a stand alone OVA That was bundled with a physical manga release in Japan. I was spurred on to watch this after seeing that the first volume of the manga has actually been localized here in the states (and, of course, I bought it).

Obviously, the OVA only really makes sense if you've seen the show proper. You needn't have seen the whole show, though, and even if you hadn't seen the show I could still imagine piecing together the characters and such from context. However, without the show as context, it would be a shallow, if sweet, OVA.

For this OVA and ... the show in general, the art isn't outstanding or anything. If I had to describe it, it was as if someone took generic fantasy design and mixed them with anime, then added like 10% original artistic flair. Just enough to be easily distinguished from its visual ilk, but not enough to stand out in general. Likewise, the sound design was fine, but nothing really stands out about it at all. Just very competent.

The OVA gets by on the strength of its characters. They are all generally good natured people with amiable relationships that just feel good and real. The characters all have faults, but the OVA and show never linger on them. This OVA does a good job of pointing that out--the prince character, for instance, has his weaknesses and faults shown lightheartedly in a flashback and at the end of the episode.

Generally speaking, if you liked the show, you will like this. It feels a little rushed compared to the series proper, maybe because it is trying to highlight *everything* that makes the show enjoyable in a single OVA where the show proper kinda takes its time establishing its lovable cast and lively premise. I liked the series more, naturally, but this was a lovely throwback to one of my favorite shows. *The* fantasy romance anime, undisputed.

Galko is not a bad show and I certainly enjoyed it. It was funny and broke taboo and sterotype alike! But I couldn't help but feel it was a little gaudy. The art style is varied and pretty, but it isn't put to stupendous use. The jokes, while kinda informative and wholesome, got stale after a bit. I think this is one of the better short anime out there, but nothing you can't pass on.

That being said, it is good to see shows willing to tackle a broader variety of topics including things that are usually hushed up as inappropriate. While the topics didn't ... really resound in me, I do find value in that this show was made and I hope others like it come along.

The friendship of the 3 girls is interesting, but doesn't evolve much until the last episode. I do like the way they end the series, as there is no *great* stopping point in short shows like this, so it makes sense to round it off with a 'how they all met' sort of story that a.) gives us a lasting impression of the characters and b.) hammers home all the ideas the show has posited the whole time.

The score is largely a reflection of my general enjoyment; I don't regret watching it, it was worth my time. But not something that will linger in my mind or alter who I am or anything.

Quick Summary: The show follows Honda-san and his coworkers at a bookstore.

The Hook: Honda-san and his coworkers are all depicted as odd mascot representations of themselves. Honda-san, to no one’s surprise, is a skeleton. Others include: a fencing mask, a paper bag, and a knight’s helm.

The Good: The show is charming and funny. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and can be very wholesome without sacrificing humour.

The Bad: Though the show uses it to its advantage (think Inferno Cop, dialed down from an 11 to like a 6), the production quality is minimal. Some of the side-stories fall flat, though not many.

Overall: Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san was ... a great ride. The episodes were about half-length of traditional length episodes of anime. In that time, they usually pack 2 or 3 little vignettes in there. The start of the show starts out dealing with only the outrageous and slowly blends it with industry foibles and some wholesome workplace goodness. It is worth a watch–the short episodes and character packed in make it an easy watch to laugh after a long day.

From the year 2018, Ouran Host Club is a bit dated; not in art, but in concept. Or, perhaps, it was ahead of its time, in a way. Let me clarify. The show attempts parody and often achieves some level of subversion that is really charming. Other times, though, the tropes and stereotypes and gags leave a bitter sensation on my sensibilities. The first 10ish episodes really are a bit formulaic in a way that starts getting tiresome and problematic. Later in the show, development happens in plot structure and in character, making me really get into the show. As it is, this is a ... light 8--maybe a 7.5 if MAL allowed for it. But the latter half of the show--13 onwards--was very charming.

I've seen reviews really criticize Ouran for being sexist and regressive and a failure at parody. I (mostly) disagree. The depiction of the two trans characters was not stellar, though I'd argue each had highlights that were done better than depiction I've seen in any anime shy of full on Wandering Son. But I got the sense that it wasn't talking down to women; all of the students were frivolous and flightful, not just the girls. All of them deluded themselves, one way or another, and were self important. It seemed to me that, while there were troughs were I found the depiction of the girls at the high school distasteful, most of the time, it seemed more like making fun of rich teenagers without a care in the world.

I would have liked to see a bit more of Haruhi's intellect showcased, but generally speaking, I liked the show. If they had cut and tidied up the beginning and some of the gags, it could have been an easy 9 from me.

Each arc is really interesting in its own way.
The first arc is rather grounded (which is odd considering the subject matter) but from there it develops into a standard action fare. I actually just rewatched the whole series (dubbed) because of the funamation breakup with VRV soon.

In any case, I really like the idea of each story arc. But the transitions between them are rough and most of them are just a smidge too long. A supercut of the show a la DBZ Kai would likely get an 8 or even a 9 from me. The random ass-pulls of power from friend and ... foe alike do not inspire hype, but rather make me sad that they didn't it all up tightly in each arc.

That being said, the characters are great, if a little one note. The art style shifts around quite a bit: I personally liked the post-dark tourney animation a lot. But what I don't like post-dark tourney is the overwhelming sense that they have reset the character power scale. Like, they did a great job with the human psychics and enforcing new constraints that weren't just *more spirit energy*. But as soon as all but the big bad are out of the way in that arc, the whole rest of the show loses to the power creep.

I like it, it can be sweet and sentimental. It can be tightly paced and interesting. But there is a lot that seemed stretched out for no good reason and that is a shame. Music is good, but sound design wasn't always on point. Just a solid show of its time, really.

I thought going back and rewatching it I would like it more, but I found my overall enjoyment was the same as when I was a teen: some things I liked more, some things less, but it balanced.

This show takes a few minutes to catch its pacing. It does move at breakneck speed, but the middle and even latter parts of the show thrive on it. It is rough at the beginning because the characters have yet to endear themselves to you, but the show must continue at a breakneck pace nonetheless.

The story itself is cliched, but in all the best ways. There isn't much to it, earnestly, but I enjoyed the simplicity and sincerity of it--despite the show overall thriving in its gags and comedy.

I suppose the thing I like most about the show is that, while it recognizes and ... even pokes fun at its own corniness (looking at you, Gimble), it still embraces it fully.

It is funny, but, depending on your taste, some of the gags might be far less funny. The wordplay is on point, though, and the reoccurring gags did not get stale as I expected them to. Overall, fans of lighthearted fantasy or comedy will enjoy the show. The beginning of the show, in my opinion, prevents it from reaching any higher than an 8, but I enjoyed the latter 2/3 enough to bring it there.