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I first watched this series in 2012 when I was 15, this was one of my very first animes. All I remember is that it had good humor and it made me cry a lot, it sat as one of my all-time favorites for close to a decade.

I now, in 2020, at age 23, have just finished rewatching it to see how it holds up. I was turned off from the very first episode, it immediately tries way too hard to be funny and falls into a lot of anime cliches, but that's to be expected given the time it was created. Honestly, the try-hard, ... unfunny humor slows down after about the second episode as the serious tones of the show start to surface and you become more invested in that and willing to forgive the poor humor. Also, keep in mind I was viewing the dub, which may have contributed to certain jokes missing with me, delivery of the lines may have been a key element of cringe that may not be found in the subtitled version, but regardless I still chose to watch the dub for nostalgia's sake.

The pros of this series are pretty well known at this point, it's a feel fest and the music is outstanding. Those 2 elements complement each other perfectly.

TLDR, it's a little weeby at the start but try to stick with it, it's a classic and it only gets better the further in you get. Keep a box of tissues on hand, you're bound to cry at least once.

Every aspect of this anime blew me away. If you are wondering if the rest of it matches the quality of the visuals the short answer is yes. The way this series handles heavy themes like the afterlife, morality, and the human spirit is so sincere. I think a lot of non-anime fans would even find themselves enjoying this for that reason. The show does a great job of making you care for characters that only appear for 1-2 episodes, the flashbacks they choose to show you to inform you about the one-off characters are extremely effective. I have not cried watching something like this ... in a long time and I started from about the 2nd episode onward. Instant favorite, I ask that you please give this one a shot.

tbh I didn't know the anime came first until reading the other reviews

Secondly, I'm not sure why everyone was so confused by it. There were a handful of lines that seemed translated poorly that didn't take away too much from what all was happening.

That being said, having not seen the anime I will judge it on its own and not for how it measures up to the anime. The world of Ikeburo Tokyo is an exciting one with gangs and key players to look out for, your perspective is that of someone who is also new to these things so everything is thoroughly explained to ... Mikado, the main character, and you, the reader. The manga does a great job of juggling multiple subplots and tying them all together at different times. It also explores the theme of rejecting a stale life and trying to find excitement in this world which is something I personally enjoy reading about. The biggest downside to me is that it seemed too short for the interesting characters and exciting concepts it introduced.

Being too short of a story I think I might get more enjoyment from the anime in the future, but again, the manga itself is not a bad read by any means.

This isn't a "retelling from Rikka's perspective" this is literally just scenes replayed from the anime, some of which Rikka wasn't around for. When I read this was from her perspective I really liked the idea, thinking it would feature more scenes that took place before the show when she saw Yuuta the first time and her thoughts on their relationship throughout the show, but I got my hopes up thinking that was the case as is not. I'm not sure who this movie is for, if you've never seen the show then this shortened version doesn't give you full satisfaction you would get from ... just watching the show, if you have seen the show then its just an hour of flashbacks. If you've seen it then watch the opening scene and skip to the last half hour. That being said the last bit was pretty heartwarming, would have been better as an OVA.