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Legitimately might be the best depiction of neurodivergence in all of fiction. It's so genuine and sincere yet also uncompromising in what it chooses to portray. A lesser story would constantly be fumbling its way through this subject matter but this is able to juggle so many different subjects without missing a beat, as well as go back and forth between being sweet and funny to depressing and gut-wrenching without any of these shifts feeling unnatural.

Content warning for self-harm, attempted suicide, and physical/emotional abuse, but if you're able to handle all of that, please please PLEASE buy the official release of this manga.

It's only ... available digitally, but all the places you can buy the official English release are here: https://kodansha.us/manga/browse-volumes/?filter_series=thats-my-atypical-girl

I've been a fan of the manga since roughly 2019 so I was really nervous about how this show would turn out, but I was genuinely blown away- this show exceeded even the most ideal versions of the show I would fantasize about in my head.

This might sound hyperbolic but this is legitimately one of the most immaculately-animated shows I've ever seen. From the first episode all the way through the last there were so many scenes where I felt like I was watching a movie because of how detailed and expressive the animation could get. On top of that, there are multiple minutes worth ... of fake anime and movies that the characters watch, and these are drawn and animated in completely different styles from the "real" universe of the show- it's endlessly creative with how it keeps coming up with ways to blow you away with its visuals, and this is something that doesn't let up for the whole season. Even outside of just the art and animation, the editing and directing often feels very purposeful with the way certain shots are framed or cut together- in the first scene where Marin and Gojo are alone and having a conversation, you rarely see them both in the same shot, and when you do they're on complete opposite ends in the room, and it's very clear this was done to represent the metaphorical distance between them in regards to their personalities and how comfortable they are with expressing themselves. There are plenty of subtle things like this and it really adds a lot to the show.

The two main characters are great- Marin is an insane crackhead and Gojo, although way more introverted, is similarly obsessed with his hobbies compared to Marin. People with no reading comprehension will try to tell you that Gojo is a plank of wood (though in all fairness most characters would look like one when you constantly place them next to Marin), but at its core the show is about people connecting over their own weird niche interests, and Gojo is a really great and relatable depiction of someone who's been made fun of so much for his interests that he kind of just became closed off and was terrified of anyone discovering that he likes making (and talking to) dolls. Because Gojo knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of that kind of abuse, when Marin opens up to him about the anime/games/etc that she's into, he makes an earnest effort to give them a shot and understand what she sees in them, just like how Marin was initially wowed by Gojo's sewing skills. The dynamic of these two characters who fall on extreme ends of this spectrum works really well and is fun to watch, even during more simple slice-of-life scenes.

The show is very funny and sweet (and even more "dramatic" when it wants to be), and although there's definitely fanservice in the show it's mostly frontloaded and there are episodes that have basically none of it, if any. And even then one of the themes of the show is being more open in a sexual sense, and this is represented by Marin not really getting flustered easily over sexual things, even in real life, whereas Gojo nearly has a nervous breakdown when Marin shows up in his room wearing nothing but a bikini.

I don't really have anything negative to say about the show? I can think of like, exactly two shots I think look kind of bad but they both basically only last a second and the rest of the show looks immaculate anyway so it feels like nitpicking to even mention it in this capacity.

So yeah, overall this show was beyond anything I could've hoped it would be- I love it so so so much and I'd recommend it to basically anyone unless you actively hate romcoms, and even then I'd say give it a shot if only because it's really funny and isn't just romance/fanservice. Might be a bit early to say this but this is probably gonna be solidified as my favorite romance anime. I'll wait and see if I want to bump my rating to a 10 so for now I'm giving this show a 9 out of 10.

It's great go watch it.

Mother's Basement tricked me into watching 15 episodes of this boring-ass show and I will never forgive him.

I like the concept but the show actively avoids doing anything remotely interesting, engaging, or even just entertaining with it. The only episode I enjoyed was the recap episode because it felt like it was the only time the show was actually doing anything fun and creative with its premise, when the show itself is mostly just a white bread boring action series. The direction is so flat and stale and there is absolutely zero energy to anything in this show, it's one of the most mind-numbingly boring ... things I've ever seen.

The first ED sequence shows the reverse-isekai'd characters doing slice of life stuff like going shopping, going to a water park, and other silly things like that. The second ED sequence shows the characters hanging around in the IRL anime studio and watching the anime get made. These sequences pissed me off because they just made me go "I wish the show was either of these things even a little bit because then I'd get any enjoyment out of it at all."