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The persons involved in the English dub of this precious anime should be lined up against a wall and shot. It is a crime against humanity. Avoid it at all cost.
This anime can only be appreciated in the original Japanese.

Sakamichi no Apollon is a love story between two orphaned young men. Raised by relatives, no contact with their mothers or their absentee fathers, they become antisocial rebels, until they are brought together by music. Specifically, mid-twentieth century American jazz.

Originally a josei manga published by a young women's magazine, our female lead Ritsuko serves as the love interest for young Nishimi. But in truth, ... she represents the young women readers, supporting our male protagonists, cheering them on as they channel their passions into music and a friendship that will be "lifelong". The boys are too innocent for their love to manifest sexually. But this is no ordinary friendship. Ritsuko ultimately loves the relationship between Nishimi and Kawabuchi more than she loves Nishimi Kaoru. Her most precious photo is a picture of the two boys embracing.

Volumes have been written about the homoeroticism of the story, but it is really so innocent and wholesome that it is a waste of time to ponder such things. The devout Christianity of Mukae Ritsuko and Kawabuchi Sentarou sets the tone for our story. This tale is one of pure Platonic love, even if we are shipping Risuko and Kaoru like crazy.

For lovers of romance, slice of life, and old school jazz, this is an almost-perfect anime. It's only flaw is its brevity. It really deserved two seasons.

Recommended with a big asterisk.

Bottom line: if you like CGDCT, yuri, and ecchi, then you will enjoy Slow Start. It is a PG-13 teaser, with enjoyable fan service and lots of yuri flirtations between the characters, especially so between Eiko and her teacher. But there is no nudity, nothing explicit, just a lot of joking and CGDCT.

The plot is minimal. The anime writers and producers let us down, suggesting a number of story lines that just fizzled out before they could get interesting. The art style is sort of classic for CGDCT, and may not be everyone's cup of tea.

I may ... find myself watching bits of this again someday. Sometimes you just need a little yuri CGDCT to get through the week.

6/10

Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko! is the perfect, the quintessential, high school rom-com. The animators have taken a good manga and completely transformed it into a masterpiece of anime.

With equal parts romance and comedy, it is much more light-hearted than Toradora or Horimiya. And the characters have more depth, are more believable, than Komi Can't Communicate or More Than a Married Couple... The only caution might be the bullying that takes up much of one episode. Otherwise it's all sweetness and laughs.

The animation and music, and the voice acting and script, just can't be beat. The high production values put most other anime to shame.

It is ... my new standard for a high school rom-com, but it is much more than that. Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko! is a great coming-of-age story. The tension in the plot, the great conflict to be resolved, is not a typical romance. The success of the story hinges on the conflict within Tomo: Will she be able to accept herself as an adult woman and not just a tomboy? Can she ever be comfortable with her femininity? Can she be a beautiful girl, and an elite athlete? Is her competitive personality compatible with her emerging womanliness? Can she experience love as something other than just another competition to be won? For Tomo, these questions are just as important as whether or not she gets the boy in the end.

The anime version of The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten is poorly done and not worth your time.

The story: Based on a light novel series of the same name, this shoujo-type romance hits many of the most common tropes in high school romance anime. The anime writers did a very poor job of editing the LN into something that would fit in a 12 episode anime season. At times the anime creeps along, just reciting dialogue from the LN. At other times, like in the season finale, the animators will cram scenes from different chapters or volumes together to try to get to ... their rushed conclusion.

The anime and art: This anime reminds me of a poor high school play with hand-painted backgrounds and minimal props. The art is just bad. The backgrounds are almost nonexistent. The "costumes" are horrid. Picturing Amane in a head to toe gray sweatsuit is just laziness on the part of the anime team. To avoid animated faces, the dialogue happens when the characters are turned away from our view. Much time in the anime is actually still shots of unmoving characters. It is really like a cheap manga with voiceover narration by the actors. And the whispery passive affect of the VA playing Mahiru is just inappropriate for the character and story.

If you are really interested in this story, read the light novels. But this anime goes into the round file cabinet reserved for really bad adaptations of really good source material.

Reasons to watch:
-Every episode will leave you happy and relaxed.
-Adult relationships, set in a "too good to be true" office environment where the boss is Buddha.
-The side characters all end up being best friends.
-It's the magical romance for adults that you have been waiting for.

Reasons not to watch:
-You hate romance.
-You don't care for relaxing slice-of-life.
-Cute cartoon cats make you sneeze.
... -You don't have a computer or TV or any way to stream it.

Don't try to rationalize the supernatural elements. It's all metaphor, right? Just watch and enjoy.

And because the MAL algorithm wants more info to publish my review: This is an unusual take on the office romance genre. What if Wotakoi was a relaxing magical story with supernatural elements? The art and music are great, and really suit the style of animation. I'll be adding the music to my playlists. Both our main protagonists, and the side characters, have depth and show growth over the course of the story. They are the sort of people you hope to meet in real life.

A typical complaint from me is that a beloved story or a well-crafted plot gets a poor anime production, or the anime just doesn't live up to the hype. For Ingress the Animation, I felt like the animation part was fine, but it was in dire need of a better story. And there you have a basic problem for any movie or anime based on a video game. What makes a good video game does not usually make for a good anime or movie.

I don't play video games, and I've never heard of Ingress the Game. But I do watch anime. This anime is a ... big tease. They tease us with outlines of characters that look great, and the animation itself is fine. But the story is kind of one big letdown after another. It's not intentionally bad, it just doesn't have anything to make you glad for the time you spent on it. The ending suggests a sequel, but it isn't worth it. Please don't make a sequel.

Watch this if you already subscribe to Netflix and you just can't find anything better to do.

These two little chapters were written as a sort of epilogue to the Honey and Clover mangas, and they are essential reading, especially if, like me, you are on Team Yamada.

The first chapter tells the story of Yamada's childhood friend Ippei the baker, who gets set up with the elder daughter of the Swan Bakery, Sakura. But Sakura is fearful that this would mean closing her bakery to support Ippei. After he assures her that he will support continuing the Swan Bakery, they enter into a mutual business arrangement, and marriage as well!

Nomiya is reminded by his friends that he is now 'almost' Yamada's ... boyfriend, and the marriage of her friends from the shopping street has Yamada thinking about her own romantic history.

The second chapter is where Umino Chika finally gives her fans what they begged for: an ending to the Yamada Ayumi love triangle. Will we finally get Nomiya and Yamada as a canon couple?! Or will Mayama re-enter the picture? Read to find out!

Hachi-chan is constantly reminded that she is cute, but not a beauty. When she falls for Mizuno-kun, her classmates are quick to tell her that he is out of her league, and they are happy to remind her frequently that she is unworthy of such an attractive boyfriend. But Hachi is persistent and determined to get what she wants, and the criticism of her peers is of no concern. Like most high school girls, she is worried about her weight and her appearance, and her grades are not in the same high category as Mizuno's, but she has an inner strength that keeps her going. ... Hachi-chan never gives up, and her underdog status just makes her even more loveable.

What makes this shoujo romance a little different, is that Hachi-chan and Mizuno-kun actually do become a couple midway in the story. And so we get to enjoy watching their development as lovers. We see how their status and relationships change at their high school. We see them go through the expected trials of awkward high school kids figuring out how to date, how to love, how to fight, how to forgive.

Koi no Hajimari is one of the most realistic high school romances you will ever read. There is a very accurate portrayal of the role of social media in the lives of teenagers. The characters are flawed, and they make silly mistakes just as you might expect of such young lovers. And this is the essential joy of the story. The characters are believable. It is a wholesome slice of life for any romance lover. And we are left wanting to follow our protagonists into adulthood, convinced that they will grow up to be good people, the kind of adults you would want as friends.

To say more would be to give real spoilers, so I will just leave it at that. If you want romance that at times may seem a little too sweet for real life, but rings true on every page, you will fall in love alongside Hachi and Mizuno, and you just might find yourself returning to their story whenever you need a little love in your life.

These are very amusing side stories or "extras" that were published in the manga anthologies, and then included in the DVD release. Presently, they are being aired as special episodes "12.5" and "18.5" of the anime on Crunchyroll. But if you are just watching the numeric episodes, you might miss these, which are given a special heading to indicate that they are not part of the ongoing story. I missed them at first, and only saw them when I went back to look at the list of episodes.

I'm really happy to see the fashion episode. Not only is it one of the funniest bits ... in the manga, but it really adds some depth to the three characters involved.

I suppose MAL put these in a separate entry because it wasn't part of the original TV series, but in my mind it is all one anime, and would be more appropriately included in a single entry for the first 24 episodes of the show.

Nagomu is a 30 year old failed musician who shows up unannounced on his family's doorstep after ten years away in Tokyo. He is shocked to find out that he has been replaced as heir and successor in the family business, by a 10 year old girl! His father, angry at his prodigal son, insists that Nagomu start at the bottom, as an assitant to the apprentices in the family sweet shop. His room has been given to the foundling girl Itsuka, so Nagomu will sleep in the storeroom while his skeptical father determines whether he is really serious about the family business. In the ... shop hierarchy, Nagomu will be the lowest of the low.

Meanwhile his mother asks that he try to be a father figure for their adopted heir Itsuka. The young girl is likewise skeptical, having heard stories of the ungrateful Nagomu, herself unable to imagine betraying the generosity of her adoptive family.

This is a wonderful slice of life about the shops of old Kyoto, a profile of Japanese food and tea, and a peak into the world of traditional Japanese sweets or wagashi, and the customs of old Kyoto. But ultimately it is an Iyashikei story. It is all about the healing.

And in our story we are introduced to one broken individual after another. There are plenty of tears, but also side-splitting laughter, and even some darn good music. We are introduced to characters of all ages from young Itsuka to high school musical prodigy Mitsuru to a cross-dressing gender fluid assistant in the bakery. Throughout all there is the tension provided by the elder generation, as the grandparents struggle to pass on their traditions, their stories, and their businesses, to a younger generation.

Seldom have i seen a work of art or entertainment take on the huge cultural issues tackled by Deaimon, and it is rare to see such emotional and historic conflicts so gently handled with such compassionate resolutions. The stories of Deaimon will touch your heart. And you may just find yourself being healed as well, by Itsuka, Nagomu, and the extended family of the Ryokushou wagashi shop.