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Apr 4, 2025
Well made drama, but it sucks that it's not a full adaptation and even with 24 episodes there's still way too many things left to this story.
The title is very deceiving, it heavily implies the story would be mainly about Shiina or the romance between her and Kanda (and Aoyama), but to be fair the anime falls short in the romance department, it's way more about drama, and not just about Shiina but the all the residents of Sakura-sou. It's not that big of an issue but it still should've been made more obvious from the get-go, there might be people not interested in a
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drama heavy romance.
The reason the romance side of this anime falls short is simply because it's not the main focus for 90% of the anime. It's not necessarily a flaw and the side couples had well written and executed love stories, it's just the main love triangle being neglected and postponed for later in the story, that is not adapted.
The drama side of the anime, which is the majority, is great and makes up for the lack of romance. Each character in the dorm has their own struggles that comes down to either loneliness, inferiority complex, anxiety, depression etc. you get the point. In itself these are not groundbreaking, never seen before concepts, but they're pretty damn well told. There's something about this group of characters that makes them stand out as a collective without either of them being too interesting individually. They all have their hard hitting moments though.
I find it weird that the manga was serialized in a seinen magazine, but having characteristics of a shounen when it comes to fan service and such. Sure it's drama heavy but it's still a very pervy high school story that nears the likes of ecchi anime.
With all that being said, it's a must watch for drama enjoyers, it's a good anime with a nice storytelling and message.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 27, 2025
This is just bad. Lazy animation, horrible direction and just overall not good story/storytelling.
I usually don't give a damn about animation, but when it's this shameless it's hard to overlook it. Budget aside there are ways to make it work, this studio didn't even try to look for compromises or try to hide the fact and that sums up the studio's entire attitude towards this anime and lack of effort.
Direction is also full of interesting choices, most notably the amount of staring in this anime. It should serve as a dramatic effect, but at this point it's comedy, the characters stare at each other almost
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like they're confused or socially awkward.
And the story, maybe the worst thing about this anime and the only thing that's not the studio's fault except for adapting it in the first place. It feels like some wattpad fantasy, it feels so amateur, everything just happens without a reason most of the time, there's no build up so everything feels forced and unprompted. It also speedruns tropes and cliches. Everyone is always seducing Mizuho in the most shameless, unreasonable and senseless ways. This could be the girls' version of some pervy shounen romance that has no value and its only goal is satisfying your "needs".
The characters are just as bland as the story, it's very fitting how the 4 male MCs all look alike, literally fuckboy copy pastes. Their personalities are just as shallow, they all have their main quirk and that's their only personality. And Mizuho is as oblivious as a girl in a shoujo can be, comes very handy to fuel this trash story.
There are sweet moments in the show that's for sure, the only redeeming quality, but once again the issue is that most of these moments come out of nowhere and while they're heartwarming they also feel out of place and it makes it a bit awkward, so it's not that simple to just take in these moments.
Just don't waste your time on this, the only way you can enjoy this is if you're looking for some trashy, shameless reverse harem fantasy specifically.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Mar 26, 2025
I feel a bit conflicted about this anime. It started off annoying and stayed that way for a long time, towards the end it became more interesting and all in all the ending was good, but could've been done even better. It doesn't nearly make up for how bad the first ~8 episodes were, but recency bias is a thing so I ended up rating it 7 while labeling it with mixed feelings.
The main issue with the anime is how one dimensional it was for the most part. We have Ishimori who is a hopeless shy and anxious girl due to *drum roll* bullying in
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the past, how original. And of course we have the male lead, Miura, who for some reason decided to look out for her and eventually fall for her too, which is again very original. Not that there's a problem with recycled romance stories, but it has to done well to make it interestin. However Honey Lemon Soda does nothing for the first ~8 episodes besides sending Ishimori into a near endless cycle of fighting her social anxiety and coming out of her shell utilizing common tropes and setbacks. The whole sob story doesn't justify how painfully slow her development was and it doesn't make for a dramatic or deep story at all.
The characters are decent in the grand scheme of things if we can look past Ishimori's annoying level of shyness. Nothing to go crazy about and the characters can be just as annoying as the storytelling sometimes, but I'd say the characters are the only thing that will keep you going forward during the boring early episodes.
The ending and the last few episodes is what salvages the show, even though it wasn't done perfectly either. The way the confession turned out made sense from the characters' standpoints, it was sweet and the confession (or more like the conclusion) stretched out into the entire last episode instead of being a single big moment, which was a good choice and paid off. And just in general the last few episodes where Ishimore picked up the pace and came to terms with her feelings was just a much better experience than the rest of the show.
Also episode 11 deserves its own paragraph. There was a major shift in direction, which didn't really fit the show and it was more like a flop. It was a very artistic episode in terms of direction for sure, it was extremely packed with story development and the pace was way too fast, in that term it felt like a waste how slow the previous episodes were. Despite the different direction not working out, I'm still happy they went with it and gave it a shot, I believe these experiments are a good thing regardless of the result. And honestly if it was done in a different anime, it could've worked out.
The OST was really nice, animation was lacking many times.
Basically the anime is slow and boring for ~8 episodes but the rest of the anime is good, it has a decent payoff.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 24, 2025
It's just bad overall. There are so many bad things to say about this anime and very few good.
In 12 episodes nothing really happens, it's always the same things repeating. Mona trying to seduce Medaka, getting embarassed, denies her feelings, repeat. I wish I could say that at least it's funny, but it's really not, Medaka has a few good moments somewhat consistently but it's far from what you'd expect from a romcom.
The fan service is digustingly shoved into your face, almost every episode there's an outrageous panty or cleavage flash, and honestly the whole show is about this, it's constantly about Mona hoe'ing either
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intentionally or unintentionally. But it's just weird because early on Mona realizes that Medaka is really not into all this sexual stuff, she knows he's more into cute stuff. One could argue that all the fan service is important to the plot (it's really not necessary to actually show everything tho), but even if we look aside the "plot relevant" fan service, there's a ton of actually unnecessary shots like these. For example for the first 7 or 8 episodes there's an extension to the intro where Mona jumps over a puddle her pants are reflected. Just what's the point of all this?
The characters are just as annoying, there's barely any character development and all characters are oblivious as hell, except for Tomo. Typical boring story that builds around misunderstandings, denial and secrets.
And I can't believe I'm writing this, but the OST is so insanely annoying and bad that it's outrageous. But at least it's fitting for this trash anime. This is the first time that an OST is so bad that I not just notice it but also get annoyed by it.
The absolute nail in the coffin is season 2 being announced right after the last episode aired. I hate that I'm a completionist because I will watch it. But this is something that's important in context of writing the review. After 12 painful episodes with barely anything happening, now the story reaches a point that could mix things up and there's a slight hope for a better continuation.
I don't recommend this at all, at the very least wait until season 2 airs so you can tell if it gets better or not.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 24, 2025
Best romance anime of the season, there's no doubt. This anime shows just how much seinen romance is miles ahead of shoujo romance, and I hope this will lead to more seinen romances being adapted in the future.
This is an actual seinen romance with no bullshitting, that might be the best thing about this show. The lack of bullshitting, tropes and fabricated drama makes it really enjoyable and chill. Maybe it's a bit too unproblematic and there's not that much drama, but it doesn't need any of that to stay interesting. It also actually feels like an adult relationship, they actually deal with issues that's
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realistic both inside and outside their relationship (mostly work related).
The characters are just as charming as the story and the flow of the show. Their relationships and internal conflicts are relatable and done well and it works without the need for (forced) drama. There's a side couple and 2 more coworkers as side characters that get more screen time, besides them there aren't really anyone notable. I think there could've been more but honestly that's all we had time for in 12 episodes, but those 4 side characters are enjoyable to follow when they have their subplot.
There's not much more to say, it's an amazing romance anime that punches above its weight relative to its popularity and budget.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 21, 2025
What a disgrace how this anime turned out. This show is running circles with no real progression happening and then it's finished off with an inconclusive ending, basically back to base 1.
In itself it was a promising anime that could've been much better easily, yet it keeps repeating the cycle of the main couple getting closer then further then closer than further etc. Whenever they are getting closer Akane snaps, gets embarassed/shy and pushes Saito away, this happens every other episode, each cycle being built around some bs trope. Worst of all is that each conflict could be solved in 2 minutes by the characters
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not bottling up all their emotions or just being less oblivious, this is the worst kind of progression roadblocks, absolutely cheap and unnecessary.
The reason it sucks the most is that the main couple is actually so charming that you just can't help but root for them (if you ignore how Akane gets shy almost all the time), it's that typical anime where you can't wait for them to get together and just feel happy for them, but there's so little progress in this anime, that (if there will ever be a season 2) you could skip season 1 and basically no value is lost, only backstory...
As a stand alone season, it was a nothing burger. If this anime gets a 2nd season then it's more acceptable, but if we're being realistic I doubt we're getting a 2nd season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 21, 2025
Probably one of the most hyped romance anime of recent times, so it's not surprising that it didn't live up to the insane hype, but it's still a good watch, just incredibly slow.
The setup is great, Chinatsu ending up living under the same roof as Taiki by chance is a nice twist to the usual love triangle drama. And of course the focus on sports makes it more interesting than a generic romance anime, or at least could've made it more interesting. Unfortunately this anime plays its cards poorly considering what it has to work with, not to mention it has a whopping 25 episodes,
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which is also rare in itself. Yet the anime fails to progress at an acceptable level, it's just way too slow. I guess we could say it really is a shounen at heart with all the time wasting and episodes that almost feel like fillers.
The characters do have depth, well at least those who are focused, Taiki and Hina are so interesting to follow, their feelings and thoughts. Chinatsu on the other hand felt like a prop 95% of the time and there's barely any focus on her despite being the obvious winning heroine. The supporting characters are great, at the very least there's one positive about the anime having 25 episodes, which is side characters having more screen time and get to grow on you.
Also credit is given where credit is due, the anime has no fanservice at all, which is a huge feat in itself, especially that it's a shounen, props to them really, it's refreshing. Also sometimes they decide not to utilize boring tropes even when they had the chance, that's not always the case and unfortunately they do waste time on tropes here and there, but I'd say it's better than what you'd expect in the genre, they also deserve credit for that partially.
Honestly it's a good romance anime with an interesting story, issue is the way too slow pacing and lack of progression. Also it's overhype, but what are you gonna do? Despite the unrealistic expectations, it's a good anime, but it desperately needs a 2nd season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 2, 2025
A disturbing but very interesting anime. I stumbled upon it looking for GL, but the synopsis made me interested. Needless to say this anime has barely anything to do with GL, but it's great nonetheless.
The story is just very interesting, can't say too much since I don't wanna spoil anything, but there's a lot more to it than you'd first think. However the storytelling falls short, the concept is really good but it could've been executed much better. The story slowly builds up then comes crashing down in the last 1-2 episodes. It also doesn't help that episode 4 adds little to no value to
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the main story.
Now the anime is full of nudity/gore/torture etc. and it even has a connection to the story, but it wasn't really necessary to include. It's written into the story just for the sake of it, the story would've worked just as well without all the excessive gore and nudity, it makes me question what's the point of going overboard with these themes when the anime itself is heavily story/dialogue focused.
All in all it's an amazing story with some hiccups, it's definitely worth your time if you have no problem with the themes above.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 23, 2025
After watching an anime like this is when someone truly thinks it's such a shame that josei is slept on. It does everything better than a shoujo, shounen or seinen drama/romance would.
The love polygon and all the drama just works, it was never getting annoying or fabricated, it was always natural and clearly targeted at a mature group of viewers. There was never need for tropes or clichés to move the story forward or make it interesting (apart from maybe one towards the end)
The animation was really nice during some scenes, they spent their budget at the right places for sure.
But the music is the
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best part of this show, it's as good as you'd expect from a show focused on music. Not just the performances, but the OST and its usage too. Even if you're not a fan of jazz you will enjoy it if you like good music, personally I realized I like jazz more than I thought.
It's a really nice show with many life lessons and good music, I strongly recommend this to everyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 21, 2025
Unfortunately it lacks a sort of conclusion, even if we acknowledge that it's a half adaptation. It's a good story with barely any "payoff".
It's an interesting yet sweet story about how 2 girls pursue a connection despite having really messed up social habits and values. On one hand Shimamura fails to value people who make an effort befriending her, she just goes with the flow and acts like she makes an effort, she's very self aware about it too and basically accepts how she is. Adachi on the other hand is a very stand-offish personality with no friends, yet with Shimamura she tends to be
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jealous and selfish even, all while being insecure with ton of self doubt. Well the last part is true about Shimamura as well, but they have very different ways dealing with their insecurities. But towards each other they behave differently, well at least they gradually manage to overcome their bad habits and heal.
It's very enjoyable journey how their awkward relationship develops into something meaningful. They're both very socially unusual, outcasts even. At first it literally felt like they're progressing backwards, but honestly it's the opposite, but I don't really wanna spoil the journey, but it really is much better in retrospect. It'd be a real shame to drop this show because of their relationship starts off with taking a trajectory that actually gets more and more awkward at first.
Honestly it's such a shame this doesn't have a 2nd season, there's sooo much to unfold, not just their relationship, which again, is pretty lackluster in terms of conclusion.
The GL/romance part of the show is pretty shallow, it is genuine but there's just not much going on (yet). It's hard to hold it against this anime since it's not a proper adaptation, in it's current length it's really not that romantic and their relationship is more platonic for now. Still an enjoyable watch, just don't get your hopes up in terms of their progression.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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