Jan 12, 2020
DISCLAIMER: My review will NOT contain major spoilers.
TL;DR This is basically Kaguya-sama with faster character development, a crap ton of science for you to laugh about (or be confused about), and a bit more drama to top it off. If you like science, you'd probably enjoy this; if you know your science, then you'll love this.
"I think I like you."
This series doesn't overstate its welcome. It kicks off its first episode with this one line. This one phrase sets the whole plot in motion, and it's realised in the scientific-comedy and romance part of the series.
I watched all 12 episodes of this series and
...
I can definitely say this is a very enjoyable and humorous romcom. What's interesting here is that the punchlines are even funnier if you knew your science well; the humour is obviously directed towards a small demographic, and the characters themselves are a lot more relatable if you'd been in their shoes. If you have zero interest in Science Maths Psychology etc, this series would be very confusing 50-75% of the time or boring. But this doesn't mean you won't get a few chuckles in each episode. It's just that it is outright hilarious to see how the series uses scientific concepts in the plot and character interactions.
*Story: 7*
The story seems pretty simple - the pair is trying to figure out a scientific theory to prove if they like one another or not. Right off the bat the series establishes its goal and just gets the plot moving from there. The plot is that much more intriguing if you are actually a Science student, concepts you'd learn previously are heavily utilised in the story. I'm not saying ordinary people wouldn't enjoy this, but seeing these concepts used in a half-jokingly manner makes the story feel very enjoyable and rewarding, only if you knew these concepts already. I'd compare this to how Science was used in Dr. Stone, that show didn't waste time of explaining too much, because everyone knows a bit of science these days. It's just that this show depends on your scientific knowledge a bit more.
Aside from the geeky stuff used, however, the plot line itself is too generic and predictable, which is why I didn't rate its story higher. Mixed with the maths, the science, etc, the plot becomes more of "Hm how would they answer this?" instead of "Hm what's going to happen next?", which I think is actually a good thing.
*Art:7*
Not much to say about art style. I like it when they change the overall art style to fit certain characters. However, the animation is pretty generic for the rest of the runtime, but I didn't have a single problem with it.
*Sound: 7*
Again, nothing much to comment on. The OP and ED are very catchy, and the OSTs are also not bad. The songs and ambient noises fit well with the story. But then again, it's not like you are watching this for amazing sound effects or art.
*Characters: 9*
This is in my opinion why this series isn't gonna be as enjoyable for everyone. The whole series is basically based off of scientist humour, it executes it quite well but not everyone is going to understand it. The characters have extremely specific intentions and interests. Their actions are so "scientific" there is barely any way to relate to them if you hadn't learnt those concepts previously. The story tries to explain the concepts midway with the cute bear cutscenes, but I think it's a bit too vague for anyone to get a grasp of it quickly. Even the bear tells the audience that "this is too complicated" so "learn it by yourself". When the characters made breakthroughs, I myself felt like I was doing this investigation with them. I had the same eureka moments as them when they'd thought of something new.
Personality-wise, most of the characters take their generic anime personalities to the extreme in this story, especially the two main leads. The hyperbolic personalities of the characters makes the humour that much more worthwhile. But then again, the characters suffer from the same problem as the plot - you won't like them if you don't understand them. While this is true for most animes, this is that much more significant in this story because the plot development relies on these pre-existing knowledge that they expect the viewer to have. Funnily enough I really liked Kanade's character in the story, her reactions are just perfect and her struggles are much more grounded when compared to the others. I enjoyed every single second of the characters interactions, but it might not be true if you didn't even know what they were babbling about.
*Enjoyment: 9*
I like science, I like maths, I like psychology, and most importantly I like my romcom. This series is practically made for me, and I'm sure they'd be others like me out there who adore these interests the same way I do. I have nothing more to say really, the concepts of a Sciency romcom is enough for me to go nuts over. The amount of enjoyment you are gonna get is similar to how anime fans enjoy Your Name more than ordinary viewers - it rewards audiences for knowing their stuff.
*Overall: 8*
As much as I subconsciously know that this series isn't as great as I say it is, in the end it was still very enjoyable and I only had a few nitpicks about it. The ending seemed fitting for a science-romcom anime and I just want more. A few of the characters are really underdeveloped, but they weren't hindering the plot so I was fine with it. Plus I'm sure they'd be further developed in the future or in the manga. As for if this show is comparable to Kaguya-sama, I liked both shows for different reasons. Kaguya-sama made the two characters look smart when they were actually just stubborn high school students; this show makes the two leads look super smart, so much so that they are just plain crazy. I'd say both shows resemble some similarities, but then again the context of both shows are so different, and the target audiences are also different.
All in all, a good watch for seasonal anime fans, and a great show for the geeky weebs out there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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