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This show is everything I hated about anime back in the day. Harems, and random panties shots in every single episode. I was not prepared for the uncensored boobies either. Also, why do these girls piss themselves every single episode?? Is that some kind of fetish I'm missing? Whatever. This show is just a fan service showcase. I guess that's what you can expect from a visual novel adaptation but I also did not expected to hate every single harem candidate as much as I do. Despite all of these girls having a pretty dark past, it felt incredibly cheap to have them all wrapped ... up within 2 or 3 episodes. Although I'm watching it 10 years later, it's still one of the worst things I've watched in quite some time.

The only redeeming thing for me is, as a Monogatari fan, I really appreciate Akio Watanabe's work so that's probably the only reason I continued with the series.

What happened to this show? I was so excited after watching the first episode that I went and binged the manga. But unfortunately everything felt short for me with this entire series. admittedly a lot of gripe I have is with the source material, so it feels unfair to rate the anime as poorly but somehow the Horimiya anime still does the one of the worst jobs I've ever watched for something so simple as this "slice of life."

**mild spoilers (maybe?) **

I was really interested in the idea of Hori and Miyamura having this little secret between the two of them where they showed ... their "true selves" to only each other. However, this concept is basically resolved within the first few anime episodes/manga chapters and from there, it just becomes your standard slice of life comedy. It's not particularly funny either, nor romantic, nor exciting. The whole show really falls so short in all areas. I expected Miyamura to have some kind of dark past too but I personally felt it was nothing impactful at all. Truly, there was nothing special about this show after they destroyed the main concept that lured people in the first place.

** end possible spoilers **

If nothing else though, the show is just horribly adapted, period. I felt like I missed entire episodes and literally had to go back and confirm that I hadn't. If I hadn't read the manga beforehand, I would actually be pissed off at how there is literally no explanation for the last series of events.

I don't know. I don't regret watching it but I would really not recommend this show to anyone. I'm confused how the rating is so high. I will give it some credit for the beautiful art style, animation, and I love the OP. But other than that, this show was wildly disappointing.

If you're looking for a cute and pleasant watch, then Taishou Otome Otogibanashi fits the bill quite well. And while it was nice to see this in an animated form, the adaptation does not live up to the source material by any measure. The show doesn't include any of the depth and layers of character development or even some of the relationships that the manga expands on completely. Many of the darker themes are left out entirely in an effort to keep this a wholesome and light-hearted show. It almost feels like the show was "dumbed down" and it was quite disappointing to watch the ... last few episodes knowing its wasted potential. The ending was mildly changed (for no good reason too, imo) and many of the events that really wrapped up the story had been left out. Despite this being a somewhat poor review though, I still wouldn't say it was a bad show. It was cute. But please do yourself a favor and read the manga. That is all.

Looking through some of the other reviews, I wholeheartedly agree with the person who said that after a rewatch of the series, they realized that "it was just the wannabe-elitist in me thinking this show is any good." There's an extraordinary number of people rating this show a 10/10. They probably think the show is "hip" "deep" and a "masterpiece," but in reality, they are just trying to latch onto a show that seems cool because it doesn't quite fit the mold of other anime.

Now, that doesn't mean the show wasn't good in its own way. It was certainly unique and I did ... find the show enjoyable for the most part. The concept is cool. The animation is interesting. The music is great. Overall, I thought it was a refreshing break from the average shows I've been watching. Still, I can't quite pinpoint the part of the show that fell through for me. It's possible that I grew tired of the repetition. It's possible that the show didn't wrap up as nicely as I imagined it would. I still think it's certainly worth a watch, but nowhere near the "masterpiece" that it's ratings are making it out to be. I almost wish there was a separate tag for "interesting" because that's a more accurate rating to me than "good" or "great."

Not sure if anything would be a spoiler so read at your own risk:

Tonikawa is listed as a "comedy, romance, and shounen" but fails to deliver in all categories. It's not particular funny, arguably has no "shounen" characteristics at all, and although it is certainly feels like a romance, none of the romantic moments in the show are really "doki-doki" enough for me to enjoy it as true romance. It also doesn't help that I don't particularly like the art style. They're supposed to be 16 or so years old, but look 10 or 12, and I don't find either protagonists as "cute" as their ... counterparts claim each other to be. In any case, there's no real conflict that happens in the entire show, and I found myself painfully waiting for anything to capture my attention at all. Moreso, I just wanted something to happen that would prove to me that this show was even worthy of the high ratings (8+ at the time) enticed me to watch it in the first place. They often hint at the mystery behind Tsukasa's origin but never develop on it. I often try to be forgiving of a series' lack of key details when it seems likely the concept will be expanded upon in a later season(s). But at this point, I would not give this series another chance.

This show is extraordinarily average, at best. I feel incredibly cheated by people who literally claiming it to be AOTY of 2020, subsequently wasting my time and leading me astray. If you want to watch a show about a couple's ordinary life where nothing of importance happens, this is the one for you. But otherwise, I would not recommend this show to anyone, ever.

In all honesty, I absolutely HATED Shinsekai Yori starting out. The entire first half of the show is an utter mess. I complained without end about how incredibly disorganized the plot was, and how I really couldn't understand how or why anything was happening for at least the first 10 episodes. I had friends keep telling me it's a "slow start, but it's really good" and that I will start understanding what's going on by "episode 8... no, episode 10... maybe 12?" I'm sorry, but if it takes half an entire season to build your backstory, I think there is something wrong here. I wouldn't ... even have made it past the first episode without constantly being urged by friends to continue. I was almost offended by how scenes so randomly jumped to the next, how characters behaved without reason, how dialogue didn't make sense at all sometimes. I've never had a show make me so legitimately angry just watching and trying to comprehend the unexplained and irrational behavior of almost every character in an entire show. I consider myself a pretty smart person too, but I feel like half the "deepness" of this show for me was just trying to comprehend how so many others (especially all these 10* reviewers) weren't equally as confused as I was trying to make any sense out of anything at all (seriously). I won't go into any details as to not give any spoilers - but I feel like anyone who reads this review before watching will likely understand what I mean by this instantly.

STILL, I begrudgingly trucked through the rest of the series. And I'm so relieved to say that it wasn't all in vain. While I wholeheartedly disagree with the way A-1 pictures chose to tell this story, it is true (as previously mentioned friends promised me) that things do indeed start connecting towards the end that finally allows you to understand what the hell is really going on. Many of my complaints (random scene jumps, unexplained behaviors) form pieces of a puzzle that you can really only see the full picture of as the story reaches its climaxes (towards the last few episodes). For me, that is way too late to start actually enjoying a series. Despite that, I will admit that the true story of Shinsekai Yori is unlike any I've ever watched/read, definitely unique, and considerably good. The ending was the real kicker for me, and really salvaged the mess of episodes that made up the first half of this series. I still have plenty of unanswered plot and character behavioral questions. But, I had long given up hope on getting any real answers to those. I appreciate what I was able to get at the end and I won't (or rather, can't) ask for anymore than that.

All in all, Shinsekai Yori is a hard recommend simply based out how poorly the first half of the series is executed - but the story is definitely worth it for those who can manage to keep their wits about them.

In short: the most frustration you can experience in 11 volumes. Even the ending doesn't make up for how ridiculously slow every. single. other. chapter dragged on. Everything that this series accomplishes could probably have been easily done in half the number of volumes... or even 1/4th.

I think this series might be geared towards individuals who may have never experience romance before. But if you have liked another human being even once in your life, you would know that Kujou's character and personality is far too exaggerated and unrealistic. That was probably the biggest turn-off for me reading the entire series - watching her fumble ... through romance in a way that felt much too ridiculous and unbelievable.

The only reason I can rate it somewhat average is because the art is decent and there are at least several cute moments that were redeemable. But otherwise - this series gets a hard 2 or 3 (at best) for the story, plot progression, character development.

I'm actually writing my first manga review ever because I loved this series *that* much, and I'd really like more people to give it a chance.

**light spoilers throughout?**

The story is a bit different than your typical shoujo manga. Our main hero, Kyouya is an asshole and if you haven't noticed, is purposely portrayed this way. Most negative reviewers are incredibly disgusted by his behavior in the beginning and (apparently) refuse to overlook it the entire series. I personally had no problem dealing with it because this is a manga, my dudes, not a documentary into a real person's life. But I can see how Kyouya's ... behavior can be triggering to others. If anything, Erika is a bit triggering to me because she starts off as such a typical shoujo manga heroine with nothing special about her at all and it made me wonder why she's even the MC at all. Regardless, it's almost a given that Kyouya will not stay that way forever... otherwise there would be no story, right?

Moving along, Erika and Kyouya do become a real couple and the story follows along their high school days together. What I REALLY like about the series is that all the chapters and arcs are very real scenarios. Nothing extravagant, nothing unnatural - just real, relatable events that can easily happen to anyone in their high school days. For me, it was a really refreshing break from isekais, superheroes, or even other shoujo manga where some freak coincidences happen that just make you wonder if this is really meant to be a shoujo at all.

What I also loved about the series is Kyouya's character development. And I think that's also the most important thing about this series to anyone who criticizes and hates on it solely because of his behavior in the first dozen chapters. He CHANGES for Erika. And not only that, his character development is so well paced, I actually went back and reread the series just to take in all the little details of change. You can clearly see it in the progression in how they spend their holidays and birthdays together. Each year, Kyouya tries harder and harder for her. And you can't help but smile when you see his reluctant but earnest way of showing love.

What almost singlehandedly made the series for me, though, was the ending and the epilogue. It's not often that shoujo manga end with epilogues in the first place, but holy crap, this one was so thorough and so well written/drawn. Arriving at the end of the story with everything tied together in a neat little bow was such a pleasant surprise. It actually touched my heart to have seen their (literally) happy ever after. Especially Kyouya's reactions and reflection in the entire last chapter -- I don't think I've ever felt so moved by a fictional character in any other series. And the feeling is magnified because of how drastic his change in his personality is from the beginning. You wouldn't even think Kyouya from chapter 1 is the same Kyouya in chapter 67. From the bottom of my heart, I actually felt so happy for him. It's amazing.

Overall, everyone's taste in manga is different and I realize that this manga may not be for everyone... but I think it's definitely worth a read regardless. Anyone who is too stubborn to get over the rough beginning really just needs to get over themselves first (sorrynotsorry). Honestly, when I first started the series, I didn't even think I would like this series that much either, yet here I am writing my very first manga review and giving it a 10/10. I truly loved the story, and will probably always come back to it when I need to read a wholesome shoujo ending to warm my heart.