Back to walshc25's Profile walshc25's Profile

If I have one word to describe this show it would be: Weird.

If you've read other reviews, you've heard all the major points. Incest undertones, unnecessary fan service, the overbearing mother, etc. etc.
I'll try to cover some things that I haven't seen others cover.

Story:

The main issue this has from a writing stand point is that it doesn't know what it wants to be and when it does decide to take a direction, it picks probably the worst one. Initially it resembles a comedy about a son and his clingy mother in a Isekai. The jokes work and while its not spectacular, it ... seems like its going to be fun and your sympathy for the protagonist doesn't come from relatability or a point of liking him but from feeling sorry for him. You want to see him get a win somewhere despite his tiger mom unintentionally humiliating him at every turn. He's the classic "loser" from a sitcom.

You then start to feel uncomfortable around episode 3 or 4 when the characters start to feel comfortable with their nudity around each other. This isn't just between Masato and his mom either. Though this feeling of discomfort is elevated when there's face on bare breast action between the son and the mother. Purely accidental of course.

The show then hard pivots to the arcs which is where things start to spiral. The setting of the world is nonsensical, so instead of making each episode well...episodic, like a sitcom, it tries to have story arcs based on the themes of mothers and children getting along. Once it goes down this path, the comedy turns from a boy with an over-protective mother to how clueless but OP his mother is which isn't all that funny. It's also not executed well, basically the antagonists are just selfish in their own way and lack any real depth or nuance. It doesn't help the fact that they exist within a game world and their antagonists would be given the banhammer by any a GM instead of relying on protagonists to fix the problem for them.

The show would have been better off if it didn't go down this route. The premise and intro were funny enough, but it decided it wanted to have a over-arching plot that didn't work for the setting nor was it well thought out enough.


Characters:

This is probably where I will deviate with the rest of the negative reviewers, I honestly didn't find it to be as bad as the story.

Masato is the loser trying to get ahead comedy archetype. Others seem to be of the opinion that he should be the self-insert or stereotypical self-insert but he's more like the role George Costanza plays in Seinfeld (though not like him in his personality). It works and had the story been better, he'd probably be less criticized.

Mamako is a mixed bag. She basically has the traits of a Mary Sue, not completely, but its the best way to describe her character. It's hard to say that I could dislike her, because she is a villain if you look at her in another light, but she also doesn't do things that are overtly villainous. Her being a smothering mother isn't done intentionally, but clearly is harmful to her child. Her complete lack of healthy boundaries is disturbing too.

Porta and Shirase: Barely characters. They both exists to give exposition, context or provide useful items. Porta had a chance near the beginning to be another albatross over Masato's head when she accepted Mamako's offer to marry her son. It would have been a bit of a trope of the young girl wanting to marry the older boy when she gets older, but if the story went in a different direction would have given her the comedic element of trying to block this poor guy from getting with one of the other girls. Shirase is just useless.

Medhi and Wise: There's not much more to say about these two that hasn't already been said, but the friendship they develop in the final arc is probably the best part about this show. It's portrayed in a realistic way, unlike in most anime where usually things are overly emotional or sentimental. They have a rivalry of a sort, poke fun at each other, but have no issues hanging out or working with one another and seem to enjoy each others company. They even mock the villain in that arc together, playing off each others insults. In the OVA, they're even seen chilling together while the only male isekai protagonist is doing other things. The writer must have close friends or something because their relationship resembled friends I have irl and not a stereotypical anime friendship.

I ended up giving this a 3, and I think its right where it belongs. It was mostly bad in its entirety though I did like the first couple episodes, the premise and the friendship between Medhi and Wise to the point I'd give a spin off of those two adventuring with a different party a chance. There's worse shows to watch but there is a lot better too.

Many Spoilers ahead.


The first half of the season is pretty wholesome. It's about Rudy trying to be a good husband, building a home for his future family as well as his past family, and helping out his friends. Sure it wasn't action packed, but for a character we've known the last few seasons and all the constant B.S. he's gone through, it was nice to see him settle down and live a cozy life that we knew could never really last.

In the middle, when he meets the Man God, are we given a sort of three way split in the path of what ... Rudy should do. He wants to go rescue his mother and help his father, but the God advises against this saying he will regret it and suggests he stay where he is and merely cheat on his wife with one of the beast girls. Rudy is against this idea vehemently and refuses to cheat on Sylphiette.

He's now given a choice:

- Disobey the God who has correctly guided him and set off to rescue his mother
- Disobey the God and live a happy life with his wife
- Obey the God and bang a catgirl

He decides to pick option A, probably so the series doesn't stagnate to being a slice of life. I honestly wouldn't mind it if he didn't go off adventuring, the latter two options would be interesting on their own. Defying the God for the sake of love and its consequences, or obeying him and finding out just how his life could be happier by shacking up with an animal person. I suspect it might be related to needing to form an alliance with the beast people to help the princess regain her throne and receiving the title of a Lord as a result, elevating his family's station in life.

So you know what happens next, he rescues Roxy (who I suppose the Man God thinks should be dead), rescues mom, etc.

Roxy then, a character always portrayed as wanting physical affection but seeing it through the lens of love, decides to straight up seduce Rudy, a married man, at his lowest point using "helping him" as an excuse, forever changing the nature of their relationship. He goes along with it and even shares feelings with her. They both get depressed knowing they can't be together.

Elinalise tells him he should just marry her as well and live in a bigamous relationship. This blows my mind, because you think a character who was cursed with being a slut, who lost a sense of self-worth over it, and who was now happy to be in a (desired but not able to commit yet) monogamous relationship of her own would even suggest to Rudy that he shouldn't have a monogamous relationship with her own grand daughter. Rudy and Roxy decide to do it if Sylphiette is okay with it.

Then when they finally get to the mansion, and the question is popped, Norn rightfully scolds Rudy and Roxy is depressed. When Roxy leaves, Slyphiette tells her to stay and that while she hoped Rudy would remain faithful to her, she figured he wouldn't and would rather he marry Roxy as well because she wants him to be happy or w/e.

This just ruins her character as well. The major arc throughout the series was that both her and Rudy did what they could to be with and help one another (even if it wasn't explicitly romantic at first in S1). That throughout their own unique paths in life, that it was all going to come back to those two, even if it was just them being close friends. When the last few episodes of S2 Part 1 occurred, it elevated their relationship to the level of soul mates and was a nice thing to see.

Sylphiette being a passionate, understanding, patient, supportive, eager and loyal girl means she narratively deserves to be treated with more consideration. Kind of like the traditional horror movie final girl being a virgin who abstains from alcohol and drugs. Betraying Sylphiette, who has given so much to Rudy emotionally, should be the beginning of another arc of regret. Where the character who has been portrayed so nobly the past couple seasons becomes to be seen as the degenerate self-centered NEET once again. Sylphiette being okay with this arrangement however, reframes her as a desperate doormat. We've seen how passive she is, though we hoped that is was more a shy personality and that her passivity was something that was lost offscreen by her numerous spoken about exploits.

This ending was a disaster. Not only for what it is as I just wrote, but also the future implications. If Eris comes back, is there going to be any drama from that now? No she's just going to join the harem. Is there going to be any moral implication of Rudy hooking up with one or both of the beast girls? Nope they can just join the harem. Does Roxy's survival and marriage make Rudy's life full of regret like the Man God hinted at? Unlikely since Roxy and Sylphiette seem cool with it and Roxy being a competent fighter means everyone will likely be more safe together.

I rate this a 6 because I did like most of the season, but this ending man, it will have a dire effect on the series and unless Season 3 has Rudy losing everything as a result, it's a wound the series will likely not be able to recover from.

I played one route of the visual novel from start to finish (Common ----> Kotori) and I feel this anime has one problem: Tone.

In the VN, they dwell a lot on the supernatural and what exactly it is. Ghosts? Cryptids? Other worlds? Fairies? There may even be talks of UFOs iirc. It was the most interesting parts of the story, with the slice of life being a sort of downtime between the mysteries. It worked well because often times you're going down a path because you like a particular girl and then random stuff starts happening and you're left wondering what is going on. ... Sometimes it feels like something out of a horror comedy where no one can see the monster but you and they don't believe you, making you intrigued as to what exactly is happening.

If you've seen the twist, you're both mystified and curious, and when you finally (it takes forever) get past it, you want to know what's going on. In Kotori's route you only get part of the story, so presumably you have to finish all of them to get a good idea, but I didn't have the patience to go through it all again (it is a long game, but a good one).

So onto the anime itself. They decided to approach it the opposite way. They wanted to make it into a slice of life with action and either ignore or gloss over the uncertainty and mysterious tone of the VN. I believe this was a huge mistake. Re:Write should feel unsettling in its first act, with the slice of life breaking up the tense moments as the character is trying to live a normal life while going through all this crazy stuff.

In the second act, they glossed over the emotional aspects at least for Kotori's story. People who have only seen this would be surprised just how much of a background character they made Kotori comparatively, there was a lot more they could have done/added that wouldn't have taken up too much screen time. They added some of the elements, but glossed them over and it lacks the emotional weight and build up. I haven't seen season 2 yet, but they should have at least saved it for that if they were going to include it at all.

The Key also acts differently in this, but I don't know if that's in another route so could be canon. I felt like the character though as portrayed in the anime took away from how it was in the VN, again, from what I played. So I won't comment further on that.

Finally, I feel like this anime was made for me and not people who haven't played the VN. The more tonal story I would have preferred may have been kinda "meh" for people who played the VN, since you know roughly what is going on, but would have been great for people who hadn't played the VN. Since I did play the VN, it was nice to see things I remember from the game, how it was adapted, and the condensed story including all the routes.

Would I recommend it to others? No, in fact it may be extremely confusing and come across as rushed or mediocre. They left out a lot of information from the VN. Saying that, for me, I didn't mind it, more disappointed than bored.

The first episode, and to a much lesser extent, the second one are funny, but it goes downhill from there fast as the story is played straight. He doesn't tell the girls (yet) about their fate. He doesn't try to keep the harem secret, he has no second thoughts about what he's doing, everyone is fine with the arrangement even if they shouldn't be ( it feels more like resigned acceptance), Hell the show doesn't even treat escalation properly (They pretty much kiss, hand hold, confess etc. right out the gate). Not to mention its complete disregard for romantic connections.

In most other shows, the ... romance is an important part. What do the characters feel? How far are they willing to go for the one they love? What do they desire? Are they compatible? Would they make a good lover? What's their history together? Is there a connection? When they engage in intimate acts is it genuine and desired?

In your typical Harem, the girls all feel romantic attraction to a guy and each new step taken whether in competition or in showing affection is an escalation, raising the stakes of the story. You end up having a favourite and maybe a second favourite that you the audience member believe would be the best fit. The main character may be uncertain of his feelings, which is understandable, but you believe that generally speaking he's genuine and respectful towards the girls feelings.

This show advertises itself as a comedy, but really is about a guy who tells girls he loves them, does something to try to get them to fall for them and then introduces them to his harem and they're all kind of okay with it, thrilled even. It really goes downhill in episode 3 where the shy girl who pines for a fantasy romance like the princess and knight in her favourite novel, is brought before the harem and told she's now part of it. It makes no sense that she's okay with it. The protag really went out of his way to pursue her and tell her he loves her, only to just toss her into his harem and in the very next episode does the same with another girl. It's all played serious too and he's completely shameless about it.

Making a deep emotional connection with someone should be meaningful, and not used as a ploy to bring someone into a polygamous relationship. If he cared about any of these girls as much as he says, he wouldn't be leaving them at home the minute they join girlfriend club so he can find another to fall in love with him to do the same.

I can't recommend this to anyone as a fan of the harem genre let alone for people who don't really like harem anime. I'm giving it a charity 2 though because the tropey characters are leaned into enough that they're interesting or amusing to watch. You just wish that one of them would tell him they're not sharing and would rather die.

Unlike perhaps most people who dislike this movie, I actually really liked the anime and gave it an 8. At first I thought it was kind of bland but it really picked up half way and by the end of the anime it delved into the character's psychology, offered some philosophy to the audience using the characters, and was somewhat ambiguous as to how it ended. Good stuff.

However, if you liked the philosophy and psychology presented in the final two episode of the anime, I recommend you stay away from this. It rehashes some the stuff put forth in Shinji's mind at the end of ... the final episode, but with the twist that he doesn't find the resolve he appears to at the end of the anime and not as well fleshed out.

The rehash of the psychological and the philosophical are even more shallow here, and doesn't get one to think about one's own life as much as some of the question posed by the original. Instead you get to see what happens from the storyline and SPOILERS, it's a story about everyone getting merged into a single source.

I like that they should Asuka as a cocky badass like her character was supposed to be, and I like that it decided to go that extra step to show us how things turned out for all the other characters, but I feel the ending I imagined walking away from the anime's open ending was better.

To sum my feelings up on the movie, I've seen Gun X Sword, Mirai Nikki and TTGL and all of them took the ideas and concepts here and did them better. They probably got it from this movie, but that just goes to show how it has been succeeded by better anime using the same concepts. The movie just doesn't live up to precedent of the anime and ends up being a major let down.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS ANIME DESPITE LIKING IT!


Yeah, you read me right. I liked the anime, but do not recommend it.


Why you ask? Because despite the action sequences, violence, and psychological thriller that made it enjoyable, it's actually a poorly written story backed up by mediocre characters. It's not a mystery.

Higurashi is another anime you have to enjoy with your brain turned off even more so than other series. This seems strange considering it is classified as a mystery. It's not a series you could just recommend to a friend or a general audience member. It's kind of like a slasher movie ... from the 80's. It takes a certain type of person to enjoy it.

GENERAL:

Higurashi is a story about a boy and his group of girl friends living in a town that worships a demon god of sacrifices. Three major families essentially govern the town, and there is a curse that every year at the festival (for the past 5 years) someone gets killed and someone disappears. This can happen to more than one person. Two people, one a photographer and some woman who was researching the town (her job is not important), don't take this curse too seriously and you can guess what happens next.

The story is then divided into what I like to think of as six different arcs. I consider the two episode police investigator to be it's own arc.

THE PROBLEMS:

Instead of the arcs telling a single, coherent story line from multiple perspectives, or even chronologically out of order, the show essentially takes my blurb above about the story and just creates multiple short stories, of which most are only loosely related to one another.

The best way I feel I can describe this, is that this feels more like a compilation of fan fiction involving the characters. Maybe even a series that had multiple writers who wanted different stories and endings that allude to the plot. Sometimes it actually is a curse, other times it probably isn't. What particularly frustrates me is when, in the last arc, (MAY BE SPOILER) they try to wrap them all up together as being alternate takes on the future. A future that may never end until the writers run out of ideas.

The characters are not developed enough to warrant fan fiction. This series is unique in a sense that I feel like I know the supporting cast better than the main cast. The main guy is okay, he's a bit like your stereotype anime hero, but has more guts. The 4 main girls don't have much of a difference in personality. Their outlooks on life are only marginally different depending on their one messed up situation and/or job. Oh and they all have something wrong with them in the head.

So it's like a compilation of fan fictions, of a rough plot, with interchangeable characters who aren't much different except the role they play. Oh and there may or may not be a DM involved.

Yeah, this is the equivalent of an RPG, played out in various different ways with this stand in characters and the random cards they get dealt at the restart of each story. With just a rough plot of our hero's adventures, a new story unfolds. When they pass the baton on to the next DM, they may incorporate some elements of a previous story they liked. This series is not a genuine mystery.


HOWEVER:
IT'S A VERY ENTERTAINING RPG TO WATCH.

Despite all it's flaws, it takes so many twists and turns that when it wants to be engaging it can be. Indeed, my frustration with this series is one of passion and not of hate. I loved arcs 1, 2, 4, and 5 and was content with 3. Had they instead kept it as one story, and worked on the characters a bit more, I think it had what it takes to be one of the best anime out there. It came that close.

The 2 and 5 particularly seemed like they were wrapping everything up. This show was able to take things to the extreme, and actually piqued my interest numerous times and had me actively watching, waiting to see what was happening next. Seeing the psychological health of the characters, and how it impacted the environment around them was interesting. The supernatural element in it made it spooky at times.


CONCLUSION:

I don't recommend this series on a critical level. It's not something you should be showing everyone, and to be honest, it's kind of insulting that someone recommended this based on my interest in Mirai Nikki. In a similar case to Deadman Wonderland, Higurashi had a lot of promise but was overall a let down.

Unlike Deadman Wonderland, I felt that the boredom was more in the middle (Beginning of Arc 3) and not at the end, so it's actually good if you don't mind turning off your brain and just enjoying the f-ed up story(ies) that you are about to watch. Psycopathic Friends, Torture, Pedo doctors, Elder abuse, & Child murder all await your sadistic tastes in this show.

Enjoy, you monster.

I found this season to be better from the last one. Season 1 of R+V was so bad, I had to consume alcohol to finish watching it. It was just a mess of a harem anime.

It seems however, that the creators of Season 2 agreed with me, and decided to create a second season to parody the first. Parodying your own series with your own series, a very bold move.

The series kept the harem in a form of stasis, with catfights erupting here and there even though the main guy is clearly into the vampire chick above and beyond the other girls. The ... characters were dumb, and fought, and the story was all over the place but it seemed like every character in it, when they weren't at the center of the episode, knew just how bad this show was and expressed the sentiment. The Succubus being the one to least give a damn about criticizing the show.

MAJOR SPOILER*
------------------------------

However, I'm going to give the season some credit on the final episode. It started to move from a silly parody into hitting at the heart of all harem animes.

Both Real Moka and The Succubus Kurumu actually came across as being genuinely hurt by Tsukune's feigned indecisiveness. Real Moka tried to maintain the relationship and attraction between her and Tsukune, but it just wasn't good enough for him because she wasn't the ditz. The character did seem genuinely sad as he just runs off leaving her to stand alone.

Additionally, in the final two episodes, Kurumu lays it all out there as to why she likes him and how she's been with him from the start. She even gets he's not going to pick her and expresses being upset that he never even looked back at her as heads into the castle.

I felt these scenes to be somewhat sad, and indicative of the result of a harem anime. Someone(s) is going to end up heart. I'm glad they briefly touched on this before resetting the status quo. Both of these two had somewhat genuine reasons as to why he should care/be with them. Yet he chooses the stereotype instead.

The witch girl ultimately admits to basically being down for a polygamous threesome with Tsukune and Moka, so I don't buy her romance, and the Ice Girl, maybe because I missed something, didn't seem to be genuinely in to him so much as she wanted to be into some guy.

End of SPOILER*
---------------------------

the final episodes which, combined with the series being self aware and parodying itself, bumped this show a point above its predecessor.

If the show took itself a bit more seriously in the second series, with a focus on tying up loose ends, it could have at least earned a hard 6 out of 10. A break up of Tsukune's harem, and the character split from episode 11 (you'll know when you see it) would have done wonders. It could have turned into a slight critique of a harem instead of a parody, which given the stereotypical and often blind behavior of the characters, would have served the series well and could have still resulted in a happy ending.

Nothing about plastic models, which is a shame because I would have liked to have found an anime about that. Would I recommend it? Sure.

You have the dirty blonde haired girl who is your standard excited, hyper, strange and awkward character.

The black haired one who gets angry and is meaner than the others, though could be nice and even sane.

The red haired one showed no real personality.

the other characters are strange...and I guess unique to a sense. The anime wasn't bad per se but just kind of weird and aimless. Sometimes things are unnecessarily lewd, and even sexual, but I guess ... it's okay?

Personally I think it's better than the haruhi-chan series. Saying that though, I prefer longer and more effort-intensive animes.

Deadman Wonderland, great idea, poor execution.

To properly review this anime, I need to review it in three parts. The first 6 episodes, the last 6 episodes and then the entire anime as a whole. Spoilers will be said, but minimized.

The First Six:

Ginta's classmates are completely destroyed by a man in red for seemingly no reason, and implants a red crystal into him. He gets blamed for the murders being the only survivor. As such, he is given a life sentence at a place called Deadman Wonderland which is a theme park staffed with criminals who also entertain guests to gain valuable candies that ... work as a temporary antidote to the poison injected into their necks via a collar they are given.

The prisoners are also able to purchase food, alcohol, cigarettes and other things in the form of points that they earn as well.

However, there is a secret game as well, a tournament to either death or knockout by people with blood powers referred to as the Deadmen. They get money and candies for participation, but if they lose, they lose part of their body. The promoter promises Ginta that he can avenge his classmates if he makes it to the top of the tournament to challenge the dubbed "Red Man."

This is the story for the first half which seems standard but also interesting as well. A prison/death tournament/revenge/magic weapon story. It was actually pretty good.

The Characters were for the most part interesting, though everyone was generally rude or mean except for Ginta, Yoh and Shiro, but in a way that I found entertaining or at least made sense within context of the story. The three mentioned above function as the protagonists and are alright, though Shiro is too childlike but that's to be expected with anime. First half, easily 8 out of 10 with strong potential to have ended with a 9 or 10 out of 10.

The Second Six:

Boy is this where the story gets railroaded. So now it's a story about a bunch of Deadmen who hide in plain sight, don't take themselves too seriously, are planning a big prison break to complain to officials about the conditions there. Fighting them are a group of Anti-Deadmen, people whom have had notions of mercy and kindness removed from their brains and whose weapons can nullify the blood powers.

So we're now introduced to a mostly dull cast of freedom fighters who the Anti-Deadmen know where they are and just mess with them every once in awhile. Ginta decides to get wrapped up in all this and the story focuses exclusively on these boring and moronic people. No more matches, no more critique of a privately owned prison complex, no more interesting characters. These people and the villains are entirely bland. The people introduced in the first six episodes are given brief cameos, with Yoh being dropped as a protagonist, Ginta flips between being brave, being a pussy, or being emotional. Shiro had an arc that began that really isn't explored. An arc begins with the warden but then is kind of dropped. A few other arcs or people are mentioned but never fully explored. This second half made me want to watch High School Of The Dead again. 3 out of 10.

Overall:

The series came out strong, has a fantastic opening, great premise and interesting enough characters for the first 6 episodes. I didn't like Shiro, but didn't dislike her either but liked everyone else. Once it was set up, I thought it was going to play out to be an action anime that was perhaps critical of the prison system, or just a fun anime setting that was kind of unique. However it dropped that ball rapidly when episode 7 began and this freedom fighter group thing began. There was absolutely no reason to shift gears from excellent set up to generic garbage that a high school writing class teacher would give a C- to with the comments "fantastic premise, needed a lot more effort."

So why am I giving it a 6 instead of 5 or lower? Because if you stop watching at episode 6, then fanfic your own ending, the series would easily be an 8 out of 10. I don't think the series's early creativity, story and characters should be penalized for a lazily written and generic second half. It's still a worthy watch up until episode 6, and should be watched by everyone. Watch after episode 6 though at your own discretion.

This series doesn't really follow a story arc, but unlike other series where it kind of works, it actually hinders the quality of an otherwise interesting story.

It's about a girl called Tomoko who just cannot seem to catch a break. She had high expectations for her first year of high school, but things do not seem to go as planned. She has trouble to talking to people and is also generally ignored by the populace. Whenever someone does try to talk to her, outside of her immediate family, she gets incredibly nervous and shy. The show revolves around her attempts to increase her popularity ... at High School so she can meet new friends, get a boyfriend, and enjoy her High School years.

While this may sound like an interesting underdog story, it has quite a few downsides.

Tomoko receives little character development in this character story. She becomes less nervous talking to people, and gains a little confidence, but never actually develops in a meaningful way.

Her character and her goals also are a little inconsistent. In the first half of the story (Roughly episodes 1-7), one of her primary goals is to get guys to notice and/or like her. It makes sense since her character is written to be extremely sexualized, with even a fantasy scene in one of the first few episodes of her being gang-raped. However, after the 7th episode, she seems to be more interested in getting the attention of girls and even comes across as a bit of a lesbian. This comes out of nowhere and seems kind of odd.

She also seems to be disinterested in getting a boyfriend and more interested in just finding friends but in the first half of the series, she liked being alone generally but was really looking to find a guy. Yeah sure, she always wanted attention, but seemed to have switched from primarily male to primarily female towards the second part of the series.

The Story was deliberately written in the way of not having plot progression. There were many chances for the writer to take the story down an interesting path, only to have it dropped or ruined by the main character who pushes the bounds of suspension of disbelief. The story has no ending, despite building up to one, and the only closure the series has is a vague "Who cares, be happy with yourself."

I held Tomoko in various states of like and dislike depending upon her actions, situation, and setting. She is a sympathetic character, someone who we've all been to some extent and someone who we'd all want to help. She also can be selfish, mean and weird. However, I believe the audience wanted to see her ultimately succeed and towards the end, it seems that she might get what she actually wants. The opportunity for a happy ending is ruined by, in my opinion, a poorly taught lesson used as an excuse to show some panties and jiggling breasts.

Saying all I have said, the writer is skilled at writing characters, and the support characters are surprisingly normal when compared to Tomoko and that was a great juxtaposition. The story is well connected, with characters coming back in later episodes, and the episode ideas were interesting enough that it was a hard series to put down. Tomoko is sympathetic, her brother is a realistic example of a sibling, her middle school friend was genuine and at the end, it seems someone actually notices her. It played out fairly realistically and if it wasn't for the writer snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it would have been a satisfying tale. However it didn't, so it's just an okay series.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched anime at all though. There was fair too many anime culture references, specifically from the Haruhi series. I noticed an Another reference as well. I probably didn't get all the references myself, so it's probably a series best left to watching later. I think people who have watched more anime than myself might have found find it funnier.

All in all, I am giving it a 6. If this series had followed a more stereotypical story arc within it's context, it could have been great. But changing the character, goal, and completely messing up the ending makes it just another average anime.