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The Turing test is a test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human (*). The test consists more or less in having a computer chat, and decide if you think you had a chat with a human or a chatbot.

In 2016 we hear about little advances in AI almost every week. We don't have autonomous, human-looking, self-powered robots yet but we do have computers that can answer simple questions and understand simple commands. There's still a long way to go to Chi, but we're on this path; in a ... decade or two we might quite close to it.

What will we do with machines that can simulate emotions really well? With humans, we know that emotions or states of mind can be induced or influenced by various things like drugs, parasites (like Toxoplasma Gondii) or even the lack of sun exposure. What about pets? Do they feel emotions? Do they really "like" us? If so, what's the difference from us? What makes a programmed simulation of emotions different from "real" emotions?

(*) Source: Wikipedia

Sukitte Ii na yo is on average good. However I didn't like the lead couple.

The male character is a little too "alpha": too self-confident, too perfect, too tall, and too possessive. One gets the unpleasant feeling, as the shows progresses that he *could* become an abusive boyfriend/husband. The female character falls for him too easily, and then she becomes way too submissive. Overall, too often it looked like he treated her like she was his pet, to put it bluntly.

So that's it. I simply didn't like the personalities of the main characters, but that doesn't mean they are bad. If you have a similar opinion ... after a few episodes, I can only suggest to watch Kimi ni Todoke instead, which is quite similar but with different personalities.

It all starts good with interesting characters and an interesting story but then... It all falls apart.

It feels like at some point they were told that there wouldn't be a second season, and then they had to make filler episodes to reach the 26th episode. Unfortunately, this isn't even the case, because that episode ends on a "to be continued".

So I decided to rate this based on what I've seen up to what I would call the great melt down, which happens shortly after the two recap episode (yes, two, in addition to those annoying recaps at the beginning of every episode), hence the good ... rating. But it has been a pain to watch the show getting butchered like this in the late season.

So ignoring that, up to the "great catastrophe", the evolution of the relationship between the lead couple is a pleasure to watch. It's interesting to watch how they handle things has they happen. And there's tons of sweet, heart-warming moments.

It's mature - there's no excessive blushing or not too much "Oh no, it's nothing". It has some good pure comedy moments without nosebleeds.

Nice static artworks are inserted at key moments for greater effect. I'm probably a bit biased here, because most of the time reading the subtitles so I'm generally more focused on the story and what the characters say than the animation; so only really "watch" when the there's no dialogues.

So I would recommend just watch up until what I can only call the "WTF episode". Then just drop the rest and maybe read the manga. Or imagine for yourself what would actually happen to those two.

The first episode clearly points the direction the show is taking. You know that the main characters are actually android undertakers, and you can guess that Isla has a countdown over her head.

I think one cannot watch this anime casually. One has to be in the mood of watching sad stories and to be prepared for a potential sad ending. Sometimes a sad ending is good. Sometimes a surprise happy ending for a sad story is good too. In either cases the uncertainty adds to the show.

But if you are in that kind of mood, it's a good watch. It's not too heavy nor depressing. ... It asks the right questions and gives generic answers in a nice wrapping.

In essence, this is a quite classic romantic anime. What makes it a bit better than other animes of the genre is the larger than usual cast of characters, and the fact that it actual features two lead pairs.

The characters themselves are also quite classic, but a few twists here and there prevents them from being too predictable.

The anime also has the usual flaws of the genre: too many "Oh, it's nothing" lines at times, characters conveniently catching deadly colds from rain, etc.

Still, the double pair of leads saves the show, perhaps because it gives it enough density to be entertaining.

This show is generally praised and has a pretty high rating. That's why I kept watching it up to the last episode even though I disliked it right from the beginning.

The problem I immediately had is the main character. I found it irritating and stupid. It would have been fine if the show actually took off after a 2-3 episodes; but enduring his idiotic behaviour for a dozen of episodes was too much. By the time the action actually kicks in, I couldn't take him seriously, I couldn't care about the other characters, and the plot wasn't good enough (for someone interested in time travel ... stories) to save the anime. The main character ruined the show for me.

I can only recommend to watch a bunch of episodes and see by yourself if you can bear with him. If he's ok for you, you probably can enjoy this show. If you find him irritating and stupid, just avoid this show.