What does it take to create a dating SIM which will cause people to laugh and cry, but also touch their hearts? This was a question our main character asked himself, which sparked the beginning of the roller-coaster of laughs we call Saekano.

I’m sure when we were younger you’ve all had dreams and goals you wanted to achieve when you get older. The anime tells the epic adventure it took our MC, Tomoya Aki, to achieve his goal of creating a game, complete with all the girl problems, and sexual harassments he receives each day from his devious co-workers.

While I was scrolling through the notoriously long new anime section of an unnamed website “how to raise a boring girlfriend” caught my eye, then I thought to myself “better take some notes.” At first glance, Saekano looks like an average rom-com anime, and being your normal rom-com lover I decided to give it a try, and let me tell you I was definitely in for a treat. Saekano is one of those anime’s that you just can't get enough of, not a single episode has left me without tears rolling down my face from laughter.

[Story]
The story kicks off on a sunny spring day in which the wind blows the hat off of a fair maiden, which of course Tomoya was there to pick it up for her, and give it back. That event was what inspired Tomoya to make a dating SIM, he also envisioned that that exact event would serve to be a flawless opening scene with the maiden as the main character. And as far as we know the “perfect girl” doesn’t exist, because Tomoya later finds out that in reality, the maiden wasn't very “fair,” in fact, apart from her beauty, she’s just about the most ordinary girl ever. She was so ordinary that Tomoya didn't realize that she was in his class. The plot is centered on our protagonist Tomoya Aki and his associates, the busty, but intelligent Utaha senpai, the flat but ill-mannered Eriri Spencer, and of course the ordinary girl, Katou Megumi. Saekano takes a slow start, as it takes several episodes for Mr. Aki to convince his unwilling companions to aid him in making his game. But after that, the pacing of the anime is quite steady. Sadly, this anime is limited only to 12 episodes, which for me is a definite con, because there could’ve been so much more character, and plot development.

[Characters]
The characters are definitely where the anime excels the most at. Each of the female protagonists, except for Katou, has an ornate, and well-developed backstory with Tomoya. Throughout the plot, the author slowly elaborates more on the characters as if slowly giving us puzzle pieces to give us a better picture. But due to the anime only having 12 episodes, we never really get to see the full potential character development from all the characters.

[Art]
In my opinion, the A-1 pictures did a great job animating this anime. They used vibrant colors that brought out the carefree, and cheerful tone of the show. The animation style reminds me of Nisekoi another successful harem anime. The character designs to me were great, they followed the generic character designs of many harems, and romance animes. Don’t see many cons of this art style unless you dislike the uniqueness of the art style. One thing that stood out to me was the insanely stubby fingers the characters have sometimes, especially while Utaha is typing.

[Sound]
The show had a solid, and well-built soundtrack, with dramatic sounding dramatic scenes, and cheerful music for happy scenes. Not much I can say but the soundtracks were sufficient for the show. Great choices in the voice actor department, what could go wrong with Ai Kayano, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as 2 of your main characters? The OPs and EDs were lighthearted songs that complemented the show’s tone. They were not especially stunning but not crappy.

[Negatives]
As mentioned before several times, my biggest problem with this anime is that it only has 12 episodes, and because of this, we didn’t get to see the full potential of character development the show could’ve given us. Nor get to see a more complete full picture. But with the anime leaving off like this I’m sure that there would be a second or even a third season.

The second thing I had a problem with while watching the anime was the pacing of the, which I mentioned before was a bit too slow in the beginning. But towards the end of the show, the pacing sped up again.

[Enjoyment/ Overall]
Q-What would you happen if you added together with an eccentric rich girl, a beautiful female writer, a hardcore otaku, his musically blessed cousin, and an ordinary girl?

A-You get Blessing Software, as well as one of the most well-made and hilarious rom-com ever.

__Story-7
Art-10
Sound-8
Character-8
Enjoyment-9
Overall-8__