It’s iyashikei greatness. This isn’t your normal run of the mill rom-com, it’s more a slice of life of two classmates, and then it gets a little romantic. Raido’s vivid imagination and Toubaru-Sensei nose bleeding just makes me smile, and I don’t know why. Maybe I’m just a sucker for deadpan humour, but this was better than some other big rom-coms this season. Yes, I’ll say it, I think it was better than Shikimori and Komi this season. Also, a comedy where the romance actually kinda gets somewhere? Who knew that was possible? This was a joy to watch throughout for sure, not because it became more romantic in the second half, but just how consistently funny it was for me.
My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20
STORY: 17/25
There’s really not a whole lot going on in each episode, since it’s pretty episodic for the most part, and there’s not a whole lot to talk about in the plot department. Glad that the characters had some development and the comedy was pretty decent throughout though.
ART: 8.2/10
It’s pretty basic, but it is colourful and vibrant, and fits the atmosphere welL.
MUSIC: 8.7/10
Big fan of both the opening and ending. TrySail and Hakoniwa Lily did a great job. The soundtrack itself isn’t too noticeable but from what I heard of it, it fit the vibe of the show well.
CHARACTERS: 17.2/20
This show benefits from having a good main duo, but also a bunch of very fun side characters, which not every show has. Obviously Reina and Raido are fun to watch. Reina is a very small girl who doesn’t really know social boundaries and talks very quietly, but quickly this theme became obsolete as the show progressed. Raido is someone who is also pretty deadpan and doesn’t show much emotion, but has very vivid imagination about Reina’s antics, ranging from thinking she was a killer, even making a Kill Bill reference along the way, to thinking she was a sumo wrestler when Reina ate too much and got fat. The imagination was pretty enjoyable to watch, since it was very different each time.
Now, the side characters. My favourite side character has to be Toubaru-Sensei, since she’s all about esteem, and when Reina and Raido do something cute, or weird, she reacts in the form of nose bleeds, and the sub plots about her and Miyahira-Sensei being together was just honestly hilarious.
And what’s a rom-com without a little side romance? Futaba and Atsushi’s little thing together was so fun to watch too, and how Atsushi regards Raido as “king” was so funny to me too.
Finally, we got Reina’s siblings. They all look like her. That’s basically the gist of it.
ENJOYMENT: 14.5/15
Even though it’s pretty bare bones in terms of production, I still really enjoyed this show, and it gave me a lot of laughs along the way.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 17/20
The comedic themes were handled great, really loved the deadpan comedy they went for, and it works. The romance themes were a bit sudden, felt like the source material, which I haven’t read, was probably slower paced in terms of romantic developments, but that’s just a guess. Overall, just very enjoyable.
OVERALL: 82.6/100
It’s not the prettiest out there, it’s not a “loud” or “fast-paced” show, it’s iyashikei done very well. The comedy definitely intrigued me more than the romance side of things, but all things considered, there’s not much to complain about. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it was definitely fun to watch every single week.
Oh, one more thing, fidget spinners in 2022? That, I did not expect.
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