I am minimally curious about how enjoyable this “marriage practical” thing would be if it actually was a real thing in real life. Things would be spicy in school, the tea would be spilling nonstop, and it would genuinely be really entertaining to watch the gong show unfold. Sadly, in this anime, this “spicy” premise of the marriage practical felt merely like a farce, and didn’t contribute much to the story other than the first few episodes. After that, it turned into a very generic romcom, but so, so frustrating to watch. Time after time I find myself pausing the episode just to facepalm and groan at how stupid it all felt. At least the bright colour palette looks good, just don’t watch it in a dark room unless you want to ruin your eyes.

STORY:

The premise of the marriage practical felt very dumb for a school to do, but the fact the show didn’t even use that premise a whole lot after the first few episodes really irked me. In a nutshell, high school students are paired up with people of the opposite gender and must live together and live as pretend married couple, getting monitored and graded in the process. It’s quite immoral, the fact that you’re getting monitored in your own house by your own school, while they expect the groups to do “married couple” things. The romcom elements feel like Toradora to some extent, as the two main characters Jirou and Akari like other people at the outset, but grow closer as the show goes along. Such an original show this is, but just to be even more tropey, let’s throw in a childhood friend trope as well.

It’s quite frustrating watching this show, because nothing notable happens for most of it other than random ecchi scenes, and whenever there’s a chance to make things a bit spicier, it just doesn’t happen most of the time. It’s simply a show built on ecchi scenes and misunderstandings.

ART:

It does look good, with the bright colours, and the animation is definitely the highlight of the show, though it’s a bit too bright sometimes, so make sure you watch the show in a well-lit room or only during daytime.

MUSIC:

The ED was very good, otherwise, not much notable music to note here.

CHARACTERS:

The characters are one of the most generic cast ever, and honestly, the side characters were more entertaining. Jirou is such a boring character, your typical protagonist who daydreams about romantic situations, but when there is one in front of him, he turns into a tomato and grows weak in the knees. Akari has some good moments, when she’s a bit more vulnerable around Jirou especially, though her initial first impression for the viewer leaves her looking like a very annoying and arrogant character, and she becomes more and more generic as we went along. Shiori is your typical shy childhood friend character, and I guess I just have a soft spot for childhood friends, since I always root for them to some extent, but she made it quite hard to cheer for her with how inconsistent her character was. Sometimes she’s indecisive, and sometimes she’s so bold.

As for the good characters, only Sadaharu comes to mind. He carries the comedy aspects of the show, and honestly carries the show on his back. All his moments are so out of place, but I laugh anyways.

ENJOYMENT:

I constantly paused the episodes to facepalm and sigh, so you can get a sense of how frustrating this was for me.

THEMATIC EXECUTION:

With some good background shots, any big moment in the show is executed effectively, but those felt so far and between. As for how the whole marriage practical is concerned, it was very disappointing to see how that whole theme became obsolete as the show went along.

OVERALL:

Just your typical trashy romcom hijinks, that could have been much more. The relationships could have been more interesting, the drama could have been way spicier, and the characters felt so flat throughout the show. The premise just felt like a huge mask behind what was just a generic romcom. There was a lot more they could have done with this premise, so it definitely was disappointing to me.