Wow, 2023 has been a great year for anime so far, and Kubo-san is yet another banger of a show, this time in the slice-of-life/romance genre.
The story follows Junta Shiraishi, an incredibly awkward (yet charming in a way) guy, and his daily interactions with Nagisa Kubo, the only person who actually sees him and teases him on an hourly basis.

This incredibly charming story is in no way complex, but it is delivered in a beautiful and (extremely) entertaining way. The dynamic between Shiraishi and Kubo was always a pleasure to watch, week after week, as their small but incremental developments over the course of the series. However, the aspect that really makes the show shine is the small moments that involve mundane but relatable moments with either Kubo's friends or Shiraishi's own insecurities and intrusive thoughts.
The visuals aren't the best, but at the same time they don't need to be, and the clever directing paired with some very well storyboarded episodes largely make up for the limited animation and movement. The colors are also a big help when it comes to give an extra boost to the scene. The audio isn't something that i was particulary impressed either but i wasn't really paying much attention to it, since it's not the show's priority.
Also a small shout-out to the voice actress for Kubo-san (Kana Hanazawa), who once again does an excellent job considering her excellent track record and Shiraishi's VA that portrays Shiraishi's (mostly) calm tone of voice.

All in all, Kubo-san is neither the most groundbreaking anime of the year nor the best slice-of-life. It wasn't even the best romance of that season, but it sure made me smile every single episode and giggle at every awkward interaction between Shiraishi and the rest of the world. And that's all I asked for when I started watching it.

Side note:
I just want to say something about Kubo-san's delays. It was originally supposed to air during the winter 2023 season, but unfortunately it was pushed back to mid-spring 2023. I thought this would affect my personal enjoyment of the show, as the initial "hype" I had when I started watching it kind of disappeared with all these new releases coming out in the spring, but to my surprise, once it started airing again from episode 7, I was more excited than ever. I'm glad the end product was so good, but it should have been a priority to give it the time and resources to be the best it could be. Would that change anything in the quality of the anime itself? Probably not much, but it makes you wonder what could have been. Unfortunately, that's not how the industry works, and that's a shame. I hope we'll get a Season 2 soon, because I don't know how many weeks I can go by without having Kubo-san's sweetness injected directly into my veins.