Saint Cecilia & Pastor Lawrence

I did not have high expectations at all for this anime. "Oh great, another european setting romance where the 2 leads are dense as bricks, where have I seen this before?" but it was everything I wanted out of it and then some.

The story follows Pastor Lawrence and Saint Cecilia, who run the small church in a cozy little town, where they often don't have a lot to do at any given time except helping out the town folk when they come around. A lot of show is spent in their house, making food and accommodating guests. The show doesn't have a lot going on, but we become familiar with the main characters quirks and histories, as well as the larger church institution and their fellow saints and pastors.

The 2 main leads, Lawrence and Cecilia have to come to terms with the relationship they have with each other and their occupations as church officials, but the drama never comes to the point of having to choose one or the other, rather finding a comfortable middle ground that can accommodate both Lawrence and Cecilia, a surprisingly mature and realistic take on romance that I found to be quite wholesome.

There's also a plethora of interesting supporting characters, my favorite among them is Saint Hazelita and Pastor Abel, who have a relationship all to there own and made Lawrences home always feel lively and communal, like you could be sipping on some coffee while they banter about stuff that really doesn't matter.

There was a side plot where the four go back to the academy both pastors were raised in and brought forth some quality writing for both characters. Lawrence himself is surprisingly nuanced in his approach to his job and personal relationships even excluding Saint Cecilia. It was also really funny to see all his old alumni talking about him, like he's always been a dense little guy but know that Cecilia found herself with a good man in spite of it.

Also I can't believe I forgot about this but the show is GORGEOUS. Every episode feels like it's out of a children's picture book, I love the pastel color palette and the character designs are always on model with that rounded edge cozy look to them. You really just need to see it for yourself.

Anime like this are why I even keep up with seasonal anime in the first place. None of them ever reach the heights of some of my favorites but that's just fine. I've had a lot going on in the last 3 months since the show began, you know classes, transfer, drama with friends, the works, but a show like this where you can just sit back and relax with a couple of fun characters every week was a nice retreat.

I don't know if people will care about this show in a couple months, but really, what it was is more than enough for me, so I'm glad I got to watch this.

Thanks for reading.