My Love Story!!

I absolutely adore this anime. Time and time again since my sophomore year of high school, I have re-watched not only my favorite episodes but also have sat down a few times to re-watch the whole season. I love how every episode never strays too far away from its tones, plot, or rhetoric. It’s very fluid as you never quite need any recaps and every new episode feel’s very sequential. At least compared to a lot of other anime that I watch, where even a scene change in one episode leaves me confused for the next 3. Another plus, a re-watch of any episode still feels whole in context, even if there are overarching plot lines throughout its 24 episodes.
After my first watch, I really enjoyed taking a look at different episodes, and ended up re-watching it not in order, but I still felt the enjoyment from it. Re-watching, in my little opinion, felt fulfilling in its own way. Somehow sweeter, knowing what would come next yet still fully experiencing the episodes to its full extent with a different perspective.

I have gone on to show this anime to a few people throughout the years, and the criticism I do hear is mostly in the first one or two episodes, before we learn more truths about these characters.
Don't let appearances deceive you. Popular modern anime tropes and events tend to throw people off, and they expect for the show or characters to act or present themselves differently than it actually does. So by episode three, there’s a realization that this show has no fan service, it doesn’t take cheap shots, it can be cheesy but in its own really heartwarming self-aware silly way.
There’s a lot of self-awareness in this show. For the characters, the audience, and the work as a whole. Characters make mistakes, they have to realize them, and communicate to move forward. It feels a lot like real relationships to me, and the content it handles never gets too serious, and regardless of content, it never undermines the feelings of the characters or the audience.
I love the music choice and paying attention to each of the little changes in the intro is always a really nice touch. I like how with this show’s opening, they take the liberty to change details every few episodes to match with the characters developing relationships. It’s a small detail, but acts as a really cute and really refreshing reminder of what’s going on; that is if you pay attention to the intro.

There was a lot that this show could have handled poorly, like how a lot of other Rom-Com anime do, but I do think the team who worked on this anime really gave it their all. They put a lot of heart and effort into a short one-shot anime series, and they did it so well that it shows in every corner of animation, voice work, writing, and overall presentation. I appreciate how this show handles the Rom-Com genre, and I would absolutely love to see more like this.
I genuinely am not sure if I have any major complaints, or minor ones. The only criticism is that, I wish Sunakawa received more vocal representation for his possible aro/ace identity.
This is to say, My Love Story will always be one of my favorite anime, that I always recommend, and I always encourage anyone to watch.

_It’s just way too sweet for me to watch it all by myself, this anime is one piece of cake that everyone should enjoy. _