In the sea of romance animes that are littered in high school settings, and the same-old shenanigans adolescence has brought up a thousand times in same-y romance shows. Not to say that there's something wrong with it, but some audiences crave for something new and a brand new perspective—particularly dominated in the certain age group of the adult scene, and it is refreshing to have a series that tackles the adult perspective of romance. We've seen them in previous works along the years, and In the previous season (Winter 2025), we've seen the anime “I Have Crush at Work” which tackles the adult romance in a more cute-sy vibe. But in this one, Kowloon Generic Romance takes a step further in incorporating a unique setting in its storytelling—behind the walls of Kowloon Walled City.
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Kowloon Walled City is one of the most fascinating used-to-be standing locations in history. Enclosed with tight-knit walls with narrow hallways, everything and anything that can happen with so-called fictions can be possible within the city that's invisible from the eyes of the people outside. We follow our main character Reiko Kujirai (Haruka Shiraishi) who's the anchor of anomalies this city had presented to us, particularly with her certain characteristic (in which the show revolves its overall plot), along with Hajime Kudou (Tomokazu Sugita) whose odd yet sweet romantic moments with Reiko gave us something to root for. Their romance deviated away from its typical “will they, won't they?” scheme, by giving us fragments of their past memories, whilst also building brand new moments that traverses their (re) building relationship inside the anomalies of the walled city.
If that's what the series is entirely about, i would have already been on board with its mystery-esque, nonlinear structure, yet the anime does not shy away from the potentials in plotlines in the world it's set in, hence, introducing many characters with multiple character journeys such as Miyuki Hebinuma (Ryoutarou Okiayu) who has an unpredictable way of conveying his thoughts and plans, and many more characters—adding dense stories inside a dense city. On paper, this should have been a captivatingly dense series, but it doesn't work for me for most of the time.
The start of the series alone is captivating in of itself as we only focus on our two lead characters and their circumstances, but once you start introducing other characters in the story with their own motivations, it becomes way too convoluted with threads that are poorly woven—some none at all. It's like watching two animes inside a season simultaneously, with each plotline feeling drastically different from each other—only connected by a thin thread that is set inside the city and its anomalies. Its interesting setting and plot is greatly overshadowed by having too many ideas presented, yet barely executing the potentials of their setups, resulting in a half-baked execution. Even the description of the series (Provided by Yen-Press) feels awfully vague, or rather, the series itself couldn't identify what it wants to be, and thus shoving in too many ideas, yet leaving everything tied up halfway. Nothing demonstrates as well as this series had in the confusion of what it tries to tell—as if it's having an identity crisis in of itself.
Although, this can only apply for viewers (like me) who agonise in connecting the dots in every scene it's in, but that's not how the series presents itself anyways—along with the people who watched the series. Sometimes you just want to watch a show, and just sit through with it, and absorb the vibe and tone it emits. Although I couldn't shake off the feeling of its wasted potential of its rich premise.
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If you’re looking for an anime to play in the background or binge quickly, Kowloon Generic Romance is a passable choice. It offers slice-of-life elements in an unusual setting with an intriguing premise. However, don’t expect much beyond that—it ultimately feels confused about what it wants to be, leaving the viewer underwhelmed and puzzled by its lack of clear direction, and confused of what story it tries to convey. ***