Name: Good where it matters, a few disappointing elements
Item: Insomniacs After School
Rating: 78
Author: YTPizzer

Waifra

Good where it matters, a few disappointing elements · Waifora

pretty fine job overall. Did a very good job being a romance and had a lot of cute stuff, and while it does have anime pacing it isn't as egregious as some others. It didn't feel like they were leaving too many questions unanswered at the end, and especially not afraid of ruining a season 2. The chemistry between the two main characters was very believable, some of the best I've seen, which is one of the most important things in this kind of show.
~ spoiler border, skip to the end for the verdict ~

Spoiler, click to view

I did find the weak heart plot point to be a little underwhelming, and the whole thing seems to have underutilised the potential that the premise contains. They both have trouble sleeping, but it stems from trauma. Their traumas are the root of their problems, and while it's fine that they don't work through it by the end, they just didn't do very much with it.

From episode 2, I already got the idea that they were foreshadowing a lead girl death/health scare, although it was more or less confirmed by what she said about halfway through about leaving a trace of her behind. Ultimately, it didn't become a problem, but it just felt a little deceptive to have foreshadowed it so strongly and then do nothing with it. It's like a bit of unearned drama.

The other thing was the missed potential with lead guy's trauma about his mum walking out on him. In my head, that's a perfectly reasonable cause for trauma over being abandoned or deserted. However, his coping mechanisms and symptoms didn't seem to show even the slightest resemblance of the cause. It's instead explained that he doesn't want today to end. That doesn't make much sense though, because he clearly desperately wants to go to sleep. Even if it's meant to be a subconscious thing, it's not really presented that way at all. They really could've done something with that, but it feels like the backstory is more of an excuse than an actual cause.

It's disappointing because of how perfectly their traumas could have played into each other. Lead girl's health problems and foreshadowing her death could've been a totally understandable cause for his concern, but he kinda just shrugs it off. It even becomes a bit of a thing later when her sister is impressed that he doesn't show any pity for her. From where I stand, it would've been a better show if they did something with that.

In narratives, you have to justify everything you can as much as physically possible. However here, it begins to become trauma for the sake of trauma.

~ spoiler end ~
ultimately, this is a romance show first, and they do that well. The actual drama and plot points arent as well executed, and ive seen executed better. It wasn't actively bad, but it wasn't anything special. I still rate this highly though, because the romance is the point, and it did it well, which is the real reason we're here.