This was extremely gay but also really cute. Akebi's like the most raw form of radiance in a character you could possibly ever write, like that was her entire character description, and it's really like junk food to watch. That's not to imply that it's poorly executed or cheaply produced either, because the animation is extremely beautiful, they fully mario-in-unrealed the graphics, and it's clearly highly produced. The only point of criticism was that the story was a little too cute and hollow, in the sense that they were afraid to let bad things happen. And that's honestly fine. It does hold the show back, but some people are really only just looking for a simple time, and if that's what you want then this is probably for you.

I watched the first episode and was just fully invested, it felt like it could stand on its own as a short film to be honest. The tone is really artful, I generally enjoy very cinematic media. The anime gives like the vibe of a tasteful watercolour painting if that makes sense (I don't recall there actually being any watercolour painting in it though), it's just like fluffy and light.

The queerbaiting did get like a little blunt at points, (although my dumbass took 3 whole episodes to realize that was what this show was) but it's excusable based on the audience they're cultivating. It's not like there's even a single moment where romantic feelings are even mentioned in the show, just that they frame scenes in such a way where, even though you know none of the characters are thinking about it, they want the audience to look at it and make their own headcannons. I do kinda have a hard time believing that these are middle schoolers, but they do sorta activate a paternal instinct when you see them interacting, so I guess theyre probably young in that sense (and thank GOD they werent degenerates with it, that would've instantly killed it)

This show is really all about Akebi though, and she really does steal the show both in-universe and in a meta sense. She's probably the most easily liked character of like any anime, with a really touching lonely background that makes her energetic and open-hearted attitude so much more likeable. All the other characters are pretty good too.

As a cis guy i'm probably not the right person to turn for opinions on this, I kinda feel like I stumbled into the wrong room and saw something that wasn't intended for me, but I can acknowledge it was still a good time. If I had known what this show would be before I watched it, I might've passed it up, but I think I'm glad I didn't because it showed me character writing I hadn't really seen before, and was overall a pretty cute and very visually stunning time. If you wanna see gay, definitely worth watching, if you're homophobic, you're lame and also probably wouldn't enjoy this very much, and if you can TOLERATE (ONLY tolerate) gay people then maybe you can enjoy this show as cute young girls being pure and wholesome. (The queerbaiting isn't even that big a part of the show idk why im fixating on it)