“But I think it’s natural that not everything you try will go well, right? So, I’m gonna start again from scratch.”

-Yoshioka Futaba

Depression is hard. Grief is difficult.
Its patients are not easy to deal with, there's no easy way around it, no shortcuts. People don't suddenly turn from careless and down to bubbly and happy.
That's why I respect what the anime tried to do. If I'm trying to watch this show just to kill time, Kou will just be another stuck-up selfish brat, but in truth he's a very realistic character.

The series is in the point of view of a rather naïve and bubbly girl. We see the world through her eyes and how much confusion the guy she loves -Kou- brings her. All her feelings are that typical of an innocent teen who hasn't been through any hardships in her life. Which is pretty fine, and not something I mind. On the contrary, it shows how difficult it is for a person to get close to someone who isn't doing very well.

Or it tries to.

Story: 4/10
See, this is where the problem arises. You can see what the show intended to be like. You can see the potential, and you can also see the extreme boredom. Nothing really much happens in the show. We don't get to see Kou's personality or dive into what he's going through. We have to wait for 12 whole episodes to see anything going on. I understand the intention, it was to show us that you can try and try and try again and you still won't be let in. But there was so much lazy work it cannot be overlooked.

Like how being class representatives was just a plot-device used to make the characters in the show forced to be friends. I don't know what kind of 'training program' it is that is just some sort of a treasure hunt. Or the very unnecessary cheap love triangle that started because one of the girls was treated like a human. The show is just not trying even though the idea could have been very well executed.

Characters: 5/10

Yoshioka Futaba is a very realistic character. Most of the girls barely out of middle school think like she does, and are equally as sensitive. She's a very hard-working teenager when it comes to her human relationships, whether it's friendships or romantic relationships. Having been shunned out, she starts becoming a people-pleaser because there's nothing worse than loneliness, but shortly afterwards looks for another change. There's something admirable about her, she's persistent, awkward and emotional. The show gives her lots of depth, the only headache you can get is that being in a 15 year old's mind isn't very easy, but I believe the show made a great job portraying this character.

The secondary characters is another thing the show falls short in. They are so goddamned bland. You have a typical actually stuck up teen who hates everyone and everything (don't ask questions, we don't end up knowing anything about her) a shy girl with a baby's voice and a loud guy. That's pretty much all there is about them. They were plain accessories used yet again as a lazy method of showing the journey about caring for Kou.

Tanaki Kou Depressed clear as day since the very first episode. Difficult and hard to deal with but easy to relate to, at least for me. I can see how I could be seen as Kou by my family and some of my friends, I've been through a phase like this and to this very day I try my best not to fall into what Kou was falling into. I've seen many reviews bashing how Kou should be left alone and that he's an ass, but clearly anyone who says so hasn't dealt with depression, a few hours into the show you can see that Kou deeply care and does not want to, unlike many 'assholes' in different anime shows, Kou is neither trying to be cool nor trying to hurt anyone. After a difficult incident he has lost his will to do anything and that includes friendships.

My main problem is what follows:

The Romance: 2/10
It's not that there isn't much of a love story. It's that it felt more like a mentor and a mentee relationship. I might as well have called him Kou-sensei, the Life Coach! All through the series, all the guy does is throw some life-coaching advises and continuous criticism for the way Futaba lives her life. I again understand that it was intended to show his indirect care towards her, but that came off as regular teaching sessions.
But what downright pissed me off the most was a scene where Kou literally pins down Futaba and tells her he could rape her if he wanted to as a way to warn her not to be reckless.
This is NOT, in anyway, okay to even think of. There are so many ways you could warn a girl to be more careful than this.

Sound and Art 6/10
The opening and music were very sweet and fitting for the anime's aura. I didn't particularly adore the characters' design but the backgrounds were quite beautiful.

Enjoyment 3/10
Welp, cannot help this, I got really bored.

Overall: 3.6/10, the show tried.