TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You

Introduction:
Year 2020 oscillated in quite a huge amount of new, interesting romance comedies. Every season had netted in new adaptations of popular mangas. "Tonikaku Kawaii" hits perfectly in the last part of this year giving us a taste of what is coming to us next. It's a lovely series in which we will be following a recently married couple and the struggles of their daily life. How will it go?

____ Story: Nasa Yuzaki is a boy, who due to his unusual name often came to be an object of mocking. Not knowing the meaning behind his name, he worked harder than everyone, in order to gain the appreciation of others. One day while walking by the road, he notices a very pretty girl. One little moment was enough for the boy to realize that this was love at first sight. Focusing only on the girl and not paying attention to anything else, he runs across the street in her direction. In that moment he failed to notice a truck driving towards him. Fortunately the girl decides to help, softening the blow and preventing our main character from getting isekai’d. Despite being hurt really bad Nasa still had strength to chase the girl that left right after the accident and confess to her. The response that he got was almost as absurd as him running after a stranger with both of his legs broken. The girl said she would only agree to go out with him if they get married first. After all of that happened they had no contact for years until Tsukasa showed up at Nasa’s doorstep reuniting the yet to be married couple.

Reading the description, it is immediately clear what are we dealing with: a painfully sympathetic comedy with some casual slice of life. The author showed off a very interesting and original beginning to the story. The plot, although episodic and developing with its own pace, is incredibly charming. The charm is so strong that the smile does not disappear from the viewer's face. The anime uses newer and newer interesting ideas and references so everybody can find something for themself. The story seeks to unravel some mysteries but does not tell us directly. While watching, all sorts of theories can come to mind, which is the show’s little wink directed at viewers who like to actively think about what they are watching. Also, talking about prevailing humor, here it is one of the good aspects and definitely an important atmosphere builder. The comedy aspect of the series allows situations and jokes that initially seem pathetic, turn into funny twists.

Despite its original ideas, the ending disappointed me a lot. The entire last episode went generic and every second was completely and utterly boring.

____ Characters: Characters are the most important part of this anime. Relations between them create an unique mood which is hard to overlook. We are flooded with a lot of conversations that are worth paying attention to. Each one of the characters is varied and all of them are cute in their own way. The secrets previously mentioned in the story part are mainly related to them, which makes each individuality even more interesting. Even if some of them exist for the purpose of adding charm to the scenes, they're not completely empty. They have their past described and the reasons why they are the way they are.

The development of romance is a strong factor. As our main characters never got to know each other before they got married, they start from simple steps, even if they are under the same name. Our couple differs in personality and interests but together they complement all their individual flaws. Abstraction and realism are perfectly combined and it is really nice to watch all of it. As you watch more episodes, you can see the slow pacing even with the characters. However the slow tempo doesn’t feel out of place, even if some people are guaranteed not to like it.

It is not hard to notice that there are very few characters overall and the same faces appear in each episode. Despite this, their development moves forward full force and they do not get boring, no matter how much they are shown on screen.

____ Graphics: I haven't had the opportunity to see such a simple graphic design for a long time. Despite its eye-catching color palette, nothing else stands out from the norm. Starting with the character designs, going to the backgrounds, ending with the details. Literally everything was too ordinary and the only thing that saved the graphics were well-chosen colors. Animation, while you can't say it doesn't exist, we're not going to enjoy it too much. Looking at it in detail, you can easily notice many gaps and shortcomings. The poor budget for this adaptation is visible to the naked eye.

The openings and endings, although they contain some animation, are mostly about the rhythmic cuts and transitions that perfectly sync up to the music. That really caught my eye, and it even is so effective that you can watch them in a loop without getting bored. In their case, even a small amount of money has been put to good use.

____ Sound design and voice acting: The music perfectly suited my tastes, especially the songs present in the opening and closing of the episodes. The mix of electronic with classic Japanese sounds creates an unforgettable atmosphere, and the vocal is so beautiful that it instantly warms the heart. The original songs harmonize perfectly with the situation on the screen, pulling the viewer into the present atmosphere.

The voice actors were not bad at all, each of them presented a high level, especially seiyuu responsible for the main characters. There is no drop in quality in any episode, and with such a large amount of text and changes in the mood of the characters, I believe it was quite a challenge. You can see a great contribution from all sides here, so I can admit that this is the biggest strength of this anime.

▶ ▶ ____ Summary: "Tonikaku Kawaii" will definitely find its fans thanks to how charmingly and mysteriously this genre has been recreated. Despite its mediocre graphics, everything else should be 100% satisfying to an average viewer. This series is definitely a bull's-eye for fans of romantic comedy and people looking for the perfect relaxing title to go through in one sitting. However, even if you’re not a fan of this kind of series or you’re simply not interested, I urge you to watch an episode or two. Perhaps, the sweet atmosphere will convince you to give the rest a try. ____ Text by: @Scr33n Revised by: @xkrayz