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I really liked this episode. This is going to be my first shoujo-ai series, so it'll be nice to knock that off the list. It seems like this will be pretty good.

This.... :/

So much drama. It was hard to keep from laughing. I really dislike Kazama but I like the other girl. I guess I will keep watching

Loved the first episode, can't wait for the next one. :)

I think I liked it. Visuals were nothing special. I haven't seen much shoujo-ai anime so I'm going to keep watching it.

It seems rather more melancholy than the manga. I hope that they make it more of a romantic comedy by the end.

That was a ton more serious than I expected. The pacing also felt kind of weird in the second half but I can't quite put my finger on it. I hope this lightens up as it goes on or I might end up dropping it.

You shouldn't really even be comparing the two. That's like comparing an Olympic sprinter with the captain of your high school track team.

It's not advisable to compare yuri with heterosexual romances, at least not in this generation.

Heterosexual romance in anime has been around since anime was pretty much conceived. It has had time to grow, time to evolve. The writers know what the usual tropes are, know how to work around them, and know how to put out an interesting or involving story that puts spins on the traditions.

Yuri is a developing genre. It started back in the 70s, and it was extremely controversial, barely printed, and had no niche market. It never really was a genre back then, actually, just an element of other genres.

In the 80s, you had it as side elements, in the 90s, it was again mostly a side element that made up the bigger part of an anime's genre. Like Sailor Moon. It was a mahou shoujo/romance/fantasy. But it had SOME yuri in it.

It's only really in the 2000s that yuri itself became an actual genre where entire anime could be based around girls who love girls and they don't just do it for fanservice or comic relief. Nor did all the girls who like girls have to be perverts or deviants or miserable psychos.

It's the same for yaoi. I'd never compare a yaoi anime to a het romance, because if I did, all yaoi would then by default be the worst shit ever and get scores under 5. I wouldn't compare Junjou Romantica with Clannad, nor would I even compare it to Marimite. That's like comparing Rosario + Vampire to Ichigo Mashimaro. Wtf would I do that for? It makes no sense to. You can say that SK and KnT are both romances, but you need to understand that yuri romance is light years behind heterosexual romance because yuri is now taking baby steps.

Yuri stories hardly ever get picked up for anime adaptations or they are extremely short because a lot of magazines get no profit from lesbian manga. Who is the primary audience of anime on the whole? Young men. What will sell more? A sweet little romance about two lesbians or a sweet little romance between a guy and a girl?

(Please don't think I'm bashing anything here, I'm just pointing out some facts. I do intend to watch Kimi etc. myself since it looks exactly like the type of anime I like. And even if you want further supplementation--none of my favourite anime are even yuri anime, so my defence of Sasameki Koto is not a blind over zealous yuri fan rant.)

It's only recently that anime have even started not treating yuri as a gag or service. Actually, Aoi Hana is the ONLY anime out where the character is in fact a lesbian and not some sort of "girl who likes girls because..." (Strawberry Panic doesn't count, since that is a fantasy la la land where men nor common sense seem to exist; Marimite doesn't count either, since none of the girls are lesbians except for Sei). So right, look at that. Aoi Hana: 2009. First case of a legitimate girl who really does like girls actually being a protagonist in an anime. When has that ever happened before?

So comparing a yuri anime with a het romance anime is particularly inadvisable. Compare it with other yuri anime. I'd like to think that some day, yuri will grow as a genre so that yes, we would be able to compare it with het romance which has had infinitely more time to develop as a medium.

tl;dr: Yuri is still taking baby steps. Don't throw the newbie into the ring with the veteran.

Very interesting facts. Here where I am lots of society itself rejects the yuri concepts of girl/girl love. Blame society would be a good reason and not enough acceptance.

Thanks for info, maybe check out some animes you mentioned.

the brown haired chick looks like a proper size Millay from code geass..
the glasses girl is likeable too.

guess yuri anime not as explicit as yaoi

Eh
I was excited to see another anime like Aoi Hana since Aoi Hana was extremely beautiful in my opinion
I watched the first episode and I was disappointed
The art was not very easy on the eyes :\
And the animation was veryy jerky and unsmooth
Also the only song I found appealing was the opening theme
The ending theme was ok
All of the background music seemed out of place and it all sounded the same
It didn't seem to mesh well with the scene
Also I don't like it when more of the episode is shown after the ending theme (but I'm not gonna hold that against me watching the anime since it's really not that big of a deal)
I do have to admit that the scene with Senpai and the lesbian girl (i don't remember her name yet) where in the library putting the books away i almost shed a tear :(
I'm hoping that this series really starts to get better in the next few episodes ^_^

just watched episode 1 and in my opinion i think this is one of the worst animes this season.
im not to much of a big Shoujo Ai fan but i seen a few Shoujo Ai animes but this one just sucked. maybe it was because it was only the first episode but i dont know, ill wait to see till episode 2 comes out.

hope it gets better because i only rate it a 2/5 so far and im afraid i might even drop it down to a 1 xD

I fell asleep while I watched it and and had to finish it in the morning. lol

Well, you kind of misunderstood me. I wasn't really comparing those two based on any similarities. I was just comparing them solely based on my personal enjoyment of just having watched 2 different anime shows. Moreover that sentence had a background story in the previous sentences. I also stated that I really liked this first episode.

I know what you state and I am always watching (pseudo-)yuri or (pseudo-)shoujo-ai shows just because they are so rare. Also because most of them have a better plot than many hetero romance anime.
But then again I always enjoy your long and interesting posts and your reviews.

i've been waiting for this anime for quite a while, since i like the manga and, honestly, i'm disappointed.
i hate love stories, which is why i find aoi hana boring like hell. i've dropped both karekano and toradora when these series started to be more romantic than comic.
if the rest of sasameki koto is going to be like the first episode, i highly doubt i'll manage to watch it without falling asleep. :D

I recommend you the first two seasons of School Rumble. :)

Darn great first episode, I loved it.

Loved it! Maybe it's just from the fact that I was missing real yuri with some drama and cute side story... it does seem to be pointing to a good direction... for me, at least ^_^

"Then how about me?"
"I'm sorry I only like cute girls."

I lol'ed. I hope episode 2 is as good.

It was OK. Nothing that stood out that made it amazing, but at the same time it isn't dislikeable.

I like the OP, dislike the ED.

Sumi is too much like Fumi for my taste though, and Kazama is just like A-chan, so I feel like this show is such a big anime-like resemblance that I might not like it.

I'm hoping the next episode will be better however..