When I watched the first episode of Mikakunin de Shinkoukei, I thought that it would have a great story and I felt that it would be the best romcom anime for the season. But unfortunately, I wasn’t finding that expectation I wanted. Here’s why.
The story revolved around the Yonomori sisters, Kobeni and Benio, and the Mitsumine siblings, Hakuya and Mashiro. Akane, who is the Yonomori sisters’ mom, announced that Kobeni was somewhat engaged to Hakuya by her grandpa during her 16th birthday. Apparently, Kobeni had met Hakuya before during childhood, but it seemed that she forgot who he was.
So why did my expectation failed? It can be summed up in one word, which is “tropes”. They are everywhere in the anime, mainly the story and the characters. It made the story a bit clichéd, and the characters similar to others.
However, it didn’t really matter much, because there are some points in the story which made the story more interesting. Indeed, there is a small surprise that developed it from a few characters. There is also a backstory between Kobeni and Hakuya as well. The romance, although not bringing enough impact to me, is cute. There are times when Kobeni showed her “dere” side sometimes to Hakuya, while there are other times when she wanted Hakuya to stop acting “cutesy-lovely” to her. Eventually, the relationship actually developed.
The ending is a bit satisfactory, as it ended the story where the characters continued to carry out their lives.
The anime has characters with the typical tropes. Benio is a student council president who excels in academics and sports and is adored by many students. Mashiro is a child who acts like a teenager. Hakuya is a quiet guy who is always emotionless. Kobeni has great figures, mentioned by some characters, and is great at housework and cooking. There are other characters, such as Konoha, a member in the student council, who has feelings for Benio, and Shirayuki, mom of the Mitsumine siblings, who looked like a loli.
I feel that there’s isn’t much character development in all except Hakuya and Kobebi, but it is a slice of life anyway. But all these characters are interesting. Some of them showed their emotions well to execute something.
The opening is totally superb. It has a great upbeat and is sung by the seiyuus of the three main girls in the anime. They also sang the ending, which is more relaxed but still enjoyable. The art style is awesome, although not really important at all. The scenery is just spectacular. The character designs have the moe feel, and the facial expressions do exaggerate, all of this to make a great comedy.
Although the story and characters are the anime’s weakest points, I still enjoyed the anime nevertheless. It may not be the best romcom of the season, but it is good enough. Sweet cute romance is enjoyable for me already.
I heard that the anime’s first volume sale was great so far. I hoped that this continues onwards with the other volumes, and maybe we might expect a second season. There are two OVAs, where one of them is already released but not subbed. It’s just typical scenes of the onsen and night-walk.
