However, this anime actually accomplishes it WELL. Where it stands out is how dead on and absolutely accurate it depicts falling in love HARD the first time. Even if you've been in love several times, you'll find something in Mei and Yamato's relationship that may bring tear to your eye.
Mei is a good character. Several female leads in this sort of role invariably fall into the "Mary-Sue" trap and end up just being an empty shell. What makes Mei stand out is the decisions she makes and how she reacts to the situations around her. Throughout watching all the episodes, I watched Mei make the same decisions I would of as a girl in her position in high school. She is realistic and very easy to sympathize with.
Yamato's character could have easily suffered from the same sort of stigma that befalls his character archetype. The typical, popular, good-looking guy. This could have easily turned into a 13 episode version of the movie "She's All That" but his character keeps it from doing so. Yamato actually comes off like he has an absolutely beautiful soul. He strikes you as that rare individual that is good inside and out and instead of "making over" the heroine in his popular image he seems like he was looking for someone like her all along. Then he works to get others to see she's actually a good person the way she is.
Their budding relationship is realistic as well, save for the part with Yamato's little sister. That part came out of left field but I digress. Watching them learn from each other and grow is entertaining and you want nothing more than to root for their happiness while watching. The show leaves you with warm fuzzy feelings inside that stick around for a while.
The art is gorgeous and the music complements it perfectly. The intro took me a bit to get used to but once I did I found it very cute. Overall, even if you're the type to shun the typical "romance, shoujo, slice of life" anime - PLEASE try his one. It's worth it.
