Futakoi

Futakoi (twin love) is about a guy (the protagonist/harem lead) who returns back to his hometown after some significant period of time of which I don't remember the exact number of years. But that's not important. What is important is that he was "proposed' to by a pair of twins before he left. He comes back to them, and they still like him/he likes them. As the story goes on, five other sets of twins make their introductions (his harem), and he has to decide who to love.

Story (7/10)

A little unoriginal, with male harem lead coming back to girls he left behind (ai yori aoshi), ... but you could make the argument that more shows with this storyline aired after futakoi (kanon, myself; yourself). I'm sure I missed some. The story was enjoyable. There was plenty of romantic tension, which is a must for harem shows to do well, in my opinion. Although the show is 13 episodes long, the show is nicely paced and doesn't seem rushed.

Art (8/10)

I don't have anything to complain about here. The characters look their age, the background art is well done, and the animation is fluid. It gets an 8 because it isn't overwhelmingly superb, like say, 5 centimeters/second was, but it gets the job done and leaves you satisfied.

Sound (8/10)

The OP was a good choice for the show; it set up the right mood to watch the show in. It was done by eufonius (they did the OP for the clannad series, which are some of the most musically beautiful OPs out there). It is really hard to fail with the main twins voiced by Yui Horie (Naru, Minori) and Ami Koshimizu (Kallen, Tenma). Nozomu is voiced by Claymore's Raki. I hated his voice in Claymore, but it works in this show quite nicely.

Character (8/10)

With six sets of twins, character development for all of them was impossible to do adequately in 13 episodes, and the show knew that. The show didn't take away from the development of the main characters by wasting time on minor characters. If it did, it was done to further develop the main characters. There is delicious tension between some characters, and plenty of love is thrown around too.

Enjoyment (9/10)

The show was very enjoyable for me. Very rarely was I so bored that I conscientiously wanted to fast forward to move the story along. It has its moments of comedy, drama, and romance, all of which are done to your satisfaction.

Overall (8/10)

My scores averaged out to exactly an 8/10. Futakoi is one of the better harem shows out there in my opinion. It offers a deeper kind love in a sense, because to love one identical twin over another (yes, all six sets of twins are identical) means you truly love them for who they are, not for their looks. If you're looking for a pretty good comedy/romance show that isn't all that time consuming yet leaves you satisfied, give Futakoi a try. It's a show that's not as well known as say, Love Hina, or Shuffle. It also doesn't have as much fanservice as either show. What it does have is a pretty good story that'll have you asking yourself some interesting questions, and leave you in a good mood when you've finished episode 13.

Note: This was my first review. If this review wasn't helpful, please spend the time to write me a quick personal message on what I did badly. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Thanks for reading~

Futakoi! Well, this is a story about a boy who is surrounded by twins and is haunted by the ancient myth of the small town that he moved to (wont go any further coz it'd be a spoiler =P)

[Story]
The story is very good, but not awesomely amazing. It follows the story of a boy called Nozomu and his two childhood friends: Sumireko and Kauruko. He develops a very deep relationship with Yura and Kira, the daughters of a rich person, with a stingy butler who dislikes Nozomu. There are A LOT of twins in this anime. They all seem to have feelings towards Nozomu. Which ... one will he pick in the end? Thats the question that pops up in your head around the middle of the anime. It builds up the tension by ... oh nearly spoiled it for you there.

Its a good plot and storyline that will leave you wanting just a little bit extra at the end

[Art/Animation]
The art/animation feels like a toddler walking around in your dad's shirt and pants. It feels like they were running on a tight schedule and a low budget. The smoothness of the animation is great. Its just that the artwork feels somewhat childish and incomplete.

[Sound]
The sound is great period. You wont be disappointed by the characters sounding sarcastic at critical moments (*Glares at dubbed versions of Elfen Lied and Chobits*).

[Character]
This was kind of disappointing. They didnt go all the way with the Ichijou sisters or in fact any of the twins. They were trying to add color to too many characters in the short amount of time they had (13 eps). Ill give it a 7 because they havent completely failed in making the characters believeable.

[Enjoyment]
Even though this anime has its bad points, you dont realize the bad points until you actually sit down and think about it (like me writing this review). The anime is an 'on the spur of the moment' thing and can get really heart pounding and enjoyable at times. Im heart broken i have to give it an 8 because when you think about it, after you've calmned down, its not that awesome after all.

[Overall]
A modest attempt at a romance/harem anime with a little splash of humour. Character development and Art are let downs, but this anime is a sound achiever and you will not be disappointed.

Futakoi is difficult to sit through.

The cast is way too overblown due to the gimmick, and because of that some members of the harem basically had no goddamn screentime.

The Chigusa twins for example fade completely to the background once their episode was done and over with. Lala and Lulu were just there for comedic relief, same goes for the teacher twins. The Shirogane twins are the most interesting and overall best girls, but due to them coming into the series late they also very quickly fade as we have to focus on the very, very boring "main" girls.

The Sakurazuki twins have the same gimmick ... and behave in the exact same way, one is always just echoing the other and they don't really do anything to standout. It is the same character just copy pasted for threesome fantasy purposes. While they work well with other characters and added some decent comedy due to their stupidity, their extreme similarity makes any scene with them feel sooooo sloooooow.

The exact same problem goes for the Ichijo twins but even WORSE. They are both the typical "kind" girls and also the token osananajimi. Aside from a little in fighting that comes to a head later on, they are just BORING, there is no other way to put it. They are plain pieces of untoasted wheat toast.

Harem series are very much about the quality of the girls and how much they manage to charm you, so having twice amount the girls should've given this a decent leg up and get a wide appeal. However, due to most twins acting the exact same together or having a very lackluster dynamic you are left with nothing more than wasted potential for a otherwise decent premise.

It doesn't help that the main guy is a coward who keeps romantically leading all the girls on (ON PURPOSE) only to then pussy out whenever things get too real and he has to actually make decisions that could impact him. He had to be guilt tripped into doing the right thing and even then it seems like he's just gonna get away with being a dipshit.