Haai Step Jun

Jun is a fun episodic comedy with fairly interesting main characters that, unlike many shows in the genre of this time, manages to fit in some satisfying overarching character development. Nothing stands out as super excellent, but it was a solid comedy.

The story actually takes place in middle school, not college. The premise as written seems like it could be creepy, but I think the show handles the dynamic between Jun and Zero well since the pining is basically just from Jun's side. The series is episodic, but there are a few overarching stories, and over time Zero and Jun grow to understand each other ... and grow up as people. Also, some plot occurrences change the status quo, which was great because the early-middle section of the show was getting stale since characters can't go anywhere romantically. The ending was not as conclusive as I might have wanted, but it was not sudden and coincides with the end of some decent character arcs. Most of the episodes are funny, but many were uncreative and used scenarios I had seen before several times.

Jun was fun to watch and had a cute design. I think the show plays her mismatch of intelligence and naivety pretty well. Kichinosuke is often hilarious, and he was my favorite character (although I'm not a fan of his design). Kichinosuke's societal misunderstandings, teasing Jun, doing whatever he pleases, and his struggles to do the right thing are funny and turn into great character development. Zero is also a fun character, and seeing him gradually get more serious was nice. (His grandma can be funny too.) None of the side characters were annoying or bad, but most were not unique. The "santaro" kids were probably the best side characters, and their gradual friendship with Kichinosuke was satisfying.

I thought the animation was decent. Some scenes seemed to over-rely on motion lines. I enjoyed the backgrounds and color scheme, which gave a unique sense of place with the dock/harbor themes (and I think a lot of anime lacks this sense of place). Character designs for the main characters were good, but side characters seemed pretty generic. Personally, I thought the robot designs were mediocre. In terms of audio, I liked the OP and ED, which were catchy and matched Jun's character well. The OST fit the scenes/story even if it was quite plain. But sometimes Jun's voice was way too shrill and loud when she was screaming or crying.

Overall I'd recommend this show if you're looking for a fairly lengthy episodic show with a few good main characters and decent comedy. As long as you can overlook some of the episode plots being generic and the side cast being forgettable, it's a solid show.