12-sai.: Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki

If I had to choose a word to describe this anime, it would be "cute". This anime was so adorable and cute that it really touched my heart. I judge anime based on enjoyment and whether or not it executes it's stated genres to perfection. For example, This anime was romance and it gave us a lot of romantic scenes. I fell in love with all the romance scene. The characters where also adorable and I imagined myself as the heroine, Ayase.
This anime explores topics like first love, growing up and friendships and relationships at a young age. I know a lot of people ... are going to pass out on this anime because it is about children but I wouldn't recommend you doing that because it is a really good romance anime and focuses a lot on the two relationships in the anime. I can dare say that this "children" anime has a lot more romance in it then some of the other romance shoujo anime I've seen.

12-sai.: Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki follows the life of a few young girls in their last year of elementary school as they explore what happens during and after puberty. This includes an overwhelming number of things such as learning about periods, bras, and more interestingly: romance and boys. If you are somebody who has probably passed the 7th grade, regardless of whether you have experience in the love department or not, you would realize two things while watching this anime:
1) 6th graders, regardless of how small, naive, and uneducated they seem, also deal with their own issues, as puberty tends to start around their age. ... And sometimes, they handle situations better than most teens and adults would, given their straightforward attitude, but they might also handle different situations worse, since they /are/ still only sixth graders who do not understand their real sense in the world.
2) 6th graders falling in love probably seems like a very naive thing, and I would applaud any couple who can spend 6-7 years dating during grade school, and dating more afterwards if not getting married, but there's something about a sixth grader's unique and naive love that absolutely screams "CUTE!!!" in our faces.

12-sai.: Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki is an anime that everybody could enjoy, some more than others, as it's relatable in many ways for preteens and teenagers who are still growing and discovering themselves, and it also gives a sense of nostalgia for older people, letting them reminisce about their old 6th grade days when they thought they were the king of the world.

The following section will just be me rating the anime. I tried to keep it relatively short since there's not much to say.

STORY [7]: The story is simple and straightforward. It's a story about 6 graders coming of age; as they mature more and spend their last year in elementary, transitioning through puberty. It focuses on such themes that may appeal more to girls than guys, to a younger audience than older, though, the romance aspect of the show is more neutral than naught.
The story and plot may be weak, but my favorite part about the show is probably its execution. I'm not going to lie; 12-sai.: is very cheesy, almost to the point where its cliche. But it's with 6th graders, and it's cute and fluffy and gives you more than your typical high school romance anime would, so undoubtedly, this anime works in more than one way.

ART [7]: The art is fine. It's your typical anime art style, except moe'd down a bit to fit the atmosphere. The 6th graders actually look like they are 12 years old, and the character designs are realistic as they get. The characters can be seen clearly and there are some scenes in where the lighting is absolutely gorgeous. The background effects in this anime are very shoujo-like, as it does cater to young girls.

SOUND[8]: The sound is pretty good. The OP and ED are fine, but the OST/BGM is something worth noting. The character's voices matches their characters and they do sound like actual preteens. Occasionally, you do hear a character (generally a back ground character)'s voice cracking as if they were actually going through puberty.

CHARACTER[8]: The characters in 12-sai.: Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki prove to be an interesting array of people, just like you would have in your normal, typical elementary classroom, ranging from that one really stupid and immature kid who pisses off the teacher, to that smart and mature child who sits quietly in one of the front rows. In my personal opinion, the characters are the best part of the show, and it's better to let people watch it themselves and explore the cast rather than sit and explain the characters and their interactions with each other.
Though, as an example and for reference, we have our main character, Ayase Hanabi who is your typical, cutesy girl who wears lots of pink, dreams of dating an idol and sticks by her friend. If not clear, she is a very realistic 6th grade girl. Then we have one of the main boys, Hiyama Kazuma, who is a giant tsundere. Typically, in anime, you rarely ever have boy tsunderes, and whenever they do appear, they're done wrong. Hiyama Kazuma is one of the rare examples of a boy tsundere who is both interesting and dedicated to his role.

ENJOYMENT[8]: The anime only has a few episodes out so far, but I've been thoroughly enjoying it. There's really not much that this anime has to offer besides learning more about puberty through realistic situations, and also seeing romance through a 6th grader's mind. It's cute - it's vanilla, it's fluffy, it's everything you ever wanted in a romance anime (except minus the 6th grader part, probably).

OVERALL [8]: 12-sai.:Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki is a story about 6th graders. It's cute, it's dumb, it'll make you jealous, and you wouldn't know how sugary sweet it is until you try it out.

I do think that this show did live up to it's expectations of having a cute and innocent relationship or 12 year old kids. and for me i think the fact that they're 12 and in elementary is their selling point because i think it would have been boring if the characters are in high school, it would appear as a generic shoujo anime.
Story.
Like is said, I do think that this should lived up to it's expectations of having a cute and innocent relationships as the series circles around the two girls Hanabi and Yui adapt from the fact that they are now in ... a relationship.
this goes on going dates calling each other in their first names and more.
you just smile seeing them being together.

Characters
The main characters are pretty much likable, even even Yui and Hanabi stays the same with no character development because throughout the series they remained the typical goody good girl and Takao and Hiyama remained as your typical school idols, I think their likability makes up for it but still there could have been some improvement the least.
The rest of the characters except for Ayumu are forgettable and Cocoa you'll remember her for being a brat.

Sound
I think the sound is pretty okay, though I think Takao and Hiyama sounded mature but I think it's to make them more handsome.
I think Hanabi and Cocoa are the only ones who believable character as she sounds like an actual 12 years old.
The opening and the ending was okay and the sounds are pretty generic..

enjoyment
Yes i did enjoy it as i consider this one something new, and believable, despite it's cliche's.

Overall.
I do this this is a good anime who lives up to it's expectations, of there's there's obvious room for improvement but the likability of the main characters makes up for it, and i do this everyone can enjoy this.

This anime is definitely for a younger demographic- specifically 12 year old females- and with that being said I think the anime was great.
Story 7: It had a very basic plot with not too much drama, the main drama was the classmates being jerks sometimes. Relationships were established pretty early on and the plot was mostly about them, young 12 year olds, learning about it.
Art: The art was decent. The only problem is the eyes are large, wide-set, and basic and the eyebrows are just lines so when the animation on the eyes isn't perfect it is very noticeable. But eyes are often wonky ... in anime and this anime liked to do a lot of still frame, dramatic shots.
Sound: Loved the voice acting. A++. The sound effects were meh and repetitive though.
Character: I think the characters all worked well together but there wasn't anything extravagant. They definitely each played one type of basic character and didn't have much to them aside from their one character role.
Overall 7: I consider 7 to be a good rating- I would definitely recommend picking this up if you like a cute, mushy, innocent romance.

Keep in mind that this is a romance where the main characters are 12 year olds. Think back to when you were that age, and how you behaved (especially concerning love) back then. If that sounds annoying, embarassing or cringy to you, then this show probably won't be a good choice for you.

There's really not much more to say about it than that. There is no depth or tragic backstory to the characters, or some fancy drama build around them. It's plain and simple, 2 couples of kids falling in love, and experiencing what it means to have a boyfriend/girlfriend and being in love in ... general. Insecurity, blushing, cute and awkward moments, classmates getting in the way, love rivalry, some changes the female body goes through at that time, and so on.

This anime is romance between 12 year olds, it follows two couples Hanabi x Yuuto and Yui x Kazuma. Aside of the romance it's also has their school life but also I think friendship is also a major part in this series. I would describe this anime as quite cheesy, cliche, cute, charming, immature and silly.

As a romance fan, I enjoyed this show. The greatest thing was, although these characters are much younger then most animes, they had more progress and development with there relationship than current shoujo anime out there. We have the couples get together from the first episodes, it's quite sudden ... and spontaneous, but love is like that. It was nice not to have to wait 12-24 episodes for just a confession but just get straight to it. There love is very innocent and shy, and more often than not, they're blushing over everything!! it's adorable but maybe on the excessive side. They're shy to tell how they feel, but slowly start to open up more as it goes on and you'll probably get more openness than most anime.
Ohhh so many cheesy lines and sparkly moments, but hey I guess it comes out that way when you say your true feelings. I'm just glad this side was even present in this anime, because usually characters are in denial of their feelings or hide them.
So being 12 year olds, other then just romance, the anime also deals with getting there period, buying their first bra, etc.

I love the art, it remind me of the old school art style but touched up for this day. It has this realistic look when it comes to the style and overall appearance for example their hairstyles. The main characters, especially Hanabi, wear different outfits each day and some quite cute ones actually. I like how they put detail into changing their clothes everyday, even down to different hair ties.

The characters are quite cliche, and the supports are quite annoying. For example Kokoa, a girl interested in Yuuto always gets in the way and stirring trouble. But she reminds me of the team rocket in the sense she always has to turn up in every episode just to be shut down in the end, probably only to bring the couple closer together. Same with the boys in their class, always nosing into the couples business and getting in the way. But they're kids afterall.
There;s also the character Marin, best friend of Yui and Hanabi. Although she's left out of the group with no boyfriend she's always playing her part by giving wise love advise and being enthusiastic support to her friends.
Also I did like the chemistry between to the two couples, there love is just so charming and innocent.
Of course this wouldn't be a romance without a love rival (who isn;t actually much of a rival) but it;s just totally necessary to keep up the cliche story so we have to chuck him in somewhere ;)

I love the OP! it fits in the anime so well, it's upbeat and fun with good romance lyrics to fit in the story. The background sound was good, aswell the music, it;s quite happy tune that reminds me of christmas lol

Overall, I would recommend this to girls who want their romance dose, specially if you go for the old school style over the romance anime's nowadays! but the older audience may have a hard time watching with it's immaturity of kids and cliche characters $ plot.

First of all, this is a kid's show so don't even try to complain anything, im pretty sure the author/director knows what's he/she is doing so don't listen to these people that disagree.

But for me this anime is good all and all, it's quite relaxing and soothing to watch which makes you smile every minute, the story, characters and plot is very simple which is to make it easier for kids to understand. if you like cute/adorable litte unique romance that has unique characters which is they're 12, then this is what you're looking for.


If you're looking for more anime like this go to ciao ... channel from youtube, I'm pretty sure it's their studio or something, plus they got a lot of shoujo romance upcoming more for kids and it's quite decent btw.

This anime was super cute and brought me back to when I was twelve years old, getting my first boyfriend, making and losing friends, it was around the time everything changed. I do find myself relating to the second couple more than the first because they are the shy ones and don't really know what to say to each other. That's how I was when I was with my first boyfriend. This show is super cute, and has some pretty good fluff episodes, as well as humorous ones thrown in the mix. I give this anime an 8/10, here's why.

Story: 9/10
This story follows two sets ... of couples, all the characters being 12 years old, getting into their first relationships. This anime shows the awkwardness of first love, friendships strengthening, and how to cope with jealousy. I really enjoyed this story, even though it's target audience is a younger crowd. There were some points I did not like about this anime, but I don't want to spoil anything.

Art: 6/10
The art really wasn't as great as it could have been. There were times when the characters were a good distance from the screen, and they just looked kind of off to me. There were also some times where the animation was off too. I'll give it this, the character designs really matched the attitude that they gave off, and I did like that quite a bit.

Sound: 6/10
The opening to this song was really good. I honestly didn't skip it at all. I typically skip an opening if I don't like to listen to it, so the fact that I didn't skip it is a good sign. The ending is decent, I did skip it for episodes 2-11 though.

Character: 9/10
The characters were really well portrayed and I loved (Almost) all of them! There were a couple characters that just got annoying, but the rest were awesome. There was one character who has a thing for one of the main character's boyfriends and she was just a big bully. I did not like that character at all, honestly I could say that I hated her. The character development was very small, but it was there. I am rating this so highly because of the way the characters interacted with one another. It was really cute.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I really did enjoy this anime, even though I'm not in the target audience. It has been a while since I've seen a good romance anime, and this one definitely had it's cute romance scenes. There were times I was watching that I had a big doofy grin on my face because of some of the things that were said, it was just really adorable.

Overall: 8/10
I really look forward to watching season two, I need to see more of the cutesy romance this anime supplies.