Tinseltown has been coming under fire as of late. Celebrities' misdeeds are being exposed publicly on a weekly basis like a new sporting event. The #MeToo movement giving a platform to voice sex scandals that have gone unnoticed for far too long. Scrolling through your timeline, plastered on the TV screen, announced over the radio during daily commutes, the subject matter of countless memes, the focal point of water-cooler conversations; no matter where you turn, there it is. Accusation after accusation. Transforming popular figures into pervert pariahs overnight. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, James Woods, Bryan Singer, Casey
...
Affleck; an endless potpourri of bigwigs—the 21st Century witch hunt in full swing. No one is safe.
And while all of this is going on, halfway across the globe, there's Citrus, minding its own business as it idly trolls along turning sexual assault into a provocative byproduct of step-sisters "bickering." While people are pooling together with torches and pitchforks in hand, shining a light on any sexual misconduct occurring in the dark recesses of the entertainment industry, Studio Passione persists with the biggest "whatever bro" shoulder shrug. What the rest of the world concerns itself with isn't going to stop them from showing girls casually molesting each other on their scheduled programming. It's actually pretty impressive. Fucked up, but impressive nonetheless. I guess you could extend that sentiment to Japan in general. Creating "fucked up shit" in a carefree manner has become something like their calling card:
Has mass shootings and domestic terrorism been a hot-button issue? Well here, have some Inuyashiki. Concerned with gender politics? Don't worry, we got you covered with Skirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita. "If you want it, we got it." seems to be the motto, as they peddle anything and everything in the endless pursuit of creative freedom. Which brings us to the latest foray into the "fucked up shit" unofficial canon, Citrus.
From the land that gave us distinct high-school dramas like Orange, we're handed Citrus, the undesirable fruit.
The anime tells the tale of– oh, who are we kidding? It's about sexy-time with female characters. It's all lip service unless it "services the lips" of the females involved.
It's pretty average-looking too, the ugly kind of average-looking.
Hoards of CGI models in green linen jackets. Flat buildings without detail, walls bare of personality. Real-life-inspired locations washed of any distinct features. Stainless steel structures, straight shapes stretching on endlessly without purpose, without care. Floorboards and walkways copied and pasted into an endless loop of lethargic worldbuilding. A kind of artificial sheen to everything. Devoid of human touch, the undeniable look of computer-generated polish. Clinically sterile and evenly lit. The feeling of being done to the bare minimum. Uninspired. Uncaring. Unconcerned with anything unless it's "sexy-time," and even then, it's barely a passing grade.
Everyone has dark hair and moves forward in a unified step as if puppets to their boring world. A lifeless march towards an all-girl school, a place where our Yuzu would be attending. Yuzu Aihara is the rowdy rebel, our ball of "life" in a world lacking it, and unfortunately our main lead as well. The unlikable side character in any other show given a chance to take center stage to problematic results. Makeup caked on, strawberry blonde hair puffed up, cleavage out in the sun, skirt hacked up, buttermilk tan, all manner of frilly things, school outfit altered beyond recognition, a personality as loud as her appearance; a self-proclaimed gyaru and a shameless attention-seeker at that—this is "much deep" cuz spunky gurl in a world of conformists.
And standing as her polar opposite, there's Mei Aihara, a soon-to-be molester dressed up as a Mary Sue. She suffers heavily from PerfectGirl-syndrome: honor-role pupil, top of her class, student council president, poised, admired by everyone, the chairman's granddaughter, built like a walkway model, good at literally everything she does. She probably farts out Chanel No. 5 too. You get the drill, she's as interesting as wallpaper. Perfect to a sickening degree. Well, that's all before she decided to turn her new step-sister, Ms. Rowdy Rebel, into her personal play-thing.
And who better to bring this together than Takeo Takahashi, a man that's equally known for his hentai contributions as he is his "safe for work" content.
Citrus certainly has that kind of attribute to it. That sort of sleazy undercurrent that flows throughout every moment, well-intention or otherwise. Camera-panning that ogles the female form without concern for respecting boundaries. Narrative threads meant to help audiences relate to the cast quickly expedited to get to the next sexual encounter. Endless monologues for every characters' dilemma—subtlety isn't allowed in this universe. A sense of objectification, even if it's in regards to actions expressed with consent. Nothing is ever pure. Everything smeared with the fingerprints of hedonistic high-gloss.
Even smut like 2017's Scum's Wish, at the very least, had small spurts of respect displayed for its cast, occasionally loosening its vice grip to allow a chance to express feelings openly. By comparison, everything in Citrus feels bought off. An act of slave-like procurement over the characters' bodies that's too readily apparent to ignore. Awkward half-chubs spurred on by involuntary stimuli. In a meta-sense, we're also made victims of visual misconduct (go figure). It's the kind of eroticism that arrives quickly and leaves you feeling dirty.
An anime that will have a heated shower scene where non-consensual groping occurs, then follow it up with this dialogue exchange:
"No!"–Yuzu pushes away in abject horror– "Why are you doing this!?"–her eyes closed, as she stands there naked and vulnerable.
Mei innocently answers back without hesitation, a tone of motherly matter-of-factness:
"Because you looked like you wanted me to touch you."
The scene ends, never to properly address the disturbing exchange again.
As long as the money shot was secured and a few man-tents were pitched, nothing else matters.
This is the kind of "feeling dirty" I'm referring to.
I love perverted content as much as the next guy, but sometimes, what Citrus attempts to do is genuinely off-putting. Sexual harassment shouldn't be confused with love. And if it is, a level of accountability needs to be put in place to avoid idealistic handwaving. But this is a show that thinks that if it holds a "this is wrong" PSA after it indulges in sexual misconduct, that it's suddenly not culpable of wrongdoing. An anime that sells Stockholm syndrome as a shot of Cupid's arrow. Where fighting sexual harassment with sexual harassment is treated as an actual solution. Serious issues trivialized to create marketable eroticism and comedic gags.
Any act of earnestness is completely lost in a title devoid of finesse. After a while, you sort of just roll with it. Jokes at the expense of serious issues. Illogical reasoning made by characters to justify their actions. You might even buy into the lack of audiovisual effort as a part of the "theme" to contrast everything against Yuzu's personality. Of course, you'll be wrong, as even her living quarters and look has been rendered flaccid, lacking in any sense of creative vitality or noticeable effort. It's all very surface-level. Pedestrian sleaze that isn't arousing enough to keep the Kleenex nearby nor respectful enough to genuinely stimulate discussions regarding the content on display.
And that's perhaps this show's biggest downfall in a nutshell: it's vanilla, but a souring type of vanilla.
A type of middling existence occupied by works of far more distinction than itself. If you're interested in the taboo themes that this anime addresses, there's no need to compromise with inferior goods to get your fix. There are better alternatives out there for those actually seeking integrity (Koi Kaze) or far more titillating eye-candy (Scum's Wish). Why settle for vanilla in a world full of flavor just waiting to be discovered? Is Citrus entertaining? Sure, at times. But when 17-minutes of content is glazed over just for 3-minutes of "sexy-time," and the "sexy-time" itself is neither well-animated or concerned with addressing the elephant in the room that surrounds its content; at that point, what you're left with is a show whose sole purpose for existing is left dead in the water from the moment it dives in.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: シトラス
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jan 6, 2018 to Mar 24, 2018
Premiered:
Winter 2018
Broadcast:
Saturdays at 23:30 (JST)
Producers:
Sotsu, Lantis, AT-X, KlockWorx, Happinet Pictures, BS Fuji, Tokyo MX, Infinite, Children's Playground Entertainment, Ichijinsha, Crunchyroll SC Anime Fund
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Passione
Source:
Manga
Theme:
School
Duration:
23 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#71632
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#433
Members:
527,813
Favorites:
3,937
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 79 / 253
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Your Feelings Categories Apr 11, 2018
Tinseltown has been coming under fire as of late. Celebrities' misdeeds are being exposed publicly on a weekly basis like a new sporting event. The #MeToo movement giving a platform to voice sex scandals that have gone unnoticed for far too long. Scrolling through your timeline, plastered on the TV screen, announced over the radio during daily commutes, the subject matter of countless memes, the focal point of water-cooler conversations; no matter where you turn, there it is. Accusation after accusation. Transforming popular figures into pervert pariahs overnight. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, James Woods, Bryan Singer, Casey
...
Jan 28, 2018
Citrus challenges today's anime standards by introducing interesting topics like "How cringy can character dialogue become in an anime until I drop it?" and "Is it sexual assault if I kiss my step sister without consent...and get away with it?"
This is by far the worst anime I've seen this year and I'm just 4 episodes in. Dialogue doesn't feel natural at all, exposition is thrown in my face every second and characters don't make any sense. The pacing of Citrus is way too fast and we never get any real sense of knowing how to feel about a moment. There is a scene where Mei kisses ... Mar 24, 2018
If I got a dollar every time this show featured a kiss scene, I’d probably be filthy rich now. No, not really but you have to admit, there’s almost an absurd amount of kissing in this show known as “Citrus”. To me, this show is a modern example of a trashy soap opera made with the intention of cash grab.
Adapted by the manga of the same name, Citrus is one of the few series in recent years that decided to take on the idea of lesbianism and turn it into a modern day drama. In anime form, it’s defined more as yuri/shoujo-ai. As someone ... Feb 2, 2018
If you're a queer woman looking into this anime and hoping for some decent representation like queer men got with Yuri on Ice!, then I would suggest not even watching the first episode of this, because it's not just a disappointment, it's a goddamn disgrace.
Just the first episode alone contains multiple scenes of sexual harassment and assault, and even worse, the way they're played off is always either comedic or fetishized! (Not to mention that the two main characters are step-sisters, which makes all of this even more disgusting). I didn't expect much from this show, considering all I'd heard about it was from ... Mar 17, 2018
I try to complete it. Citrus is just hard to watch. The characters act without any thinking, consent is not even existing, I think. The dialogues are often cringy and contribute nothing to the story. I don't know the original source, so I can't compare it, but the Anime itself is according to my thinking: a trainwreck, which tries too hard to be relatable in some sort, but fails horribly.
The art is mediocre, nothing too special, but still good to look at. I wouldn't recommend it, especially to those, who prefer story over fanservice yuri scenes. I'm actually disappointed. I expected nothing and still - Disappointment Mar 24, 2018
Not a lot can be said of this anime except that it was literally written to fetishize lesbian women.
To begin with, the story is basically 100% trash. There's nothing really redeemable about it. It's about a girl who basically sexually assaults her step-sister. After a while, her step-sister thinks it's love. That's pretty much it. NOTHING ELSE HAPPENS. Even as someone who indulges in shoujo, I really hate the sexual assault tropes that they try to normalize. The art is the only part I have no complaint about. Everyone is gorgeous and the backgrounds are so well done that I wished I could just ... Nov 27, 2021
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS
Citrus is a Girls Love story where we learn about Yuzu and the development of her romance with Mei, at least this is what the premise tells us. Unfortunately, this show quickly lost all the attributes that could have made it different from others Girls Love stories. Let's analyze the main problems that this program presented: 1. Yuzu's development: During the first episode, we saw her enrolling to a new institute becuause of her mother's new engagement. The rules of this place were strict and very conservative and this constrasted with Yuzu's personality. To this point the story sounded cool beacuse there ... Mar 28, 2018
I have never, in my life, felt this compelled to write a review about an anime. I was on board with citrus for the first 75% of the anime, I really was, before I realized why I'd had this weird tinge in the back of my brain that made me ultimately uncomfortable with the entire anime.
It's not the stepcest, it's not the pushing each other around and pulling at each others clothes although it's still pathetic how yuri and sexual assault go hand in hand in anime. No, it was the fact that the main character, Aihara Yuzu, is the classic abusive relationship victim. She's not ... Mar 24, 2018
Being a fan of yuri is hard, atleast when it comes to anime. The list of all yuri shows is very, very short, and most of them suck real bad. And so every new show that resolves around such themes always gets a lot of attention. With Citrus, the expectations were big. But sadly enough, it didn't fullfil many of them.
For what made Citrus so interesting to begin with is that it's the first full-on yuri show without the element of moe in a long time. Now that's not saying that I don't like moe, actually it's the complete opposite, but seeing a show that ... Jul 3, 2020
*spoilers, language* trigger warning: sexual assault, incest, and harmful stereotypes of lesbians
Let’s talk about problematicism. This isn’t a word, but if it was, let’s go ahead and slap it on Citrus. That’s what this show is, problematic in every way but its core. Let’s slap dreadful and sickening on there as well. Citrus, at the surface, is a simple show that could go to many places narratively. We then meet the MC. Yuzu Aihara just stepped out of an 80s movie/ poorly written Episode story (props to you if you know what those are) and has entered a new, private all-girls school. Her mother was ... Sep 11, 2024
This story would've worked exellently as a dark psychological drama, as a romance though, it is an abomination, and the relationship between the two leads will tell you exactly why
Let's start with Mei Mei is an abuser, plain and simple, we can analyze why she becomes the way she is, and we will in a moment, but nothing excuses her appaling treatment of Yuzu Now why is Mei the way she is? The most likely catalyst is her being put in an abusive situation with her arranged engagement, on top of the already toxic family enviroment. Mei's abusive behaviour is driven by anger, anger towards her fiancé who's ... Mar 25, 2018
Out of 100 Nobles watching...
42 were impressed. 35 got sick of the durdling plot. 15 just want characters in shows to be humans acting like humans doing human things instead of weird aliens acting like what their science division determined what they think humans WOULD act like. 8 would like Yuzu to have more lines of dialogue than just "Mei!" Straight to the point. Citrus presented an interesting concept for a romance story. Our Gyaru protagonist (woo!) Yuzu falls in love with her new-to-the-family slightly younger step sister. The show sets up a plot that would have this couple face the problems that come with this sort of ... Aug 21, 2022
I find it sad this Citrus is the most popular (not exactly in a good way) Girl love anime. It’s a terrible depiction of any sort of romance. Frankly I’m just disappointed the manga is just as bad if not worse. But as I’m on a goal to watch all the yuri anime (and this was my first stop) I must try my best to not turn this review into an angry rant.
Romance 1/10 For people who want Yuri recommandations (or just a good romance recommendation) and are wondering if this is a good GL series, I can say with confidence that it is not. ... Jun 3, 2024
I'm going to be franc, it's cringe. Not only because of the people who try to spin SA as tragedy and character development when the assaulters initially realizes it was wrong - wow, congradulations, you graduated from being a piece of shit to less shitty human being! But, it's just straight up distasteful. I don't care what trauma you have, doesn't give you the right to be a piece of crap. I'm all for forgiveness, but I would never in my life tell ANYONE to become romantically invovled with their assaulter no matter how big or small the assault was.
Straight up garbage. Just someone's SA ... Mar 24, 2018
Ah Citrus, how a disappointment you were. Some of my friends got me hyped up into Citrus after how shitty that NTR Yuri anime were (Netsuzou Trap). I don't know if this anime adaptation just sucks compared to the manga, because my friends kept telling me that it was very good. But after finishing this anime, I'm really doubting it. I'll try not to write spoilers, but you are warned.
Let's start with the introduction: Aihara Yuzu is a "rebel" girl that always lied to her friends telling them that she has a boyfriend and that everything is going so great between them, after moving to ... Apr 24, 2019
Utter nonsense. I tried very hard to be lenient while watching this show but it's an embarrassment. I pretty much knew what I'd rate this show as soon as Matsuri was introduced.
Entirely unrealistic and the climax is a major letdown considering the ridiculous amount of plot points that came out of nowhere to add tension. Too many random makeout scenes (that are actually extremely rape-y). Matsuri is deranged, and the sexualization of her character is pathetic. Not sure where the show was trying to go with the sugar daddy subplot. Just way too many bizarre scenarios are excused and forgiven for seemingly no reason at ... Mar 23, 2020
I'm gonna preface this by simply saying I'm a bisexual transgender woman so I just kinda GET it. I know how important representation of LGBT is..
That being said I constantly have an issue with certain forms of media being seen as better simply because it represents LGBT and you can bet my ENTIRE ass that I definitely count this anime under the "bad but people like lesbians" category. You know what this anime involves? Girls forcing each other into kisses. Which by all accounts is literally sexual assault and I hate that. I actually don't know what to say without going onto a rant, but I was ... Mar 24, 2018
No matter how bad it seems stuff is going, it will always end up in the most perfect scenario to help progress the plot and relationships, That was probably how this anime/manga was created.
With that way of progress it was easy to take this easily and not be disappointed by the anime, I knew that as no matter what happens everything will fall perfectly till the characters get back to being normal and that is probably one of the reasons people could hate this anime. Tho the plot isn't great but it was not horrible as well as the relationships between the characters progresses in ... Sep 24, 2018
Anyone who stumbled upon Citrus and is hoping for it to be a sweet and realistic girl x girl romance -- run while you still can.
This anime was overhyped as the new forefront for shoujo ai anime, something to represent the minority of us who actually want to see a realistic romance between two girls falling in love but instead, what does it turn out to be? Complete utter garbage, and anyone who is willing to give this anything above 3/10 is simply a prepubescent hormonal boy who gets off to typical ecchi shit. Let me elaborate: Story: what story? girl transfers into all girls school, secondary MC ... Apr 8, 2018
I usually don't write reviews - I'm horrendous at them. But I don't understand how people are writing positive reviews for this, so I wanted to throw my two cents in. I feel like some reviews are trying to justify this shit BECOZ GAY.
I understand the LGBT community is an under-represented demographic, but why don't we demand something better than the atrocities we've been receiving recently? I just want good yuri/BL anime. I don't ask for much apart from 'let them fall in love, believably, and have a relationship that works and doesn't cater to the fucking will-they-won't-they formula, PLEASE'. Bonus points for well-made romantic scenes. ... |