Koi to Uso

Drama series with love as a central theme tends to draw a variety of audiences. When I seek one of these shows, relationship dynamics is something I trust for the series to capitalize. Koi to Uso (Love and Lies) is one of those series that define love more than just holding hands, dating, or kissing. It’s an anime that dances around the idea of love and drawing the audience into a world of drama.

Getting into this show was actually quite easy. The premise is simple to understand and as a manga reader, I went into this show with tolerable expectations. The first few episodes easily ... establishes the principle character cast – Nejima, Nisaka, Ririna, and Misaki. These four characters have distinctive personalities that makes them different from one and other. The story interconnects their lives as the setting takes place in the future. Government created the Yukari Law in which young people after 16-years old would be assigned marriage partners. So you’re probably asking thinking “hmm, a show that builds relationship through a system. Where’s the love in that?” On the surface, that logic would makes sense but it’s obvious that certain characters have real feelings for each other. For instance, Nejima has a strong attraction towards Misaki. However, his actual marriage partner is a girl named Ririna who is also interested in the idea of love. The three art part of love triangle that explores human emotions, growth, and emotional relationships.

Honestly, I can’t really say this show does an adequate job at developing its story. At its core, it puts emphasis on the theme of love. The show invites questions that makes us wonder what love actually is. What is romance? How do couples build on a love relationship? Why do we feel attracted to certain people and vice versa? For starters, the first few episodes makes it clear that romantic feelings is based on attraction. However, it does get into the emotional elements soon as we learn more about the characters. Human emotions are exposed such as happiness, jealousy, fear, hate, sadness, anger, pain, and pleasure. Yet at the same time, it often feels like this series tries to do too many things at once. Every episode dedicates a variety of human emotions at once that sometimes feel too much to take in. For instance, the first two episodes explores emotions of happiness, pleasure, but also fear. Koi to Uso translates to Love and Lies and that by itself draws the attention of romance. It’s a very complex subject that even to today, there’s no right answer.

By no shadow of a doubt, relationships is a very important focus in the show. The central focus is the love triangle between Nejima, Misaki, and Ririna. If we look at these characters individually, they are rather different. Nejima is the nice guy that tries this best to appeal others but sometimes makes himself look like a fool. He is what I’d label as the “Average Joe”. On the other hand, Misaki is portrayed as the ‘next door girl’ type that many guys dreams to date. However, she also has her own insecurities and often shows emotional moments when she is with Nejima. Finally, Ririna has the personality of an ice queen. She rarely opens herself to others but at the same time is fascinated by the idea of love. As Nejima’s marriage partner, it’s obvious that she also feels an attraction towards him. Yet, Ririna seems to support Nejima and Misaki’s relationship. However, I think the main problem falls onto the shoulder of main male protagonist Nejima. I’ll be honest here…he is a very uninteresting character. He’s not just average but also lacks any dominate traits as a male. He is like a beta male that always struggles to keep up with the alpha pack. Although some people may argue that he carries a lot of responsibilities (as a guy that chosen by the Yukari system), Nejima still stands out as a weak character. The guy spends way too much thinking rather than acting on his instincts. Although he takes a more initiative in later episodes, it doesn’t change the fact that his character as a whole makes him underwhelming. Misaki and Ririna stands out better as characters on their own although the lack of characterization on them holds them back. Honestly, I wish the show capitalize more on their characters individually. Surprisingly, Ririna stands out as the most interesting character in the show for me. She may be a tsundere but it’s entertaining to see how she reacts to certain situations. Remember, this show explores the theme of love and Ririna is fascinated by it. That fascination leads her to get involved in many situations in this story.

Outside these three characters, we also have Nisaka, the mysterious bishounen that other girls seems to adore. His relationship with Misaki is a big question mark and it even provokes feelings of jealousy from Nejima. While I can’t really say this show has mystery, it does invite theories and questions about who he really is. Beyond that, it doesn’t seem like the show capitalizes on his character much and feels like he’s just there. That’s actually a big problem I have with the show. Every episode seems to build a bit more and more to connect the characters together but in reality, nothing really happens. It feels like a loop and nothing really is achieved in the end. We don’t really get a clear answer on who Nisaka really wants to marry in the end and to that, I can’t help but hit my head on a desk.

Despite Koi to Uso being a drama heavy show, it still finds room to add comedy. Unfortunately, I can’t really praise it as it’s pretty dry and feels the same almost every episode. Misunderstandings, sexual fantasies, lewd jokes, and awkward character interactions are what’ll often see. To be honest, I think this show can be enjoyable if you feel attached to certain characters. Luckily for me, I occasionally find Yukari and Ririna’s relationship to be memorable because of their conflicting personalities and the fact that they can connect more on a personal level. Beyond that, this show feels like reading some romance novel where the author isn’t even sure on who root for.

I have to admit, this show’s animation style is strange. It’s neither good nor bad but peculiar in the sense that it doesn’t look very realistic. Character eyes look abnormally big, fan service seems to happen randomly at times, and expressions seems forced. The character designs are acceptable enough with Misaki and Ririna standing out as the pretty girls at school. Nisaka also has the pretty boy look that makes him look irresistible to the ladies. Unfortunately, Nejima’s character design makes him feel out of place compared to these three. As a show with drama and romance, you can also expect kissing. Tons of it actually. By the time I finished this anime, I lost the count of times Nejima has kissed the main girls. Oh and of course, the show adds saliva and fan service during make out scenes to make them more “realistic”.

Soundtrack makes me wonder if the show knows what it’s doing. It’s pretty light-toned and make scenes more melancholic than they should be. The OP and ED theme songs has some noticeable lyrics and symbolism, in particular the red strings of fate. However, what does really stand out is the character voice acting. From all the characters, Misaki probably stands out the most as her character displays the most emotions in her voice. At times, Ririna also stands out especially during tense moments between her and Nejima. Still, the other character voice mannerisms aren’t anything to write home about. Shu sounds like an emotionless doll while Nejima’s voice is just as average as his character.

Koi to Uso is a watchable drama show at best and an trashy romance at worst. The show tries to get the audience invested into the characters but it doesn’t succeed with all its goals. It exposes the weakness of the story when it puts way too much emphasis into the love triangle of the main characters. Hardly anything actually happens! Not to mention, the main male protagonist doesn’t step it up to deliver a strong performance. Nejima holds the show back and is really feels disappointing after watching his role throughout every episode. Up to a certain point, I think this series’ drama is really aimed at specific audience. It's still a fine anime in general but far from perfection. By the time I finished the anime, it feels like a show that couldn’t connect its dots.

Just after watching the first episode, the first thing you will notice is a very soggy art which was quite irritating. The concept is very different and different doesn't always mean good.

Pace is high, WAY TOO HIGH in the beginning, but it becomes stagnant in later section. The production managed to showcase big fraction of story which was supposed to be.

Comic timings were average enough. Depends on the mood you are watching.

Sound is pretty good.

The story could have been very good. There are few incomplete parts and few plot holes which have been filled, but I think it's not getting any sequel. Some unnecessary kissing ... is there....

Climax is going to be the key. As story ignites in a good way and there are few turns too. But depending upon the climax, which can be unique to someone and weird to someone. Totally a matter of perception.

Final note, Pretty average anime with an above average story.

Never read the manga. Just watching the anime-

Welcome to the waifu war anime of the season. Don't believe me just check the online forums and anime sites comment sections.

Pros-
1) Has different approach to the story. Meaning the story isn't all generic
2) Waifu's
3) Has some twists you might not expect

Cons-
... 1) The art is kinda weird. The eyes are way too big
2) Forced drama
3) The pacing is way too fast
4) Pretty sure won't have a proper ending. Since it is going to have only 12 episodes
5) Has plot holes. And the government system is fcking hilarious

For a verdict : I won't say I'm not enjoying the show but have to say it has a lot of problems.

So should you watch it ? : I would suggest giving it a try if you have time. If your going to watch it watch at least 3 episodes before dropping it.

Thanks for reading will update after watching 4 more episodes.

TL;DR: Japan establishes futuristic e-Harmony & forces 16 year olds to marry who they are assigned. 4 people find themselves entangled in a four way love rhombus. Will Arrange Marriage or Love Marriage win? Find out next time in KTU.
[Story: 5/10 , Characters: 3/10, Art: 6/10, Sound: 8/10, Enjoyment: 5/10]

What do you get when you want to deal with a serious issue like Japan's decline in child birth & marriage but still want to attract people from various age groups to explore Love? You get Love and Lies. A show where you end up lying to others telling them how much you love ... it when in reality you don't.

The premise of the show is futuristic Japan adopts the arrange marriage policy labelling it "The Red Thread of Science". Where the government chooses your partner, based on "hard-core algorithm." The public has no clue how the math works but at age 16, you are paired up with your "one calculated love" and you meet up and starting sexing it up right away. They even have sexual concentration camp to facilitate the process. If you don't follow it you are punished with unimaginable torture. However, enter MC, Nejima, an idiot infatuated with his school crush, Misaki, who gets paired of with a tsun chick, Ririna, and thus begins the game of Love and Lies. Will the boy end up with the girl he loves or the girl he got assigned?

The way the show started, it had an interesting premise. They want to explore what love really is and can one really calculate it. Even today, no one really knows the concrete answer to that despite all the online matchmaking websites with their take on different algorithms. With the central theme being love and relationships, people are easily hooked on to the show. So in the beginning the plot was interesting. They introduced the dilemma pretty early and each episode they explore different emotions associated with love, like Happiness, Confusion, Jealousy, Sadness and so on. However mid-way the show takes a huge nose dive. They introduced another character, Nisaka (a boy) who has a crush on the MC, Nejima. Now you had a 4 way love rhombus with a hint of Harem mixed in. It was really unnecessary. If they just kept the dilemma to the love triangle and explored the caveats of love it would've been better imo. As the show goes on, the characters try to unearth the science behind the algorithm while figuring out who to choose in the end. Each episode ends with a bit of twist so viewers still remain motivated to watch the next episode.

If the story didn't have enough bumps and cracks, the characters with their lack of personality and substance definitely did. The MC, Nejima, makes you viciously angry. He is too nice and too dumb who just panics at every trivial matter that makes it hard for viewers to really connect with. Then you have Mikasa & Ririna, a sappy confused girl who just loves to tease vs a tsun confused girl who just loves to be teased. Then you have Nisaka, the token closeted homosexual, to cover the void in "Japan's Hard-core Algorithm" that didn't account for same gender love. Overall, the characters are just too flat and hard to sympathize, with their daily struggle in finding whatever love they desire.

Despite the failure in story and characters, the OP and ED songs are one of the best in this season. The background score is wonderful to listen to on its own. Although the animation at first will throw you off. I mean, we all know anime characters have big eyes, but this show takes big eyes to the next level. They almost look like aliens but I think the show creator did this to emphasize how much emotion people can show through their eyes. Regardless, the show is animated well with great CGI blending and the blue filter effect is maintained throughout the anime. The show had great cinematography and intense kissing animations that almost made it borderline hentai. Altogether, It fit the anime and gave it a soul that the story and characters lacked.

Overall, despite its wonderful premise, the anime just didn't fully tackle what's better, arrange marriage or love marriage. It was sort of fun to watch each week and mid way through I wanted to drop it but glad I didn't because near the end it picked up once again. The characters are a bit bland and the love rhombus was sort of intriguing. However, maybe sticking to the core of the anime and exploring the emotions behind love in a more in-depth manner would've done justice to this anime. Anyways, give it a watch and let me know later how you like it. Also, tell me, do you believe in love marriage or arranged marriage?

P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!

Before going in, this show is a satire towards real life issues in japan and their decreasing population...or at least i hope it is. But you make see it as a bite off of the Scum's Wish anime that aired recently and they are trying to take some of its fans. made obvious as one of the characters looks like the main character from scums wish. also it has the plot of a forbidden relationship.

the plot is about a world where in order to help japans decreasing population, its government decides to pair people up with each other for marriage when they turn 16 via ... some form of science called the red string of fate. this sounds ok when you first enter the show as it works but our main character falls in love before this point and the pairing up causes issues for him. he see his 16th birthday coming soon and takes the opportunity to tell her how he feels.
so if you havent watched this yet the plot sounds fairly good but the execution is a little bit off for me and i will go into that with the characters.

the art can be a little off for some people as its kinda combining the scums wish and generic anime art. (im gonna compare this to kuzo no honkai alot.) i not a fan but its tolerable compared to the yuri on ice bite this season (ballroom) that has the xxxholic art combined with a more outdated style. the art for this show is average at best for me.

the music in this show is amazing. i love hearing it every episode and might enjoy it on its own. the opening has great art and symbolism also. if you dont like anything about this show you have to admit its pretty good.

we have 3 characters this show follows with nejima being our main character. he fell in love with girl after sharing a eraser with her when they were kids which is a little creepy as he treasures that same eraser but that girl does the same thing. her name is misaki btw. he is later assigned to ririna (his forced wife). because this show kinda falls under harem pretenses you couldve probably guessed hes a beta and its really annoying. misaki only like for his looks and you can say vice versa for him but they treat it as love thats why this show is called love and lies (lust). ririna i guess is a normal person compared to others as she rightfully calls our beta of a main character out on his shit and test their false relationship.
overall i dont care for this shows characters but put it off as this show is literally a joke.

overall the show is meh. the characters really pull it down for me. i know its a joke but it doesnt make me hate them any less. the music is a huge plus but music alone is enough to get around the writting. it has a great concept but the motivations of the characters and the fact im a freedom loving American doesnt help it. 6/10, i wonder what it would be like if it was satire.

Do you ever have a voice in your head that tells you when you decide to start doing something (Hey, this is bad. Don't do it). But you convince yourself that you're a rational and logical human that follows Descartes' doubt ideology and you shut the voice up. You start seeing signs that it really is bad, the voice screams (Stop already!) but you keep on going. When you're finished, the voice goes (Ha! I told you so). This is the experience that I had with Koi To Uso.

I have seen The Signs :

-an MC who has the brain and way of thinking of ... a three years old child.
-he can't even look a person in the eye for 0,03 seconds without blushing.
-he is portrayed as the good, nice guy but is actually a f***boy who kissed two girls in the same day without shame.
-we never know why he is loved so much since he is bland in every sense of the word.
-the two main girls are well aware of his indecisiveness and his playing with both of them, and guess what? They're bffs! They even cheer each other on!

The anime started with what seemed like a very interesting concept/idea: the government decides who your future husband/wife is, but it failed miserably to explore it.
We never knew how the calculations are made. How did the millions of citizens accept this new law happily like it was so natural? Why aren't there no rebel groups/organizations?
In the anime, we find out there is a character (who joins the MC harem) who is gay, and if we leave bad assumptions aside (for example that he's there just to serve as a drama factor or for a certain type of audience), we can say that it roses a very important question: What happens to citizens that don't identify themselves as straight?
Well, the anime doesn't really take itself seriously or cares about any topic aforementioned, as it's basically just a journey of the MC running and screaming (Girl 1 or Girl 2?).

As Schopenhauer stated: "The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom". Boredom is what made me watch Koi to Uso, and Mr.Arthur didn't lie. This anime really took away a percentage of my happiness (as well as my brain cells).

To sum it Up This Anime is a perfect example of what happens when you make an anime adaptation of a Manga and don't even have enough source Material to begin with. Due to the Manga still being at seemingly the 1/2 way point of its production/storyline this was to be expected. The anime changes quite a few key factors that the Manga had in an effort to try to shape its own ending but unfortunately they do this terribly too late at like the last 3 episodes which leaves the entirely Made up anime conclusion feeling extremely empty and unsatisfying. The Whole premise of ... this anime/manga was him having to choose his true love and essentially go against his fate to pursue his original true love which is shown in 3/4 of the anime. However towards the end it essentially betrays that entire plot by (SPOILER BE WARNED) having the MC end the last episode by basically choosing both girls and going the Harem Route. The main problem with this isn't necessarily that he chooses both but rather that it seems so forced because they made the ending up on the spot with almost no foreshadowing of this being his end goal/choice so it comes off as unfulfilling to the viewer. In conclusion this anime had a ton of promise early on and a great synopsis but ultimately falls short due to the lack of Original source material resulting in a half-hearted ending. All in All i give this anime a 6/10 with potentially a higher score if they ever make a S2(unlikely) to flush out the actual storyline.

What is love? a question that changes depending on who you are.

SPOILERS

Story 7/10
The anime is placed in a world where the government assigned you with your "destined partner" and basically eliminating all the work involved for a marriage.

The story follows the life of a 15-year-old boy named Yukari Nejima as he is going through a really difficult time to pick with waifu does he prefer more. From episode to episode there were no plot progress the story only adds more conflict and drama so the audience would sit and watch to see if they solve the revolving issue that just ... continues to grow and grow as the more and more episodes go by...
spoilers: they don't

Art 5/10
The character design and school uniforms were really cute but the eyes were just sometimes a little too big and distracting until they just kinda look dead inside? the cinematics was decent but nothing spectacular happened.

Sound 8/10

Probably the best thing about this anime is the soundtrack. It was very fitted with the different scenarios throughout the entire series. The voice acting was also very good and suited the characters well.

Characters 6/10
Most of the characters in the anime were enjoyable but had zero development and very little backstory towards them. The only character that showed change was Ririna who in the end became happier and caring towards her friends/.


Enjoyment 5/10
There were moments in the show that made me wanna watch the next episode and there were times I got teary-eyed and related to the characters emotions and choices in life but in the end, the anime gave me mixed feelings and I'm not even sure if I enjoyed the anime.

Overall 6/10

There was no problem resolved in this anime and that's what makes the audience to this show not satisfied but I understand the intention to show that love is a mess and is very complicated. I really hope to see a season 2 of this anime so that we can at least get a conclusion.

I’ll be the first to say when I watched this dreadful mess I though for a fact it would be a a great show. But lemme tell ya, it went from a cool idea to change drastically into a horrible fail.

Before it bombed everything I really was hooked by the beginning, the first episode felt like their was something bigger there and was really dramatic. The art through the whole show is fantastic, it fits the story they are portraying. And the sounds was nice too. But other than that the later you get in the show, and the dreadful ending as well, it ... really leaves more to be desired.

By the ending of the show, I knew sadly that, a show that I really wanted to be successful, just wasn’t gonna happen so before you get into this mess of a show, think about it!

Japan has implemented a complex system referred to as "The Red Threads of Science" to encourage successful marriages and combat increasingly low birthrates. Based on a compatibility calculation, young people at the age of 16 are assigned marriage partners by the government, with severe repercussions awaiting those who disobey the arrangement.

This anime was pretty bad for a romance but I won't spoil anything so I'll just list off my rating.

Story: 4 Very predictable and tacky kinda left a sour taste in my mouth

Art: 6 Big eyes in anime only worked for clannad because of its compelling story and character development

Sound: 8 Literally the opening song ... is the reason why I even tried watching this anime, it's too god damn Lit

Characters: 6 For the most part the characters were bland and only developed personalities because of their "true love" and even then they barely changed

Enjoyment: I'd give it a 5, the end was extremely disappointing and extremely predictable but nevertheless I was still somewhat satisfied with the ending, I hope the OVA might offer incite into what happens or a little glimpse of what happens later

Overall: 5.8 but we'll round it to a 6

You walk to your boring, mundane job with your head down thinking it's just going to be a normal workday where nothing happens.  On your way to work, you pass by this beautiful, stunning girl that catches your eye.  Without word or warning, you run to her, heart beating, wanting to see or know more about this strange maiden that you just happened to go by.  That...is love.  Or rather, that's a common, idealistic idea of 'love'. 

Story: In reality, the subject of love is messy business, where commitment and relationships are tested only to end in separations and heartbreak.  To counteract this, the Japanese government ... has enforced a policy where everyone is assigned a marriage partner with positive statistics showing that this method ends with happy marriages and better, healthier people.  It's here where we meet our main protagonist who, despite having an arranged partner himself, attempts to defy the system by trying to chase after the feelings he's harbored for another for several years.

With the interesting situation of natural love vs. artificial love when you compare the two situations against the corresponding results (aka ending poorly and ending successfully), Koi to Uso presents us with an interesting predicament that doesn't get the execution that it deserves.  While the show does initially present the characters' problems in an interesting light and really throws the audience in for a loop with what happens, everything after the beginning two episodes ends up spiraling in a mildly interesting yet disappointing kerfuffle that every so often reminds us that the show has this really great premise only to not go into it that deep as it continues with more middling and slice-of-life routine.

The only really interesting parts occur when the show presents us with the mystery surrounding the hidden structure of the arranged partners, as the show's main conflict is derived from an unclear government mishap.  But once again, the potential is wasted because nothing actually gets answered.  Like its source material, the show ends up being more aggravating than interesting because every scene not pertaining to the main quartet having fun only adds another layer to everything without clearing out what's underneath.  Like a really bad board of Tetris.

To describe this show would be in a word...unsatisfying.  Quite honestly, Koi to Uso is a show that ultimately has no payoff for its viewers because even with the ending of our main character actually deciding what he's going to do in regards to his 'natural love vs. artificial love' conflict, the show doesn't make a convincing argument for his decision because not only does the show seem to have more than it's willing to let on (which it does.  I will attest to that), but the protagonist himself doesn't seem that convinced of the end result because the show apparently hates being definite on its own argument.

Overview:
+ Really interesting story idea
-  Poor execution
-  Unsatisfying Results

Characters: If I may be honest, having the unsure, spineless harem protag as your main character's trope is probably the worst things to have as a main character with a story concept like this.

Aside from being obsessed with burial mounds, Nejima Yukari's only other quality is the fact that he's so unsure of himself of who he likes that it becomes the show's main hinderance.  Indeed the trait is necessary, as the show attempts to showcase the benefits of both arguments with natural love being organic and following your heart while the arranged notices are statistically better and have happier marriages.  As such, him being unsure with what he wants with the two options placed in front of him makes sense.  But at the same time, it's really hard to make that argument when your protagonist is so damn passive.  As a character, Yukari stays on the sidelines and let his fellow cast members, or anyone else for that matter, dictate the plot because he doesn't make his own decisions.  A protagonist is meant to dictate the story, drive the plot so that there's some kind of direction that the story should be heading.  He doesn't do anything, and because he doesn't do anything, we're left with a piddling mess of what could've been.

For "natural love", we have Takasaki Misaki.  For "artificial love", we have Sanada Lilina.

As the target of Yukari's affection for several years, Misaki poses as one of the show's problems simply due to the fact that nothing about her is told.  Sure we know that she loves Nejima, but that's IT.  The show is so secretive about her past and the various actions she takes in the show that it becomes so fucking aggravating to watch.  Imagine two of your close friends laughing at something and when you ask them what's so funny, they say 'nothing' with a smile.  Now imagine that like...thirty times.  That's basically Misaki's entire character arc for the entire twelve episode runtime.  There comes a time in every story where you do have to spill the beans, damnit.

As for Lilina, the show paints a surprisingly better picture of her despite the show really trying to shoot for the 'natural love' agenda with her character.  Regardless, as Nejima's assigned wife, Liliana learns of Nejima's love and wishes to learn what 'true love' is, going so far as to tell Nejima to chase after Misaki so she could learn what natural love is like.  The show even goes to the extent of giving her a more detailed and involved backstory (comparatively) to both of her main counterparts so the viewers resonate with her, as well as basically giving her among other side characters the active role in the situation.  She is what basically drives the plot and yes, while I do like her character, as we see her change over the course of the series (which is more than can be said for her 'hubby') the burden is too much to bear on her little shoulders.

Then there's...Nisaka.  Honestly, Nisaka is a side character.  While yes he is involved with the quartet, he doesn't really do anything or have much of a presence in the series.  There is one particular scene that does give him some kind of definition as to what his stance on everything is like, but he, like Misaki, is so wrapped in secrets that it's not even worth bothering with because you already know that you're never gonna get answers.  Hell, there's supposedly history with him and Misaki, and it's so vaguely touched on that it might as well not have EXISTED.

Side characters range from side cast who really don't matter in the grand scheme of things, and government workers who really would've made a better story with Koi to Uso's concept.  There's also Shuu who again, is wrapped in mysteries that'll never be solved.  Yes, yes, I've repeated this many times, but repetition is really about the only way for me to irritatingly drive in the point that this show has far too many unanswered questions.

Overview:
+ Lilina is a decent character
+/- The government workers would've made a much better version of this story
-  Far too many 'mystery' character traits
-  Main character doesn't do anything

Art: Produced by Lidenfilms, Koi to Uso has a light and clear artstyle with a relatively glossy look in order to really give the show that finishing touch.  It's a nice style that's very appealing to the eye and has few and far between faults that aren't really all that noticeable.

Occasionally the show goes on different spectrums with occasional simple artstyle moments to add comedy to a certain scene, or blacken the whole screen and fill it in with a couple pictures to drive in a metaphor to the situation.  Quite honestly, the art is rather flexible and is one of the more positive points of the whole thing.

Overview:
+ Good, clean artstyle
+ Flexible to fit the story point's needs

Sound: Honestly, the soundtrack for Koi to Uso is...kinda weird.  "Kanashii Ureshii" is a poppy rock song that while yes has an interesting beat that makes it actually quite memorable, doesn't really fit with the show.  It's actually quite fun to listen to cause its beat is so clear that it's like a song you bop your head to.  My question is, why is this kind of song in a romance/drama?  It's a good song, but it doesn't really make sense for a show that's supposed to be about the trials and tribulations of falling in love.

On the flipside, "Can't you Say" is a lighter and softer song compared to its OP counterpart, as not only is it a good song, but vaguely fits more with the supposed 'drama' theme.  Both tracks are pretty good and are honestly worth a listen to at least once.  They just feel like they're part of the wrong show.

Overview:
+ Good, somewhat memorable tracks
-  Why are they in this show?

Personal Enjoyment: The original manga has like six to eleven pages a chapter.  Literally the moment something good was gonna happen, the shit just ended.  However even with roughly eighty normal length manga chapters put into a twelve episode anime with a majority of the fat cut out of it (trust me, they cut out A LOT), the adaptation really brings to light why I've grown so disinterested with the series.

Nothing is in a rush to get resolved, and the slow crawl is so painful that I want to cry because an idea like this is wasted on such a horrendous plot that hates resolution.  My theory is that they just don't want either one of the waifus to lose, so they drag the story along on this seesaw of death that swings side to side on which girl will win.  It sucks, but I've invested too much time into this, so I'm not stopping even though I should.

Did I enjoy this anime?
Rather than enjoy the anime, I enjoyed more of understanding why I like Lilina as a character.  Compared to almost everyone else, she actually does something and has more than just one or two traits that aren't held under wraps and wraps of secrets to be revealed at a later time.  Plus she's the cuter one of the two so yeah, I like her more.

What didn't I like about this anime?
While I did complain about a multitude of things, Yukari especially is such a boring and nonsensical character.  He has almost no traits to him.  That is worse than having an unredeeming trait.  At least with shit asshole characters, they give you a reason to hate them.  This guy however gives you no reason to care for him.  And he's the main character.  So you end up hating him because he has no reason to hate or like him.

Would I recommend this anime?
Aside from maybe the first two episodes, Koi to Uso really isn't a show worth investing time into.  The show is so devoid of anything useful in its presentation of its central conflict that it almost becomes insulting to the viewer because it pretends to be clever when in the grand scheme of things, NOTHING IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.  As such my recommendation is to just...skip it.  A good concept is one thing.  A good execution is something entirely different.

Also I got cheated out of my sex scene again, so I'm still pissed about that.

this anime high key feels like a hentai visual novel without hentai and where you just pick the most retarded actions in the game.

the characters actions are so stupid and unreasonable, it makes the anime hard to watch but at the same time i find the anime to be unpredictable because of this. there are moments in this anime where i get so confused at the actions and reactions of the characters it becomes really frustrating. a big thing that affected my satisfaction in this anime is the ending... there isnt one. maybe if i read the manga it would fix this, but im reviewing ... this after i watch the anime and the fact that it left me in the middle and just said "the end" feels god awful.

somehow i quite enjoyed watching this anime even tho nothing makes sense, or maybe it was that nothing made sense was i be able to enjoy it.

Story
I was excited with the synopsis but the story itself turnout to be very disappointing. Not because of the pacing but mainly the characters choices or actions throughout the show. I was expecting something different. Less teen drama and more focused on the government actions and consequences, mainly for characters like Nisaka.
The ending was not satisfying but I kind of expected it because Nejima is a horrible character.

Art
The art style fits the story, I guess. Even though, I must admit I find it so much interesting than the plot itself. The characters designs are cute and in some moments really well-made, mainly on ... the emotional scenes. However, I would have preferred less fanservice regarding women’s chest size (Misaki). I get it the girls are beautiful, the boobs do not need to get any bigger on each episode.

Sound
Characters voice actors were, as usual, really good at conveying the mood and emotions. The soundtrack in general fitted every scene but nothing extraordinary. I did downloaded the opening because I really enjoyed the music. It’s catchy and I did not know at the time, but it gives you the vibe of this show. What I mean is, I was expecting something more serious and complex but in reality I guess it was focused on lame characters.

Characters
Oh the characters. Where should I begin? Yeah, the main one – Nejima Yukari one of those infuriating characters that are dense as f… and because of it, everyone arounds them suffers. Although, I must admit it’s not entirely his fault that some things happened but who I am kidding? This is one of no good for nothing character that somehow is loved by several different characters.
He is in love with Misaki Takazaki but his assigned wife decided by the government is Lilina Sanada. However, he decides with Lilina support to keep pursuing his first love. He knows there will be consequences and also is aware that he is being unfair to Lilina even if she is also messed up. Others describe Nejima as a good person but in reality I just think is being naïve, unfaithful, dense beyond what can be acceptable and selfish.
Misaki Takazaki is not naïve or dense and she should be aware how terrible person she really is. Pretending or even believing she is a good friend to Lilina and at the same time, teasing, kissing and confessing her love to Nejima. Even if Lili said it was okay and it was supporting them because of their true love, I don’t care. It’s wrong. Even worse when she knows Nejima and Lilina might have being developing feelings for each other. She keeps that to herself.
To some extent I can empathize with her. I can even feel sorry for her but I cannot accept her actions. I know being a teenager and all, we are more prone to make bad decisions but still…
Then, there is Lilina Sanada who is completely messed up. I can’t understand what is going on in her head. I know she is not comfortable with the assigned husband thing or people in general but that cannot justify everything. I want to feel sorry for her but at the same time, I hate how they built her personality.
My favourite character and the one who I truly feel sorry is Nisaka Yusuke. Okay, his love interest is not fascinating at all but love is not rational. However, Nisaka is truly caring and unselfish. Nisaka knows if he followed his heart alone without thinking about the repercussions it would not only affect him but also the one he loves. Therefore, he is hiding is own feelings and also remembering other characters what will happen if they do not follow the government orders.
For him is even worse because the idea of a perfect matching in order to improve a low birth rate in the country basically ignores the existence of people that might be homosexual. So, in my opinion, this perspective if more interesting than that BS that’s going on between Nejima, Misaki and Lilina.

Enjoyment
In each episode, I would read the comments section and conclude that there were things different from the manga. Nothing new but I guess they did mess up the ending so I am thinking about reading the manga.
The characters behaviours in general ruined this for me. That and the annoying fanservice, which would not be necessary if they focused for example on others characters (mainly some from the government). Maybe there will be a second season but I am not even sure if I will watch it.
I will definitely not re-watch this or even recommend to anyone. It’s not terrible but they could have done so much better than this, which will make me forget about this pretty quickly.

Summary: Under right conditions and mood 9/10, otherwise 6/10 at best

I can't stand these reviews that completely overlook the main points of this anime. I do agree that it has its flaws, and that it is a 6/10 show at best for people who watch it just for the sake of watching it, but i found it very enjoyable and immersive under right conditions. So here are some questions to ask yourself before watching it:
Have you burned out with action anime?
Do you want to make your heart giggle?
Have you watched all the other generally well praised romance anime?
If all of the three answers are yes, ... then I would highly recommend this show! The whole show managed to capture my attention and made me watch it in a single binge. The one thing I noticed that this anime does better than some of the well known anime is emotion. Every interaction between characters glows with emotion, especially those silent and intimate moments. In my opinion this show captures emotion like none other. Although many great anime start to build up emotion just to put me off completely by annoying characters (e.g. Banri from golden time). I really couldn't get annoyed by any of the characters, which I found really surprising. The MC still looks annoying and has an annoying voice, but he manages to make some semi-rational decisions.

Idk if this is a spoiler but just in case read carefully!
The only thing that bothered me in this anime is the ending. The whole show is based and rooted on the idea that some kind of decision MUST be made, and that decision would eventually lead to hurting the other side. So it really put me off when there suddenly appears the alternative path where everyone is happy. Someone else might enjoy such an ending but I don't feel the same way.
But the rest of the show was so enjoyable that I can overlook the ending.

This show starts out with an interesting premise. The government chooses a person's partner when they reach the age of 16.

In the first two episodes, Koi to Uso does a good job of conveying the emotions that come from teenagers living in a world that is quite different from ours, at first glance. The teenagers don't like the fact that their partner will get chosen for them, so they declare that they'll never get married, which is a rather accurate representation of a teenager's feelings before they fall in love; representing their fear and denial of getting married.

The premise is very similar to a ... modern-day Romeo & Juliet, and like I stated, it does a good job of conveying that "forbidden love" in the first two episodes, but then it falls apart right after and turns into a generic romcom.

If a partner-choosing system like that was to be forced on people in the real world, everyone would lose their shit. It's an oppressive system that manipulates people and "encourages" them to have children just so the birth rate doesn't decline.

And instead of showing that, the series does the complete opposite and tries to imply that this system is almost 100% accurate with its results, and most pairs are happy with their partner. It's very unbelievable as we're barely told anything about this system.

With this system set by the government, this series had a lot of potential in exploring how different this world is compared to ours, how people act differently, live differently, feel differently, deal with certain situations differently. Hell, this premise is even perfect to explore homosexual relationships, but the most this show does is only give implications and it never delves deeper into it, almost like it's too afraid to stray away from its generic romcom direction.

I would go more into this, but this review is long already. Overall, this show isn't really worth watching, but if the premise interests you then try watching it and you might see something that I didn't.

Your typical romance/drama where nothing ever really happens and the only interesting thing is a kiss in the first episode.

The characters just dance around the issue, never really doing anything about it just reflecting on the problem for most of the series. Other characters emerge that seem to have something interesting but they're left behind quickly and the plot returns to nothingness. There are several scenes which aren't bad at all but they are essentially pointless and treated as if they never happened.
The final episode could have been episode 2 and it would still be no better or worse.

Very anticlimactic typical romance drama with no ... progressing plot.

Coming into this series I only ever heard about the opening and I would look up Kaneshi on youtube and there it would be, but I always heard the actual show was disappointing which actually peeked my interest and made me want to know what made some people dislike this show or feel it was average.

When it comes to the characters themselves they weren't bad, but they weren't very memorable in my opinion either. The main character Yukari is a very shy boy who just wants to be in love with a girl he's liked since fifth grade however because of the government laws ... to increase birthrates he ends up being assigned to get married to a different girl. The overall premise was interesting and I was curious to see who he would up with in the end. Sadly the series doesn't outright show or tell you exactly who he ends up with and I probably shouldn't say more so I won't spoil anything.

Even though this series is classified as a drama, romance, school anime its also a harem, but not a generic one. One of the third characters that likes him doesn't get as much screen time as I wanted them too. I won't spoil who the third person is, but I honestly shipped them more than the two main girls in this series.

Misaki's character was endearing, but I wish there was more to her character than just her liking Yukari and wanted him to happy. I felt the series focused too much on forcing relationships and kissing than it did on developing the characters one on one and giving them more reasons to like each other. Then there's Ririna who comes across as a bit of a tsundere at first until her feelings and emotions start to open up more. They also threw in random awkward fanservice between her and Yukari for some reason towards the beginning of the series. Then they make Misaki and Ririna like each other a lot right off the bat as friends. A part of me was like "JUST HAVE A THREESOME OR SOMETHING." (It did hint to that towards the end) ;)

The big eye character designs might be off putting to some people which is understandable. Stuff like doesn't really bother me though. I actually like the art, but I've definitely seen much better and all I really remember from the soundtrack is the opening and ending songs and to be honest they were both good.

The drama aspect might feel forced although I found enjoyment out of it at times. Despite some of the shows draw backs this series was actually a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.

Story: 7/10
Art: 6/10
Sound: 6/10
Characters: 6/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 6/10

I watch this series on Amazon Prime. At the time of this review I don't know of any dubs except the original Japanese with subtitles. I don't feel this show is a must watch, but I feel some people would find enjoyment from seeing what the characters decide to do in their given situation.

Also Nisaka is best boi

Bye bye :)

I watched Koi to Uso (including OVA), also known as Love and Lies or Koi to Kuso. Here are my thoughts:

Koi to Uso is about a group of highschool students in a world where marital partners are assigned by the government. Most of the story revolves around the MC's affections being divided between his government-assigned partner and the girl he naturally desires.

My first impulse was to drop this, and for about half a year I did, but I ended up coming back to it out of curiosity. What I discovered is that Koi to Uso is an utterly ridiculous show but it has enough redeeming ... qualities to be enjoyable. For the record, I have never read the manga.

The story of this literally feels like a 13-year-old's creative writing assignment. Everything has this juvenile logic to it; the story demands a lot of suspension of disbelief. I really can't overstate how cheesy and pulp-fiction-like the story is. Even by highschool romance anime standards, this show is unbelievably corny and ridiculous. Forgive my use of youthful lingo, but this show is another level of 'cringe'. The secondhand embarrassment I felt watching this was extreme. A lot of the character interaction felt unnatural and it was kind of eerie. The way this show treats romance in general feels quite immature and juvenile, although it is somewhat endearing. It's possible that my perception of this is clouded by cultural differences in the courtship process.

The male MC is awful and has zero personality besides being a spineless, indecisive, clueless idiot, like most highschool anime protagonists. However, both the main female love interests have unique personalities and surprisingly a lot of depth to their character that unfolds throughout the show. They are more-thoughtful characters than the typical female love interests of a male-oriented hetero romance (a pretty low bar to overcome).

The thing is, pretty much all the flaws I've discussed above are storywriting issues. If you can look beyond that, Koi to Uso is actually a fairly well-directed show. It does a decent job of setting up romantic tension, and overall kept things dramatic and interesting. The character interaction, although written in an absurd manner, is sometimes surprisingly well executed. There are some romantic scenes in here that absolutely knock it out of the park with great script, music and cinematography. I know I'm showing contempt for this show in this review, but do not be mistaken: there are some scenes in here that made me gush they were so intimate. Furthermore, Koi to Uso is unique – it fully embraces its premise and explores the concept quite thoroughly. I also appreciated the absence of comedy; this show delivers its corniness with a totally straight face and I appreciated that.

As for visuals, I liked the character designs, including the eyes; the characters' eyes are huge and bug-like even by anime standards. I liked the characters' faces but they're definitely a little uncanny and other people may find them off-putting. The character animation is decent for a non-action anime, better than I expected at least. The facial expressions are well animated. During some scenes the cinematography is more sophisticated than I'd expect from a typical highschool romance show. Overall the production value is a notch above your average anime, although the manifestations of this are subtle.

The soundtrack is surprisingly good and felt quite modern and well produced – definitely a much better OST than your average anime. The background music elevated a lot of scenes and enhanced the show considerably. Conversely, I found the voice acting mediocre and none of the VAs impressed me.

I liked that the existence of sex was acknowledged in this. As opposed to so many other highschool romance shows where handholding might as well be our species' means of reproduction. This show is fairly 'sex positive' so to speak, which is somewhat rare for romance anime and might be a desirable feature for some viewers.


My overall rating: 6/10
Koi to Uso is SO BAD it's KINDA GOOD. The writing of this is comically moronic, but the execution is good enough to salvage this fanfic-tier story. The show is fairly well directed and decently produced. If you're prepared to endure a weapons-grade level of cringe, this anime is actually pretty enjoyable and entertaining. State of mind is hugely important though – you really need to embrace the corniness of this to enjoy it. There are some surprisingly romantic scenes in here if you have an open-minded attitude. Koi to Uso exceeded my low expectations.

If you're just looking for some ridiculously campy telenovela-tier romance, then this anime is a good candidate for that. It literally feels like some teenager's fanfiction randomly got an anime adaptation. I want to reiterate again how juvenile this show is: I think it would be hard for someone older than 14 to take it seriously. That's part of its charm though – it's so silly that it's fun. For fans of highschool romance, I think this anime is worth checking out, especially if you like this kind of thing served over-the-top ultra cheesy. This is definitely not an anime for everyone, but there is a specific kind of audience that would enjoy it. I'm glad that I gave it a second chance and didn't discard it based on its poor first impression. Also, if you're a drinker, this show is best enjoyed with a little booze to make you more receptive to the cringiness and cheesy romance.

If you are weirdly fixated on the idea of the government assigning you a spouse (I've actually seen this seriously discussed many times on the internet), then you might be interested in this show – it explores that topic quite thoroughly. Also, in case you hadn't inferred already, I think a female viewer is more likely to enjoy this due to the focus on marriage and relationship dynamics.

If you like ultra-cheesy highschool romance, you should give Koi to Uso a chance.

I do not recommend watching this show. I will try my best to keep this review spoiler free.
While the show wasn't horrible, the only things that kept me watching was the art and the hope that there would be better characters and a good ending. That is not what I got. The ending was a cop out that i normally see in bad harem anime's. The characters were stale all except for the pretty boy who, I think, should have had more screen time because he was the most realistic character in the show. The OP and ED were very enjoyable and I will ... listen to them in my off time. The OST was nothing special but wasn't noticeably bad. The premise for the show was actually very interesting and I thought it was a realistic setting for Japan. However, the event that takes place are very shallow and cliche in content. As I was watching I kept coming up with better scenarios than what the show had in store. There were some conflicts that I thought would make this show go from a overall 5 to a 7. Sadly that is not what I got and I personally feel robbed of my time.

Koi to Uso is yet another entry in the romance genre but this time with a premise that I thought was interesting. The fact that the government and not the individual chooses who marries who, is an easy way to add in drama to a love story.
My overall impression on the anime was that it was just ok. Everything from the story to the art,characters and soundtrack were average or just above average. I hope it doesn't come across that I'm trying to be to negative about the show because at the very least I thought there wasn't any boring episodes while I was watching. ... My main gripe with the anime is that it had an open ending. I normally don't have a problem with this but in this particular instance it was off-putting. With the way the anime was initially set up I was expecting some kind of closure and there wasn't any. Also there wasn't any kind of indication that there might be a season two with the way the final scene was executed which is a bit unfortunate.
If you have run out of romance anime to watch then consider giving Koi to Uso a shot but be prepared to read the source material afterward as I worry it may not get another season.