Tonikaku Kawaii: Joshikou-hen

Honestly peak Tonikawa here.

Enjoyable and well done OVA. Provides more wholesome romance and comedy that the series is known, while setting up for a more supernatural and mystery focus in the coming chapters. The new characters introduced fit in very well with the series, especially the mysterious Kaguya. We have yet to see all of Tsukasa's backstory, yet this OVA teases more about her in 4 episodes than most of Season 2 did. The All girls high school setting is a comedically good foil to Nasa and Tsukasa, making for some very funny moments and situations. Highly recommended for fans of the series.

We all know the drill for tonikawa. Two seasons two ova's same thing really. 99.9% of the time when shows follow this pattern you don't really expect anything more. Some sort of improvement or change, and why should we expect anything? Studios will obviously stick to the method of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Despite all that, I believe tonikawa may be a rare outlier, a "fine wine" of sorts that will improve with time. After two seasons and two ova's, you probably either like tonikawa or you don't. It's very repetitive and vanilla and some people like that and others don't. Or ... so I thought, tonikawa high school days gives me hope that this franchise has a lot more left to offer than what meets the eye.

I may have talked up this 4 episode special but obviously the series still sticks to it's roots of the main love interests being touchy-feely and shy all the time. That hasn't changed and it never will. There are a few major changes here I must add though. I think the series takes more of a focus on the side characters. I think the side characters have always been brilliant in tonikawa but we get to see more of them here. For all the people that think that tonikawa is cliche and tropey, they have made a fundamental misunderstanding. Tonikawa is a SATIRE a lot of the time, the whole joke is that it makes fun of said tropes. I think that while it takes the light-hearted thing too far sometimes, I really like how tonikawa does jokes. It's fun to watch and considerably better than most other romcoms which actually are tropey.

Now for the big news, tonikawa has a plot and a backstory! Now who would have thought this to be the case? Why did they wait so long to introduce this? Well I guess the manga has to make money somehow but the manga isn't popular for no reason. Character development and plot were the major things holding this series back from becoming among the best romcoms in the game. The backstory of Tsukasa and her relation to the princess kaguya and the moon masterfully created a suspenseful cliffhanger of an ending that will leave anime-only's fiending for season three. The final two episodes of this short series almost serve as a prelude, a trailer to the impending shock that will await us in the third season. Mind you it was all foreshadowed from the very beginning, what was all that in season one regarding chitose, tokiko and the moon rock? Why was the moon rock offered to Nasa at the end of season two? We are about to find out all that and more and the sudden shift to a vague, roundabout storytelling method is brilliantly juxtaposed with the otherwise vanilla and straightforward comedic nature which only electrifies the suspense and excitement for the viewer as the fourth episode draws to a close. Tonikawa is like a big, unfinished puzzle, and high-school days only puts the first few pieces together in what maybe the resurgence of the century in a romcom we thought was done and dusted after a slow first two seasons. Buckle up folks, because what we thought to be a "vanilla boring repeitive romance (myself included)" might just have played us all for fools as the imminent plot twist, or twists, awaits us. Thanks for reading. Final score: 8/10

It fulfills its purpose as an expansion of the main series.

This 'extension' focuses on adapting the mini-arc of Nasa as a programming teacher in an all-girls school, which is quite intriguing since we hadn't had the chance to see him in a school environment in either of the two previous seasons.

The introduced characters are quite interesting and captivating. Each of the girls has a unique personality, and their interactions with the protagonists feel very organic.

As for the animation, it remains largely similar to that of the second season, although I have noticed in some frames that the quality of the artwork is somewhat questionable.

I ... enjoyed both the external and internal soundtracks. While no new tracks were created for this expansion (except for the opening and ending, which I loved).

It's a commendable work, but unfortunately, it also appears somewhat ambitious in its attempt to introduce numerous characters and provide them with depth in just 4 episodes. For this reason, at times, the narrative seems rushed, which is the only downside to these specials.

In conclusion: It's an expansion that occasionally feels hurried, but it remains very good, entertaining, and preserves the essence of Tonikawa.
I highly recommend it.

Canonically "Tonikaku Kawaii: Joshikou-hen" is to be seen after season 2 so make sure you don't watch it out of order. This OVA is a short one consisting of only four 20 minute episodes and if you were to just watch the first three episodes you might think it was just a nice side story unrelated to the main plot but then on the fourth episode you just get bombarded with info and hints to where the story might be headed. The story felt a bit rushed for just four episodes since we didn't even have a proper conclusion to the arc but since this ... is canon the studio might tie the loose ends on the start of season 3 (if they make it of course).

Plot: The story begins as Nasa's old teacher asks for his help teaching programming in her only girls school to which he accepts and we are introduced to a bunch of new characters from thee school which I believe will be relevant characters for future seasons and the future plot lines. The story then proceeds to create and develop relations between these new characters and our existing ones with a special focus on Nasa whilst at the same time highlighting Tsukasa through a new light not previously shown to us in past seasons where she begins to have feelings of jealousy and loneliness due to Nasa being constantly around cute girls. As I said the first three episodes are our typical Tonikaku episodes that we already know and love where half of the episode is interactions between our main characters and the side cast and the other half is Nasa and Tsukasa doing their little awkward showings of love that just fill the viewer with wholesomeness. Meanwhile on the last episode we get a lot more serious for the majority of it and we get tons of new information in relation to the main plot, however this new info doesn't answer the questions already brought up during the first two seasons, it instead adds even more questions and gives possible premonitions to the end of the story.

Art: The graphics are basically the same as the first two seasons so if you liked them this will feel the same which I would say are above average graphics. I personally don't enjoy at all the fact that when the characters are blushing they do the red lines covering the whole face instead of just the cheeks but that is an artistic choice the studio made (not sure if it is the same in the manga since I haven't read it) and it is a minor detail that doesn0t heavily affect the overall enjoyment of the series. A special highlight I want to make in relation to the animation is when they pan over to the sky, if I'm not mistaken they did this about two times where one was to the moon and the other to a starry night sky and both looked absolutely stunning.

Sound: The VA's for the pre-existing characters continue the good work whilst the VA's for the newly introduced characters did an amazing job in my opinion and were perfectly chosen given the personality of each character (for example Kaguya being the same VA as Nero from Black Clover). The opening song is a clear downgrade from the previous seasons especially from season 1 that has a top tier opening song, on contrary to season 1's opening song I wouldn't say it is good enough to listen outside of the episodes but it is still decent enough to not make it a skip every episode. The ending in my opinion was actually better than the opening which is kind of rare in anime at least for me and is definitely worth a listen from time to time, just a good vibe all around.

Characters: As I always say in my reviews for anime in the genres of romcom/slice-of-life the plot is pretty predictable and repetitive so the most important aspect of these anime that let them stand out from each other is their characters depth, development and interactions with each other. In this OVA, even though it's plot focuses on Nasa and his new work I would argue he got little to no development acting purely as a driver for the other characters development. On the other hand, Tsukasa got tons of development on these couple episodes with her exploring her feelings in relation to Nasa and struggling to comprehend and express those feelings. The already existing side cast like Kaname and Aya don't get much screen time since this is a mini four episode show but the little screen time they have they are doing their usual: being silly and the comedic relief within the show. In contrast the newly introduced characters do get a fair bit of development especially considering the low episode count highlighting, of course, Kaguya which seems to be a vital piece for future seasons; Shirogane which seems like she will be a reoccurring character in the roster and Kurenai and Haru who each had their little moment to shine and show their personality through the episodes, However I am not certain we will be seeing much of these last two in the future (maybe Kurenai since she is close with Kaguya).

Overall: Very enjoyable for how short it is and actually has a fair bit of plot development which I didn't expect to get when starting the show, however it felt a bit rushed specially the ending since it didn't feel like a proper arc closure, besides the plot development the rest of the episodes are just our typical "Tonikaku" awkward wholesomeness between our two main characters so you will surely enjoy this OVA if you enjoyed the first two seasons. The music on the show are a big downgrade in relation to the first two seasons which makes sense since it's a smaller season, but they are still fairly decent. The focus on this OVA was, In my opinion, the development of Tsukasa's feelings and how she handles them and on the introduction to the new characters that all seemed very interesting and each felt like their own person, which sometimes tends to not happen in slice-of-life shows where the side cast tends to fall into blandness. All in all 6/10, the main seasons were definitely better but this OVA is worth the watch especially if you are in the mood for a fluffy awkward love anime with no serious drama.

I don't know why, but this ONA managed to give more to the plot than 2nd season itself in three times less time. Though it introduces a lot of new characters, it's easy for one to orient self, especially if you have already read the manga.

Overall it's very similar to main series, so don't except anything extraordinary. The characters haven't really changed and there is put more focus on some side characters, but without getting in the way of the main story.

I enjoyed to the fullest and recommend it to anyone who liked 2nd season. The only problem is that it's way too short.

"Tonikaku Kawaii: Joshikou-hen" emerges as the vibrant sequel for the series that we have yearned for. Unlike the 2nd season, it rekindles the charm and chemistry that made the original season beloved. With captivating character growth and seamless storytelling, it successfully recaptures the magic while offering a fresh perspective. In all honesty, skipping the 2nd season completely or watching the last few episodes and then proceeding to this would be the best idea; since the majority of the 2nd season is just a repetitive cycle of the first one. Overall, this ONA serves as the proper sequel to the first series, with some of the ... 2nd season episodes in mind. It also "might" serve as a hint for a 3rd season.

I recommend watching these OVAs. It would seem that after some repetitive elements shown on Season 2 of TONIKAWA, it managed to regain back it's momentum. By introducing various elements and integrating to what's already great from the Series is what the viewers need. The OVA introduced new interesting, funny and adorable characters which add to a great dynamics of the characters of the series, the Rom-Com features are fresh and the addition of the characters made the interaction with current cast along with the new cast an outstanding addition, and by doing so they created this masterpiece addition to TONIKAWA series. In addition, it ... would seem that TONIKAWA is adding a Sci-Fi-sh genre by introducing the new mysterious character that would seem to be relevant to Tsukasa's past. At this point, the dreams that Tsukasa and Nasa are experiencing are more than just dreams which add more spice to what's already an interesting plot. Overall I'm happy that the OVA did it's job to regain the momentum of the series and because of this I'm excited for the next Season.