Well, it took me a while to write this post, as I have been contemplating quite a bit on what grade should I give this anime.
First, let's talk about this last episode. So they really threw us the curvevall, thinking they would assume their relationship, but it turned to Somei just saying he has a girlfriend (the GOAT showing why he has this title).
But right in the next day, Masugu and Yui find out that Somei and Hayakawa are dating, while they were just having a "couple walk". Masugu already knew, so to make things less awkward, he just decided to reveal to them that he and Yui are also dating (which doesn't surprise Somei, since he already knew).
After the vacation, they reveal that the one that is transferring is actually Yui, and not Masugu. Honestly, not a big fan of this. You're telling me that a few episodes ago, Yui had the opportunity to go to a department, that was still related to releasing products, and she had a mental breakdown, and decided to refuse after realizing that what she wanted was create new products, and now she's being transferred to PR, that has nothing to do with what she likes, and she's just like "ok, it's life I guess, it means my work has been recognized", like, ok, good for her she's not suffering, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. This scene just made that whole drama some episodes ago just useless. Ahhh, what a disappointment, not really sure why they added this drama to begin with. How does the series progress after this, since Yui creating new products was a relevant part to the story? Unless PR also does that kind of stuff, but I doubt.
To end the episode, Yui decides to reveal to her (future) former coworkers that she's dating Masugu, which was long overdue. I was actually surprised they made one of them already know (or suspect) that, and the other completely clueless. At least she can now be more open with her friends, so that's good. We didn't get to see Masugu revaling their relationship to his friends though.
And so, the anime ends this way, without any cliffhanger or something (well, the PR thing could be considered that). Not really sure if this anime is getting a 2nd season, but I can see that the plot can still develop a bit more.
I'm going to be honest, I usually dig this kind of anime a lot, but this one didn't really click in me, and I'm not sure why. I never really connected to the main couple, and the first couple of episodes had some weird scenes between them, where they would get all embarassed like teens when doing more couple stuff, in a otherwise mature romance setting (I mean, they blushed of holding hands, but they had already slept together at that point), and after that the anime started getting better, but I didn't find the main couple to have much chemistry, I don't know, it just didn't do it for me. On the other hand, the Somei and Hayakawa couple was much more interesting, and the episodes where they focused on these 2 were, in my opinion, the best ones in the anime, but they are not the main focus of the anime.
The artstyle wasn't the greatest either, I always found it creepy how they drew the non-important characters without eyes. And other aspects, such as the directions in some scenes, OST and that weren't anything outstanding either.
And it still bothers me how they never explained properly what kind of company Yui and Masugu work for, even if it's important for the overall anime.
These last few episodes were much better than the 1st ones, but still, for example, this PR thing isn't something I'm a big fan of.
The anime was for sure enjoyable, and watching Masugu and Yui grow as a couple was for sure cute, but it didn't touch me that much besides that. Even if I found the side couple much more interesting, and the latest episodes were more interesting, I still don't think I enjoyed this anime as much as I thought I would. I was between giving a 7 or a 8 to this anime, but I have made up my mind, and after 3 weeks of seeing this last episode, I came to the conclusion this anime didn't leave that much of an impact on me, which confirms the grade I'm giving it.
So, I'm giving this anime a 7/10, mainly because I felt detached to the main couple, which ends up being the main focus of the anime (as you would expect). Although it is for sure a breath of fresh air to see a more mature romance like this on in anime, I feel like sometimes the anime didn't live up to this premise, mainly in the 1st episodes, and in the later ones when they tried to bring some kind of twist to the whole relationship, like Yui's transfer to HR, it just didn't feel right or was well executed. But it is no doubt an enjoyable anime, and I would watch a 2nd season, if it were to exist.
Edit: Forgot to mention, but the revelation of how Masugu and Yui met was cute, but I think it should have been something revealed much earlier, rather than in the last episode. |