This series is a fresh breath of air in this SoL/School/Romance genre. It's able to avoid the common pitfalls that plague other animes like it and deliver a solid experience all the way through.
This series has a great cast of characters - they're well-rounded and likable. Their character developments feel realistic, and I really enjoyed watching them grow out of and cope with their flaws and form new relationships. There's no silly "miscommunication as drama" in this series - the conflicts feel organic and involve things that any of us in real life can and do face.
I find it hard to find anything to
...
Aug 22, 2016
Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
(Anime)
add
A decent rom-com slice of life, focusing more on comedy and slice-of-life than romance. There are some pretty touching moments between the main duo, but nothing that made me feel more than "aw, that's cute".
The main girl, Misaki, is noticeable because of her strength - she is able to resolve situations on her own and you can easily picture her succeeding in life without ever meeting main guy, Usui. It's refreshing to see a female lead that doesn't fall heavily into the damsel-in-distress trope, although admittedly there is a bit of that. As I begin to watch more of this genre though, I'm noticing the characters ... 
Aug 16, 2016
Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season
(Anime)
add
My tips: skip the first 8 episodes and just watch 9-12.
This 2nd season feels like artificial padding - it's the same type of conflicts and drama as the main duo fail to understand each other and drag out that misunderstanding for the majority of the show. You'd think 26 episodes of will-they-won't-they and them doing very couply/intimate things in the finale of S1 would resolve things..NOPE. They drag things out. A new character enters who's pretty much a male replica of Kurumi (the blonde jealous love interest of S1...bonus, he's even blonde) and this is just a rehash. It's very disappointing. This season does have good ... 
Aug 15, 2016
Kimi ni Todoke
(Anime)
add
This series starts off strong and then kind of peters off and gets bogged down. The initial character building is great - there's tons of warm and fuzzy moments as Sawako gets her first glimpse of friendship and begins to grow closer to Kazehaya...but it doesn't advance much further.
The arcs feel long and drawn out, and the typical shoujo Slice of Life High School Romance trope of miscommunication causing heaps of drama is present in its entirety, and long overstays its welcome. However, Kimi ni Todoke makes a good effort in presenting their characters as likable, unique individuals whom you begin to care for. Which makes ... 
Aug 15, 2016
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
(Anime)
add
I really wish this wasn't listed as a romance - it's a mistag. This show is 99% comedy, and what elements of romance there are exist primarily for comedic purposes.
Anyway, it's a decent comedy. The characters all have pretty funny characteristics which lead to some rather absurd/creative situations, but these characteristics don't really change so by the end the humor gets to be a little stale. This show did send me into fits of laughter on numerous occasions. I found the humor arising from the absurdity in the manga drawings pretty refreshing, as I've never seen anything like it before. 
Aug 14, 2016
Hachimitsu to Clover
(Anime)
add
I really wanted to like H&C. It's widely spoken of as a classic and a must-see for those who like romantic animes. It focuses around 5 college students who I found mostly likable and realistic, but i couldn't stand the portrayal of one of the characters - Hagumi.
She's this 10-year-old looking kid who babbles incoherently, cries easily, hides behind her friends when there's strangers (and she's supposed to be 18). And a big part of the show is how others deal with their attraction towards her, and how she deals with her own romantic feelings. It's just asking me to believe too much. This girl ... 
Aug 14, 2016
Couldn't really get into this. I found the MC (Hachiman) rather unlikable - misanthropic, a loner, with a huge sense of superiority over others. He becomes better throughout the series, but this development occurs at a snail's pace and he's not much better by the end of the 13 episode run.
In a rom-com, I should want the characters to get together. But I don't feel that with Hikigaya. The self-willed loner character who eventually learns to rely on others is common in this genre, and there's lots of examples of likable ones (Mei in Sukitte Ii Na Yo, Touma in WA2, Tomoya to an ... |
