To start off, the one thing that remained absolutely solid throughout the show was the fantastic direction. Scenes transitioned smoothly to the next, everything was set up in a logical manner whereas many romantic comedies seem to go from scene to scene doing whatever’s best to explain the story and I was pleased that Sakurasou didn’t walk down this path.
It was the first half that really kept me interested in Sakurasou. It set up the main cast really well, distinguishing each character and giving them a lot of vigor. The chemistry between all of them was great, especially the love triangle between Sorata, Mashiro and Nanami and it was really nice to see everything unfold.
And so I was quite disappointed when Sakurasou decided to go down the path of being a generic romance. The anime started using elements we’ve seen over and over again. Now using generic elements certainly isn’t a bad thing if it can present it in a way that feel fresh, but Sakurasou failed to do that. The energy it once had in the first half suddenly turned into a slow melodrama. But the ending was by far the most disappointing, as it was sappy and very unresolved.
That being said, that second half isn’t as bad as I make it out to be as there were still a couple of powerful and heartfelt moments. But overall, it was still quite lackluster compared to the first half and mediocre at best.
So overall, starting off with a bang and losing speed at the end, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo was still a fairly enjoyable anime to watch and I really wished they could have kept it solid throughout.
