Story: 6
Touya Fuiji is a college student whose girlfriend has started her path on becoming an idol. The series follows his interactions with his friends as well as the people who work in the same agency as his girlfriend. Keep in mind that communication was strictly at home, as cell phones are not in use and using a home phone was the only way to contact people outside of meeting them in real life. The ending is a great follow through into the second season of this anime.
Though this anime is realistic in a way, the lack of suspense and dramatic scenes created a very slow paced story. People will argue that the pacing is slow because it is not an action anime... but the anime could use more dramatic parts to make things more exciting. A lot of this story felt like back story or a big flashback to give information on something that will be coming up.
Art: 8
A very simple art style, it fit really well with the timeline that the students are in. The animation as well was nice. I loved the scenes where they switch to a pastel version. This transition is very smooth and the pastel drawings were just beautiful.
With this anime attempting to be realistic, the character designs are very simple and don't really stand out much. I will agree that these character designs help send this message of realism. The idol dresses were pretty as well.
Sound: 8
The sound was a great part of this series. With an amazing OP, Shin Ai, this song has a very nice beat as well as an amazing first verse. This song helps give a feeling of nostalgia as it is reminiscent of songs from the early 2000s (Doesn't this song remind you a bit of Shaman King's second OP, Northern Lights by Megumi Hayashibara?) This nostalgic feeling comes from the use of actual instruments and NO use electronic beats or sounds. The ED, Maiochiru Yuki no Youni, a super calm and quite piano song that follows with a drum beat. This song is similar to the OP as it creates a sense of nostalgia. The insert song was nice, not very idol-like, even though they used it as an idol song. It was very good and catchy, a great addition to any iTunes.
The background music was fine, enjoyed the violin one a lot. The only problem was the song that sounded like it fit with a depressed circus. Whenever that songs was used, it never really fit the scene and just felt out of place.
Character: 8
As I have said before, this anime seems very realistic, and from the art and story, what completes it are the characters. The characters all felt like they were making decisions that a normal person would make under the same circumstances. These decisions and realism felt from these characters gave them depth and did not need a back story to separate them and make them memorable.
The only problem I had regarding characters was character development. I am aware that there is a season two and the characters may develop there, but I only saw one character develop and that was Misaki. Even though Yuki from the very beginning wanted to change, I didn't see any development on her character as well the main character.
Enjoyment: 8
With such a serious harem, I was scared of how long it would take for me to get adjusted to his. In turn though, it was very easy to watch and adjust. One of the best things about this series is the college setting, a setting quite rare in anime, since most anime series are high school setting or a fantasy world setting. I just wished they had more dramatic scenes, as the pacing was getting very slow and annoying.
One thing I enjoyed a lot was the ability to see Touya's thought process and thinking. When I mean by see, they actually put on screen what Touya is thinking in his brain. I enjoyed to see him quite even though his brain was screaming out loud! This also helped this anime gain it's feel of realism, as there are always times where you do something even though your brain tells you not to.
Overall: 8
A GREAT harem anime with a good set up into a season two.
