Okay, how did I stumble across this anime? The classic "oh this looks like a cute harem anime, I'll probably enjoy it". Ha... that wasn't the case. Also, big shout out to Crunchyroll for having the most underwhelming and misleading synopsis for this show in history:
"Will Makoto win his love by taking a picture of Kotonoha without anyone knowing?"
HAHA, piss off Crunchyroll, piss of. (Love you really)
Anyways, enough of the silly stuff; onto the review.
STORY: As you can gather from my introduction (and by the countless people who have reviewed this show before me) this anime is not anything you'd expect. My only recommendation is that you watch this anime without having any expectation of what this show is going to entail and let it take you for its somewhat unnerving ride.
It starts off as your typical Harem based anime with the main protagonist Makoto Itou (don't worry, you'll hear more about him later on) having a crush on a girl, Kotonoha Katsura, whom he shares a train journey. He then discretely takes a picture of her and sets it as his phone background due to an urban legend stating that they would eventually fall in love. (This little detail almost plays as a foreshadowing for future events in a way, though it is only really significant at the start) The girl who is assigned to sit next to Makoto in class, Sekai Saionji, notices this photo and proceeds to hook him up with Kotonoha and eventually they start dating blah blah blah. Sounds average right? Well inevitably Sekai develops a a strong affection towards Makoto and again, this sounds like your typical harem anime so far. However, this is where things start to take a turn for the unexpected (and for me, damn right uncomfortable) and as the story progresses, various lies and deceits end up getting tangled amongst the main characters which results in some serious and damn right outrageous plot sequences which inevitably lead up to the ending. Oh that's right, if you've heard briefly about this show (I personally hadn't) you would have probably heard of its "infamous ending" which, in my opinion, makes the somewhat average plot worth all the hassle. Trust me, even now whilst reviewing this, it still plays heavily on my mind.
At this point, the normal thing would be to rate the story and move on. HOWEVER, in my opinion I honestly don't think the creators of the anime (and visual novel) were trying to win awards for best original story and that's why at times certain parts of the plot are either stupid, rushed or just dull. What I do think they tried to achieve with this anime is the psychological effect it has on the viewer. Obviously, this inevitably has lead to mixed reviews from viewers as everyone reacts differently to the events that unfold (which is fair enough) but to me, it seriously hit me hard. As I briefly mentioned, I said the show made me feel uncomfortable at times but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it; if anything it makes it a better anime in my opinion that is has this effect on me. Yes, the characters and story line are over-the-top and unrealistic, however the main ideas that the writers tried to portray to the viewer are very realistic and close to home. The idea of how people can be "broken" through lies and deceits is a scary thought to me and I can link many of the themes within the anime to people I know in real life (obviously not to that extremity). Isolation, despair, dishonesty and mania are just some of the themes that are present throughout. This links in nicely with my next point: the characters themselves.
CHARACTERS: I won't go too much into the characters themselves (due to potential spoilers) but I will link the to the aforementioned psychological effects. If I'm honest, the 3 main characters are the only ones worth talking about as they personify what the writers were trying to get across, whilst the other sub-characters are merely there to advance the plot more than actually contributing to it.
- MAKOTO ITOU: The main protagonist (or antagonist if you will) of the show. He starts off as your average, pubescent male who simply yearns for the affection of a female and is initially a bit of an idiot and harmless. However, the writers quickly descend his character from an average high-school kid into a sexual deviant and sociopath. The way his character is done ensures that he quickly becomes one of the most detestable characters in fact or fiction, yet it's oh so brilliantly done. The simple fact of the matter is, I;m sure a lot of you reading this will know of someone similar to Makoto's behavior (just not as elaborate as the anime makes out). Don't worry though, at least he gets to sail on a "nice boat" in the show.
- KOTONOHA KATSURA: Your typical cute and large breasted anime sweetheart who starts off shy and nervous, making everyone watching fall in love with her. A masterstroke by the writers once again. You see, as the story progresses and various events happen, she turns into a horrendously creepy "yandere" due to the actions of Makoto and she experiences the isolation and despair that accompany this. Towards the end, she becomes an absolute broken mess (again, I'm sure you know of someone exactly like this, just not to the extremity) and yet as a viewer, I couldn't help but almost cry for her. In the final episode, there is a glimmer of hope that the character you fell in love with at the start had returned, though this is quickly diminished in the ending. F*** YOU WRITERS. An utterly perfect ending for her character in my opinion.
- SEKAI SAIONJI: In a way, she's similar to Kotonoha in the sense that she starts off perfectly average at the beginning of the show, however she didn't quite have the same affection as her rival and she was always the main cause of my discomfort. Was it because of her actions that she still pursued, even knowing they were wrong? I don't know. However, as she eventually suffers a similar fate to that of Kotonoha, experiencing the feeling of deceit, she plays her truly evil trump card in an attempt to keep the man she loves; thus entering her "yandere" personality as well. Her role in the ending was also brilliantly done as her reaction is the complete opposite to that of Kotonoha's and once again, viewers will be able to link her character to that of someone they know (minus the extremity).
And thus we come to my final thoughts. Forget the story, forget 80% of the characters, just purely concentrate on the psychological message the writers have embedded into this show. I urge you to compare the main characters to people you may no (with a pinch of salt) and let it dawn on you how scarily similar this recreates these scenarios in which people are left with.
Not without it's noticeable flaws and certainly won't effect everyone the same way it did for me.
8/10.
ps; Sorry for a somewhat disjointed and dodgy review, but it's late at night and I just wanted to put down my thoughts that have been bugging me for day. Please don't laugh off my "psychological" view on this anime, it's just how I see it and I hope you guys will do to. Enjoy the show! (sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors)
