In harem anime, it has become a staple to have a clumsy, awkward and... well... stupid male MC who is, for some reason, likable in some regard which attracts girls to him. When I think of a harem anime MC, I think of Keitaro from Love Hina. This anime however takes a step back from that and gives us... the most generic "nice guy" I have ever seen. This character doesn't have a personality. He is just... nice. He gets verbally taunted or abused... nice. He gets kicked or punched... nice. He gets labelled a pervert due to a typical "misunderstanding"... nice. He is too generic and nice for my liking. My "perfect" harem MC is Keima from The World God Only Knows. This is because Keima has a personality. A very distinct one and not usually common among the genre. A brilliant strategist with no desire to meet girls or have friends. He is cold, ruthless and dedicated to his craft... but he knows his stuff and it creates an interesting dynamic when he is introduced to different character types and elements because he can adapt. This guy in Mashiroiro, is the same no matter who he encounters or what he is doing... nice, nice, nice, nice, nice. The truth is that this anime is like pandora's box... you open it and all the good stuff flies out immediately and all you are left with is hoping that something interesting occurs. "Oh I know, lets have the entire group release a squirrel that we never knew the story of or cared about... lets make it last like 6 minutes." Bah I say. The premise of them being transfer students and the attempt to fit in is dropped nearly entirely about 4 - 5 episodes in. Instead we focus on naming cats, a girl who runs away and cries a lot... while abusing the boy she "loves" verbally and physically... and then we have lots of pointless "nice" talking. Boring. It is enjoyable however. Just don't expect anything to blow you away. No school dance or festival... just worrying about cats.
The fact that the main character cares for everyone around him makes it uninteresting as he is nice to everyone. I could just as easily see him confess his love to the cat... thing... as I could a female character. While he does try and help everyone... a character that just helps people without any reason or backstory as to why he has to help others so much is... again... boring.
This anime suffers from ADD. For one part, you have the story centered around Sena and the MC. They make a big deal out of this... a lot of episodes... and then out of nowhere she vanished. Literally. She is just... gone. Only seen in a few passing by shots. All that build up for that?! At least have her fade out gracefully. Geez. I understand that because harem anime now have a reputation for being "by the books" that they have decided to try to throw the viewer for a loop... and while I don't mind who he ends up with. It is another case of wasted potential for the sake of a plot twist. Another anime I saw did that. It was called Shuffle!... it had an amazing premise that they flushed down the toilet in order to change pace halfway through to try to be "unique." Garbage. Don't drop a premise that works in an attempt to be even more clever.
STORY: Very cool premise. Well executed at first... then it dissolves into a boring but enjoyable experience.
ART: I liked it. Smooth. Looked good.
SOUND: Good opening intro and I like the piano throughout.
CHARACTER: MC is a super swell guy. Other characters are interesting and fun.
ENJOYMENT: High. It is boring... and the characters are a bit lacking but it is enjoyable.
REWATCHABILITY: Zero. I will never watch this one again.
OVERALL: Its good. Virtus Signum gives this one a 7/10. Give it a watch.
