-Me, at episode 0
Characters are paramount to any anime.
Not only are they the people who speak for the creators of the anime, but also they are the selling points of anime. Anime goods and character songs will not shine if the character themselves are not enjoyable.
However, cliches are scary things.
No matter how adorable tsunderes are, no matter how adorable megaderes are, if anything are overused, it turns into a cliche, and the more repetitive the cliche becomes, the weaker its effects become.
After being introduced to a multitude of characters, ranging from tsundere childhood friends with blonde twintails, tongue-sharp seniors with black stockings, overly mature middle-school girls listening to whatever the main characters say and siblings/cousins with a little-too-strong attachments to the main characters, I have grown numb of the 'moeness' of characters and began to freeze my heart on the sights of heroines.
"And, that day, I met with destiny."
-Aki Tomoya
Saenai Kanojo (Heroine) no Sodatekata or saekano, as will be called from this point on, is a light-novel based animation done by A-1 Pictures with the original creator as the script writer and the original illustrator as the original character designer. I have not read the light novel or the manga based on the light novel, and thus I only know the anime adaptation part of the saekano media.
There are absolutely no spoilers in this review, but some terms I use may indirectly suggest minor plot events.
Story: 7
The story centers around the main character, Aki Tomoya, on his attempt to create a game after his inspirations of meeting the girl of his dreams. Having gathered the genius writer, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and the best illustrator he knows, Sawamura Spencer Eriri, Tomoya attempts to produce the best game revolving around the meeting of the main character and the girl of his dreams.
And SHE appears! (dum-dum-dum!)
Saekano's story itself is a mediocre one, using the cliches used in other anime to tolerable level, not introducing an unnecessarily huge plot twist to captivate the readers, which actually tends to turn them away, or capture the viewers' attention through numerous fan services, which also tends to turn them away. It does not stagger in any point of the story and follows through the general theme quite well, as a semi-harem semi-love story with a plot to create a successful game.
That is not to say that there are no misgivings in the story as saekano has its own downs as well. The appearance of two new characters (especially Hyodo Michiru, who appeared at episode 9) and unnecessarily excessive fan services at few episodes made the story segment of saekano to not stand out as an outstanding anime.
However, considering that the anime was only twelve episodes long (excluding episode 0, which was more of an ova than a prequel) and also considering the fact that saekano covered for its late introduction of characters by giving them enough screen time when they appeared and covered for excessive fan service by progressing with the story and character development whilst also showing fan services, thereby catching two birds in one stone, the story deserves quite a praise.
Art: 7
As usual, A-1 Pictures showed how much they excelled at creating love comedies.
The overall quality of animation was very good, with episode 0, 1, 2 and 3 showing enough quality to make the viewers wonder whether they were sponsored to create saekano. The character designs were flawless as Kasumigaoka Utaha's signature black stockings were animated to a worrisome level, Kato's numerous outfits were designed almost two for every episode and the illustrations shown from time to time in the game and Eriri's drawings in quality beyond expectations.
As the anime progressed, however, the anime quality dropped significantly, with Tomoya's hair not being colored at the last episode. All the quality drops are expected to be fixed at bluray releases, but based on the tv animation that aired, the quality of episodes 4, 7 and 8 were almost questionable.
These were compensated, of course, by pushing the anime budget to important episodes, such as episode 3, 6 and 12, but it is difficult to give the art dimension of saekano any more than a 7.
However, the story and art weren't the strong point of saekano.
Character: 10
Kato Megumi is the most well-made, yet the most unused character I have had the chance to meet in my otaku life.
She has the most unique character, which is quite similar to that of a real girl's. She is not honest but not tsundere, she is fun but not a gag character, she is quiet but not emotionless, Ayanami Rei character, and she is normal but does not follow any cliche of a normal character.
However, she is, for some reason, very attachable.
Borrowing the line of the anime, she is adorable at times when she does things that are unlike her, but in the next line she returns to her normal, semi-invisible self who is void of what otaku culture call 'moe'.
She is probably the most human-like character I have ever met.
That is not to say that other characters are not lovely. Kasumigaoka Utaha shows her character as the sharp-tongued senior, Sawamura Spencer Eriri shows her tsundere qualities, but if Kato was not in this anime with the character that she has, I would have never succumbed to like this show as much as I did.
It is not even a question. The character section deserves a 12.
Sound: 7
OP/ED: 5
Putting my personal feelings into this, since I cannot judge the opening and ending songs without putting aside my personal feelings for them, I feel like Haruna Luna, the singer for the opening and one of my favorite singers, is not particularly good at singing bright-felt songs. Her voice and excellent mood bringer is more suited for minor keys such as "Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau" from Fate/Zero. She has been progressing in her skill at singing major keys over the years with "Snowdrop" and "Ai wo Utae" from Monogatari Series: Second Season being a hit overseas and in Oricon charts. However, her singing at the opening, "Kimiiro Signal" was a little less than unbearable to hear. Perhaps it was because her pitch was off at times that I felt a cringe in my eyes from time to time, but I felt like this opening was, put simply, not the best song Haruna Luna has sung.
The ending was very neat and bright-felt as well, but in here, I was a little taken back at the lyricism. Since I am not Japanese and understand Japanese language very little, I do not mind the lyrics that much at any time, but the lyrics were too repetitive that I again cringe my eyes.
But the songs were not the worst I've heard, and both of them were not unbearable. I didn't mind listening through it while watching the anime.
OST & Insert Songs: 9
The sound part of saekano actually shines at the OST and insert song, including character songs. The OST's were, as expected of a love comedy, very cheerful and simple. However, they were very wisely used that even with a simple tune of violin or some background music of a xylophone, the mood was severely affected, and thankfully in a good way.
Insert songs are, simply put, a good surprise. I have never been a fan of character songs, but when the character songs were used as insert songs, with their lyrics accurately portraying the moods of each heroines, I felt refreshed and liked the music. Even the songs themselves are enjoyable to hear as they have been written quite well. Kato Megumi's character song, Mb, is a song that is currently on my playlist, and I enjoy listening to the music without the accompaniment of the anime as well.
Voice Acting: 8
The heroines were cast wonderfully, and I have no comment to make about any of them. Yasuno Kiyono made a perfect portrayal of Kato Megumi as she acted by...not acting, Ai Kayano made a perfect voice for Kasumigaoka Utaha as she voiced her in the cool, calm way that she usually spoke at times, and spoke in upbeat or irritated tone when she lost her cool, and Ooishi Saori made a perfect voice for our tsundere childhood friend, Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
The problem, or rather, the voice actor that I would have liked to see an improvement from was Matsuoka Yoshitsugu as Aki Tomoya.
He made a great portrayal of an otaku male protagonist as he voiced passionately while talking about anime with hints of crying in his voice, while enraging at people who saw anime in a bad light and while being calm at times. However, although this was the purpose, I found his continuous gags quite irritating and found his switch from funny to serious quite unnatural. Personally, I would have liked someone with a more comical voice and yet with a more serious tone at times, such as Miyano Mamoru as he portrayed Okabe Rintarou from Steins;Gate flawlessly.
With that, I gave the whole sound portion a flat seven.
Enjoyment: 10
I have not waited a week for an anime this much ever since.
It would be a lie, of course, if I say that I loved every moment of every time of the anime, but it is certainly true that I have not liked a love comedy harem anime this much ever since I saw my first anime.
I have not liked a character this much either, and I am quite surprised by how much I like Kato Megumi myself.
Quite simply, it was a pleasurable experience. The comedies were good, the story was good, the character development and the characters themselves were fun to watch, and I have realized that this anime is worth much more attention.
Overall: 8
I wouldn't go and say this is the best anime of 2015, or even just this cour, because it is not.
However, it most definitely is the best love comedy I have watched ever since I started watching anime.
I guarantee that you will not be disappointed by watching this, whether you are a girl or you are a boy, whether you watch anime for story or watch it for characters.
It is, every bit worth watching for.
