This shoujo high school romantic comedy tells the old tale of a teenage boy who falls for a beautiful girl out of his league. Typical shoujo, amirite?
The only difference is that the main lead is a 2 meter ogre of a man, and his girlfriend is a tiny little chipmunk of a lady.
Yeah, not your average shoujo.
[spoiler]Ore Monogatari is, as the title suggests, a simple love story. And yet, it is not. Tropes are bent and twisted all over the place. Gouda Takeo, who looks like a hulking delinquent out of a yakuza manga, is an absolute gentleman. His handsome best friend, Sunakawa Makoto, who by his appearance looks like the main lead, is a quiet, ultimate bro with little interest in romance. And Yamato Rinko, the female lead, is a severely girly girl who against all odds, falls for Takeo. It takes all but three episodes for them to get together, which honestly, is the best decision this show could have done.
Because this isn’t about falling in love, per say. It’s about being in love when you’re the biggest odd couple in Japan. This two-cour anime has all the trimmings of a high school romance anime. The dates, the misunderstandings, the beach episode, the rival love interests, and the introspection. And that’s where the anime shines. By being so generic, Gouda and Yamato’s love life is treated as being as normal as any other pairing, even when the in-universe characters think otherwise. And make no mistake, the love between these two is as sincere as can be.
You won’t find rich drama or betrayal here. For the slight hiccups in Takeo and Yamato’s relationship are always cleanly resolved and always affirms their love. Sunakawa, as mysterious as he is, is treated as a bystander whose own relationship problems are minor hurdles that don’t change him all that much. At times, it may seem repetitive, but the heart is always there. And it’s so pervasive that it starts to feel like a disservice if it were any other way.
My last note is on the humor. The visual gags are aplenty, and Madhouse does in excellent job at making Takeo’s physicality look wonderfully ludicrous. The aside notes that appear every so often are a bit distracting and superfluous, though carry a certain charm of their own.
Ore Monogatari!! is like a slice of chocolate cake in the shape of a donut. It looks and feels off, but it tastes just like the chocolate cake we’ve come to love.[/spoiler]
