Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa (Actually, I am…) is the anime adaptation of the rom-com manga of the same name, published by Shounen Champion and created, written and illustrated by Eiji Matsuda. The adaptation is directed by Yasutaka Yamamoto (Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?, Valkyria Chronicles).
Asashi Kuromine is a high-schooler with a strange peculiarity: he can’t lie or hide his emotions. Also, he has a crush on Youko Shiragami, a mysterious girl from his class that never participates in PE class and is always the last student to leave school. One day, he decides to confess his feelings after-school. Because of that, he discovers that she is, actually, a vampire. Now he has to keep her secret, while trying to get closer to her and dealing with other supernatural beings and even aliens.
Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa is not your usual rom-com, it has too much of a taste for the weird and nonsensical to be one. At first, the comedy is a bit weird, but it builds up on its own weirdness to become something that reminded me a bit of Monty Python, with all of its craziness and novelty. As crazy as it sounds, air-headed vampires, randomly appearing ice-creams and a devil with a sweet tooth are normal occurrences in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa . The comedy never becomes stale, as, with each new character, new interactions and situations become possible. While they don’t evolve much in terms of development, all of them are instantly likeable with a decent degree of depth. Also, most of the characters are twists in the “normal” horror monsters: vampire, werewolf… Still, it is a rom-com, and, as a result, most of the development is based around the fact that characters fall in love with each other.
The characters’ interaction is wonderfully crazy and, somehow, they always outdo themselves, with crazier and crazier situations arising. This is only possible because of the great variety of the characters and their (sometimes conflicting) personalities. “Sexiness” contests, meteors’ attacks, spicy bread russian roulette and even plain old festivals are just some examples of the type of stuff that happens in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa.
The visuals are vibrant, but take some time to get used too. After the initial reactions, it becomes pleasing to look at, but never reaches anything other than that. Likewise, the character design is colorful and eye-catching, creating a unique style.
As an adaptation, it was pretty good. It changed the order of the events depicted on the manga, but stayed faithful most of the time. Unfortunately, it is not as great as the manga, simply because of the way the comedy’s “snowballing” nature. Given a second season, it could reach the same levels of the manga.
Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa strength lies not in its story or characters, but its unique comedy. Despite its great quality, its enjoyment depends on the viewer’s own sense of humor. As a result of loving wacky comedy, I enjoyed the comedy of the series, but, again, it may not be for everybody.
I would recommend Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa to people looking for an unusual rom-com that focus mostly in its comedy aspect and also to people looking to a Japanese-styled Monty Python.
