And yes, if you were thinking the title sounded similar to "lemonade" in your head, then you are correct, as it is indeed transliterated from the English word itself. The actual Japanese word is "ramune" which is a popular soft drink there, but they replaced the first letter to make the anime sound more unique. The drink, however, does play a role in the anime to symbolize bonds and you will find out what I mean by that when you watch it yourself.
One thing you will notice right away in Lamune is that the dialogue is pretty direct. Unlike most anime where the male character is normally a wimp and the girl is bitchy, both of the two lovers in this anime are very, well, lovable! And the dialogue itself tackles a lot of modern anime standards because of this, so if you are looking for an anime that is a breath of fresh air, look no further.
Kenji has a personality that is more rowdy than your typical male lead, which is something that was a more standard practice in nineties anime than it is in thousands, so it is an unusual surprise to see it in Lamune, considering the time it aired.
Nanami is actually the one that is wimpy in contrast to Kenji, which is something you would not expect to see in your usual romance. She usually allows Kenji to do the hard work and she is very gentle to her surroundings herself. A very lovable lead female character indeed and not one that you will soon forget because of these traits.
The rest of the characters, however, follow your typical stereotypes. As per the usual standard in your romance anime, expect the male lead's sister to look the hottest out of all the other females. Though, I personally did not think so myself, the anime blatantly makes it obvious that everyone is jealous of her.
Aside from that, though, you have the actual bitchy female character, though she falls under the sense of conjuring obnoxious plights wherever she treads. And indeed, she will annoy you a bit, but she will not make you hate the anime.
I could go on a little more, but the anime does have a fruitful cast overall, so there's no sense in spoiling all of them. And speaking of, as you may be thinking, will twelve episodes be enough to flesh them all out? Surprisingly, yes. When you watch this anime, there is not really a time where you will feel that there is a character that has something unresolved about them. And that is why I personally enjoyed this one a lot.
It is funny, though, considering the source material is from that of a video game, where they normally rush things the most since it is your usual case of trying to juggle all of the female characters' plots all at once. But, I never felt like that was the case and did not even know it originated from a video game until I wrote this review.
Overall, I like Lamune a lot because it gives me a loving story, warm characters and calm atmosphere. The environment is also very soothing to look at and it really gives me a homey feel that I have not experienced in an anime in a very long time. Despite its rather small setting, I grew to love this one a lot. I was rather sad that it was not available for purchase, because it would have been a nice addition to my collection. At least I found a poster of it, so I will definitely not forget about it.
If you enjoy warm romances and want something that is much more fresh than all the others out there, give Lamune a go. You will be very happy that you did.
