There are many romance shows out there, and most of them are designed to appeal to the majority. This means either a happy ending where the characters who deserve love end up achieving it, or a tragic story where no one ends up with anything. Kuzu no Honkai attempts to be somewhere in between, and it does well in keeping the ending unpredictable.
This is not to say that this is one of those shows where it tries to show that people are not just black and white, but instead a combination of good and evil. As the title suggests, these characters are scum, and they act manipulatively, irrationally, and emotionally. Along the way, they try to do the right thing, but fail repeatedly, succumbing to their selfish desires.
And this is why the show is such a hit or miss. On one side, you may sympathize heavily with the characters, believing that love often drives us to commit acts we're not proud of. You may sympathize that the characters are only just teeangers, so their immaturity and jealousy cannot be faulted. On the other hand, you may find the drama ridiculous and exaggerated. You may believe that the characters are simply delusional, and that normal people, even angsty teenagers, do not behave this way. The first episode is enough to give you a sense of the tone of the story, and thus which group you belong to.
Of course, you may believe that the show is a little bit of both opinions, and that is the opinion I hold. Some of their actions make sense, despite how cruel they may be, but sometimes they are unrealistic and borderline psychotic. In fact, I believe one of the characters actually fits the psychological definition of a sociopath, but I'll leave that up to you to decide if its only one character who is.
Despite the wretchedness of the characters, I thought the show was extremely well executed. The pacing was on point, not so fast as to take away from the emotional moments, but not so slow as to make it painful to watch. The art and sound are some of the best I've seen in a while, and the voice acting is superb. The only fault I found in the story was its ending. It is satisfying, yet in my opinion highly unrealistic, even for someone who finds the show unrealistic to begin with.
It is difficult to say whether not I actually enjoyed the show. As a work of the anime medium, I would say it is objectively good. However, the story is designed to make you despise the characters, despise human nature, despise the dark sides of love. You won't come out feeling joyful about relationships, or really joyful at all. You will have watched 12 episodes of suffering and heartbreak.
So despite giving this show an 8/10, would I recommend it? I'm not sure. If you enjoy drama, heartbreak, and a more mature view of teenager romance, give this show a watch. If you're looking for a rom com, happy ending, or even a show where you watch the characters grow and overcome their flaws, then by all means stay away from this one.
