Story: In reality, the subject of love is messy business, where commitment and relationships are tested only to end in separations and heartbreak. To counteract this, the Japanese government has enforced a policy where everyone is assigned a marriage partner with positive statistics showing that this method ends with happy marriages and better, healthier people. It's here where we meet our main protagonist who, despite having an arranged partner himself, attempts to defy the system by trying to chase after the feelings he's harbored for another for several years.
With the interesting situation of natural love vs. artificial love when you compare the two situations against the corresponding results (aka ending poorly and ending successfully), Koi to Uso presents us with an interesting predicament that doesn't get the execution that it deserves. While the show does initially present the characters' problems in an interesting light and really throws the audience in for a loop with what happens, everything after the beginning two episodes ends up spiraling in a mildly interesting yet disappointing kerfuffle that every so often reminds us that the show has this really great premise only to not go into it that deep as it continues with more middling and slice-of-life routine.
The only really interesting parts occur when the show presents us with the mystery surrounding the hidden structure of the arranged partners, as the show's main conflict is derived from an unclear government mishap. But once again, the potential is wasted because nothing actually gets answered. Like its source material, the show ends up being more aggravating than interesting because every scene not pertaining to the main quartet having fun only adds another layer to everything without clearing out what's underneath. Like a really bad board of Tetris.
To describe this show would be in a word...unsatisfying. Quite honestly, Koi to Uso is a show that ultimately has no payoff for its viewers because even with the ending of our main character actually deciding what he's going to do in regards to his 'natural love vs. artificial love' conflict, the show doesn't make a convincing argument for his decision because not only does the show seem to have more than it's willing to let on (which it does. I will attest to that), but the protagonist himself doesn't seem that convinced of the end result because the show apparently hates being definite on its own argument.
Overview:
+ Really interesting story idea
- Poor execution
- Unsatisfying Results
Characters: If I may be honest, having the unsure, spineless harem protag as your main character's trope is probably the worst things to have as a main character with a story concept like this.
Aside from being obsessed with burial mounds, Nejima Yukari's only other quality is the fact that he's so unsure of himself of who he likes that it becomes the show's main hinderance. Indeed the trait is necessary, as the show attempts to showcase the benefits of both arguments with natural love being organic and following your heart while the arranged notices are statistically better and have happier marriages. As such, him being unsure with what he wants with the two options placed in front of him makes sense. But at the same time, it's really hard to make that argument when your protagonist is so damn passive. As a character, Yukari stays on the sidelines and let his fellow cast members, or anyone else for that matter, dictate the plot because he doesn't make his own decisions. A protagonist is meant to dictate the story, drive the plot so that there's some kind of direction that the story should be heading. He doesn't do anything, and because he doesn't do anything, we're left with a piddling mess of what could've been.
For "natural love", we have Takasaki Misaki. For "artificial love", we have Sanada Lilina.
As the target of Yukari's affection for several years, Misaki poses as one of the show's problems simply due to the fact that nothing about her is told. Sure we know that she loves Nejima, but that's IT. The show is so secretive about her past and the various actions she takes in the show that it becomes so fucking aggravating to watch. Imagine two of your close friends laughing at something and when you ask them what's so funny, they say 'nothing' with a smile. Now imagine that like...thirty times. That's basically Misaki's entire character arc for the entire twelve episode runtime. There comes a time in every story where you do have to spill the beans, damnit.
As for Lilina, the show paints a surprisingly better picture of her despite the show really trying to shoot for the 'natural love' agenda with her character. Regardless, as Nejima's assigned wife, Liliana learns of Nejima's love and wishes to learn what 'true love' is, going so far as to tell Nejima to chase after Misaki so she could learn what natural love is like. The show even goes to the extent of giving her a more detailed and involved backstory (comparatively) to both of her main counterparts so the viewers resonate with her, as well as basically giving her among other side characters the active role in the situation. She is what basically drives the plot and yes, while I do like her character, as we see her change over the course of the series (which is more than can be said for her 'hubby') the burden is too much to bear on her little shoulders.
Then there's...Nisaka. Honestly, Nisaka is a side character. While yes he is involved with the quartet, he doesn't really do anything or have much of a presence in the series. There is one particular scene that does give him some kind of definition as to what his stance on everything is like, but he, like Misaki, is so wrapped in secrets that it's not even worth bothering with because you already know that you're never gonna get answers. Hell, there's supposedly history with him and Misaki, and it's so vaguely touched on that it might as well not have EXISTED.
Side characters range from side cast who really don't matter in the grand scheme of things, and government workers who really would've made a better story with Koi to Uso's concept. There's also Shuu who again, is wrapped in mysteries that'll never be solved. Yes, yes, I've repeated this many times, but repetition is really about the only way for me to irritatingly drive in the point that this show has far too many unanswered questions.
Overview:
+ Lilina is a decent character
+/- The government workers would've made a much better version of this story
- Far too many 'mystery' character traits
- Main character doesn't do anything
Art: Produced by Lidenfilms, Koi to Uso has a light and clear artstyle with a relatively glossy look in order to really give the show that finishing touch. It's a nice style that's very appealing to the eye and has few and far between faults that aren't really all that noticeable.
Occasionally the show goes on different spectrums with occasional simple artstyle moments to add comedy to a certain scene, or blacken the whole screen and fill it in with a couple pictures to drive in a metaphor to the situation. Quite honestly, the art is rather flexible and is one of the more positive points of the whole thing.
Overview:
+ Good, clean artstyle
+ Flexible to fit the story point's needs
Sound: Honestly, the soundtrack for Koi to Uso is...kinda weird. "Kanashii Ureshii" is a poppy rock song that while yes has an interesting beat that makes it actually quite memorable, doesn't really fit with the show. It's actually quite fun to listen to cause its beat is so clear that it's like a song you bop your head to. My question is, why is this kind of song in a romance/drama? It's a good song, but it doesn't really make sense for a show that's supposed to be about the trials and tribulations of falling in love.
On the flipside, "Can't you Say" is a lighter and softer song compared to its OP counterpart, as not only is it a good song, but vaguely fits more with the supposed 'drama' theme. Both tracks are pretty good and are honestly worth a listen to at least once. They just feel like they're part of the wrong show.
Overview:
+ Good, somewhat memorable tracks
- Why are they in this show?
Personal Enjoyment: The original manga has like six to eleven pages a chapter. Literally the moment something good was gonna happen, the shit just ended. However even with roughly eighty normal length manga chapters put into a twelve episode anime with a majority of the fat cut out of it (trust me, they cut out A LOT), the adaptation really brings to light why I've grown so disinterested with the series.
Nothing is in a rush to get resolved, and the slow crawl is so painful that I want to cry because an idea like this is wasted on such a horrendous plot that hates resolution. My theory is that they just don't want either one of the waifus to lose, so they drag the story along on this seesaw of death that swings side to side on which girl will win. It sucks, but I've invested too much time into this, so I'm not stopping even though I should.
Did I enjoy this anime?
Rather than enjoy the anime, I enjoyed more of understanding why I like Lilina as a character. Compared to almost everyone else, she actually does something and has more than just one or two traits that aren't held under wraps and wraps of secrets to be revealed at a later time. Plus she's the cuter one of the two so yeah, I like her more.
What didn't I like about this anime?
While I did complain about a multitude of things, Yukari especially is such a boring and nonsensical character. He has almost no traits to him. That is worse than having an unredeeming trait. At least with shit asshole characters, they give you a reason to hate them. This guy however gives you no reason to care for him. And he's the main character. So you end up hating him because he has no reason to hate or like him.
Would I recommend this anime?
Aside from maybe the first two episodes, Koi to Uso really isn't a show worth investing time into. The show is so devoid of anything useful in its presentation of its central conflict that it almost becomes insulting to the viewer because it pretends to be clever when in the grand scheme of things, NOTHING IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. As such my recommendation is to just...skip it. A good concept is one thing. A good execution is something entirely different.
Also I got cheated out of my sex scene again, so I'm still pissed about that.
