Let's start with what I liked about this anime. First of all, the art and animation is fantastic, pretty much the dictionary definition of eye-candy and adorableness. Though I will say that the character designs were pretty uninspired, definitely not anything we haven't seen before. The cute moments between our main couple Yamada and Kase definitely lived up to and surpassed what I had expected going in, leaving you feeling like you've had your daily sugar intake tripled. Their chemistry and relationship is nothing short of beautiful, and I think it's the prime example of how romance should be portrayed in a light and fluffy manner. The soundtrack is also excellent and worked very well throughout the short runtime of this OVA, choosing a more subtle and serene path initially and slowly working its way up to intensify the dramatic moments. The plane motif which is frequently referenced visually works very well with the core message of the story; that the sun always shines above the clouds, no matter how bad the weather gets below.
However, I also believe that the anime's focus on the "cute" moments between our main characters worked against it just as much as it did in its favor. While I understand that this isn't meant to be a deep story and that many liberties needed to be taken to adapt the story into a 1-hour OVA, the entire runtime of this anime pretty much boils down to a compilation of all the cute moments Yamada and Kase share until the eventual climax. Again, that is exactly the appeal of anime like this, but without the proper development of these characters it fell flat when you're supposed to be getting excited over the relationship of two girls you know basically nothing about, including how they got together in the first place. This is the limitation of having a manga adapted into a short hour-long special, but I do believe that they managed to include the elements of the story that mattered. However I can't help but feel like despite it being a worthwhile experience, it could've been a lot better had it been even an hour longer, or perhaps a full 12 episode long series. With the screentime they got, none of the characters were compelling in any way; all of them were generic cardboard archetypes thrown in with some good romantic chemistry added and then blended up. This is particularly true of Yamada's best friend/generic wingwoman character whom isn't even listed on the MAL page because her role was so insignificant in the narrative.
This anime is meant to appeal to a certain demographic, and that much is obvious. It isn't trying to be a deep story with compelling character arcs or a significant message. It's supposed to be a cute love story between two girls and the challenges they face in their relationship, nothing more. And this anime exceeds with flying colors when it's regarded as that and ONLY that. So, don't be like me and go into this expecting anything else, because the short runtime and aforementioned clear intentions are guaranteed to constrain this anime to what it presents itself to be and thus leave you disappointed like I was. So if you want a very clear and straightforward fluffy romantic story between two fumbling tyros that certainly isn't lacking in the diabetes department, then by all means you will love this anime. But if you want it to rise above that and perhaps be more than what it initially appears to be, you might be in the wrong business.
