From the author Tsumugi Musawo, comes a story set in a world where once children turn 16 they are liable to receive a notice with the details of their future spouse enclosed. The government controls the "red strings of science" that bring about perfect matches which turn into perfect marriages. Love with any other is strictly forbidden. However for fifteen year old Nejima Yukari, he finds a love separate from his assigned partner. Which one is the lie?
The anime keeps a nice pacing for how short it is. It doesn't tell the full story, twelve episodes rarely do, but the audience is slowly introduced to the main cast and presented two options. Should Yukari forget his long time love and trust the government to match him with the perfect partner? Or shall he go against the system, and take free love back for himself? The story is never very clear on which girl the audience should be rooting for. There's reason for both to be the one. Love & Lies takes the viewer through the day to day of a complicated romance. It mirrors real life in that way, only what could be made easy for the protagonist is not.
The premise is intriguing, a factor which encouraged your humble writer to take up this show. However as the scenes carry on and it becomes increasingly more difficult to root for one girl or the other, the show starts to lose its meaning. If it was created to present a proposition, what is the point of watching if a true story cannot be extracted out of 4.8 hours spent watching?
The art is another one of the main forces compelling this anime enthusiast to include it on the "To Watch" list. Love & Lives possesses a cute and simple style. Feelings about the eyes are a mixture of love and hate. Sometimes they seem too big and a grim reminder of the dark ages of anime style, but other time they hold much expression. Each design for characters is different and unique, and it was a pleasant surprise to see each of the main cast having a family that shared common features (a design choice that is somehow missed a surprising number of times in other series).
For the average viewer, the art is a plus. For the snooty and seasoned veteran, the eyes may be a little distracting during viewership. And for this one? The art is considered acceptable. The animation turned out to be lazy and suspicious in some scenes, but LIDENFILMS has a budget. All anime suffers from this at some point or another in an episode.
At first listen, the opening was not much to speak of. It has a simple melody with a decent performance by Frederic. The tone is rather upbeat, but the lyrics are a bit darker in that they serve the story to a "T". Love is difficult indeed. The more your dedicated viewer refused to skip the opening, the more it took ahold of her sing-song heart. The opening turned catchy. Definitely one of the better ones of this season if given a chance.
With help from Prime Video, the ending theme was never really given much of a chance before the next episode started playing, but it screams standard J-pop. Roys has a beautiful voice and sings more about how Takasaki Misaki is feeling. It matches the show's aesthetic, and provides a nice wind down from the events of the episode prior. Unfortunately, it is also completely skippable. Nothing in the song really grips attention, pretty as it is.
As for the original soundtrack, your humble writer suggests opening YouTube and surrendering an hour, thirteen minutes, and forty-one seconds to music that has personality. Each piece really belongs to Love & Lies, and each piece can bring about a memory of a scene. It is a soundtrack truly applaud worthy, as it gives the show depth; hat second layer of feeling.
An average boy, a conflicted girl with a mask, a disagreeable loli, and a handsome loner are what this show has to work with. It is almost impossible to form a favorite character from any of the cast. Either all the characters are amazing, or abysmal. Regrettably Love & Lies's main cast falls into that second category.
Nejima Yukari is an average boy who falls in love with someone who isn't his arranged marriage partner. He doesn't have confidence, much drive, and the audience is forced to accept his love for burial mounds without much reasoning. He is fickle, and indecisive, and positively the worst character in the series' main cast.
Takasaki Misaki is a beautiful and smart girl who happens to be the subject of Yukari's affections. Her main personality is that of a person who puts on a brave face and hides her feelings, stuffs them under a mask and pretends everything is alright. She's presented as the damsel in distress for most of the series, and it tends to become quite . . . distressing.
Sanada Ririna is the loli of the snow. She is blunt, says what she wants, but also cannot seems to really figure out what it is that she truly desires. Her whole character is a tad bit confusing, as she is used as the person that just makes everything "work" in the story. Her role is simply to further or complicate the plot as seen fit.
Nisaka Yuusuke, friend of the protagonist, and brooding loner has a lot of potential. It is hinted at that he has much more backstory than the show covers. A fact which becomes highly aggravating as he could be the series' most interesting character, but ends up as a backdrop that keeps getting pulled into the spotlight. Not much is done with him, even though he has the most than could be tinkered with.
When all is said and done, this show is a good watch -- if you're trying to take a break from watching something else, which this critic indeed happened to be doing. The beginning, when all characters were being introduced and the story was starting to take off was a time when the series could be considered an eight. But as scenes continued on, and plot started moving and characters began developing, the end result was so minuscule that everything the story could have built up to became a major disappointment. Does the viewer ever get the answer to the question it presents? The answer would be the same as this one saying "Why don't you find that out for yourself?"
Overall, the series had a great start with it's premise and pretty art, but as it tried to get more series and philosophical with it's ideas, it shot itself in the foot, never really committing to a certain flow. Any questions it asks requires the reader to find the answers within themselves. It's hard to root for any one of the characters, as none of them are exactly root-worthy. Should this show be watched? Yes, if the genres are what floats your boat. No, if you're hesitant at all about netorare (there are abstract elements of this) or want an actual satisfying love story.
TL;DR
Story ~ ✯✯✯✯✯✯ ~ 6
While having a good premise, the actual show -- even though it displayed quite a bit of development -- ended up going almost nowhere.
Art ~ ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯ ~ 8
Enrapturing! Be wary of the eyes, but character designs were all lovely and unique. Sometimes heads were drawn in a way that I would draw them (which is no credit in the slightest), though that is easily overlooked when it's only some frames!
Sound ~ ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯ ~ 7
Nice opening, okay ending, and a beautiful soundtrack!
Character ~ ✯✯✯✯✯ ~ 5
Depressing personalities. Almost one dimensional if not for the confusing philosophical aspects forced upon each one of them.
Enjoyment ~ ✯✯✯✯✯✯ ~ 6
Good watch as a distraction from your main source of entertainment. Beginning starts out great, but the ending turns out dissatisfying.
Overall ~ ✯✯✯✯✯✯ ~ 6.4
Good premise. Good art. Poor characters. Pretty music. Confusing philosophies. Did this show mean to answer any of the questions it asked? Unresolved ending. Abstract NTR elements. So so unfortunate.
