Bloom Into You more (or at least how I see it) realistic take on a romance show was something I really dug throughout the entire run of the show. It features the story of a new high school student, named Yuu, who finds her self unable to understand love, or find herself falling in love with someone. She meets Touko, a 2nd year student who quickly grows attracted to Yuu due to her abnormal love-related problems, and the story progresses from there.
Bloom Into You did the most important job of immediately getting you invested in the main plot and relationship between Yuu and Touko and doles out the advances of their relationship in such a way that leaves you needing that one more episode to see what turn things will take in that next episode. The narrative is firmly tied to the two main characters of the show, Yuu and Touko, and so a majority of how good the show really is is tied to how good they are. Plus, the fact that they start their 'relationship', as abnormal as it, within the first few episodes puts this show in my good books without question.
Thankfully, Bloom Into You's protagonists are nothing short of brilliant.
Whilst Touko didn't really 'develop', so to speak, as a character besides her attraction to Yuu, one of the best parts of watching the show week to week was slowly peeling back the layers of the facade that make up Touko Nanami. From where we start with the seemingly perfect Touko, loved by all men and women at the school, we see someone who's pretty much in the realm of mental illness, obsessed with something she had no control over. It's heartbreaking to watch, and it's heartbreaking to see Yuu do everything in her power to try and stop her from teetering towards the edge. On an extra note, I normally really dislike love triangles in my series, but seeing how Touko's new relationship with Yuu impacts her deep friendship and one-sided attraction from Sayaka really enriches Touko's character, and the immense influence she has on the people closest to her.
On the other side we have Yuu, who I cannot praise enough as the protagonist of a romance show. She isn't automatically in love with Nanami from the get-go, but at the same time not opposed to the physical displays of affection Nanami dotes on her with. Seeing Yuu struggle with the nature of her feelings towards Touko, and her feelings towards romance and all that are fascinating to watch, and seeing her wants and desires change over the course of the show puts her one of the best romance show protagonists in a very good while. I was also fond of the fact that she wasn't utterly obsessed with Touko, like most romance protagonists. Whilst she naturally wants to be around her, and talk to her, Touko never becomes the sole factor of her character, as she had friends and family she spends time with, which I felt was really nice.
On that note, and not in a perverse way, but I really enjoyed that their relationship is shown in such a physical manner. Too often, -especially- in yuri series, you'll get the normal crap of 'we are girls that love each other a ton' but simply don't do much beyond holding hands and MAYBE a hug. It was refreshing to get something that was a little more realistic and how I'd feel two teenagers who are attracted to each other (especially in Touko's case) would act.
I feel where this show suffers the most are segments of the show that don't directly focus on the developing relationship between the two main protagonists. A lot of the scenes that focus on side characters felt a lot more boring and tiresome to slog through then scenes featuring Touko or Yuu, which I think serves to show just how fantastic those aforementioned moments are. It's not to say I disliked characters like Sayaka or Koyomi at all, exactly the opposite. It's just that I was so invested in the main storyline of the show, and enjoyed the direction of the main scenes so much that I was just always wishing the focus would cut back to the two of them. I also felt the show was just -that- little bit slow-paced for a twelve-episode series. Whilst never devlolving into a snoozefest, the second half of the show has that feeling too little is happening over too much time, and whilst that's good for a more realistic romance show, I feel a few more chapters of content could've been covered if the pacing of events sped up just that tiny bit.
An additional thing, on that note, that I'm grateful for is the show including non-straight characters that aren't the two main protagonists of a romance. Just having Sayaka and the teacher Riko as side characters that are decidedly not straight, being a lesbian and (seemingly) bisexual respectively, helps the show feel less gimmicky. A bit like it's less 'hey, here are these two gay characters in a sea of a straight people!' like every other yuri or BL show.
The show looks very pretty throughout it's entire run - the more simple, realistic character designs are very at home in the world of Bloom Into You, and the show never noticeably dips into off-model characters or anything of that nature. The animation is... fine, I guess? Outside of maybe one episode, it never really reached the atmosphere of 'great', but it's the kind of slow-paced show that doesn't really need it. For what Bloom Into You is, the show is a visual treat that'll deliver exactly what you want.
If you're like me, and you're looking for a romance-based show that takes the main relationship seriously and doesn't (mostly) waste your time, Bloom Into You is worth your time. With very strong character writing for it's main cast and a strong supporting cast, along with one of the better non-straight romances... well, probably ever, all I can do is sit and wait for more of this show to come, and just hope everything turns out well for these two very good girls.
