Kei Serinuma is a fujoshi who is obsessed with anime and manga, especially BL and yaoi. She's so obsessed with this that she actually starts shipping real people like her classmates together. Now of course the majority of otaku are not actually like this, but I thought this was an interesting concept to explore. It definitely beats the standard nice girl has a group of guys who all like her, and that's the plot.
Despite the series only being 12 episodes long, each character does get their moment in the spotlight. They also seem to be more developed than most characters you see in this genre. Although they could still be given a lot more depth, they are not just completely blank slates and are pretty memorable. The problem is there isn't really any chemistry between Kei and the people trying to pursue her.
The four boys are completely uninterested in Kei at the start (due to the fact she is fat and not aesthetically appealing) but as soon as she loses weight they notice her because of how pretty she is. Since the four boys do have their own personalities and interests, I was expecting them all to find an actual reason by the end of the series to like Kei other than "wow, she's so pretty!" but that doesn't really happen. None of them seem to have much common ground with her, and they all seem to find her otaku obsession annoying and just a thing they have to put up with. I think out of all the boys Mutsumi probably has the most reason to like her, because there is a little bit of overlap in their shared love of history, but still there doesn't seem to be that much chemistry between them.
The one girl who wants to pursue her, Nishina Shima, definitely seems to have the most reason to actually like her. They have a shared love of anime and manga and seem to have a lot in common. It's even revealed in a flashback that Shima actually took an interest in Kei before she lost weight. Shima seems to be the only character who likes her for her personality.
Despite the lack of chemistry between characters, I still found this series enjoyable. The art style is beautiful, and a lot of the humour and comedy is incredibly funny. It's one of those series that you shouldn't take too seriously and just enjoy the wacky adventures. I think this is probably a series otaku will enjoy more because a lot of the humour comes from poking fun at fan culture like anime conventions, fanfiction writing, shipping characters etc.
As for the ending, predicatably Kei ends up not making a decision and doesn't choose any of them. This is pretty standard for this kind of series so I never really expected her to choose someone. But apart from that, there isn't any massive glaring plotholes that are never answered.
I would recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a lighthearted funny series to pass the time. Just don't focus on the romance aspect too much.
