Based off a popular light novel series of the same name Ore Wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo which is better known by its English title of Oresuki is a school-based comedy and romance themed anime that gives us the opportunity to see what will happen if one day Amatsuyu Kisaragi a seemingly average second-year student were to as he starts his routine school day were to suddenly receive a sudden invitation to hang out by not one but by two of his best friends both of which have their own unique charms that make them highly desirable partners as lovers for males across the school. But what will happen if rather than the happy ending that Kisaragi had sought that instead events will instead go pear-shaped and the object of their confession was not him but for his best friend instead.
Within the anime industry school-based, romance stories are perhaps one of the more popular genre pairings as such stories are relatively easy to create due to both the nature of a school and how its associated activities can be conjoined with those of a student’s personal life as they enter its sacred halls. However, what drew me to Oresuki was not just the school-based romance setting but was rather its combination with the genre of comedy into its setting a move that I felt was an excellent one as it served to not only expand the many standard activities that school-based animes feature by adding a sense of amusement to them but also while doing so aid in expanding upon each of the individual characters within the series as they take part in such events while also giving the opportunity for them to shine in notable stand out moments within the series. The first episode of the series I felt was an interesting one that while serving well to introduce the main cast of the series also did well to show the blend of school, romance and comedy genres that the series was aiming for and indeed convinced me that this series is one that I should watch till the end.
The overall story of the series takes place within both the confines of the local Nishikizuta high school and its surrounding areas and follows the life of Amatsuyu Kisaragi better known as Joro a seemingly average second-year student that while on the surface is seemingly content with the routine sans boring life that he’s been having is one day presented with a seemingly miraculous opportunity when he’s invited out by two beautiful girls that screams of an obvious love confession. However, what should have been a happy ending soon turns pear-shaped as Joro finds to his shock that rather being him the object of their affections was rather his best friend. However, before the moments of despair manage to seep into his heart Joro is seemingly saved by a second love confession from the one person that Joro had least expected and one that despite him never meeting her in person seemed to know more about his daily life than he did. This was from none other than Sumireko Sanshokuin a second-year student and a member of the school’s library committee that despite looking rather unremarkable on the surface was one that had a seemingly sharp tongue and a cunning that surprised even Joro. Now presented with a complex situation in which Joro and his friends find themselves caught up in will they be able to navigate the countless traps and misunderstandings that will transpire as each of them try to pursue the one thing that they desire the most in their life which is the opportunity to be with the one person that they love or will the friendship and bonds between them shatter as they do so.
Amatsuyu Kisaragi
Amatsuyu Kisaragi portrayed by veteran voice actor Daiki Yamashita of Re Creators fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A second-year student that attends the local Nishikizuta high school Kisaragi who prefers to be known by his nickname of Joro is on initial appearances shown to be a seemingly average high school boy that’s friendly, earnest and positive and was someone that was shown to be dependable by many on account of the number of friends that he had as well as the fact that he was nominated to be the secretary for the school’s student council. Despite this Joro was shown to have little sense of arrogance and indeed was shown to be a kind, honest and quiet person by nature that preferred to stay out of the spotlight and enjoy his time at school with his friends. Indeed, for Joro before his awakening, all he really cared for was his bonds with his friends to remain unchanged and as a result, he was shown to be very loyal to them and tries hard to help them with their problems. However, as things turn out this path was not one that was as easy to balance as one looks as events will soon prove.
After the twin shocks of the confessions from his friends and from Sumireko Joro’s personality gradually begins to change as a result of the awakening within him of a side of him that had until now remained dormant. A side that can be aptly referred to as Joro the schemer. While still remaining a kind, honest and dependable person to his friends and to his school mates Joro in this side of his was shown to be someone that had a obvious boiling point to him that was shown to have a rather short fuse as shown in his explosion when confronting both Sun Chan’s scheme and in rejecting Hina’s explanation for her actions. Along with this introduction of Kisaragi’s display of anger was arguably one of Joro’s most significant developments which is the reveal of his cynical side to the viewer. While still maintaining his surface personality of being a friendly and approachable person to both his friends and his peers Kisaragi was shown to view both in terms of himself as well as his friends and their requests with a degree of cynicism that while proving amusing to us viewers also reflected well on the kind of feelings that he had towards them a development that I felt served well to expand upon Joro as a character. Indeed, with this regard it can be seen that Sumireko’s description of his personality as being akin to that of a Jekyll and Hyde one is an appropriate one. However, despite viewing his friends and the bonds that he shares with them with a degree of disdain it can be seen that he still views friendship and bonds highly and believes that they are something that should be cherished and not trampled upon. This is best seen in his attempts to help his friends with their problems and consistently putting the needs of his friends before himself even if it meant setting himself up as the villain that will be ridiculed by others. The character of Kisaragi I felt was an interesting one that I felt was both well designed and developed with his dual personality and his desire to help his friends and maintain the bond between them while expressing his own unique views on them being the most notable developments. The combination of Joro’s own naked feelings towards his friend’s requests and problems as well as his hidden feelings both positive and negative ones I felt served well to make his attempts to maintain the bond and friendship that he shares with his friends that much more heartfelt.
Sumireko Sanshokuin
Sumireko Sanshokuin portrayed by veteran seiyuu singer Haruka Tomatsu of Sao and Darling in the Franxx fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main female lead of the series. A second-year student and a member of the school’s library committee Sumireko who is nicknamed Pansy by Joro and his friends is initially shown to be a rather plain and gloomy girl that has few if any friends within the school year and indeed is someone that has a rather negative image within her the minds of her peers. Indeed this image of her is seen to be something that Sumireko seemingly prefers as rather than make an attempt to befriend her peers she instead chose to become a member of the library committee that allowed her to manage the school library a place that more or less guaranteed that she will have a place of sanctuary for herself within the school that is seldom disturbed by others. For Sumireko nothing more can be more enjoyable for her than sitting in the library and reading one of her favorite books which is something that continued until she met a young man named Joro a man that served to intrigue her and cause her to make a surprising first move in her attempt to know more about him through her new hobby of stalking a hobby that she was shown to be quite adept at that ultimately led to both the realization that she had fallen for him and their long fated meeting that allowed both to meet each other in the real for the first time. On the surface, while a gloomy and quiet girl by nature Sumireko was shown to be a calm, composed and Intelligent person by nature that while not used to dealing with others on account of her preference for being alone was also someone that was friendly and can deal with others quite readily given time. While quiet she was also noted to be someone that had a rather sharp tongue which when combined with both her blunt nature and her skill at observing people served to make her a formidable interrogator that was adept at taking apart lies quite readily.
As the series progresses and Sumireko’s personality is gradually expanded upon it can be seen that the feelings that she has towards Joro despite coming from an unusual angle are ones that are not part of a complex social experiment that she had devised but rather are ones that are both genuine and heartfelt something that she tries hard to get Joro to accept as the series progresses. While shown to be an aloof person that preferred to remain in the background Sumireko as the series goes on was shown to be similar to Joro in that she too has dual personalities that seemingly contrast with one another. In her former self that acts as her surface personality, she is shown to be a quiet but polite person that seemed determined to strike down any attempts by others to befriend her while her latter and arguably her true self was shown to be someone that was both confident, blunt and cunning that she only presents to those that have gained her trust. Despite this nature of hers however, Sumireko was also shown to be someone that was surprisingly understanding of the feelings of others which when working in parallel with her perceptive nature allowed her to give some surprisingly deep advice for Joro as she’s able to deduce the level of bonds that exists between Joro and his friends as well as the level of pain that they all feel when this is disrupted. In the beginning of the series largely as a result of her loner like existence within the school Sumireko was shown to be someone that was unused to dealing with others and as a result, was shown to be somewhat wary of Joro’s friends when she first met them to the amusement of both Joro and us viewers. However, this sense of wariness towards others gradually began to change as she got to interact with them and got to understand them as individuals all of which served to allow Sumireko to realise just how much fun having genuine friends that she can trust and interact with on a daily basis can help in making one’s own life an enjoyable one and as a result not only began to interact with them more but also show them the true self that she had until now only shown to Kisaragi a development that showed just how much being able to make friends with like-minded people that cared not for physical appearances but their inner character had on her. A development that is best shown in her determination to go out of her comfort zone to support her friends as shown in the flower dance and the visit to the swimming pool both of which are areas and events that the past version of her would not have visited let alone taken part in.
Sakura Akino
Sakura Akino portrayed by veteran seiyuu Sachika Misawa of Accel World and Aldnoah Zero fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of Amatsuyu’s circle of friends within the series. A third-year student and thus an upperclassman within the series Sakura is shown in initial appearances to be a dignified, calm and quiet person by nature that’s both popular and hardworking and is someone that is seen to work hard to help others with their problems all of which served to assist her in her role as the schools student council president. While a calm and logical person by nature Sakura who prefers to be referred to by her nickname of Cosmo’s is also an intelligent person that’s also had a wide variety of life experiences that she uses to help others in her duty as SC president. However, despite Cosmo’s friendly and agreeable nature, she is someone that is shown to have a rather strong sense of pride within her that serves to hinder her in her attempts to deal with situations that she is unaccustomed to as shown in the courage that she needed to ask Joro for advice. At the same time while confident Cosmo’s was also shown to get nervous quite easily when pressed into situations that visibly stresses her and was noted to a rather interesting coping mechanism of sorts in which Cosmo’s seemingly assumes the role of an Edo period samurai which while certainly amusing to watch also showed that despite her confidence there are things that even she can’t deal with easily.
As the series goes on and Cosmo’s character is gradually expanded upon it can be seen that despite her calm and composed nature she is not immune to base feelings and indeed can have some surprisingly scary mood swings. At the same time while shown to be a calm and dignified person by many that can at times make her hard to approach by those that don’t know her in reality she is someone that cares deeply about her friends and is shown to be quite vulnerable to being left isolated from them as shown in her reactions during the circle’s first split within the series where she exhibited a somewhat depressing aura despite her attempts to hide it. Due largely to the large sense of responsibility that she places on herself Cosmo’s was shown to take both the manner of friendships and her duty as Sc president very seriously and as a result, she was shown to be rather sensitive if either of these aspects goes awry. While showing well in not just how serious she treats her job as well as how loyal and caring she is towards her friends this aspect of hers also shows that Cosmo’s is also fully capable of dealing with school matters that involve her friends which is shown in her treatment of Hina’s actions where she not only demonstrated her preference for openly revealing her own thoughts and opinions regarding a matter but also demonstrating her talent for deductive reasoning in her clinical disassembly of Hina’s prepared response to her questions as she connected the inconsistencies within her statement one by one a talent that I felt showed just how she ended up taking the role of SC president within the school.
Hina Hanetachi
Hina Hanetachi portrayed by veteran seiyuu Shiori Mikami of Attack On Titan fame is one of the main supporting characters of the series and is one of Joro’s classmates within the school. A second-year student and a member of the schools newspaper club where she serves as the class reporter Hina whose nickname within the school is Asunaro is shown in her initial appearances to be a positive, friendly and determined person that while diligent in her studies is also shown to be enthusiastic about her job as a class reporter and keen to uncover the truth about any rumours that she finds within the school. While shown to be intelligent and logical she was also shown to have a rather firm sense of justice and fairness and indeed she views those that violate morals with obvious disdain. While a formidable seeker of knowledge that has access to some impressive info networks Hina at her core is still a young woman that can be playful and display an innate sense of curiosity that allows her to easily bond with people that may be useful to her in her role.
However, as the series goes on it can be seen that Hina’s true self is one that can be seen to be a complete contrast to her default personality. While for the most part, Hina’s core personality traits of being friendly and positive remain Hina’s true self is shown to be a surprisingly cunning and manipulative one that’s not just adapt at creating situations that can influence people’s opinions effortlessly but also situations that can serve to trap and isolate those that she has designated as targets skills that served to make great use of both her dogged determination and her own earnest desire to set things right in her eyes which is best shown in the trap that she created to entrap Joro. However, while certainly misguided in her attempts to gain what she felt was something that she felt she deserved its interesting to note that Hina was also someone that had a sense of responsibility which when combined with her desire for forgiveness made her a character that while exposed for her lies never stopped from taking responsibility for her actions and never wavered in her determination to get what she desired showing well that her feelings towards her crush was built on genuine feelings and not falsehood. The character of Hina I felt was an interesting one that was both well designed and developed with her two-faced nature and her role as a classes designated reporter for the newspaper club while contrasting with each other served to neatly balance the core of her character with her honest nature cementing this further and allowing her to become an effective support character for Joro near the latter stages of the series thanks to both sense of sudden mood shifts and her desire to help her beloved.
AMV
In terms of animation, I felt that the character designs for the series main cast were pretty well designed and developed with each character’s design matching well with both their innate personality traits as well as their own hidden selves with notable examples being Sumireko’s default self. At the same time, I was also impressed by the hyde moments within the series that served to expand upon Amatsuyu’s inner thoughts that serve to expand the overall story pretty well. At the same time while sparingly seen I felt that the breaking the 4th wall moments within the series by Amatsuyu also served to inject a little more comedy into the scenes that its present in a move that while surprising also proved effective at its given role. In terms of music, the series made use of one opening and ending theme which was Papapa which was performed by new seiyuu singer Shuka Saito and Hanakotoba that was performed by the seiyuu’s who portrayed the characters of Sumireko, Cosmos and Aoi who are Haruka Tomatsu, Sachika Misawa and Haruka Shiraishi respectively. Both of these songs I felt were interesting ones that served to convey different types of feelings with the former conveying the sense that despite the chore of going to school and living an average life Joro still has a strong reason for doing so as this allows him to see, interact and have fun with his friends and pass his days bonding with and enjoying the finite amount of time that he has left as a teenager. The ending theme I felt invoked a similar feeling but in this, I felt that in addition to the forging of bonds between friends the ending theme also created a sense that by bonding with each other the trio of Sumireko, Aoi and Cosmo’s were able to not only find unity in shared desires but also in the process forge a strong bond of trust between them that was built on honesty. Both of these songs while excellent in their own ways I felt were also helped greatly by the visuals that went with them.
In terms of voice acting, I felt that the series voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main or support ones. In particular, I felt that Daiki Yamashita, Haruka Tomatsu, Shiori Mikami and Sachika Misawa all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters. For Sachika in particular her portrayal of Cosmo’s I felt represents a true return to form for her and I hope that with this role that she is able to get more upcoming roles and expand her career as a seiyuu. While not represented within the review itself due to the lack of character expansion for their characters I felt that Haruka Shiraishi and Nao Toyama also did an excellent job at portraying the characters of Aoi and Tsubaki respectively.
Overall conclusion
In overall Oresuki was an excellent anime that I really enjoyed with it being one of the seasons best ones. Its mains strengths in my opinion was its unique premise, an excellent story that combined traditional school-based activities with excellent comedy moments, well designed and developed characters, excellent voice acting and excellent music and animation.
The series overall premise and story I felt was one of the series main highlights. While school-based stories that feature its cast gradually maturing in both attitude and desires as they experience the ups and downs of both their time as teenagers and their time in the mandatory educational institution known as school is extremely commonplace within the anime industry due to the ease of which stories can be created Oresuki in my eyes is somewhat unique in that rather than merely show their development as individuals it goes one step further in showing not just the development that the mc goes through but also what his friends go through as they go through this phase of their life.
Society for a teenager can be something that can be frustratingly difficult to navigate and more so when within the confines of both interpersonal relationships with your friends and the often-reactive culture that exists within schools. In such an environment’s bonds and friendships while convenient and rewarding at times can also become a frustrating burden as well that must be carefully defused and dealt with as per society’s wishes lest you create a disturbance in society that will label you as a troublemaker. In this, I felt that the series overall story did an excellent job of showing that while friendships and bonds are all well and good for someone that they can also serve to create a contrasting feeling of stress that comes from having to navigate the often winding paths of interpersonal relationships between friends that serve to both stagnate one’s development as an individual as well as one’s role within the circle due to their fear of causing change within the group. A fear that within the overall story was used to great effect to show both how much the pent-up stress of navigating the winding paths of relationships had on the mc as well as the twisted personality that it manifested within him. While society itself may see to view the frank and surprisingly blunt opinions that the mc has on his friends and their requests and subsequent pressure have on him with some amount of ridicule I believe that the effect that this had on the mc and his friends while certainly, a ground-breaking one within their relationship was also an extremely refreshing one as it allowed both the mc and their friends to realise just how stagnated their relationship had become and how much their own wishes and desires had instead of allowing them to become closer had instead served to only create distance and tension within the group. While certainly a shocking revelation I felt that this served well as a catalyst that allowed each character to re-evaluate just what is more important within their lives and what kind of direction and role they want to achieve in both society and within the circle of friends that they had worked so hard to create.
In overall I feel that as an final score I believe that Oresuki deserves a final score of 8/10 for while it had an excellent premise, story, characters, and voice acting I felt that some of its characters did not receive enough development to make them interesting with relation to the story with some being rather flat despite having decent setups for them that could have been taken advantaged off.
