To be honest, I was just browsing Wakanim because I had some time to kill, the short summary peeked my interest a little, so I thought I would give it a try.
I was expecting just some typical rom-com stuff that would raise my mood a little.
But how was I wrong, the first episode already hit me like our beloved Isekai (or Zombie) Truck-kun and got me in.
Nothing and nobody in this show is as it seems at first sight.
There are tons of twists and turns, some of them are quite predictable, some slightly different from what you would expect, and some are just like WTF?!?
It's like a blindfolded rollercoaster ride, you know there will be ups and downs, bends and turns, inversions and helices and all that stuff, but you don't know what will come next, how fast the car will be moving, and how intense it will be.
And here, nearly everything is really maxed out.
I really enjoyed the frequent 4th wall breaks, the anti-steretypical actions, and of course "The Bench" accompanied by a Darth-Vader-like music theme.
The singularity of that particular baseball match the year before is quite a funny running gag.
The nicknames are also interesting - if you omit this and that kanji, it will become this and that - the girls are flowers, the MC is the watering can, and his best friend is the sun.
Quite the message, huh?
The only thing I really absolutely hated is the cliffhanger ending.
Sure, there is an OVA announced (no second season though), but why not simply make 13 episodes instead of 12?
I really hope the OVA will be longer than the usual 25 minutes, the 12th episode already felt quite cramped and rushed.
All in all, this would have been a straight 9/10 from me, if not for that dang blue balls "ending".
So the best I can give is 8/10.
Now for a little more detailed explanations...
--- BEWARE OF SPOILERS! ---
The show starts introducing Jouro,our totally normal, kind, shy, dense and oblivious MC, and his cheerful energetic childhood friend Aoi ("Himawari"),of course including a small pantyshot.
You see the hints of affection between each other, like it should be in any good show, right?
Then, enter Sakura ("Cosmos"), the well-mannered and kind - but a little bit shy - student council president, who asks our lucky MC out on a date.
After enjoying their fun date, they sit down on a bench, and Cosmos confesses to him... that she has feelings for Jouro's best friend Taiyou ("Sun-chan") and asks him for help.
Boom, that hit hard! Could become interesting...
The very next day, he meets with Himawari, she cheers him up without knowing why he is so down, and after having some fun time together, they sit down on a bench, and Himawari confesses to him... that she also has feelings for Sun-chan and asks him for help. Déjà-vu time!
Ok, nothing special up to now, until he is back home and totally freaks out, that him deliberately playing the rom-com MC nice guy didn't work out as planned, but he would just take the loser chick.
That's when I was just like "WHAT?! You're a jerk for thinking that way, though the girls would deserve it for how they ignored your feelings. But hey, you're not dense, so just go for it and enjoy!" This will be fun to watch...
The next day, it's déjà-vu time again. On his way to school, he introduces himself - but now as a mere supporting character - and meets Himawari. After receiving his daily greeting slap from her, his monologue is exactly what I am thinking when seeing situations like that in other shows.
Yes, he's not a spineless whimp - have I already mentioned that this will be a fun show?
After some first fruitless attempts to deepen the relationships between the two girls and Sun-chan, Jouro goes to the library to calm down and think a little.
Enter Sumireko ("Pansy"), the glasses-wearing librarian.
She cheerfully tells him she knows everything because she stalks him, and now even blackmails him to stay and talk with her.
She even has gone through the effort of having a bench being express-delivered to the library room.
So she invites him to sit next to her and have a talk, where she confesses to him - it's déjà-vu time again... that she is in love with... him! And she also knows he is acting, but prefers his Mr.-Hyde-side (she even shows him the darn book).
That scene is just so hilarious! When the bench appears, there is some Darth-Vader-theme-like music. When he moves towards the bench, he walks like a robot with mecha sounds. Her text is just the same as the other two girls (well of course, because she has been stalking him), and he constantly thinks "it's Sun-chan of course! Sun-chan!". And finally the Edvard Munch (The Scream) visuals accompanied by yodeling sounds, when she confesses to him with a sweet yandere voice.
Now that finally made me grinning all over, this is just freakin' sick, whacky and twisted, gimme more! And I immedialtely binged the whole thing.
The last time (at least for rom-com shows) that happend to me was "Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru" (NouCome).
Well, some people say this show is trying to be kind of a deconstruction of the harem rom-com genre, but utterly fails at that because the MC deliberately chooses the harem route after the first arc.
Of course, I don't know the real intentions of the original author and director.
But for me, personally, it just doesn't feel like Oresuki was even trying to be a "serious" and "intelligent" persiflage, but a parody with many insane twists and layered personalities instead.
And I really appreciate new and unique ways of telling a story, and how Oresuki matches my (obviously) odd sense of humour.
The MC is not just a spineless and dense whimp without personality like many other harem or rom-com MC's, or an open pervert like Issei from Highschool DxD (but he has his charm in his own).
Some call him spineless because he calls Himawari and Cosmos bitches and goes for the harem route, but to be straight honest and blunt, they actually were bitches treating him like that in the first arc. And it's comedy after all, so get a grip.
In fact, he has a quite kind personality who tries to help others, but also has a darker and more selfish side.
But that's not a bad thing, nearly everyone has some hidden dark sides, and for me, this makes a character far more relatable and believable (although not the full extent, because this is a comedy show) than a personality-less whimp who finally miraculously gets a girl.
The only thing about him I could absolutely not bear, is the fact that he wants to make up - and actually makes up - with Himawari, Cosmos and Sun-chan after they tricked him so miserably and made him hated and mobbed by the whole school.
This must be something related to Japanese culture, because it is seen in many shows.
But I personally - after being tricked badly many years ago, by someone I considered a very close friend - stick to the saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
Himawari, Cosmos, Sun-chan and some other girls also have that darker side and layered personalities, although their softer, honest and romantic sides are far more present later on, except at the end.
Pansy is kind of special in that way, she doesn't even hide schemings, stalking and stuff like that.
Her threats against Jouro are often misinterpreted.
When she tells him to come to the library or something bad will happen, that doesn't actually mean she would do something to him, but if wouldn't have come, he would not have heard the revelation of Sun-chan's schemings and betrayal
But you kind of need personalities like these for running the show.
You know something will happen, but will it just be something ridiculous, something bad, or even something far worse than you could imagine.
The cliffhanger ending really freaked me out.
Jouro seems to know confessing to Pansy and entering a relationship with her won't stop Yasuo ("Hose") from approaching Pansy, so he goes for something different instead.
Let aside Jouro's real feelings for Pansy and if she would still even accept his confession now.
So he thinks of something different instead, but you just know Jouro's great plan will backfire really hard.
And it does, oh my.
You could have guessed it when Himawari and Cosmos talked with Luna ("Tsukimi") and Momo ("Cherry"), their respective counterparts from another school.
Cherry and Tsukimi are in love with Hose, but he ignores thier feelings and goes after Pansy, and they even support him.
So his plan is kind of like a popularity poll between Jouro and Hose, where their respective friends and Pansy will vote after the baseball match between their schools, and the loser will be forbidden to further approach or even talk to Pansy.
According to his calculations, the worst possible outcome will be a draw, and Pansy would be the deciding factor.
So here comes the surprise: All three of Jouro's friends - Himawari, Cosmos and Hina ("Asunaro") immediately vote for Hose.
You've seen that coming, right?
Other than Hose's friends, who strictly follow the common "we may be rivals in love, but we're friends after all, and we will support each other and accept any shit from our beloved" trope, Jouro's friends are eager to use the opportunity to eliminate Pansy as one of their love rivals, screw the fact that Jouro wanted to help Pansy, and that they called Pansy a friend before.
BAM! The end.
I can only guess, but I'm sure Tsukimi and Cherry will vote for Hose as well.
So, he dug his own grave - and a deeep one at that -, how will he escape, will he escape at all?
Will he be tearing strips off Himawari, Cosmos and Asunaro, and tell them to drop dead and what bitchy scum they are?
Will an alien spaceship abduct him, like in good ol' "Life of Brian"?
All in all, their reactions are quite understandable - far more than the typical happy love rival friends - but of course overly exaggerated.
But you can't just let a show end like that, this is like "Well, err, 12 episodes are over now, that's all folks, now be a good fan and go buy the LN and manga, but don't bother me for any kind of conclusion".
