Four episodes have passed since this series has started, but all of my opinions since episode one still hold true, if not, becoming better each episode that passes by. The story is about Hana Uzaki, a rather cheerful and pompous college student who is clingy to her upperclassman Shinichi Sakurai—the same upperclassman who she shared the same club with in high school. There, Uzaki does what she can so that Sakurai won't be a "loner," which little the both of them know, will soon entangle them into many sidesplitting misunderstandings in the future.
I am going to admit, the setting is very cliched. The premise is used in many other forms in many other stories which are too many to count. Even so, that does not mean I don't like it. While that kind of cliché is something that reflects on the lives of many people as well, the series has done well in portraying that, although I might admit that Sakurai got very lucky, regardless of his annoyance. I may want something new or something innovative, but when it comes to stories—or rather premises like these—I don't mind. In fact, I welcome these with all my heart to enjoy what it offers.
The characters are quite colorful as well. Here, we have the stereotypical girl—Uzaki—who likes to tease the boy she acquaints with, or rather, likes. Then, we have the typical tsundere character—Sakurai— which by now I am not surprised that it went to a male character. The bottom line is, it's as cliched as it can get, but once again, it doesn't mean that I hate it. I am loving the characters and the way that they are written, and the way they do their roles is as amazing, too.
One thing that confuses me, to be honest, is our female protagonist, Uzaki. Before watching this anime—even before this anime was aired, there have been some dislike against her, most notably is her character design. I did not get, nor I would want to attempt to for even a second to understand how people could not like her design that much, to the point that it became well-known through the internet, when for me, it's very adorable, cute, beautiful, and other synonyms that one can think about. Uzaki's design, especially that flesh fang is something I haven't seen in some time, and it feels refreshing to see when she appears onscreen. Each man to his own, I guess.
As for the sound, I think the most notable part would be the OSTs and its cheerful and adventurous tone and melody. That particular scene in the first episode where Uzaki goes after Sakurai as very, very amazing. It has that certain rhythm that would make you pumped up, and in my case, made my body feel the chills, but that's because of how good the music is, reverberating through my spine. I go as far as listening to it when I think about it, making me remember how good it is—were those trumpets? I think those were trumpets. Either way, I would really want to listen to these tracks when they get released in CDs.
The opening theme does not disappoint either. It's so good to the point that I could sing it whenever anyone would ask me to. When you listen to the very first line, the sharps and tritones that you could hear makes me very motivated. The ending song is also amazing: relaxing, meaningful, and easy to sing along with. I won't be surprised if I fall asleep with the song one of these days. The refrain part also hits me hard—that impact on how the notes just blends together in perfect harmony and the perfect voice execution really is superb. This is why I love Japanese anime music.
The art is also well-done, seeing as I could notice how the characters are well-animated. Making me go through four episodes worth of Uzaki's cuteness and pulchritude is something comparable to… eating what you want when you want… something like that. Just seeing her many faces, sad, happy, in pain, laughing, annoyed, pensive, poker, angry—I can't get enough of how adorable she really is. The sceneries and backgrounds do not stray far from the typical anime perspective and art style, and I also appreciate the fact that such effort in animation is not something held back on a slice of life anime like this. Nevertheless, that also applies to character designs like how I repeatedly said it earlier: Uzaki's design is cute, and I like that very much, same with the other characters.
In just four episodes, I am feeling very elated and excited as to how things could go as more episodes get released. Seeing how wacky and funny Uzaki is when socializing with Sakurai and the others just makes me want to see more, and that by itself why I consider myself unfortunate. Waiting for a week for an episode is too long. Even so, I will strive to wait—all for the glory… ahem… all to see much more hilarious hijinks and shenanigans my beloved characters will ensue. I even enjoyed this anime so much that I keep watching the episodes I have again and again and again, and will never get old—I am even listening to the opening and ending themes on repeat while writing this review.
Overall, this series is not good. Yes, you heard me, it's not good—basing on the episodes so far, and what I am expecting in the next episodes, it's one of the best not only in this season, but maybe overall if you ask me.
"Kokoro no tobira wo tataiteru, hitotsu, futatsu, narihibu NOKKU, dare ni mo kikoenai mama, kimochi ha nemuru…"
The ending song that might translate to what the anime will become in the future brings me with excitement as well as a little bit of anxiety. Will this innocent slice of life anime go towards the path of romance, or will it become as that? No matter what, I look forward to more episodes. Boku ha ganbarussu!
