I didn't go into it with much hope, but man I was pleasantly surprised. That isn't to say this series didn't contain a lot of the stuff that I'm not fond of in rom/coms, but the execution of the story pulled through and made it one of my current favorite series. I think a big part of what made the series so entertaining was that the writers were not scared to go over the top when the story allowed for it. It takes a special talent to make me laugh at slapstick humor, especially when it's accentuated by what I swear were old Hannah-Barbara sound stings, but the timing for the humor was practically air-tight, and I can appreciate that in an animated series.
While the story is a rom/com, it felt like a lot of the romance aspect of it was there to move along the underlying plot of "getting prepared to have to leave the fun and simple high school life behind and face the grim, dark future of adulthood", especially in the back half of the series. Major life decisions are suddenly forced upon them while they're still in the playing softball and going on class ski trips phase of their lives, and that's all in the back of their minds while they're trying to figure out who they're taking to the big dance or whatever. Brash decisions made during highly emotional moments rarely turn out to be the correct course of action, and that is shown on more than one occasion in the series, which I (technically an adult) appreciated as a message.
The characters were, to put it simply, a treat. I thought if anyone would get me to quit the series, it would be super-giga-mega-tsundere Taiga, but she turned out to be surprisingly easy to enjoy when she was balanced out with insecurity and clumsiness. The chemistry between her and the comparatively shy neat-freak Ryuuji somehow didn't feel forced. Early on in series, I would almost forget they were supposed to be helping each other end up with other people because they just seemed like a good fit from the beginning. If anything, I got annoyed that they kept ignoring how well they got along to pursue other characters (the energetic-and-slowly-drifting-further-into-insanity Kushieda for Ryuuji, and the ever-chipper-and-dense-as-redwood Kitamura for Taiga) that seemed okay on the surface, but would not have been good matches for them. Then again, youthful romance often involves putting someone up onto a pedestal they probably shouldn't be on. Oh yeah, and the hot, bitchy model Kawashima is also there ... supposedly to show that Ryuuji isn't a shallow character since he doesn't spend every second she's in the room drooling over her like all the other kids in the class. I think my issue with her was that the show already had enough tsundere with Taiga, so Kawashima's character was sort of drowned out to a mere nuisance for most of the series. She did have a decent character arc, though, showing an evolution from a one-note character to someone with a little more depth by the end of the series.
The supporting characters are mostly good, too. They did their jobs, which was to support the story and keep it moving and throw in some comic relief every once in a while. There were no sudden non-sequiturs into the unnecessary back-story of the redhead who also had a thing for Kitamura, or the good-natured class dumbass Haruta. Ryuuji's mom pretty much stole the scene whenever she was around, but she wasn't over-used. And I looked forward to every scene with Yuri, the well meaning forever-single teacher who was in a constant struggle to not give up on her dreams of romance, and to keep hold of her sanity while trying to guide the very special kids of 2-C. I love her and I hope she found her happiness.
But the big question is, of course, was the ending satisfying? The answer is yeeeeesssssss (question mark)? I suppose it depends on your point of view. The relationship statuses of the main characters are finally sorted out and set in stone, but if you're looking for an episode that ends with a nice, relaxing glimpse into a picturesque future where the main ship is sailing along nicely, you might end up kind of disappointed. However, it's because the final episode still has plot to get through, and it plays out all the way past the ending credits. If anything can be said of the series, it's that it does not waste time on filler. So while the happy ending is there, it feels a bit abrupt, though not in a series-destroying way. I probably could have used about 5 more minutes of content, though.
Still, this one does go up on the "Recommend" list.
