First let's get this out of the way, the production quality is not worthy of praise. The nature of the show makes it so that is doesn't require big flashy animation cuts and super detailed work meaning the simple artstyle fits its aesthetic, but there is some stuff that is honestly unacceptable. Shots where the outline of the characters dissapears, wrongly sized background characters and elements (there is this shot of a showroom bed that is so horrendously huge it had me in a laughing fit), all signs of a rushed production, maybe this will all be fixed on the BD's but if you're just going to stream it that's what will get. The show's strengh is in the characters facial expressions, they were not afraid of going off model and it made it for some of the best comedic moments in the show. 4/10
Sound wise the show does a fair job. Voice acting is pretty great, OP is a banger even if the visuals are just a rehash of Chuunibyou's first OP, ED is pretty good and the overall ost and sound effects are fair, though nothing to write home about. 6/10
The story is pretty much absent here, it exists only to hold the two main characters togheter, that's it. You get most of it in episodes 1 and 2 and it's slice of life land from there. There are however hints of more to come sprinkled here and there, still doesn't seem like it would be something groundbreaking but it's something to look foward in a potential Season 2. 5/10
Character wise the show lives and dies by its main couple Nasa and Tsukasa, with Tsukasa being the more intriguing of the two. They are however pretty safe characters overall, not offering anything that will "wow" you. Side characters are mostly bland and one-note, to the point where sometimes I actively wanted them to just leave as soon as possible, still the main two hold this front well. 7/10
All in all, I very much enjoyed watching Tonikawa. The premise is fun and skip all that BS from romance anime/manga which allows for different antics with the main couple, that said since the characters don't actually know each other very much we still get some of that clichèd romance anime stuff, which some people really like. I still appreciate how fast it moved overall, none of the barriers that appear in front of their relationship stays for long. I still wish that the series had a more mature main couple, maybe them being 25/20yo instead of 18/16yo would make it for a more realistic relationship, but that is my personal opinion. The whole Tsukasa subplot felt unnecessary but that is mostly because it wasn't this season's main focus. 8/10
So yeah, I do reccomend you give a Tonikaku Kawaii a try, just don't get into it with the idea that the it is a "10/10 romance that will guide the genre from here onwards" but more of a fun little wholesome low-stakes romcom to kill some time or unwind after a rough day. I'd give it a final score of 6/10 and I'm definitely hoping to see it get it a second season.
