This show is based on the first publication and this can is quite visible from the adaptation. While nothing in the story, setting or characters is innovative enough to make it its own thing, the narrative and character dynamics are quite competent. It feels as if the author tried its best to avoid technical mistakes than have any ambition with this first work, only doing a bit more than the baseline requires. Even more impressive as none of the ideas and cliches used have been poorly executed. There's even a fight where the cast has to coordinate to defeat an enemy, and for once, it isn't the main character doing the planning, instructing the party nor taking most of the work.
At the same time we don't get that much out of the supporting cast, which may be an issue exclusive to the adaptation. They do have fun interactions and exist outside the protagonist boundaries though. Bonus points for having a male support and girls that aren't all head over heels (hopefully it won't degenerate into that). More commendable than that is the fact that background characters don't treat the protagonist as the core of the show universe, in fact it takes quite some time for them to form an opinion on him. It's a decent package overall.
Regarding the adaptation itself, its weaknesses are quite evident. Art and animation are around the industry standard, it has some bad CG VFX. There were two particular occurrences, regarding the "romance", that felt like big stumbles. At the first episode we get a long sequence to introduce the supporting cast individually, and in every interaction the protagonist and the support will do a full introduction and tell each other to use their given names instead of family names. None of the characters has a japanese name and the academy is clearly western inspired, which makes this detail pointless. The second episode does things worse as we two fillers in the shape of date intermissions, breaking the whole flow of the episode. I do have to admit that a certain thing happens at the first date that makes the segment a bit interesting, yet it's no enough. In fact, it is possible that the way "romance" has been handled may ruin the little the show has going on, but only time can tell.
So, what does this show has to offer if it's a bit over average at best? It's the heart put on it.
I may be wrong but none of the variables in the production could make this show a great watch. This isn't a masterpiece from a popular author being adapted by established prestige studio, in fact it wouldn't be unfair to say that this is a debut adaptation of a debut light novel. Most people wouldn't care if this was made with as little effort as possible, yet if you look closely you'll see a lot of small details that could be cut out completely, that act as sneak peaks for what is to come in a near future. It's not like they are important building to bother with.
To be a bit more specific (yet vague), a certain concept is mentioned at the first episode, and this starts this soft thread that connects the protagonist to the introduction of a supporting character, that acts as a bond between them, then introduces us to a new character dynamic with a third and comes back as an element in a conflict, over the spam of 4 episodes. Most adaptations wouldn't think twice before cutting all of this to focus more time into making the protagonist more appealing to the audience or to promote the bachelorettes further. This opens a precedent for anything to be a potential soft thread through its runtime, and a significant part of them have been explored by now in some degree. The same can be said of side characters quirks that have no apparent role aside giving them some characterization. Kinda feels like a nice puzzle being casually assembled.
There no deny that the show isn't technically good and it certainly won't blow up anyone's expectations. However there is some charm to see a staff doing its best to make something that has everything to be unremarkable into the best show it can be, against all odds.
It can be quite enjoyable watch if appreciate approach it in that way. Again, we're talking about a donkey, not a horse.
