So here’s my warning: unless your pastime is reading ChatGPT’s best attempt at human dialogue, this anime is not worth your time.
While the light novel of the same name first published in 2019 was written in the third person, this anime adaptation makes Amane the point of view character. Throughout the majority of the anime, it is his thoughts that we hear, his perspective we see the world and its people in, and his actions we were shown on screen the most. And since he is a fundamentally uninteresting, unimaginative, unsociable person, that’s a problem. But even disregarding the fact that such a meritless character makes for a terrible protagonist, because of his reclusive tendencies, Shiina was more or less forced into Amane’s life. The first few episodes truly felt like squeezing water out of a stone.
Their encounter in episode one might be the best example to demonstrate my point. While on his way back home, Amane saw Shiina sitting out in the rain and handed her his umbrella. In return, Shiina offered to clean his chaotic apartment, nurse him until he recovers from the cold he had caught, and cook him meals from time to time.
If you don’t see the problem in that, I don’t know what to tell you other than that high school girls aren’t gonna flock to your door after you’ve given them your umbrella, even if they’re your neighbour.
And while it is later hinted at that Shiina might have known (and liked) Amane long before that point, it feels more like an ass-pull filled in later to justify her actions. Besides, a bizarre yet mundane introduction that only makes sense after eleven episodes is still ill-thought-out no matter what. These problems resonate well after the opening episodes have ended.
But enough about this show’s introduction, let’s talk about the rest of it.
The vast majority of The Angel Next Door takes place in either the 1-B/2-A classroom, or Amane’s apartment. Barely are the characters shown outside of these two settings, and they almost exclusively only talk about each other and nothing else during those scenes. Comments on how Amane has changed after meeting Shiina, banter about Shiina’s gap moe and Amane being tough on the outside and soft inside, or remarks about how weird the two as a pair are. That’d be great if you are already like the characters and just want to see them interact, but if you’re not then they are pointless and flavourless exchanges that don’t add anything to the story.
You could say that the strength of shows like these are not in the story but the characters, but I have a problem with just how shallow the characters are too. The side characters have nothing to them other than the monotonous stereotypes we’ve seen a thousand times over, I couldn’t even care to elaborate. Amane and Shiina seem dominated by their past: Amane defined by his experience being a victim of bullying in middle school, and Shiina a product of her uncaring parents and a kind foster carer. That is partly a by-product of how superficial their interactions are. I want to preface: unless the character has a strong design, how a character interacts with another is the backbone of interaction and subsequently their personality. The main duo in this show, however, talk and act like humanoid robots trying to flirt.
The lack of quality dialogue not only damages their character but also the suspension of disbelief. If only their conversation resembled anything like human dialogue, I might just forgive its ridiculous introduction.
I’ll give credit where credit is due though: the show keeps its limelight firmly on the main couple, and it does develop their relationship. The growth of Amane and gradual opening up of Shiina is apparent (not a high bar to clear, but they at least did *something*).
Even if you look past the faults of the source material that an anime adaptation can’t reasonably avoid, Project No.9 has done nothing above the bare minimum in terms of animation. Closeup shots of Shiina are often beautiful, but this much should be expected given that she’s the selling point of the whole show, not to mention the same camera angle is used over and over void of any creativity. And everything else animation wise is unexceptional if not straight up bad, the momentary and structural editing are also a mess.
Nowhere is that more apparent than a sequence in episode ten. During the boring exposition about Amane’s past disguised as a conversation, the animation crew routinely abuses the 90 degree angle. All the while the scene cuts from Amane hugging Shiina in his living room, to him training in the park, to them at school, in a matter of seconds. There is arguably some connection between the scenes through Amane’s thoughts, but the fundamentals of establishing shots are not respected, leaving the cuts feeling jarring. The best analogy would be that they are doing a speedrun of the story for no good reason.
It just occurred to me that there’s one more thing that The Angel Next Door did alright. The OP and the EDs, while not phenomenal, were sufficient. The OP makes a stand alone song but doesn’t really match the tone/mood, and is honestly wasted on this abhorrent show. The EDs are Takagi-san’s EDs at home, but I won’t complain and they are still fire. They should’ve recorded a mini album and called it a day.
If you want romance, every single show out there does it better. If you want escapism, hell, I’d rather you watch those isekais that come out every season. If you want comedy, my guy you need to give Rent-a-Girlfriend a try.
God I hate this show with a passion
