Once I realized that the MC was a self-pitying young man who was envious of his peers and pining for romantic affection, I knew I was going to have a bad time. Seriously, I can't stand this kind of character. If you find this garbage relatable then you need to take a serious look at what kind of person you are.
The two central characters (MC and Ozu) are pieces of shit, and the story consists of them acting like pieces of shit but with some time-loop stuff thrown in. I pretty much hated everything about the writing in this anime. My enjoyment was significantly impeded by this. Most of the story revolves around the MC being the pathetic worm that he is and treating everyone around him terribly, all the while yearning for romance. In addition to this unpleasantly relentless theme, the plot itself often feels repetitive due to the frequent time rewinds. This is because the same events and scenarios are repeated frequently, often with little variation both in terms of the facts of the story as well as the style in which it is told.
Visually, the show is pretty creative. The art style in the backgrounds is unique and stylistic, as well as highly detailed despite the constant scene changes. In general, I enjoyed looking at these creative visuals — they captivated me enough to continue watching the anime despite my grievances.
The style of direction and storytelling is interesting. The first-person narration by the MC is unique, particularly in anime. I think this style of storytelling is more common in American movies. Perhaps this is because it is relatively less common for anime to have conventional novels as source material. My main complaint about this storytelling style is that the narration is almost relentless during each episode. What I mean by that is, there is a near-constant info dump to pay attention to, while also trying to appreciate everything that is happening on-screen. I felt like my attention was often split between the visuals taking place and the narrative audio.
On the subject of audio, the voice acting is not bad. It's difficult for me to gauge the OST because of the literally constant fast-paced narrative dialogue which prevents me from hearing the music clearly. I recall there being some not-bad piano music. OP and ED songs are okay.
My personal overall rating: 4/10
As I already said, I seriously loathed both the characters and the writing in this. Furthermore, although unique, I didn't particularly like the style of storytelling. Additionally, this anime became repetitive very quickly and often felt like a chore to watch. The creative visuals are pretty much the only reason I watched this to completion.
To be fair, I am probably the wrong audience for this anime. This kind of story doesn't click with me at all. Furthermore, the focus is entirely on the MC, who is nearly always on-screen. So, in my case, hating the MC's guts is a major issue.
My intuition might be wrong about this, but I suspect that a lot of the people celebrating this anime must find it relatable in some way. At least the college setting is probably relatable for much of this anime's audience.
I will concede that the 'love doll' story arc was pretty funny. It got some laughs out of me.
