I love romantic comedies, and I will always jump at the opportunity to watch or review the latest ones each season. Despite that, I was never super fond of the childhood friend trope. While it can sometimes play into speed-running relationship-building between two characters, since there's a lot of informed history that could serve as the foundation for a genuine, romantic relationship, other times the trope is used as a bit of a cheat. Sometimes a writer will use the childhood friend status to speedrun romantic developments between two leads, while other times it'll be used to exaggerate the tragedy of two characters not getting together.

So, watching an anime where all of the prospective love interests are childhood friends can be fun, especially when the show makes it very clear in its opening minutes that it is planning to be very self-aware with the tropes associated with those types of romantic comedies. The show's start is definitely strong because it's prioritizing the comedy and absurdity of those types of situations. The girls' focus on re-creating romantic comedy-style situations to progress a genuine romance was actually pretty funny. As someone who read the source material, I also like how snappy the directing is in these comedic moments. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but I smiled and chuckled during the first few episodes. However, as the series went on, what started as mildly charming started turning progressively annoying to the point where I was just exhausted by the end.

The problem with You Can't Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends! is that despite its self-awareness, it can't settle on a tone. Sometimes it's a parody of those types of romantic comedies, playing with exaggeration and self-awareness for entertainment. But other times it just plays those romantic comedy tropes straight and asks me to take it seriously, especially when other girls are introduced into the mix. Scenes start getting progressively forced, tension gets dragged out artificially over a severe lack of communication, and the overall resolution of the show feels so cowardly that I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth.

The lack of romantic progression definitely got on my nerves, especially considering that the show would go out of its way to undermine any romantic progression that the characters are feeling towards each other. Seeing just how far the show is willing to maintain the status quo, despite pushing the envelope, could be fun in its own way. If two characters actually kiss or confess something to each other, I'm left wondering how it's going to walk all of that back. But that only works if the show is really committing itself to being a parody or a farce. Once the show starts asking me to care, it needs to develop the characters beyond the archetypes presented.

Yonosuke likes romantic comedies, and you can tell that he secretly wants to be put in those compromising situations like a horny teenager would. There are even a lot of moments where he gets his hopes up because the other girls or circumstances put him in situations where it is nearly impossible not to consider that there are some genuine feelings at play here. He acts like a genuine teenager who struggles with seeing the friends he grew up with in a romantic or lustful way. That makes me feel bad for him when nothing happens because there's a very real possibility that he could have a genuine relationship with any of these girls if any of them actually talked to each other. Sometimes being nervous about the subject is used as an excuse, and that makes sense, but other times it feels like the girls are gaslighting him into thinking that he should just ignore their advances or that they never meant anything.

The four main girls all embody very specific archetypes that I have seen a million times before. There's nothing distinct or unique about them. Shio is the girl next door, Akari is the tsundere, Runa is the little sister type, and Haru is the tomboy. Each girl does get time dedicated to them, but every joke, conversation, and misunderstanding associated with them has been done before and a million times better elsewhere. Scenes play out exactly how you think they are going to, and then the show dares to ask me to feel bad about these girls when, most of the time, it's their own fault that nothing ends up advancing? Sorry, I can't.

Then there's the show's presentation, which is okay at best and downright intrusive at worst. The entire series has this horrific white glow. All of the characters look like they are emitting the whitest aura I have ever seen, with all of the colors looking incredibly washed out. What makes it even worse is that the show will sometimes add these blurry romantic filters over everything, which makes the show even harder to look at. Even the soundtrack has these occasional moments where it'll utilize the strings to punctuate what should be a traumatic beat, but all it does is grind on my ears. Sometimes there's a pleasant track in the show, especially the ones that utilize the guitar. Overall, this show looks and sounds mediocre.

I did find the dub a little bit more enjoyable than the original Japanese. There are some moments where the actors will punch up the dialogue slightly or put on an exaggerated tone that leans into the comedy a little bit better, especially when it comes to the girls' performances. But even then, it's like putting a few sprinkles on one of the blandest cakes I've ever eaten; you notice them, but the whole dish isn't changing. This show never feels satisfying. I never felt entertained for more than one moment every five episodes, and the gimmick overstays its welcome quickly. At worst, things feel incredibly forced and uninteresting. I can assure you that if you did not watch this show this past season, you did not miss anything and are definitely better spending your time elsewhere.