This Week in Anime

Anime Speed Dating

Chris
Lucas, you know I was so ready for the quarterly romcom roundup last week, only for pending premieres to saddle Sylvia and me with the isekai and fantasy series anyway. It worked out okay, but still!

I can confirm that Always a Catch! continues to delight in both the fantasy and romance realms, anyway. And now here we are, all caught up with nothing to stop us from looking for love in a lot of places. You're right that it must be spring, because there are a ton of romantic shows this season, some stretching the definition of the "comedy" part of "romantic comedy," but sorting through what that means and which ones are worth it is the point of this speed-dating exercise.

Look, I need something to motivate me to keep up with more seasonal premieres since I stopped doing the Preview Guide.

That was the best part of a show I enjoyed overall, signaling that we were in for a somewhat fluffier, less class-war-y version of May I Ask for One Final Thing?. Which the second episode absolutely delivered on. I'd say I'd protect Mimi with my life if I thought she needed it. Always a Catch! is making some moves on the romance side, too, playing with the ways audiences expect roles in villainess-style shows to go. Still, if you didn't vibe with it, I understand, and absolutely won't make you meditate on it longer. Lord knows we've got plenty to get through in this column, and there are at least a couple I'll be wanting to gong past, myself.

There were necessarily a lot of blind tastings in sampling all these shows, and Klutzy Skirt was absolutely an example of going in with no expectations and kind of being blown away from the very beginning. The immediate setup sort of made me think of a straightwashed Bad Girl, but this show's got enough of its own identity, beginning and ending with that visual style you highlighted.

I don't know that the looks were Beheneko's main problem, and if that studio can put sauce on the subject of heavy petting a reincarnated pussy, they're probably capable of anything. A lot of my favorable impression of Klutzy Skirt's looks might just be by comparison with some of the drier entries in this batch, but that also applies to the strong comedy that actually got quite a few laughs out of me. From the reveal of Kohinata's full name to the proximity of her and Togo's houses, there were some really strong gags—plus they defined the characters in ways that made me curious about them as people and romance participants. It's solid!

Some elements, like Togo's victim-blaming dress-code policies, or Kohinata's violence toward him, I can see turning off some people. But at a point where I really needed an energy shot, I was happy to have Klutzy Skirt come up on the rotation.

See, no wonder this show was up my alley. It's also not the only romcom this season containing a cute anime-within-an-anime and potentially off-putting acts of comedic violence!

I can see Pardon the Intrusion, I’m Home! being way more divisive than Klutzy Skirt, though.

It makes sense given how much the apartment spaces and the way they wind up inadvertently connected speak to the story here.

Also, even with that desaturated aesthetic, Pardon the Intrusion is hardly the worst offender, with the characters especially still being colorfully drawn and distinctive. I particularly love Rinko and her Grade-A face game. It's enough to make me feel bad for her when a guy who punches drywall starts angrily Kramer-ing into her and her other neighbor's places, even as I can also appreciate the appeal of a fictionalized danger boyfriend.

It's a lot, is what I'm saying, even as I don't doubt your point that there's an audience for this.

Whom amongst us hasn't figured we could turn a single, unsuccessful Tokimeki Memorial run into a transformative life philosophy?

Haibara is also one where we start questioning the exact genre definitions we're dealing with here. It's much like we've done with the isekai round-ups, least of all because there's an argument that this series is itself isekai-adjacent, what with the pseudo-reincarnation gimmick. And the teenage sadsack is getting a new chance to excel. Look, this absolutely appeals to the same audience as those other miserable Melvins, and I really wasn't here for it.

The other genre uncertainty is that Haibara is a romantic "comedy" insofar as it occasionally has things that kinda pass for jokes, if you squint. Even if the funniest part for me was an unintentional one, with everyone at school gawking at the supposed hotness of this dude who looks like the default male model in the Artificial Academy character creator.

Never mind that Haibara seemingly put all his effort over the summer into shedding a few pounds and didn't even think to brush up on his social skills. Not that that stops the show from just handing him heartwarming friendships and a shot with the girl of his dreams right from the get-go anyway.

Haibara himself is such a void of self-insert mercenary machinations, with lead love interest Hoshimiya Hikari (is that a real name?) having little going on beyond standing there and looking pretty. It's so transparent I couldn't even appreciate bits like the funky little bisexual or Haibara's cool childhood friend earnestly trying to wingman for him. It's not like I can't say there aren't better self-insert sadsack romcoms this season, but I also can't say that the likes of I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class is one of them. There isn't even any time-travel in this one!

This is why I take notes when I tackle these genre marathons, and the ones I've got for this show are just me getting increasingly annoyed at how nothing Second Prettiest Girl becomes once the thin base premise is presented.

Even if it's doing that easy-mode "hot girl approaches you without you needing to take any action" fantasy, I can at least appreciate that the connective hobby that brings basic boy and silver-medal girl together is crappy B-grade horror movies, rather than a more expected otaku outlet like anime.

But after that, it's just blithely watching them spend their Friday nights yakking together like the world's most boring pornography for actual losers. It feels like the romcom version of those generic shovelware isekai anime that casual fans put on as background noise.

Look, anyone who reads this column knows I am a Certified Gyaru Enjoyer, but even then, I found this show tedious. Sure, the gals are cute, which is the bare minimum, but then it trips into the same tedious wish-fulfillment that powered Second Prettiest Girl.

My big problem with Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku!? is how lopsided it is. There's no exchange in the attraction—Otaku-kun Seo isn't learning more about fashion and gyaru culture as he bonds with Kei. She falls into his lap because she's got a secret love for otaku stuff, and he can indulge that.

The close-up drawings of the gals' faces are appreciably detailed, and the opening theme is pretty cute. Again, at least more zazz on it than Second Prettiest Girl. I will freely acknowledge that I can see this being the kind of show that gets better as it goes on, if it can add more depth and elements compared to the schtick it's getting by on at the beginning. But the vague possibility of that isn't going to be enough to get me to stick with it compared to other shows that are compelling me this season.

It couldn't compel me even with a gyaru kabe-don, and that's an impressive failing. Though it's still not the most rizzless kabe-don this season.

This, readers, was the show that hadn't premiered when we wanted to do this column last week. So, upon at last getting to see Love Game, my reaction was: We waited an extra week for this?! This unsalted Kaguya-sama wannabe?

Once again, we are pushing the limits of the "comedy" genre here, since unlike Kaguya-sama, I'm not sure Love Game has heard of the concept of "jokes." It has heard of "spend over six minutes with these losers standing on a front porch yammering at each other," but that's a different, less interesting concept.

Perhaps it's unfair that this show set me off as much as it did, but as I described, it threw off our whole groove!

Thank goodness we can get back to talking about some good stuff for a bit. Kirio Fan Club is another case of going in totally blind and being blown away. This series is bringing bold innovations in the genre, like bravely casting a couple of femcels as the lead duo.

What's so fun about Kirio Fan Club is the way it uses "romance" and the idea of crushes as a vector for exploring the connection between its leading ladies, who manage to feel like real (if very weird) people. The result is an extremely endearing ode to the power of female friendships and camaraderie that, by its very nature, has no chance of ever passing the Bechdel Test.

The surprise connective tissue there is that Aimi and/or Nami might not be entirely straight themselves.

Now, as for Nakamura-kun, Coop and Sylvia already covered some of the deeply frustrating social media fallout around the series. That sucked, but the good news is that we get to be here to tell everyone (who somehow hadn't already heard about it) what a genuine delight Nakamura's adventures have been.

It turns out you can make entertainment out of some loser failing to get the most out of his high school romance life, you just gotta commit to all of the bits. Having Aoi Umeki of Pop Team Epic fame on hand probably helps.

They show their dedication by giving us a different classic city pop music video ending sequence in every episode! (Sidebar, but Crunchyroll, can you please let us turn off those annoying new "Skip Credits" buttons? Nobody likes them.) That shocking normalcy you highlighted is ironically what helps Nakamura-kun stand out. Nakamura himself is prone to wild takes, but he never feels like he's sensationalizing his own loneliness to the degree the self-inserts in those other shows do. He's a lovestruck teen in a comedy show doing the best he can. And it sets him up to bounce off of a truly delightful parade of actual weirdos who come into his life. Gay/fujoshi solidarity makes sense, but teaming him up with the desperate occultist was less expected. I am still here for it.

There's a reason it's the standout of the season (and highly anticipated by anyone who'd read the manga). And hey, it's not even the only explicitly queer romance of the season!

Though Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk isn't nearly as high-energy as Nakamura-kun. Possibly due to its cast kicking back and getting tipsy 50% of the time.

Ibuki's just anxious about hiccupping in front of people! Maybe not the most reasonable social fear, given how others in this show will happily light one up in the house with other people around. As someone with a weakness for anime ladies with drinks, I'll admit I'm an easy mark for Botan Kamiina—it's basically a more slickly produced version of my beloved Takunomi. with more explicit yuri! And I gotta admit it's pretty funny to watch Kamiina turn on the swag every time she gets a little bit of booze in her. It's low in both key and stakes, but it feels intentional in that, which makes it easy to just chill with on its own terms, I think.

Granted, Gero's foibles are also partially based on his lifelong training for the profession as a poison-based assassin, which isn't quite the same as being in marketing, but I understand there's plenty of overlap to relate to.

MARRIAGETOXIN is another one in the "delightful surprise" column for me. Even with you and others I knew hyping it up, I'd somehow managed to avoid finding out much about it, especially the twist about Mei's identity!

I was already into the character from the outset, so finding out he was a bisexual cross-dressing enthusiast thoroughly cemented Mei as a favorite of mine for this season. It also lends MARRIAGETOXIN some interesting angles as far as its actual romance, since while the show is already proposing potential partners for Gero like the thief Himekawa, there's nothing to necessarily preclude that he could wind up with Mei instead (apart from that whole "needing to produce an heir" thing, I guess).

Would you believe that's not the only anime this season where some psycho holds a wine glass like that? Thank god we don't have to cover Drops of God in this amorous avalanche.

Honestly, the most profound complaint I had about this show was when I found out that its title had been alternatively translated as "Mistress Kanan Is Easy as Hell!" which is just a way better pun!

I don't know that I loved this one as much as you did, but I certainly didn't mind it. The main dude has some meatheaded moxie to him, which is absolutely a breath of fresh air after all the sadbois we've suffered through.

Maybe it won't compete with the best examples of the demon girlfriend subgenre, but to me, it's another one that'll probably work for casual viewing. I admit it might at least be worth continuing to see if Kanan will ever figure out her, uh, tendencies for herself.

For a moment, I thought he might be a fake-out gag character and not the real love interest, just because being that straightforwardly down to clown is so out of the ordinary for a guy in this role!

If nothing else, I'll give this show another episode for that maid's design. I'm feeling attacked.

Seeing how so many of these shows started makes me glad I'm not up on either of the sequels this season (including RAG as well as The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten). I lost even a morbid fascination with Rent-A-Girlfriend once any focus on Best Girl Mami dropped off. She had done nothing wrong in her life, ever.

Though if your screencap indicates she's back, I may have to peek back in...

The heartwarming-to-heartbreak ratio is definitely a result of the sheer amount of shows in the comcom genre this season...as well as the broadening of said genre. Like we were also given Ichijyoma Mankitsu Gurashi! as a Rebeccamendation for this roundup. And while I recognize that might technically be romance since it's a Manga Time Kirara joint and thus yuri is at least implicit, so little happened there that I can't imagine expending that much energy on discussing it.

That is if I don't take a break for some me time instead. All the isekai, fantasy, romance, and comedy rounded up this season? I think I'll need a date with myself come this summer.