The Spring 2026 Anime Preview Guide

I Want to End This Love Game

After leaving behind his image as a quiet nerd, Yukiya's ready to break hearts and take names with the ultimate high school glow-up. Well, he's really just got one girl in his sights—his best friend, Miku. Using her favorite shojo manga as his weapon, he's prepared to pin her to the wall and gaze at her with the perfect smolder.

I Want to End This Love Game is based on the manga series by Yūki Dōmoto. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Tuesdays.

I believe the accepted terminology for characters like Yukiya and Miku in this sort of story is “loveable idiots.” You must forgive me if I found absolutely nothing “lovable” about them. They're just idiots through and through. That could be appealing in its own right, of course, because the entire plot revolves around both of them being too stubborn to admit that they like each other while torturing themselves with their so-called “I Love You Game.” These two 100% brought this on themselves.

Basically, four years ago, Miku tried out telling Yukiya those three little words, possibly in hopes of it being reciprocated. When he looked at her like she was a monster, she quickly pivoted into saying it was a game – if he'd reacted with blushes, she'd have won. It all sounds very much like something made up on the spot to cover up embarrassment, and while there's no official confirmation that's the case, nothing in this episode convinces me otherwise. Yukiya then started “playing” Miku's game, and now, on the eve of high school, they're so deeply enmeshed in trying to make the other one react to their romantic words and actions that they've basically backed themselves into a corner. It's one of the most classic cases of cutting off your nose to spite your face I've ever seen.

That said, I could see it being part of the thrill. Sure, they can't bring themselves to lose by admitting feelings, but at least they get to say the words and do cliché things like kabedons and altering uniforms for titillation purposes. They're playacting something that's real, and I suppose there's an appeal to that, especially since this has been going on so long that neither of them can figure out how to get out of it. It doesn't make the whole thing less annoying, but I could see that being a me problem.

A more universal issue is how the animation switches to stiff CG every time there's an overhead shot. I'm honestly not sure what the point of that is. Were they hoping no one would notice? Does it save that much time and money? I can't imagine, but I can assure them that I did notice and am not a fan. Not that the rest of the episode has top-tier visuals, but it at least looks smoother than that. Between the weird CG and the annoying factor of the characters, this is emphatically not a show for me. But if romcoms are your preferred genre, you're likely to find it less irritating – and if nothing else, the final scene of the two of them giggling like increasingly mad scientists is pretty great.