Go For It, Nakamura-kun!!

Episodes 1-4

As a devoted fan of romantic comedies, retro styles, and as a proud pansexual myself, I was curious about Go for It, Nakamura! Considering that it's selling itself on being about an overly anxious high schooler who explicitly yearns for a gay romance, this is refreshing when a lot of stories still shy away from openly declaring this. Thankfully, the story doesn't seem to make being gay the butt of the joke (at least so far), but my problem with Nakamura! is that, outside of its directness, there isn't a whole lot going on in these first four episodes.

That isn't to say that the show doesn't look or sound good. There are a few really good visual gags, and the expression work is top-notch. My favorite gag was the cockroach bit, where the little bug would sometimes comment on things in a cute way, and I think I like the show best when it leans into cartoony. Plus, the voice acting is phenomenal and elevates a lot of the humor. I watched this dubbed, and let me just say that Nasim Benelkour is absolutely putting his all into this performance. All of the shrieks and voice cracks sound genuine. Plus, his anxious ramblings feel believable for a teenager, and even when his pitch dips to represent a mood drop, I was drawn into the fun that he is clearly having with this performance. Also, special shout-out to whoever is playing Reiko, because the different directions her vocal performance takes to sell the eccentric cult club president were phenomenal.

However, the show is much slower-paced than I originally assumed. This is more of a slow-burning type of romance since Nakamura and the object of his affection don't even seem to genuinely become friends until episode four. Part of the appeal lies in that distant yearning, but not much actually happens beyond a few gags revolving around Nakamura being an anxious mess. Don't get me wrong, I find his particular brand of being an anxious high schooler to be very relatable. I really liked how episode four highlighted how he's reserved about a lot of his particular interests because of how he was previously treated and how little things like his love of octopuses keep coming back.

I will say, his classmates' fascination with boys' love is also kind of a funny running joke. The fact that some of the girls in class are coming up with crazy scenarios in their heads is kind of funny, but I'm not sure how I feel about them drawing scenarios with real people. That feels like it takes the joke a bit too far. I like that the show doesn't seem to prioritize the pursuit of romance as much as it does friendship. The fact that Nakamura's delusions or fantasies seem to be more about being close friends with Hirose than being his boyfriend, I think, is surprisingly endearing. I don't know if that's reflective of how insecure he really is or if he's secretly hoping to translate being his best friend into a potential boyfriend. Maybe it's both, but regardless, I think that is a more relatable angle to take because it opens up the show's structure to be more about Nakamura just interacting with people tangentially related to his crush, kind of like how he befriended Kawamura. So, while not as exciting or as involved as I would like it to be, there is still a lot of really interesting and charming stuff here that I am definitely looking forward to in subsequent episodes

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