This delightfully wholesome high school romcom flew under the radar for most anime viewers during the Fall 2025 anime season, and that's a huge shame, as Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is one of the sweetest examples of its genre. Central to the show's charm is the leading lady and audience viewpoint character, Kiyoko Yoshida, whose anxiety and worry-prone face provide the cutest of reaction expressions. She reminds me a lot of Skip and Loafer's similarly sweet protagonist Mitsumi Iwakura, if slightly more maternal. With Yano's odd, somewhat inexplicable behaviour as a persistent plot element, the show is also more than a little reminiscent of Aharen-san is Indecipherable. Both of these comparisons are a major bonus in my eyes, as I loved both of those shows.

Like Horimiya, this is a school romcom where the central relationship progresses relatively quickly compared to other similar anime, with the pre-dating dance of awkwardness and “will-they-won't they?” refreshingly dispensed with before the halfway point of the show. This leaves plenty of time to explore how Yano and Yoshida function in a romantic relationship together, especially when there's a major obstacle they must tackle to ensure their happiness together.

More than a mere plot device, Yano's initially humorous predisposition to improbably contrived bad luck (seriously, the boy attends school with new wounds from minor injuries every single day) is shown to be a serious cause of trauma for the poor guy. While he seems to shrug off most of his mishaps, doing his best to get on with his quiet school life, he's very reluctant to ever remove his eye patch and resists explanations. Was his eye poked out? Does he have a glass eye? Is he just another chunibyo? The eventual reveal late in the series may seem like a relatively minor issue for everyone else, but for Yano, it's a central part of his personality, his deep-seated anxieties about how his seemingly pathologically bad luck may affect others close to him.

It's these anxieties that cause Yano to put up barriers between himself and everyone else. He's become used to a life of isolation, of accepting a kind of quiet misery that he's not even fully aware of. Yoshida, then, is an overwhelmingly positive force for good in his life. Despite also wrestling with her own social anxieties, her concerns for Yano give her the courage to reach out to this strange boy and change both of their lives for the better. If it hadn't been for Kowloon Generic Romance and Best Gal-Pal of All Time Yaomay, the beautifully empathetic Yoshida would be my Best Girl of 2025.

Yoshida's constant, attentive, loving, and supportive influence on Yano's life slowly brings him out of his shell, and together they form a tight-knit group of wonderful friends. As is often the case with this genre, the side characters can make or break the show. Twelve episodes comprised of only Yoshida stressing over Yano's bruised knees and bumped head would likely be repetitive and tiresome. Thankfully, the supporting cast brings other, much-needed viewpoints and strong personalities into the mix.

My favorite is Yūdai Hashiba, who initially seems to be a romantic rival for Yoshida's affections. He soon realizes the girl he likes has eyes only for Yano, and ends up accidentally befriending his disarmingly pure rival instead. Their friendship almost equals the central romantic relationship in terms of importance to Yano's mental well-being. I particularly love the scene where they sit in a kids' play-park together, and end up bouncing around on the springed rockers like they were ten years younger.

Yoshida's best friend, Mei Yuzukawa, is an outspoken cheerleader for Yoshida and her blindingly obvious crush on Yano, while Hashiba's childhood friend Izumi is set up as an obvious romantic pairing for him, once he presumably gets over Yoshida. The other male character in the balanced central cast is Haruto Tanaka, a playful lad with a huge smile and probably not too many brain cells. He's a continually playful ball of chaotic gremlin energy who brightens up every scene in which he appears.

Opening song Pop Life by Fantastic From Exile Tribe is a bright, happy-go-lucky tune that suits the show's tone well, even if it isn't super memorable. Closing song Better Off by iScream starts a little dull, but gradually builds to a surprisingly hummable bop once it gets going. As a relatively down-to-earth romantic comedy, Yano-kun's Ordinary Days doesn't need to wow with amazing animation or spectacular directorial tricks, but its unremarkable presentation gets the job done. Most important is that the characters' (especially Yoshida's) expressions are replicated accurately, and for that, the art style is spectacularly successful. Every episode is a gift for anxious anime girl reaction face screenshot lovers.

My only real complaint is the lack of resolution in the ending, which is unavoidable as the show adapts only up to manga chapter 34, from volume 5 of a so-far 12-volume story. Yano and Yoshida's relationship doesn't progress very far following the show's halfway point, but the gently humorous slice-of-life aspects are the bigger draw here. Episode twelve leaves off on about as good a stopping point as it can, with Yoshida finally learning more about what makes Yano tick, and him choosing to confide in her. All we can hope for is that Yano-kun's Ordinary Days scores a second season, as improbable as that may be. I'd love to watch more of these adorably anxious dorks growing closer to one another.