And that's the end of that. And let's never talk of this disaster again.
As expected, Aika fell in love with Sajo and they ended up together. I can't say that I'm disappointed since the anime really seemed to be leaning heavily towards having Aika win so that there's no S2.
Read the LN though because it's WAY better than this is.
What the fuck is wrong with natsukawa first she rejects him and now acts all lovey-dovey with him and the next thing you know she is sasaki's girlfriend
I hate that the season finale discussion will always be headed by someone who didn't even fucking like the show, its a HUGE disappointment to have watched the whole show, get excited to talk about it online, and then have the very first thing anyone sees have it call the show a "disaster." and while is OBVIOULSLY fine for Canada to think that and I would never discourage people sharing their opinions, maybe it just be a reply in the discussion? rather than just outright calling something that clearly many many people enjoyed garbage as a header for discussion? seems biased towards just complaining, I mean, you arent even talking about the episode...
i understand thats frustrating when you really enjoyed the show, but i dont think this person is necessarlily being outright mean about it. they clearly like the series if they recc the LN. they just were unsatisfied by the adaptation
plus, if your comment werent this and your actual opinion on the show, maybe youd have fostered a discussion about it with people who also like it. youre also not creating an enviornment to do anything other than take a dump on peoples opinions
I don't think they had the intention of being mean either, its clear they are a fan of series and are just disappointed with adaptation, and for that I have nothing but sorrow that it was unable to live up to expectations ):
As for the 2nd part of your comment, the difference is that I made a reply, not a discussion, I didn't and still dont have the intent to create ANY environment, I hope you can see the difference there, as any and all threads created to talk about episode 12 will be merged into this one by mods, this person will forever be the only on with their words shown on the page of the show.
just because you didnt make the thread, does not mean you dont contribute to it. regardless of the header, there are others in here who liked the show and expressed that just fine, meanwhile, you decided to complain about this person's opinion instead of sharing your own in order to actually talk about the show you wanted to talk about in the first place
Once again, I have absolutely nothing against OP's opinion, I went as far as to point that out TWICE in my original reply, even saying it was quote "OBVIOULSLY fine" and saying that I complained about THAT shows an egregious misunderstanding of my reply, I am complaining about anilist's system of discussion thread creation, merging, and display. I never wanted to share my own opinion, if I did want to, I would have, I really have no idea why you think that was ever my goal. infact I made it quite clear that any desire I DID have was squashed upon seeing the thread title, which is exactly what the entire reply was about.
tbh if talkin about it _wasnt _your goal, then i didnt even see a reason for you to comment in the first place
they made the thread to discuss and did it. i see no difference whether or not they shared it within the post body or within a comment. either way itd be at the top readily available
if you want it done your way, you make the thread next time
I think the header is very representative of how the show is as an adaptation. In fact, if it were a standalone product, calling it a disaster is still being nice.
This show is an incoherent mess from start to finish. It's a LN adaptation but removes the MC's internal monologue for the most part, giving the impression that he acts on a whim and is completely unaware of his surroundings. I had to consult the LN several times to understand his relationships and grasp what was happening. I basically just ended up reading it alongside the anime which revealed that the anime was moving at a breakneck pace, skipping 99% of the characterisation. The director must have been a complete cute girl maniac, since the show completely stripped everything else of substance away.
Really? 17,757 people with anilist accounts who watched/are watching, an average score of 7/10, 842 favorites, 28 highest rated of summer 23. You think this is a disaster? really? I suppose stats like that dont really matter to you and its just your opinion, and thats fine, but as someone who watched steins gate and tatami galaxy and other greats, you really had a hard time understanding THIS ONE? REALLY? yikes im very sorry it seemed incoherent to you.
ok see the thing is... it's because it was, here's an example, the episode where Natsukawa got mad at Wataru for talking to a group of girls pissed off so many people and they started hating her more, when if the anime had adapted things properly they'd explain that the girl he was talking to was essentially known to go around with the guys if you know what i mean, that coupled with so much more makes a lot of things just out of place and fucks stuff up, i will also say that this episode which had him go to her house... yeah this was supposed to happen in like ep 4-5, the events of this series are also thrown out of whack and pig pathed together, it's a very shit adaptation
tl;dr Wataru is not a developed character in the anime so his dynamic with Aika, and thus the key driving force of the story, is poorly fleshed out.
When it comes to shows like Tatami Galaxy and Steins;Gate, they have much clearer intentions and their character's motivations are fairly clear. Those stories are able to follow coherent connections between ideas and build up a narrative. In Tatami Galaxy for example it is made clear very early on that the MC wants to have a relationship and that he continually overlooks the opportunities that he has, instead blaming outside factors such as misfortune, his club choice and Ozu. The lesson is that he should pay more attention and apply more focused effort on the things he has regardless of his environment. It's very simple and the way it's presented makes it clear from the outset what the show intends and the characters' relationships.
In the Yumemiru Danshi anime, it largely fails at giving us any of Wataru's motivations. It has the scene with him getting hit in the head with the football at the start, highlighting it, but not making it significant that this was the moment he internalised that stalking perhaps wasn't the way he should carry on with Aika and that she's completely right to be creeped out by him.
It neglects to mention that all the times that he stays away from Aika when she's gaining friends is because he fully believes that him being ugly and creepy beside her was the main thing preventing her from making friends and he would rather watch her shine from a distance. In fact, it barely goes into his complex about his image at all, which constantly comes up in the LN. He genuinely thinks he's ugly and it's one of the main reasons he decides that Aika is simply out of his league so he'll just cheer her on. It's why he acts so apathetic when Sasaki (the male one) makes moves on Aika. He thinks he's outclassed and that Sasaki is more deserving.
Because of this missing element, the episode with his sister on the roof lacks weight, even though everyone in universe takes it so seriously. In the LN she thinks she's the reason why he's so negative about himself due to putting him down a lot and now he's discarded his chance with a girl because she broke his self-esteem, which is largely true, but Wataru is too kind to let her continue to feel upset over that.
Now all of this missing characterisation breaks the fundamental dynamic between the hero and heroine. Aika calls him creepy and tells him to get away from her in typical tsundere fashion, which he used to take in stride like a stereotypical harem MC. Kei reinforces this with her jokes as well. Wataru however, with his new found awareness and low self esteem, internalised all of this as if she was serious and justifiably distanced himself.
That's why asking her out in his house was such a big moment in the LN that the anime really flopped on. She either rejects him as usual and he moves on because she really doesn't like him and he was right, or she accepts and he can now brush off her foul tongue as the tsundere trope that it is and attempt to get closer to her again.
Aika's PoV is not that bad in the anime, but I'll lay it out anyway. She doesn't know what the audience should know about Wataru's self image and is only aware that he's distancing himself from her. She assumes that he just doesn't like her anymore and wants to return their dynamic back to what they once had. She attempts this by repeatedly talking to him in the only way she knows how, tsundere tropes.
Now knowing what we are supposed to know about Wataru, we understand that this creates a cycle of him attempting to further distance himself from her due to his interpretation of her words as genuine disgust at him, but his affection and her repeated attempts to make contact keep dragging him back.
This is the main thematic tension of the story. We're basically witnessing inadvertent narcissistic abuse from Aika and that's what's interesting about the LN.
The anime instead cuts half of that dynamic, so what we're left with is a fractured form of the typical. An obvious tsundere and a MC who likes her and should be the only one who puts up with her, except he doesn't. Do you see why that description is bad? There's no tension. The two sides of his emotions aren't properly laid out so that we can understand why he likes her yet doesn't want to associate with her since he often does and says the exact opposite of what he wants.
And the anime's lack of internal narrative crops up everywhere with Wataru. It ruins almost every scene he's in which is pretty detrimental to the show with him being the main character. All of this just on the topic of Wataru's characterisation so I'll spare you the analysis of the crazy pacing and reordered events.
If you liked the anime, read the LN for a few chapters and see the difference. I'm not saying it's a masterpiece, it's a LN, but it clears the anime by miles. Every single conversation he has is dotted with his thoughts so we know exactly why he's saying what he is and can attune with the thought processes that lead to some of his seemingly questionable decisions.
man, you make me want to read the LN, only because you have put so much effort into making this post reflecting how different the LN anime is that it has caught my attention. You have my respect, i know when i talk with someone with judgement, whether it is similar to mine or not, and there is nothing more respectfull than that.
I'm sorry if the message is strange in some way, I don't speak English and I relied on Google Translate
its highest rates are 6-7 which really puts it at "mid"
Mid is 5, 6 and 7 are above average are you ok?
when i look at all the ratings, i get "this show is eh/okay. it kinda does what it needs to" for me, id describe that as mid
i think 7 usually falls into a yellow area on charts and 9-10 are the high ratings. meanwhile 1-6 are like red. when you see a 70% on something, you think, "oh its okay i guess"
I quite enjoyed it. Definitely not a masterpiece but I did have fun watching all the characters do their thing. Basic maybe, but very effective. Maybe a bit more budget would have made it a better experience, but I am glad I watched this. My romcom quota was fulfilled in a satisfactory fashion.
OP said that this is different than the LN so maybe I'll read the manga and hope that version actually does stick to the LN better.
Solid 7/10, no extreme drama, just a romcom and a very concise ending that won't make me mad about never getting a S2.
I don't even know how to explain my feelings about this show. The interactions between some of the characters were cute but the premise of stalking and annoying the hell out of some girl until she loves you is really, really gross. In a lot of the earlier episodes I was really confused by Sajo's actions and the plot was really hard to follow until he started the part time job.
I just found the interaction between sajo and other characters interesting . Also some characters lighten up the mood by simply entering the screen. No unnecessary drama, just high schoolers living their lives to fullest. The best way to enjoy this show is to ignore the relationship between sajo and aika. So can’t say I am looking forward to any sequel
This show is hard for me to rate. The beginning with its strong and unique identity sort of fizzled out over the course of the series to become fairly mundane. The last two episodes felt like they were moving at break-neck speeds and glossing over major events that should have been occurring. And I found the ending incredibly unsatisfying.
However, I was entertained by the narrative, I thought the dialogue was well written, I enjoyed the cast, and (the few times it was the focal point) I thought the mc's inner conflict was compelling.
After reading other comments about the LN and this adaptation of it, I feel like we missed out on something that could have been great. The later half of the show ended up just feeling kind of like oregairu with a less developed cast and pacing issues.
ending song is really good, her tsundere voice is so perfect for aika's character. also lyrics are so fitting
wish they cut out the useless side arcs and gave more time on MC and aika instead
not the best show but my most enjoyed of summer season, in middle part of show makes me wonder if aika is even the main girl... she had so little screen time
university girl was really nice, too bad there's no season 2, but at least its not generic isekai, it showed some potential
Didn't do it for me. Story was kinda flat, and they could've gone so many directions that were actually interesting. Instead it's a basic pull back and get noticed. Also lacking in character development, and the body proportions for multiple characters kept changing in different scenes (both male/female)
Overall it felt very basic to me and didn't have much going for it to begin with.
I haven't read the books but based on anime alone I'm not the biggest fan of how this show turned out. It seems like they wanted Sajou to seem like a smarter character or someone who has a better understanding of the environment around him. Sort of like Hikigaya from SNAFU. The anime was nice and the show had some characters who were enjoyable like Shinomiya, Sasaki, Ashida, and Kaede Sajou. Natsukawa could have been a better character if given another season or if they made it a 24 episode anime. The chemistry between Sajou and Natsukawa felt rushed and his chemistry with most of the other girls would have been a better choice. Overall if someone enjoyed this then all the power to them, but I was disappointed with the direction they took it. I would have to rate around around a 6 out 10 without knowing the source material.
everywhere i go, everyone saying that Sasaki is best girl and should win and all that
while i can agree that Aika is a "toxic tsundere", i like her as much... or more than Sasaki (which is not the point here)
but then we check Mal favorites... and out of the girls, Sasaki is ranked number 9 ... with 1/9th of the favorites that Aika has... strange LOL
(in Anilist it's similar, with Aika having around 10x more likes than Fuka)
anyway, this might not be the best anime... but was the only one in multiple seasons that i checked the manga for ... so i guess i liked it enough lol
Aika might not be the best chara or the most polite one, but she sure as hell looks cute :D
then there's also Kei, Shinomiya, Fuka, sister and multiple other girls who were also fun to watch
lastly, if there's something i dislike here, is that many times i confused mc and sasaki... they literally looked the same in many shots and i thought it was mc, until i saw mc commenting from the sideline <.<
anyway i'll rate this an 8, maybe it deserves less, but i like it enough...
i wouldn't mind a season 2 for sure, but with how this season ended, maybe it's a sign that they don't want to do more (even if this episode was supposed to be earlier, since this part was skipped)