Main characters in a slice of life anime like this tend to be one dimensional and seek pity beyond pity. I found the lack of one dimensionality refreshing in this anime. Sure there are characteristics that define each character, but the word stagnant becomes oblivious.
Mizutani Shizuku is a bookworm with no time for a social life. No, the thought of mingling with humans seems like a waster of time for her. Something happened to her when she was young, and this led to her reasoning. She remains solitary and undeterred with her decisions. One day while delivering homework to the school hooligan and heavily (understatement since hes crazy beyond belief lol) misunderstood Yoshida Haru, she realizes she made a terrible mistake in her use of words. Haru now believes Shizuku is his friend, and decides to attend school again with this belief. As such, Shizuku has no choice but to start socializing and juggle with her emotions as this misunderstood hooligan becomes part of her every day life.
Shizuku and Haru, make up a hilarious dynamic duo. They are both socially awkward. Combine this with the fact that they have no earthly idea of how a relationship works, and you have a story that avoids all the generics in your typical relationship cycle. Every anime, hell, every form of Japanese media we are all familiar with has the typical cycle we are all used to seeing. Both characters defy these rules, and instead opt to express their feelings about anything, anywhere, with little to no fear of the consequences. Yes, things like "I love you" and "I hate you" are blurted out as if it was the most normal thing to say on earth. The dynamics these characters portray make the onscreen interactions interesting, to say the least. Unfortunately, the friends they make are not defiant opposers to the typical rules of Japanese media. I guess this makes Shizuku and Haru stand out, but I would have liked more characters with such a dynamic personality as them. Instead we get the typical girl (Natsume) hated by the other girls for getting the males attention, and we get a baseball player with little to no distinctive personality that separates him from everyone else. I honestly consider Sasahara a side character, that's how little his importance to the series is. Yamaguchi, a "side character" I would prefer to have as main, is another story. He's awesome.
The anime deals with the struggles of being accepted, and does a damn good job at it. As a viewer, and more importantly as a human being, I couldn't help but identify with certain situations the anime presented the characters with. By no means is this anime a life changer, nor does it dwell in hidden psychological meanings we pick up as we watch. But it does make one think, and it makes one want to keep thinking, which is always good. Some things are never resolved, but I suppose that's where a second season would come in. The art is a bit different, I would call it slightly abstract at times, but still looks like your typical anime. Very nice color pallets, the character designs are great, and the soundtrack is top notch.
My only complaint is the lack of resolution near the ending. Sure, this paves the way for a second season, but what if a second season never happens? Countless anime have been left forgotten, so I hope this anime gets a second season and continues the story of my new favorite couple in anime.
Score - 8.5/10
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