IrrelevantGuy

Have you ever watched an anime you hated at first but then came to like it? That's my experience with Kanojo mo Kanojo. "Like" is an understatement though, because I found myself laughing my ass off watching pretty much every episode. In a season which suffered from the "lack of good shit" syndrome, Kanojo mo Kanojo had legitimately been my favorite anime to watch. Yes, legitimately. First, let's get the bad things out of the way. If you don't enjoy "dumb", "illogical" anime and dislike the awkward two-timing concept of KmK, chances are that you won't like the show either. This is very clearly a hit-or-missseries, you are either going to love it or hate it. Even someone like me, who absolutely adores the show now, had a rough time sitting through the first episode. It wasn't because of the "dumb always equals bad" mentality that a lot of people seem to have, but because of how awkward I found the circumstances to be. There's another major reason behind my initial dislike, but I will get to that in a bit. So what makes KmK good compared to other dumb, "low-effort" harem romcoms out there? What's different about it compared to something like Osamake? It's hard to explain. Maybe it's the fact that KmK actually feels like a genuine parody of harem – as opposed to a series that only appears to be a parody while unironically being the exact thing that it attempts to make fun of (Osamake, for example again). The scenarios in KmK are also far more outlandish, with each scenario constantly one-upping the earlier one in terms of ridiculousness. Everything about the show feels like the most cliched trope you could ever imagine – just amplified to an unthinkable extent. Then there's the fact that the characters are actually likeable and entertaining, which is one of the biggest differences between KmK and most other harem romcoms. The characters are by far the best part of KmK, and they are basically what make the show's awkward premise somehow work. Yes, most of them are unbelievably stupid, illogical, and embarrassingly straightforward, but they are still entertaining. Their apparent lack of braincells doesn't make them the least bit intolerable. Instead, they are more enjoyable because of it. Another noteworthy side is that the series doesn't dabble in any unnecessary subplot, and there aren't many characters in the cast. This is rather uncommon in harem romcoms, most of which have a tendency to stray away from the original storyline by introducing redundant side-characters and the like. However, if you had asked me about my opinion about KmK two months ago, I probably would have given a much different answer, and that's mostly because of just one guy: Naoya, the protagonist. Naoya is a very difficult character to like, and I completely understand why. He is as stupid and clueless as a brick, appearing very selfish and self-centred, and above all, he is a two-timing bastard and the root cause of this fucked up situation. But man, is he honest and straightforward. I would have had no qualms repeatedly punching his face if it had been a few weeks ago, but as the story progressed, I kind of started liking the guy to be honest. Not in any conventional way, though. Let me explain. Naoya doesn't have any relatable backstory or even a compelling trait that will make you like him, but what he does have is his overly frank and persistent personality and his commitment to keep both of his girlfriends happy, which is admirable in its own way. Naoya will go out of his way to make sure that Saki and Nagisa are treated equally, leading to some questionable yet nonetheless hilarious scenarios. All this made it difficult for me to dislike him, although I totally hated him at the beginning of the story. In the end, you could say that he is essentially the "life" of this show, and say what you want, I don't think you can find a better replacement. Enough about Naoya, though. Let's talk about the girls now. For starters, Saki is the best girl of the show imo. The other three are also very likeable (although Shino gets focus for like only 2 episodes), but Saki's surprisingly sympathetic persona and unpredictable behaviour makes her the most memorable out of all. But again, the other girls also deserve credit. They all love Naoya for their own reasons and come up with various plans to protect and express their love, which kinda makes your root for all the three at the same time – no matter how disastrous the ultimate result is. As the story is now though, Saki and Nagisa seem like the only potential winners, but given the kind of series we are talking about here, anything could happen. The animation of KmK clearly isn't top-tier, but it isn't really bad either. There are a lot of awkward reactions and stiff movements from time to time, but the overall quality of the animation is fine. I like the vibrant color scheme of the show as well, and most importantly, all the girls look very attractive (although their faces can become quite deformed sometimes – either for comedic purpose or unintentionally). Regarding the soundtrack, I thought it was surprisingly good. Some of the tracks that played on the background were very memorable. Along with the decent soundtrack, KmK has one of the best opening and ending themes this season. The opening song "Fuzaketenaize" is very catchy, and the ending song "Pinky Hook" is especially good with its outstanding pre-chorus, which gets me hooked (pun intended) every time I hear it. Kanojo mo Kanojo is easily one of the most enjoyable harems I have ever watched, and there honestly isn't any sense of irony when I say that. Whether or not the show has good writing may be debatable, but one thing is for sure – it knows how to have fun, it knows how to embrace its stupidity. This type of unassuming and "not giving a fuck" attitude makes the show a rare find and, in my opinion, a legitimately fun anime to watch. You wouldn't find anything remotely meaningful here even with the most rose-tinted glasses, but that doesn't stop it from being any less enjoyable. After all, not all anime need to be profound or even rational to be genuinely entertaining, and Kanojo mo Kanojo just might be the best example of that.

HellLyter

This anime is hilarious, and don't feel pressured by anime "standards" to hide your true feelings if you think so too. Let me pose a question. What is the reason why we watch anime, and on a larger spectrum, consume all varieties of media? Is it so we can critically dissect all of the aspects of a show and nitpick on all of its faults? While I'm sure this can be...fun?...for some (and a headache for others haha), I don't think so. It's because of entertainment. We crave excitement, something that can function as a brief escape from our realities and act as a stimulusfor our minds. That to me is the key component of all media, regardless of genre. While there are a variety of factors that can contribute to a work of fiction being a success, to me it ultimately boils down to two things: Does it keep me interested and do I enjoy watching it? And let me tell you, Kanojo mo Kanojo is easily one of the most entertaining anime that I've seen in years! The premise is stupid. The execution of the story is stupid. The characters and their actions are stupid. And I absolutely love it. Contrary to popular belief, an anime does not in fact have to be on a scale of epic proportions or contain beautifully written symbolism to be good. Besides, that would limit creativity and expressionism if everybody tried to write similarly. We gotta expand our horizons and get a little more diversity! To me, Kanojo mo Kanojo is a success because I was able to enjoy the heck out of it despite its simplistic, limited, and in ALL cases, silly content. So the show pretty much revolves around the premise of the main dude two timing, and the biggest plot development involves another girl trying to get him to be a three timer. Oh boy! This is one of those weird ideas that I doubt you would see any other country bar Japan dare attempt to implement in their works because of all of the potential controversies. Japan doesn't give a crap of course because Japanese people are seemingly just too badass to care. But hey, this anime doesn't attempt to glorify polygamy like other certain anime seemingly try to paint other negative practices like slavery in a positive light, so I don't really care what the ideas used are as long as they're utilized appropriately in the narrative. And to me, it works because of the absurd way that the cast deals with it. The characters do not act like normal people. Naoya is beyond dense and loves to shout everything he thinks out loud. He also tries WAAAAY too hard at everything. The man has no stop button or shame, but it's great. He stands out because of how ridiculous he is, and this dude's antics never failed to crack me up. Whether it's *Gasp*...HAND HOLDING...with two girls out in public while screaming about his love for them or forgoing his pants so he can make a point, Naoya's over the top nature really makes him memorable, and his amazing voice acting certainly helps. Saki is Naoya's initial girlfriend, and my personal favorite character in the show. As her good friend Shino puts it, Saki is stupid. And you know what? That's ok!!! I absolutely love the chemistry between Saki and Naoya, their moments had me burst out laughing on various occasions. I'm glad that she at least tried to fight the whole two timing thing for awhile, but eventually caved in because her, Naoya, and Nagisa were simply made to be in a love triangle...no really, that's how the author wrote it. But truth be told, it's primarily because she's a baka. And she's also big pushover who was easily won over by Nagisa. I was honestly surprised at how lewd Saki was and especially the way her horniness (Wait, is this a real word?) was portrayed. I'm used to anime girls being like "Oho! I'm going to get him to look at my slightly exposed cleavage! How perverted!!!" But Saki over here is just like "I want sex and can't stop thinking about it" while still being fidgety and nervous about it all because she has no experience. Which I weirdly respect and, I dunno, somehow find more realistic and endearing? Yeah, maybe I'm just a baka myself. This anime seems to push the ecchi levels further than most with things like this, and that little extra nudge helps make it stand out to me. Saki's various comedic expressions and reactions to the insanity that is this anime are great. Plus the absolutely phenomenal voice acting for her really helped to elevate Saki's character even more. Seriously though, why are the seiyuu in this anime so darn good!? The other characters are fun too. Nagisa is the reason why the whole plot THICCens in the first place by confessing to Naoya. As you can imagine, everything about her is turned up to 11, such as the fact that she has to put in thousands of hours of effort into things just to try and be average at them. I can only imagine that this is because, like the rest of this anime, Nagisa is stupid. But hey, she's an excellent cook, so there's that!!! Milika is a girl who appears in order to move the plot along, which makes sense since she has, uh, a, b, c, d, e, f...G-reat PLOT, if ya know what I mean~ Her dedication to getting Naoya to fall for her is admirable, if not borderline insane. I was worried that her antics might start to lesson my enjoyment of the show, but the reverse happened. She has plenty of funny moments and I'll be rooting for her to turn this two way anime into a THREE way anime!!! The last girl to mention is Saki's elegant friend Shino, who is anything but elegant in her one big scene. She hasn't appeared much, but if her short yet amazingly anime-esque confrontation with Naoya is anything to go by, she has a lot of potential...just not in her chest. Gah, I tried to hold back, but I couldn't, I'm sorry. But anyway, here's hoping Studio Tezuka Productions will get on that second season!!! If there's anything you can take away from my review, it's this. Please, don't take this show seriously. You'll only hurt yourself if you try to, trust me. Logic simply doesn't exist in this series, just like how boing boing doesn't exist on Saki's flat chest and how opinions don't exist in the minds of ignorant people.....ok, I couldn't decide which comparison to use since the first one makes me seem perverted and the second one makes me come across as rude. So naturally, I decided to use both of them. Why? Because I'm stupid. Just like this anime. So in the end, maybe that's why I feel such a connection to it...