BaronBrixius

I'll start by saying this - Kawaii Dake ja Nai Shikimori-san is a fluff romcom. Nothing more, nothing less. The premise is very simple - an extremely unlucky boy has an extremely cute girlfriend who can switch to "cool" mode and be his knight in shining armor when his bad luck strikes again, and a group of friends who they both hang out and do mundane things with. It's nothing groundbreaking. There is no depth to it. Its whole purpose is to give you a dose of fluff. So then, why a 9/10? It's simple - because Shikimori succeeds at fulfilling that exact purpose with flying colors andmore. If you truly enjoy these types of shows, then Shikimori has it all - a huge amount of cute couple moments, a vibrant color palette, high school shenanigans, festivals, and most importantly - a fun supporting cast, consisting of both a group of friends with high chemistry between them, and surprisingly alive and kicking parents, whose interactions with the main couple are often even more fun to watch than the friends group shenanigans. If I had to give a rating to the supporting cast alone, it would be as high as a 9.5/10 - even if you're less invested in the couple for one reason or another, every moment the side characters are on screen is a joy to watch. Whether it's the MC's mom inadvertently seducing her son's girlfriend or Hachimitsu delivering her deadpan one-liners, each of them made me look forward to watching the show every week just as much as the main couple. And regarding the elephant in the room, Izumi - the male MC who I'm sure you've heard negative things about at one point or another before reading this review - his only "fault" is that...he's not very masculine. Other than that, he's just a regular, social guy with a small group of friends that includes his girlfriend. He's nowhere near the cringy loner MC that starts stuttering whenever a girl enters his line of sight, if like me that is what you first imagined when you heard the rumors. At the same time, he's also not a deep layered character, he's a run-of-the-mill romcom MC - but his only "fault" is, again, that he is more feminine than masculine. You could say that this is a gender-reversed romcom, but that'd be mostly wrong - Shikimori herself is just as feminine 90% of the time, when she's not protecting Izumi from whatever tried to kill him that day. To sum it up, I recommend this show if : - You enjoy fluff romcoms. - You like girls being badass. - You are looking for a chill slice of life show to just laugh and turn your brain off to. - You like deadpan characters/Kuuderes. (seriously Hachimitsu alone makes this show worth watching) I do not recommend this show if : - You expect strong character development. - You expect plot/romance progression, and are bored by "mindless" fluff. - You expect My Dress-Up Darling like a lot of people did when starting this. (Why?)

SingleH

Anime openings truly are magical, aren’t they? The excite us, inspire us, and stay in our memories for years. Just this season, the OP for SPY×FAMILY, where it begins looking like a hyper-stylized spy thriller, but then quickly devolves into children’s artwork perfectly encapsulated the charm of the series; the OP for Summertime Render was so slick and atmospheric; and Paripi Koumei’s OP was a brilliant modern classic for obvious reasons, but the two runner-ups have to be Shikimori-san and Love After World Domination. They were both absolutely stellar, and Shikimori’s was so delightful, it almost successfully gaslighted me into thinking I was actually watchinga good anime. They say 70-93% of human communication is non-verbal, and I stand by these findings completely. This show has one of those OPs where, whether the show delivers on its promise or not, it at least suggests a level of personality and energy which I personally find so endearing and infectious. Like, even if the show has no personality (which, spoiler, it doesn’t), then the expressiveness and artfulness displayed throughout the OP can successfully brainwash me into thinking it does. It feels like a mixture of the Engaged to the Unidentified OP and the After the Rain OP, and no matter how shitty of a day I was having, no matter how fucking miserable I felt, it always made me smile. The problem with all of this, of course, is that after the OP ends, the show starts, and it’s not great. The OP would make me think, “Oh, gosh! These two are so CUTE! Everyone looks so happy and expressive, the animation is astoundingly beautiful, and the artistry the director used to illustrate the trials and tribulations and the clumsy, invigorating course of their budding love is all just so invigorating! I just can’t wait to see this show with these characters and this artwork and this direction and—oh the show is boring as fuck………okay…great.” Generic, bland, banal, whatever word you wanna use, anything works. It’s just a boilerplate teen romcom with gimmicks that get old instantly. There are definitely some things to like about this show. It’s a Doga Kobo project, so no matter how bland the art direction and character designs are, and no matter the fact this is clearly one of their lower effort productions, nothing ever looks unacceptably bad. The main couple are in a relationship at the start of the show, so you don’t have to deal with the usual melodrama involved with getting together, which itself is assuming you’re lucky enough to be watching one of the very few anime where the two main love interests actually at some point do fucking get to together. However, other than those few concessions, the entire show has very little in the way of redeeming qualities. The gimmick is that Shikimori isn’t just a cutie. She’s also the female equivalent to the domineering ikemen in shoujo manga, and she endearingly protects her effeminate twink boyfriend, Izumi, all the same. I found it cute enough for a while, but my breaking point was already reached by episode five. Each stock friend character is just standing around doing their ONE thing, saying their ONE line in their ONE tone. Contrary to the bustling, energetic opening, the show itself has lifelessness leaking out of every orifice, including its fucking voice actors. As far as other, more recent waifu-bait shows go, Shikimori is comparable in quality to My Dress-Up Darling, an anime which I gave a 4/10. …clearly should’ve put some more thought into that one. Thank you for reading.