Whats up with their eyes?
No but seriously this is one of the weirdest eye designs I have ever seen in anime. It actually looks good from some angles but most of the time its rather creepy. The blonde girl literally has dead fish eyes. And it looks horrible.
Oh and since I see people that seem to be saying that the ratings of this show are low from a lot of watchers because the expectations were too high everyone thought this will be DressUp Darling 2 and yall just watch mainstream media shounen: sorry to break it to you but that isnt the case at least when it comes to me. I went into this with no expectations and DressUp Darling wasnt the best show in existence anyway yet Shikimoris Not Just a Cutie was just not that good. Just like Tonikaku Kawaii. And my most watched/read genre is romance so this low rating is not because I get bored without an interesting plot cool fights a lot of action or anything that is usually not associated with romantic comedies. Basically you dont need to find excuses as to why not everyone enjoys it.
Also if youre one of the fans that claim that Shikimoris Not Just a Cutie isnt just a romcom... hun romcom literally means lighthearted romantic comedy that relies heavily on the romantic relationships of the characters is frequently a sliceoflife. Now can you tell me how in the world isnt this show a romcom? Especially since there is basically no plot/story. Im waiting for your answers kay?
CHARACTERS
Contrary to whom most seem to consider to be the worst character in the series Izumi Id say that its actually Shikimori herself. She is obsessive very jealous and possessive. She doesnt have any hobbies and sticks to Izumi like glue and doesnt seem very pleased with the fact that he has friends. Even worse than that her whole identity is basically just trying to be seen as a cute girl while also protecting Izumi. Thats all she cares about aside from winning in every game/competition. Well honestly its not like Izumi is much better. I get it hes unlucky but for being a main character he sure doesnt have a lot of focus put on him. Rather its like he is there just for Shikimori and 2 other girls haha didnt know this was a harem to have someone to be cute a mommy for. He doesnt have any presence like at all I almost forgot he was the other main character while writing this. He just exists to be the kind cute prince that captures the hearts of lonely girls just by being kind to them. But I mean hes trying to overcome his unluckiness and do sweet things for his girlfriend and friends. At least hes trying. And his culinary dishes are said to be delicious.
On a side note Izumis unluckiness is not even that bad. His worst unlucky moments were jumping in the bushes to avoid being run over by a bicycle and drowning though the last one is pretty bad. The rest were just random almost harmless inconveniences with him losing his wallet or tripping so no he didnt deal with it well or anything since there wasnt really much to deal with in the first place. The only thing I remember was him trying to be prepared for anything that could go wrong on a date which I mean was cute but not that smart? Since he knows he often loses his stuff no matter what he does why doesnt he let someone else keep them when hes going out? Like giving his wallet to Shikimori would have resolved the problem. As for tripping taking a few gymnastics classes or just doing some exercises to improve his balance would probably help but it doesnt seem like he has thought that far he just lets his unluckiness get the best of him.
As for the side characters they surprisingly have more character development than the leads who have like almost 0 growth. Two of them to be more specific they have a whole episode dedicated to each of them and it was quite nice to see. Though the extra characters that were used in one of the episodes were just pure mockery. But all in all the side characters are better than the main ones thats how bad this show is.
STORY
Just in case you were wondering I havent mentioned anything about the story because there is literally no story. It is a slice of life romcom with school setting and instead of going for a boring generic plot the mangaka since I suppose the story is the same in the manga chose to not have one at all. Which is not a problem at all dont get me wrong however it means that in order to make the anime/manga enjoyable it is a must for the characters to have amazing chemistry among other things. And sadly this is not the case at all. The main focus of the show Shikimori and Izumis romantic relationship is very awkward and unrealistic. They are supposed to have been together for one year already yet act like they have only known each other for 4 months at best. Its like they dont even really know each others personalities that well. Its just... very weird you know. They dont seem to be comfortable with each other at all and it bothers me. It feels like they are both looking at an idolized version of their partner only seeing whats at the surface: a soft unlucky guy that needs to be protected and a cool beautiful perfect girlfriend. Well the point is that their chemistry its rather weak and nowhere near good enough to make me want to watch more of it. Though a 1214 years old person may find it cute and enjoyable I guess its demographic is shoujo after all.
The friendship of the rest of the characters feels off sometimes as well but overall its passable. The trio of girls Shikimori Nekozaki and the other one seem rather awkward with each other for being friends for more than a year. Again its like they have only known each other for like 4 months.
ART STYLE/ANIMATION
When it comes to art style and animation well... The animation is as good as it can get and the style itself is pretty nice though generic. Very charming color palette well suited for the genre atmosphere and demographic. But like I said weird eyes. Oh and while I did say the animation was good it had some slip ups here and there.
CONCLUSION/ENJOYMENT
Well having said all that heres the catch: its not a horrible anime. As far as entertainment goes it is actually passable. In short I didnt hate watching Shikimori trying to look cute for a date Izumi having to spend his time at a school event in the library Nekozaki laughing or smiling most of the time and Inus laid back attitude. I mean if I did I wouldnt have completed the anime. What Im getting at is that it is not that bad of a show either. At least when it comes to the enjoyment.
The best thing about it though? Its OP Hands down one of the best this year. The ED was pretty enjoyable as well.
38
/100