Have you ever decided that you werent going to accomplish a goal until you accomplished another one first? Like you might have decided that you werent going to ask someone out until you had done something else that might impress them. For example beating them at chess....or really Japanese chess also known as shogi. Look Im no expert at shogi or chess the one time I can recall playing chess I tried to play it with the checkers ruleset but I have seen my fair share of romantic comedy anime. As of the time of me writing this review the wellliked Teasing Master Takagisan may not be among them but a certain other anime from the same manga artist as Takagisan is. No its not In The Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki. Now dear readers I must ask When Will Ayumu Make His Move? When Will Ayumu Make His Move known in Japanese as Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru follows a certain shogi club at a certain high school. Its two members club president Urushi Yaotome and firstyear Ayumu Tanaka play shogi together at pretty much every club meeting with the former usually beating the latter. Ayumu never gives up on trying to beat Urushi though his main motivation being his crush on her he has decided that he wont confess his feelings for her until he has beaten her fair and square at a shogi game. Meanwhile Urushi suspects that Ayumu likes her and although shes not aware of it begins to develop her own feelings for him. From there we get to see the romcom and shogi shenanigans that these two get up to. As I said at the beginning of this review Im no expert at shogi and as such Im not sure if the moves that are made in the shogi games played in this anime are good moves or not. It might be better to ask someone who is actually good at shogi about things like that. However it is the game of shogi that connects these two and allows us to see how cute they are as a couple. Their interactions can be a little frustrating as much as they are cute however. Ayumu has a tendency to tease Urushi in a way that is obviously flirty and Urushis reactions make it clear that she feels the same way that he does even if she doesnt realize it until the end. On multiple occasions I have thought Come on Ayumu You might as well just confess now I guess I do have to respect him for sticking to his guns when it comes to when hes going to confess though. Surrounding Ayumu and Urushi is a cast of likable supporting characters. My favorite is probably Maki Urushis best friend not only are her teasing antics quite fun to watch but the way shes so supportive of her friend is very wholesome to see. Rin is another character that sticks out in my mind although she doesnt appear until later in the series she adds to the group dynamic of the shogi club in a fun way. The supporting characters I especially want to highlight however are Takeru and Sakurako Ayumus childhood friends and the animes resident side couple. My feelings for their relationship are pretty much the same as my feelings for Ayumu and Urushis relationship as in I think theyre cute and fun together and I really felt like they might as well just confess to each other already. The animation studio behind When Will Ayumu Make His Move is Silver Link who has had an extensive track record prior to when they released this anime in 2022. Unfortunately I cant exactly say its their best work while the character and color designs were solid the animation was a bit on the limited side and even when there was movement it sometimes felt a little stiff. Maybe stiff isnt the right word to describe it but it just felt like the animation wasnt flowing as well as it could have been. At the very least though the voice acting and music make up for the limited animation. The voice acting is all very good with every character being wellcast especially with Kana Hanazawa voicing Maki. Speaking of Kana Hanazawa she sings the opening theme Kakehiki wa Poker Face which is a cute song that fits the anime well. The same thing can be said about 50 cm the ending theme that is sung by Urushis voice actress Kanna Nakamura. Even the background music is very cute Overall When Will Ayumu Make His Move is a cute romantic comedy anime. If you want an anime that has at least a bit of a focus on shogi or want more from the manga artist behind Takagisan go ahead and give this a try. It will get you wondering exactly when Ayumu will make his move too