(13 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Bog-standard high-school-set dating sim adaptation.
Characters & plot
This series goes out of its way to hit all of the genre’s clichés : the generic male protagonist, the obnoxious childhood friend who drags him out from bed, her obvious romantic rival, the gay option, the pint-sized genius, the alcoholic teacher…
The plot involves the student council president stepping down and an election being held to replace him ; unfortunately, the leading candidate is a ball-busting penny-pincher who wants to dissolve all the useless clubs, such as a Sweets Club the main characters belong to. And her only credible opponent is a corrupt jerk. So our male lead gets drafted by the club into being an outsider candidate…
There’s also a weird pre-credits subplot about the resident newspaper newshound getting the scoop on shady dealings and become the victim of a hit-and-run for her trouble.
Production Values
Average. The school does have some nifty near-future technology, the most pointless of which must be the awesome self-folding tables in the Sweets Club. No wonder some people would want to cut on the spending a bit…
Overall Impression
You know what ? I kinda enjoyed watching this. Sure, it’s a cliché-storm that brings absolutely nothing new to the table, but there’s some self-aware charm to it. Maybe it’s because Yuuichi Nakamura lends his usual charisma to the male lead ? (God knows he’s the main reason I found Clannad watchable…) Maybe it’s the hints that the corruption subplot is actually going somewhere ? Or the bits of weirdness such as the protagonist’s “truth-vision” ?
Okay, show, you got my attention. Don’t waste it.
