My Love Story!

“Slice of life” is a genre of anime that has truly taken off over the last ten years. It’s grown from something one might see a couple of times a year to a veritable multi series per season affair. Yet, it seems like many of these “slice of life” anime tend to fall flat and often settle for being middling entertainment for those longing for days gone by. My Love Story! is a series that from the outset busts out of the typical mold and delivers to fans of the genre something for which they’ve been waiting a long time; a series with compelling characters and a story written as well as its comedy.

Takeo and Yamato Celebrate Sunakawa’s Birthday.

My Love Story! is propelled by an all-star cast of studio and production talent. Beginning with the famed Studio Madhouse (Death Note, Hajime no Ippo, Parasyte) and continuing with prolific director Morio Asaka (Aoi Bungaku, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chihayafuru, Chobits, Nana), there is no shortage of talent in the My Love Story! stable. On a side note, it remains to see how profitable the series will be as a lot of Madhouse’s properties have not generated stellar revenue in the Japanese market.

My Love Story! is the tale of high school student Gouda Takeo. As if something out of the anime Slam Dunk, Takeo is a giant among his other high school classmates, often earning him deep respect among those in the male demographic. But while Takeo may be a dominating physical presence, this has not granted him any points with the opposite sex. Every girl Takeo has ever fallen for has not returned his affection and instead gravitated their affection to Takeo’s relationship-disinterested best friend, Sunakawa. Takeo’s bad luck changes one day when he rescues a girl, Yamato, from a train groper (“Chikan”).

Yamato Falls Victim to a Train Groper

The events that follow change Takeo’s relationship track record forever as Yamato immediately falls for his cool personality and heroic spirit. After many meetings in the park and a cute exchange in which Yamato accidentally confesses her love in front of Takeo, the two become a couple by only episode three of the anime. Fans of the genre can breathe easy as this series is quite refreshing compared to more typical, slow to develop, anime romances (e.g. Ao Haru Ride, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Kim ni Todoke)

The relationship dynamic between these two is adorable. Yamato being a very small Japanese girl looks like a tiny child next to Takeo and the disparity in their size and personality allows the writers to play off of them in a way that is in a word, “cute”, and often funny. Eventually even the other girl’s that attend Yamato’s school also realize Takeo’s cool appeal as they quietly investigate why exactly Yamato loves Takeo so much.

Takeo Salutes the Fans in My Love Story’s Opening Video

So where is the conflict in the story? The majority of this comes in the form of potential obstacles to Takeo and Yamato’s relationship. These often surface in the form of quickly resolved “love triangles” that pop up in 2-3 episode story arcs. This might seem obnoxious and cliche to some viewers but the writers truly did a nice job navigating the story through these relationship complications. One might find it ironic however that a story that was initially about a man who has no feminine sex appeal drives this story to its conclusion as women flock to him one after another. Despite this, the anime does not devolve into a harem anime as Takeo gently dispatches each woman’s feelings in a manly fashion.

As is the case with many anime, My Love Story! feels a little slow in the middle. The story started and ended strong but those finding themselves disinterested with a particular story arc might struggle to wade through that section of content. My Love Story! could easily have been a 13 episode anime and might have been the better for it. To this end, the anime is not meant for those wanting a fast paced or action packed series.

As far as the music and animation are concerned they are both pleasantly delivered to the viewer. The character designs are very well executed; Takeo has large facial features to match his overall enormous physique and Yamato is all around as cute as is needed to create stark contrast against her significant other. The animation isn’t stellar but is about as good as needed for a “slice of life” anime without any real “action beats”. The music was smooth and enjoyable, right down to the theme song, “Miraikei Answer”, performed by Trustrick.

Takeo Uses Sunakawa for Kissing Practice

All in all, My Love Story! is a must watch anime for all fans of the romance comedy or “slice of life” genre. Everything from the story and the comedy, to the character designs were all comfortably within the good to very good range. Its cute witty charm makes this a contender among the top anime series of 2015.

[starrater]