Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta

Watching My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex reminds me of the time when I was forced to stay for detention because I made a mistake in class. The real question to ask is if My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex is a mistake. Yes, it damn right it is. Based on the novels of the same name, you don't need a vivid imagination to see how our two main characters used to have a history together. It's simple as it gets: they used to be a couple. As fate would have it, Mizuto and Yume would reunite again due to their parents' martial status. The showsets up the two to see who can be the more dominant of the pair. Some people may compare this to Kaguya-sama, a successful franchise that masterfully crafted its rom-com elements. Unfortunately, that is not the case for My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex. The very first topic I want to address is the amount of fan service. Your eyes aren't fooling you if you've seen the promotional material. The poster might not be obvious but the previews contains suggestive camera shots of boobs and ass. And in one of those previews, you can clearly see the stepsister dressed in a towel. The anime isn't shy about trying to make Yume as alluring as she can be. It's like a test to see how much she can tempt Mizuto when the two live together. We have to remember that the two used to be a couple so past feelings are still floating around in their heads. What this anime explores is how their past connect them to each other in the present. And trust me, the show just absolutely loves to show the two fool around with the very idea of love. While the first few episodes dedicates to Mizuto and Yume, it was a matter of time before the two went on various dates for reasons. Why this anime is obsessed with trying to get these two to fall in love is almost like a mystery. I'm talking about the type of mystery that has little taste for mystique or curiousity. The anime obviously set up these two to fall for each other. In fact, Mizuto and Yume seems to have lingering feelings after all this time. It's not unusual to have two people in the real world to react such ways after seeing each other after a few years. Applying to this anime's principals, every episode is a social test that explores their human emotions. Unfortunately, this anime does a poor job with that by injecting humorless gags and fan service for the the sake of fan service. Outside of our main duo, we can't have a complete cast without the best friend of the main female protagonist so that's where Akatsuki Minami comes in. While being cheerful and outgoing, her presence is mostly overshadowed by the two protagonists. Let's face it, did she ever even stand a chance to be with Mizuto? Right off the bat, she gets rejected by Mizuto and even stopped by her childhood friend Kogure. The show pretty much throws her away like a disposable character except for her occasional appearances. Luckily, the anime does spend more time on another main supporting cast: Isana Higashira. Surprisingly, the show actually makes Isana into a likable character, serving as a foil to Yume. To be honest, I believe she is more compatible for him due to their similar interests and personalities. Their scenes together are also more watchable in the sense that they behave more normally as friends. Rather than as step siblings trying to play mind games towards each other, they act like themselves. Unfortunately, the anime also rejects her being paired up with Mizuto as a couple. No surprise right? This show is dead eye set on the step siblings romance experience. You'd just better strap in and get ready for it. Unfortunately, the effort poured into animating this mediocre project is nothing short of mediocre. Character designs looks outdated like they were from the last decade while expressions are cartoonish. Like me just say that if you enjoy fan service and suggestive camera shots, then this could be a treat for you. While the story is bankrupt on creativity, the technical elements of its animation quality isn't far off either. Sometimes, I don't know why these type of shows gets their anime adaptations. Obviously, the easy answer would be for money and attracting fans to buy their products. But let's ask ourselves, why would you use your hard earned money to buy into this show?

"To me, you felt more real than anyone I'd ever met." Looking back, I can only describe it as youthful indiscretion, but from summer of 2022, I watched what you may call a beautiful anime, with a simple but engaging plot, realistic characters and interactions, and a touching story. With confidence, I can say that "My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex", also known as Tsurekano, was an anime I enjoyed from start to finish, an anime that never felt like a chore to watch, and most importantly, an anime that connected to me. Now look, I get why many people dislike this anime. I'm not hereto debunk on your reasons to dislike it. Instead, I'm here to tell you why I love Tsurekano. First of all, the story. Let's all be real here; the story is nothing special. We've seen many animes already about stepsiblings + romance. From the title alone, you could already tell what the anime is about. So, what makes it so great? In my opinion, the simple story makes it very engaging. Complicated stories with constant misunderstandings, mess-ups, and drama are getting old nowadays. It feels really nice to sit down and watch an anime that takes a break from all that. It's a down-to-earth, captivating, and brilliant. Now, the plot. What's the difference between a story and plot, you may say? A story is the setup. It introduces the characters and main storyline, basically reading a MAL synopsis. The plot is how the story develops into a more in-depth show, and Tsurekano does it perfectly. The backstories shown each episode build up overtime and connect like a puzzle. You can see the character interactions develop overtime, and you can see the characters become human. I found the development of Mizuto and Yume to be very engaging, and Isana's growth as a character was authentic. The different problems in being stepsiblings show overtime were genuine, and it really made me say, "wow, this is really realistic". I absolutely loved how true their relationship was portrayed. It definitely shows how fragile relationships are and how it can break up over a single argument. Through their struggles, you can see their perspectives on the situation, and you really can't blame anyone. Just an authentic and true plot. The characters are annoying. I said it, they're annoying and irritating. Does it mean it's a bad thing? I wouldn't say so. Mizuto is one of the few non-annoying characters, and he's a great one. At first, he seems like the average protagonist; a loner, edgy, and is quick to have comebacks. However, he is much more than that. His insecurities get revealed over the course of the show and how awkward he really is. It's honestly admirable. He is also kindhearted, although he may not seem like it. His efforts to help Yume from behind were touching and didn't feel out of place at all. Yume was a bitch, but still an amazing character. She is actually the most real character in the anime. Her struggles to try to be popular were relatable and her insecurities could strike you right down in the heart. She tends to misunderstand very quickly and always acts on them instead of trying to find proof. A perfect example of a flawed person, but truly a legitimate character. Minami was really annoying. She constantly tried to change other people's ways instead of letting them be themself. She's like those manipulative popular girls in your classroom, except taken to the extreme. She's creepy, a stalker, and likes to pop into people's business. Her obsessions are always acted on to a scale of 1000 and anybody near her would never catch a break. I love her. I might be talking a bit too much about realism here, but I felt like she was meant to represent how creepy and manipulative real people could be. Kawanami was just there to be honest, he didn't have much influence and was meant to serve as a potential love interest to Akatsuki. I don't have much to say about him, but he set the mood for a lot of comedic moments and was enjoyable to watch. Isana is the best character out of all of them. She's nice and cute, but also super introverted. However, when she meets the right person, she can become the complete opposite. She makes really strange remarks and honestly is really strange. Her character dynamic with Mizuto is some of the best "friends, but more" dynamics I've seen. Another thing that makes her so realistic is how easily manipulated she is. Isana constantly believed what Akatsuki said was true and was convinced super-fast. It shines a light on many introverts like most of you and it feels refreshing to have a character like her. The sound was completely fine, I have no complaints. There were emotional sounds at emotional moments, and comedic sounds at comedic moments. The opening and ending are complete fire though. The opening is my favourite of this season alongside Kana Hanazawa's Pokerface and ReoNa's Shall We Dance. The visuals for the opening were nice, and I liked the minor details of who their life was intertwined with. The song was amazing, Dialogue+ never misses. The ending wasn't as great as the opening but served a nice purpose too. The song had some great harmony, and the visuals were adorable. The art style is the regular ones you'd see in anime nowadays, but most of my attention was on the character designs. When they released the first visual for the series, I remember seeing comments saying how bland the characters look. I honestly think the bland character designs fit the story super well. It shows how freaky and strange coincidences could happen in such a normal world and normal people. Just imagine this: pink haired and fluffy cute girl used to date prince of the school, until they broke up. All of a sudden, they get reunited as stepsiblings. Doesn't sound too down-to-earth now, does it? The designs were absolutely great for the side characters, showing how contrasted it was. The animation was flawless, I think Project No.9 did a beautiful job on this. I enjoyed this anime very much. The comedy was right up my alley, the story and plot connected with me, the characters were authentic, plus a banger opening and ending. For me, this was the anime of the season (with LycoReco and Shadows House). If it's not up your alley, don't give it a shot. But if it sounds like something you'll be interested in, congratulations, you've got yourself a new show to watch!

This show can be summarized as follows: Ex-lovers obsessed with one another who later became siblings and are still obsessed and in love with one another in the present. The show is either a hit or a miss for most people, as there is no middle ground. Watch the first three episodes and decide whether it is worth continuing to watch. Even from just watching the trailer, you'd already know what to expect from the show, including the art and sound quality. Yume and Irido's chemistry isn't all that great to begin with, and from a logical standpoint, their relationship appears forced with little to nochemistry. To be honest, I'd like to speak for the majority when I say that the Mizuto and Isana pairing would have easily outperformed the ship the show is aiming for. With the exception of Akatsuki and Kogure, the side casts don't really add much to the story, and we can see that the show is actively shipping the pair, with the obvious childhood friend route. As one would expect from a typical romcom, the show lacks substance, with only basic back and forth feelings relayed from the character archetypes they portray, in which case both the MCs portray the edgy smart-ass character type that reminded me of Hachiman and Yukino in Oregairu. I wouldn't mind if the show focused more on the side casts and developing their characters rather than actively shipping the MCs. That would have made the show more interesting and entertaining to watch. We did, however, learn more about Yume and Mizuto, their past, and how their relationship came to be, though to be honest, the reason for their breakup seems childish and unseemly. Though one could understand that they're teenagers, but given that Mizuto and Yume are both well-educated and embody the high intelligence vibe, that kind of seems out of character for them. If you're a typical romcom enjoyer, this show is not much different from others, and I would recommend it to you. However, if you can't stand formulaic shows and relationships that appear unhealthy and obsessive and follow the same pattern, you should skip this show. Everything just felt kind of lackluster in general, which resulted in a low emotional investment in the show, but the show did become interesting from time to time.

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