Sekaiichi Hatsukoi

I decided to give everything this season a shot, and as far as breaking out of my comfortable genres I thought that even BL wouldn't stop me. As a straight man I found it slightly hard to enjoy the romantic moments this is true. However, as I knew beforehand you can find some good stuff in the most deceiving places. Like the start. I found the setting introduction was pretty funny, and the initial backstory was pretty interesting between Takano and Onodera. A long lost boyfriend from 10 years ago ends up as your boss in the hectic manga section of the company, the section youdidn't apply for. The attitude between the two is pretty funny with their constant bickering. This does make it slightly difficult for the relationship to develop however, as there is even more issues than just Onodera's attitude. Unfortunately, the story is left unresolved and leaves you with a horrible sense of un-fulfillment by opening up more plot. The cause for the lack of resolution is the introduction of the two other side couples. The first is between Yuu a popular oblivious mangaka and his childhood friends who became an assistant and an editor. The second between a editor whom has given up on successful relationships with good looking men, and a good looking manga salesmen. They aren't bad stories either, but eventually after episodes 5 through 10 you wonder what happened to the main story. Of course, neither is two or three episodes enough to deal with these new sub-plots either. I found Hatsukoi to have a surprisingly good sense of humor, and for me that is what I enjoyed the most. However, this pretty much disappeared as things got more serious farther into the stories which is a shame. With the waning of the humor the show turned, metaphorically, into the Uke crying rape and leaving the Seme to scratch their heads at the situation. Seriously, I thought that the female tsunderes were bad, but the male ones can be just as annoying. For me Hatsukoi started out as an enjoyable show and then turned into somewhat the dreaded show. Of course, if you enjoy BL which would be a logical assumption, then it is a good watch. The issues about the story are somewhat resolved as there will be a sequel leading the once crappy ending into something more acceptable. Feedback and questions are welcome! Thank you for spending time to read my review!

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, you say? Now, looking at the picture right there at the top, you might think that this is just Junjou Romantica again, seeing as how both series are rather fluffy yaoi with the exact same art style. You'd be right. This is, more or less, Junjou Romantica season 3, even taking place in the same setting but with a different main cast. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Let's dive deeper into the deep depths of the phenomenon known only as "Sekaiichi Hatsukoi". Actually, the depths aren't that deep. This is one of the shallowest anime I've ever watched. Like Junjou Romantica,Sekaiichi Hatsukoi focuses on not one but three different couples. Well, I say "different". Each of the couples has one "bottom" and one "top". The bottoms all look the same, as do the tops. It was the same deal in Junjou Romantica. The character designs aren't very varied, to be perfectly honest. The couples' dynamics are very similar, too. Often to the point of being completely identical. You see, the top is in love with the bottom for some reason or another. The bottom is completely clueless about this affection until the top sexually harasses the bottom in some way or another. The bottom then goes into full-blown tsundere mode, as he completely ignores the top's advances, while said top keeps going "WHY DO YOU NOT ACCEPT MY FEELINGS" or "I WILL MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME" with occasional additional sexual harassment. Repeat this formula twice and et voila! You have a 12 episode yaoi series. How wondrous! How magnificent! Okay, there's a slight bit more to it than that. I actually had high hopes for the third couple, which seemed to be basically... based on physical attraction and nothing more. Of course, by the end of their introductory episode those hopes were dashed and it was on to the aforementioned formula. But enough about that. If you've seen Junjou Romantica you know full well what to expect. On to the other aspects of this work of art. The art and animation is rather lackluster for 2011. I mean, okay, it's Studio DEEN. They're not exactly the most financially stable studio. Hell, they're not even the best known for high quality stuff. Anyone see Higurashi? That was a very ugly show in more ways than one. Basically, it looks exactly like Junjou Romantica, a show from 2008. Not terribly ugly, but not exactly breathtaking. As for the BGM, I hardly even noticed it. I'm not too hot on the ending theme, but the opening theme, sung by Shuuhei Kita, is admittedly very catchy. The characters are about as three-dimensional as a piece of paper being ironed while being run over with a steamroller made of pancakes, but they do have some rather nice voices. I mean, Hiroshi Kamiya. He can make just about anything better with his... very lovely voice. Too bad his character is relevant for all of one episode. Now, if you liked Junjou Romantica, you'll probably like Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. I mean, it's pretty much the exact same thing, but with less steamy gay sex. Junjou Romantica's absolutely hilarious fits of melodrama are still on display here, but either they're just not as amusing or I've been desensitized towards them. At any rate, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi isn't too bad a way to kill some time. Just don't go in expecting anything with substance. You will be sorely let down. I give this show a 6/10. It's unremarkable but I kind of like it, even though I'm not exactly in its target demographic. Unless I've somehow turned into a 13 year old girl overnight. That would be an interesting experience. More interesting than this anime, at least.

TLDR; Even if it has BL, it doesn't excuse the show from poor writing and poorly written characters. I like BL... which is something this show has. But I also like good writing... which is something this show DOESN'T have. Story 3/10 As I mentioned before, this show's writing is pretty bad. The story is basically the characters going through the everyday issues they have at work (needing to meet a deadline, being overworked, ...being sexually harassed by their boss...) and a bunch of romantic melodrama that basically boils down to bad communication. A lot of decisions the characters make are questionable and usually made me go "WTFyou doin m8". Oh, and apparently all the dudes that work at this shoujo department are gay. Makes sense. Art 7/10 It's good. Many attractive bishies and stuff. Woo. However, one of my gripes is that all the ukes basically look the same (sneering expression, big eyes, short). Same can be said about the semes. Sound 6/10 The OP and ED of the first season are okay. Season 2 had a better OP and ED. The rest of the music is forgettable at best and dull at worst. However, I give this a 6 because it has some good voice acting (not to mention that it features many of my seiyuu biases). Character 2/10 The worst part of this entire anime. Also this part will contain mild spoilers so if you don't wanna know, move on. First off, the personalities of the ukes are basically carbon copies! HINT: They're tsunderes. On the other hand, the personalities of the semes are different but blander than cardboard. Yukina- The "prince". Basically a perfect dude with pretty much no flaws besides the fact that he's a lot younger than his lover (but that's not even a flaw so WTF). Hatori- A kind and caring workaholic who is very loyal. He was actually the most likeable out of the main six but apparently he rapes Yoshino in the manga so nvm I guess. Takano- the seme of the main couple and the dude I had the most issues with. First of all, he basically abuses his power as Onodera's boss and sexually harasses him both in and out of the office. Yes, we as the audience knows that Onodera does like him, but no means no. He tells Takano to stop MULTIPLE TIMES and yet Takano just pushes it further going like "you know you want it". BRUH, STOP. He also takes advantage of Onodera when he's drunk and then has the audacity to get pissed at Onodera when he doesn't remember what happened. Dude, you were completely sober and knew full well that he was drunk and yet you were like "we'll bang okay". Creep. He only gets slightly redeemed near the end when we FINALLY see his backstory. Enjoyment 6/10 Even though I had issues with the characters and story, I will admit that I enjoyed watching this at times. Why? Cuz I like BL, and there are barely any shows that have it. Overall 4/10 At the end of the day, this show is only about fan service for BL lovers. There is no depth to it at all and does not portray a healthy relationship in anyway. Don't be fooled by this show's high ratings. We fujoshis tend to cling onto anything that has BL and hype it up to be better than what it actually is. If you can turn your brain off, then you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise, stay away as this show will make you go "wtf are you doing m8 he said stop OH GOD WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS YOU'RE HIS BOSS I'M PRETTY SURE SOMEONE COULD FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU FOR DOING THAT". Or something.

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is the first shounen-ai anime that I have ever seen, so I was skeptical at the beginning of course, but after only the first episode I was already sure that was a very well done anime. Story 9/10 The story it's nothing out of the ordinary, but still not so predictable. Even though the themes are simple they are well explained, the timing it's perfect so that you can feel what the main character feels (at least, I felt it). There are three love stories but they are different to each other so that the viewer won't get bored. So yes, 9 out of 10 becausenothing is left unsolved (the story continues in the second season though), every event matters. Art 7/10 Nothing much to say, the animation is fine but nothing spectacular, I don't like very much the drawings but that's my personal opinion, everithing's fine, nothing extraordinary. Sound 7/10 The opening and the ending are fine, they could be better but they do their job. The soundtrack it's not memorable but it fits the moment. Character 10/10 The characters are very well developed, they let you know what they think so that you can understand the reasons under their behavior. Throughout the story, the characters behaviors are always in line with their personality, and that's the real strenght of this anime. Enjoyment 9/10 This anime made me remember how I felt when I fell in love for the first time. I thought I would never feel again like that.. So I recommend this anime because it's not superficial at all, instead it's deep and intense. Overall: 8 (I have to consider sound and art.. but enjoyment is more important!)

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