Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai

Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms — Dear Shinto God, can you help me get someone off the face of the Earth so I can focus on strengthening my "Clear mind, clear spirit" pure beliefs? What, you can't do that because you can't control who I fall for? That's blasphemy! "He fell first, (but) she fell harder." This trope has been forthcoming recently in AniManga these days, so it's increasingly difficult to not notice such tricks like these, which quickly become annoying to ignore. Case in point, mangaka Ran Kuze's Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai a.k.a Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to MyCharms, a rom-com so incredibly ridiculous that you might be wondering if the MCs eventually get to the "will they, won't they" moment, plain and simple? No matter how much time you've been watching anime, there's one absolute thing that you need to know when it comes to romance series: either get to the point (like Kono Kaisha ni Suki na Hito ga Imasu a.k.a I Have a Crush at Work) or tread between the lines by being wishy-washy about it, and predictably, Kuroiwa Medaka falls into the latter spectrum by being a generic rom-com, but with a twist. You know how in every rom-com series, especially in the school setting, there's always the handsome boy or pretty girl that is the talk of his/her own school? Well, here I welcome you to the self-proclaimed Queen Bee that is 2nd-year student Mona Kawai: her A++ looks, style, and personality all fit to impress both sexes with her easy-to-get tactics, which have all pairs of eyes dawn on her for an impression that people will not forget. Of course, this extends to her class, where the same rhetorics play all the same...until she reaches one particular guy named Medaka Kuroiwa. As much as she attempts to play her ideals all the same, et al., he does not get through to her, always shifting his focus away from her as much as possible with his "clear mind, clear spirit" mantra since he is a monk-in-training for his family's temple. Obviously, the word "romance" doesn't apply to him from the get-go, which frustrates Mona a lot. She tries her best each and every time with her goody-two-shoes personality, only to be met by the boy's cynicism of "Why is she trying so hard to win my favour when she can just leave me alone and let it be"? This then, creates the rom-com tale of an egoistic girl wanting validation against a boy who just wants a pure life, at the cusp of entering into a taboo relationship that destroys his faith all the more. At first glance, there is just nothing going along for both Mona and Medaka, even though they're like Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. a.k.a Komi Can't Communicate's MCs Shouko Komi and Hitohito Tadano, only taking off what's pleasant about them and filling in almost every rom-com garbage that you can stick to their faces. The endless cliché comedic gags that sometimes veer much into fanservice territory are the extent of "misunderstandings" that Mona tries to win Medaka over to her side, but the latter would not give her any time of his day, even alongside his friends Sho Kobayakawa and Yuzuru Kido, as well as Tsubomi Haruno, who's the obsession queen for Mona, and are the mediators between the two to try and make their relationship work. It's a point of irritation, really, until the arrival of rivals in the forms of Asahi Shonan (alongside her best friend Minami Shirahama) and Mona's childhood friend Tomo Nanba, which really gets the rom-com rival aspect going to persist the Queen Bee that she's in love with the Shinto boy, and vice versa. At times I just want to say that this comedy kinda falls flat on its two feet, but it's this same comedy feature that ironically makes the source material work in the first place. So have it what you will, because you'll either come to love it or hate it with a fiery passion. It's clear that there isn't an ounce of effort when it comes to the production of the show overall. I mean, this is not like some noteworthy work that revolutionizes something out of nothing, but for storyboarder-turned-director Yoshiaki Okumura and studio SynergySP, this seems like the most mediocre to fine effort that does enough to service fans of the manga that's translated onto the small screen. It's just there, but with how repetitive the opening frames with Mona's A++ sequence really are, it turns old very fast. About the best thing that the anime can muster is definitely in the OP song, which comes from Hololive VTuber sub-unit AyaFubuMi (consisting of Nakiri Ayame, Shirakami Fubuki, and Ookami Mio). It's a perfect song for the show and is quite the catchy tune, if I say so myself. While the ED songs with Kaori Maeda and Rikako Aida are nothing much, at least they're decent alongside Akiyuki Tateyama's OST for the show. I remember telling myself eons ago that Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai a.k.a Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms, is a manga that's been on my PTW list long before the anime came out and was into romance series at the time. Though I can say now that with the anime, Medaka Kuroiwa is more or less a guilty pleasure than anything, if the worth is worth calculating by. It's like Mean Girls, but replace the bad with the cringes from cutesy to forced love innuendos that even I will cringe at best at how not to write sufferable characters this way. It's an attempt at giving the rom-com genre a twist, alright, but this just isn't it.

MEDAKA US IMPERVIOUS TO MY CHARMS-If you are gonna give the anime a title then stick to it. Impervious my ass, in no world or alternate reality is how he reacts to her charms identified as impervious or is she just to blind to know that it’s taking every ounce of strength he has to just contain himself after she pulls any of her stunt. When I heard to title I was excited to watch an anime where the main heroine who’s a narcissist tries to win over the male lead who acts cool and nonchalant not a heroine who doesn’t think or strategize beforeshe acts. Don’t even get me started on that monk crap the guy doesn’t even know the first thing about becoming a monk and it would be better if the guy just gave up on that crap completely cus lemme tell you now bro it ain’t working for you. Being a monk doesn’t mean erasing the worldly desires cus one can truly do that it means overcoming them so advice for “my guy” “bro it’s embarrassing for you and me who watched you. Now let’s discuss the heroine if you want to pull stunt at least be funny so we can have something to laugh about not embarrass yourself so much that all we feel is pity. Finally, what’s with that gesture he always makes, I mean c’mon each time I see him do that I wonder if the word impervious was actually researched before making this. I wanted a cool nonchalant Mc, is that to much to ask, not one who’s life dream is to shave his head and live in some smelly old temple.(no disrespect intended) But then again this is just my view yours is yours you might actually be the type to like an “impervious” male lead as lame and permeable as he is or a narcissist heroine as clumsy and pitiable as she is so I say again not my place to judge give it a watch if you want but remember the four hours your life are never gonna come back. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. Written by TRUST CEO.

*sigh* This sh***y so-called rom-com anime ended. *sigh* The good things: I don't know. The drawings for eyes and the sparkly stars & bubbles bokeh overlay? I mean the same, generic, nowadays stuff. Thats like saying, I don't know, drinking unpolluted water is good? Visuals are meh at best, mostly yuck. The way they walk, the designs, the color palette, animation, everything. The audio is again meh. I haven't noticed the soundtrack, or I don't remember it. The VAs did their best, I guess, but you can't feel it with that crappy script. The OP and ED are meh. Yes, it is on par with this anime, butnothing about it made me remember the beat, the melody, lyrics, something. I'd say ED is a lil' better than the OP, but the bar is sooo low. And I say that maybe because the OP's visuals (I've already said that I don't remember the songs) are heavily about some 5 girls and its horrendous. And now, the "fun stuff". I don't know how or why this anime got greenlit. I mean I DO understand why an anime would, but why this one? The idea: she wants to charm him, so she does or tries to do something embarrassing. Every episode, even 2-3 times per episode. The idea of repeating something is ok. Multiple anime and tv shows do this (csi, supernatural, some hospital etc). The difference is in HOW you do it. An anime example: Teasing Master Takagi-san (I hope thats the right name, its been a while). A boy, a girl, middleschool, every episode is about playing games, punishment. Pretty straightforward, yes? Well, the visuals are simpler and yet beautiful, the inner monologues are funnier, the romance is better, the comedy is better. Three seasons of delight. Yes, lots and lots of episodes doing, apparently, the same thing. And doing it in a good way. You can't have plotholes, you must make us care about your characters, give them some character development. Well, we get none of that here. "Everything" that happens is a plot element. I'm not joking. For stuff to happen they need to force how that scene gets to get played. For example, they need her to get alone, with no way to contact someone. "How can we make this happening?". Well, by drawing a crowd that appears for 2 seconds, hits her, her phone gets destroyed, the crowd leaves. And then they do it again. Made worse by the fact that a side characters says "maybe her phone battery run out". And no, doing this kind of jokes does not make it better. This level of imbecile writing is on par with "We must cross this bridge because the other road takes too long. Oh, no. The bridge was destroyed by lightning". Maybe you know what show I'm talking about. If not, I'll let you be happy for a while longer. Back to this sh*t. I don't know the sauce, I don't care about the sauce, but I'll guess the sauce is the same: bad. Ok idea, bad story, poor execution. The MC is kinda dull and no char (what a shi**y excuse as why he's "mean" to her!! I almost ended the review, forgot all about this, had to come back and insert it somewhere) She is no better, but you get more stuff about her and she's the one with the "accidents". And then you get the one-dimensional side cast. NO visuals, no audio, no char, no plot, no nothing. And we're supposed to care about them because....? We get some kind of a fan service. And I don't know if its a good or a bad thing. Because there are too few, gets passed over in a jiff and, mostly, are used as a plot device. "Oh no, for 3 seconds the MC can see her bra (and us, ofc), because she's without her shirt. Look at it, so embarrassing for her. Oh no, for 3 seconds the MC can see her bra (and us, ofc), because t-shirt is wet. Look at it, so embarrassing for her. Oh no, her panties." *sigh* Long story-short: this anime is sht. No visuals, story, character. I'm giving it a 3, for some of the side characters, some drawings (not for him, fk that sht-ass design!!) and some VFX. If someone recommends you this, they are trolling you. Have a lovely day. PS: if you feel like watching something, check out that Teasing Master. It might help you forget about this one.

Watching Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai (Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms) feels like a social experiment between main characters Mona Kawai and Medaka Kuroiwa. The school is part of their experiment where from the first episode, Mona tries to get Medaka's attention through her charms. And his response? Medaka is seemsingly imprevious to those charms. Mona is the campus queen at school and it shouldn't take long to see why. She has the look, personality, and presence of a girl everyone looks up. Wherever she goes, almost everyone admires her. In the hierarchy of school steroetypes, her status is amongthe highest tier and Mona of course is the poster girl of her own show. But this isn't just about Mona because a boy named Medaka is seemingly immune to her charms. This is where the bulk of the storytelling takes place. Every week, the rom-com involves the two in some type of shenanigan. Medaka should be labeled as a misunderstood character. His physical demeanor gives the impression of an unfriendly person when in reality, he is a selfless, kind young man. The way he responds to Mona's flirtious advances is because of his training as a monk to avoid contact with girls. In a social experiment sense, this anime feels like a test for him and his biggest obstacle is Mona. Ironically, the harder Mona tries using her tactics, the more she seems to fall for Medaka herself. While it isn't too obvious at first, she often can't get Medaka out of her head. Although this type of rom-com trope isn't an unusual plot twist, it does add more context to Mona's character. She's obviously a character with flaws, whether it's her own insecurity or feeling jealous towards rivals. Yes, you heard that right. While Mona is the campus queen, she doesn't have every single person's undivided attention. In fact, she encounters rivals such as basketball star Asahi Shonan. In the most rom-com fashion, the two often gets into contests to get Medaka's attention. This extends beyond the classroom doors and even into Medaka's personal life. And the funny part, both of them seem to always come up with mischievous ideas on the spot. There are some moments where either of them have some prep time but the results are mixed. Like a social experiment, Asahi adds another layer of rom-com drama to the show. On Mona's side, she also does have supporters to push her to be Medaka. These include her secret admirer Tsubomi and childhood friend Tomo. Their character debuts are almost like polar opposites but for a rom-com's sake, they fit to this show's tropes. Perhaps Mona is a make or break for most people watching this series. She can be a polarizing character for the audience because underneath her seemingly perfect persona, she is a vulnerable character. Her feelings can be all over the place at times, challenging herself whether she keep up her act. In reality, she tries her best to appear to be perfect but is a character full of flaws. Her overreactions and being jealous when Medaka gives attention to other girls is just an example. Fundamentally, she is a friendly person at heart and isn't malicious even though she uses some questionable tactics at times to get Medaka's attention. But the most oblivious part about her character is that she doesn't understand what love really is. It seems at several occasions, other characters realize that Mona developed feelings for Medaka yet she doesn't realize it herself. This is a recurring gag that is explored later in the show, and whenever we see how Mona reacts about her own feelings, it gets downplayed by herself. As viewers may expect, Mona is the most lavishly decorated character in the entire show with her cute looks and expressions. Sure, she puts up on an act most of the the time but the anime wanted each of her moments to shine. This is especially highlighted in early episodes whenever Mona's face is close up towards Medaka's. Through usage of colorful body language and expressions, she really does represent the poster girl. Almost each episode has her wake up and dress up as a character highlight. The camera angles also adds fan service at times and Mona is often at the receiving end of those angles. In contrast, Medaka has a seemingly cardboard box face that is easily misunderstood by others. It's through their character chemistry that pushes the boundaries at what this rom-com can accomplish. Regardless how far Mona is willingly get Medaka's attention, this anime stays true to its main premise from start to finish. The concern of a 12-episode adaptation does make this look more like an advertisment of the manga than a full series. But at the end of the day, Mona does her best to be what the show advertised and taking the 'notice me senpai' meme far than anyone else this year.

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