ORESUKI Are you the only one who loves me?

YeeYeeAss★ 9

What is this? This truly is the romance of the season. The main character Joro is basically the mix between Deku and Narancia. Joro is this nice and helpful little fella but of course when he snaps, he snap real hard. Sanshokuin Sumireko aka Pansy is the best girl of this show. She is really manipulative and very smart. Cosmos is the student council president who is very smart but gets flustered really easy, and whenever she is in an awkward position she starts talking like a samurai. Hinawa is Joros childhood friend. She is really into sports. She wants to be helpful but sometimes sheis not. Sun-Chan is Joros best friend who is the baseball teams captain and the first 3 episodes are based around him. It seems this anime is divided into 3 episode long arcs. So far we have had a friendship arc? (I don't know the actual name) Flower Dance arc I guess and two others but I cant figure out a name for them The arcs: First we have the confession arc where the 3 girls tell their story to Joro how they want to become sun-Chans girlfriend and Joro helps them. It turns into a huge clusterfuck at the end. Flower dance arc: They need to practice for the flower dance but then a sneaky reporter stalks Joro and wants to release a news article of Joros harem. The arc ends with the dance. Then in the third arc we first hit the pool where Sun-Chan turns into a real bro. I think the arc is about one book that Pansy lent Joro but in the end the book kinda got trashed or something so Joro had to get work. Then We have the fourth and final arc. Where the gangs meeting place is gonna be shut down so they need help. Joro meets a new character who is like a Joro v2 and Pansys worst nightmare. Finally a harem RomCom with realistic characters and shit. I guess. Do I recommend this? Yes. If you enjoy RomComs this is the perfect show for you

Stark700★ 8

Have you ever had one of those moments in life where you feel as if a miracle is about to happen to you but then suddenly ends up being disappointed beyond disbelief? Someone by the name of Joro sure did. Just when he thought his life would turn into a miracle, he gets asked by two beauties to help them win their loves. Now that’s a slap to the face and reminder that life sometimes just isn’t fair. Ore wo Suki Nano wa Omae Dake Ka Yo (Oresuki) may be a romantic comedy but loves to flirt with the idea of manipulation. It’s almost like areal life version of a soap opera filled with drama but without the violence. Or is there? Physically, the show has limited amount of action unless you count Joro getting kicked or slapped on around on the occasions. But on a psychological level, Oresuki deals with manipulative love and drama that twists and turns until you see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Watching Oresuki has been a rather unusual but pleasant experience compared to some of the other rom-coms I’ve seen in recent years. In wasting no time, the first episode drops Joro into a drama angle with upperclassman Cosmos and Himawari. In a particular depressing incident, he finds out that both girls are in love with Taiyou Ooga (Sun-chan), his best friend and baseball club ace at school. What’s worse? Both girls wants him to help with their love problem. That’s only half the drama as we later learn that Pansy, a library girl at the same school, is actually in love with Joro himself. With this setup, Oresuki establishes a peculiar love story with Joro being forced to become a matchmaker. However, a twist reveals that Joro has a much more manipulative personality that he keeps hidden from others. Only Pansy is aware of his true personality and is why she is in love with him. Now you can imagine how this type of story may play out. It essentially becomes a labyrinth of mind games. Joro’s goal is live his life as a “Romantic Comedy Protagonist”. He invented his own character while masquerading as a typical protagonist with a gentle personality. It’s essentially what people call a “two-faced” person. Deep down, Joro has his own insecurities and often feels inferior to others around him. The reason he hides his true personality is often so that he can craft plans to make things go his way. Although some people see his role as an anti-hero with such a role, Joro is also fundamentally a decent person. He doesn’t truly try to harm others and show his true feelings when someone in his life is jeopardized. Does this type of protagonist appeal to you? This question can be answered if we take a look at how he develop relationships with the main cast. Starting with both Cosmos and Himawari, he reluctantly agrees to help them but also formulates plans of his own. Watching his moves carefully, the audience should take quickly why he interacts in his ways. Because let’s face it, Joro is actually quite a skilled actor who is able to change between his “nice guy” persona to his true nature very quickly and vice versa. On the other hand, both Cosmos and Himawari are dreadful liars. Their lies can easily be seen through by others and Cosmos even have absurd reactions whenever she gets nervous. Comparing their acting skills to Joro is like night and day. Joro’s goal of making his dream harem becomes a complicated plot for himself. Because Pansy is in love with his true personality, he has to accept such a fact despite still seeking to be the “romantic comedy protagonist” he hopes to be. Essentially, Joro becomes his own enemy and often times, his problems arises because of his own machinations. On individual levels, Cosmos and Himawari are clueless about his true visage. They still see him as an average classmate who doesn’t have a girlfriend but nonetheless, they spend time with him. But as the series progresses, they both seem to develop feelings of their own towards the boy. Is this perhaps true love? What happens is that love can change how people behave and in later portions of the show, it seems both characters show more affections towards Joro than they realize. On the other hand, Pansy constantly beats Joro at his own games. Whatever plans Joro crafts, she sees it through and actually makes him see his own mistakes. Between the two, they are the only pair in the show that doesn’t have a problem insulting each other. It’s a bit ironic since Pansy is in love with him and in a perfect world, couples are supposed to be loving with care. In Oresuki, we have this imperfect world where manipulation is part of the norm and almost everyone wants to be someone they’re not. While the series has its own antagonists, I believe the true enemy is human nature itself. As a skilled actor, Joro has his own human faults that he even realizes. In fact, every character in the show has flaws in some way or form. However, I don’t want to throw everyone under the bus. There’s characters who learn from their mistakes such as the case of Sun-chan. Even supporting characters such as Asunaro realizes the trouble she caused when manipulating others as a member of the newspaper club. Joro himself even realizes that he has to face with consequences in life. It’s in human nature that people commit sins and the show teaches about how characters needs to learn from their actions. The only character that seems immune to corruption is Pansy. Her position in the show is unique in that she is the one who can see through others, in particular their lies. When the show finished airing, I find that Pansy is perhaps the most real character in the show for not only her observation skills but also being a life coach to others. Someone such as Joro could learn a lot from her. Watching Oresuki may feel like an anime dosed with heavy amounts of drama. Every episode keeps the adrenaline going and there doesn’t seem to be a stop in the momentum. However, you have to remember that it’s also a romantic comedy. There are certainly a lot of comedic moments too such even including the physical aspects of the show. Whenever Joro gets hit, it’s portrayed comically. Many of his character reactions is often over exaggerated, almost like he’s acting. The anime also loves to throw in running gags associated with Joro’s matchmaker role and even occasionally moments of the fourth wall breaking. So take a breather and relax. Oresuki isn’t just a show with every square inch filled with drama. As a 1-cour show of 12 episodes, it seems Oresuki was able to fundamentally get the audience to know what the show is. Divided into arcs, the plot is formulated with mind games but I do wonder how much the producers really wanted to be animated. The light novels continues the drama so as it’s up management to decide if they want to animate more of the series. To my delight, Connect managed to make the characters look sharp similar to their manga designs. Every female character in the show stands out and is portrayed with feminine features and beauty. Cosmos and Himawari are prime examples of this as they have an attractive valley girl look. While Pansy normally looks plain with braids and glasses, her true appearance is that of a beautiful girl endowed with attractive appeal. Even supporting characters such as Sasanqua has their own appeal when they show their true appearance. All this is contrast to Joro, who is portrayed as normally as possible on the outside. However, the character expressions he shows in secret is a different story. As an anime with heavy amount of dialogues, I do commend on the voice actors on taking on their roles as dominantly as possible. This is especially true for Joro and Pansy, two voices who speak lines that often clashes against each other. Their character interactions is the most noticeable because Pansy knows the real Joro. Other times, Joro’s inner dialogues with himself speaks as his real character. On other technical standards, Oresuki’s theme songs adapts a more lighthearted tone with flashy images of character expressions. Oresuki is kind of like a taking a multiple choice test where you have to figure out what’s real and what’s not. The idea of manipulative characters in romantic comedies isn’t entirely new. But for Oresuki, this anime took it on a whole new level with Joro at the center. This is type of rom-com that will keep you at the edge of your seat to see what will happen with each progressing episode. And by the time it’s over, you won’t feel like a loser beyond disbelief.