Y’know, I won’t say it too often, but I like a good romance. The emotions that love can stir in people, the actions it can push them to.
So, not much of a surprise that the rom-com genre is pretty popular, combining two favourites into one silly, happy journey. Unfortunately, the humour often comes about due to misunderstandings, which the characters then layer on further and further, till it’s a giant mess that somehow happily gets resolved. Exactly like real life. Right?
Which is why I tend to avoid most love comedy anime. However, Mikakunin de Shinkoukei caught my eye with its characters, and I’m quite glad it did.
So, quick background. Girl lives with her elder sister and mum. Guy and his younger sister show up, apparently girl is meant to marry guy. WHAAAAAA?!?!??!?!?!?!?!? Hijinks ensue concerning the kids, since they’re all oh so conveniently in high school. (Hataraki Man, I have you on my watch list, please save me from this teenage hell.)
So, main character is Kobeni, her fiance is Hakuya, and his little sister is Mashiro. Kobeni’s elder sister is Benio. While there are more main characters, they’re not relevant to this right now, so let them be.
So, obviously various stuff happens, Kobeni and Hakuya sort of get closer, but here’s what really make me love this show. Rather than rely on misunderstandings for the humour, it’s the interactions between the three girls which is the foundation of the anime. It’s a love comedy without focusing exclusively on the love bit, allowing the story to breathe a bit, and let the relationship form at an easy pace.
In fact, when there are misunderstandings, they’re often cleared up quite directly, thanks to Mashiro’s habit of being direct, and not knowing what to share and what not to share. She is a kid after all, so follows the trait of just sharing unless told otherwise (or even then). Rather than being annoying though, it acts as a defuser, preventing the plot from turning into spaghetti, and letting us enjoy the story and humour.
Good stuff.