Tonikaku Kawaii トニカクカワイイ

2020 fall | Episodes: 12 | Score: 7.8 (447424)

Updated every Saturdays at 01:05 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions | Warner Bros. Japan | KlockWorx | Shogakukan | Crunchyroll

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Synopsis

Nasa Yuzaki is determined to leave his name in the history books. Ranking first in the national mock exam and aiming for a distinguished high school, he is certain that he has his whole life mapped out. However, fate is a fickle mistress. On his way home one snowy evening, Nasa's eyes fall upon a peerless beauty across the street. Bewitched, Nasa tries to approach her—only to get blindsided by an oncoming truck. Thankfully, his life is spared due to the girl's swift action. Bleeding by the side of an ambulance, he watches as the girl walks away under the moonlight—reminiscent of Princess Kaguya leaving for the moon. Refusing to let this chance meeting end, he forces his crippled body to chase after her and asks her out. Surprised by his foolhardiness and pure resolve, the girl accepts his confession under a single condition: they can only be together if he marries her! [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Enoki, Junya

Kitou, Akari

News

Reviews

Theprophet334
09/18/2024, 06:44 AM
The general consensus will put this anime around an 7-8 with my personal view however it was a phenomenal palate cleanser romance anime that makes jokes about the genre with it's fast paced development of the main couple stuffed with cute moments that are too much to bear sometimes. Romance genre in itself a lot of times can be mediocre and most shows try to use the same plot points to move the story forward with misunderstandings or love triangle debates. This particular show shuts down those tropes quite harshly specially the love triangle one it was the first time I saw it handled insuch a direct way that it surprised me in a good way even fan favorites like Oregairu, Toradora, Your Lie in April remain tainted by that trope itself even though those are decent shows despite them. Story itself isn't something you expect to get in a way the strong bond between the two characters are the highlight of the show with some side characters bringing good comedy aspect to it. Since I already said that it is fast paced in terms of seeing the couple get together it will provide some different perspectives on how do they handle this relationship. To be blunt in a sense it's something you think they rushed it and to an extent would even think that the girl has some big motives behind it but as episodes go on it's made obvious that she just really loves him but what most people who start this anime would not expect is regarding the backstory of Tsukasa which is neatly tied into the show with a lot of symbolism and references that gives you clue who she really is. Whether the watcher pieces it together without spoiling themselves is up to anyone but that is one thing that makes it more interesting than your general high school romance. Mc isn't a twink somethimes he is very daring as the relationship deepens but in a sense he is a general nice guy who got really really lucky but what the anime shows you about his past makes him very likeable. Art style is good nothing much to write home about it's really hard to have problems with it to be perfectly honest. Overall an easy recommend to people who are into romance and likes feel good anime similar to Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten but without dense mc and fast paced romantic development.
Huskkay
04/23/2022, 01:05 PM
PLOT It is pretty barebones. Guy sees girl, instantly falls in love, girl reciprocates the feelings for whatever reason, they marry and from there onwards, it is a mind-numbing slice of life anime. The premise is void of any logic and the execution is just as senseless. The show goes through a checklist of situations for both characters without any love for detail or complexity. Given, a simple narrative can be enjoyable but not if it is a complete snoozefest. Furthermore, they use a lot of comedy to try and make things entertaining, which is a fair concept, but the show's humor did not work forme at all. This comedic style only makes me roll my eyes. CHARACTERS Let's focus on the two main characters since the side cast is absolutely forgettable. Our main guy is Nasa Yuzaki and he has a complex about his name. For some reason, everyone chuckles and laughs about his name because it is the funniest thing ever if a guy is named after the American space agency. This humiliation motivates him to become the greatest mind ever, aiming for the very top. Well, all of it gets thrown out in the very first episode and his personality resets to a hormone-driven teen because he saw a cute girl. He is 18 years old but handholding is still way too risqué and he blushes uncontrollably if he talks with his wife for more than 5 seconds. Hopefully you enjoy this kind of "comedy", otherwise you will be miserable. Since I already mentioned the cute girl, let's shove Tsukasa into the spotlight. She resembles an AI that just knows the very basics of acting like a human. Seriously, she has no real or notable character trait. Her only purpose is to be with Nasa and fulfill his wishes while not showing any ounce of individuality. Well, her second one would be to sell merchandise. I am not joking when I say she has as much personality as a Roomba. There is no rhyme or reason to their relationships, it does not feel organic, and calling it forced is an understatement. I have not seen a single hint of actual chemistry between them. VISUALS I didn't expect much visual-wise since the anime clearly had not enough budget to pump out something stunning. The colors look washed out and the animation can get clunky but it gets the job done. Sometimes the screen is filled with a weird mish-mash of colors and shades but it is bearable. The worst offender is probably the character design, calling them grotesque might be a bit harsh, but no other word pops into my mind. To sum it up, the visuals are below average. SOUND Plain, unexciting and sometimes even a hindrance. In some scenes, the sound design just doesn't support what's happening on screen. It fails to be cohesive. OVERALL OPINION A cookie-cutter rom-com, but instead of clean cutters they used warped ones. Nothing works together, nothing about this anime is unique and nothing is memorable. Just another parasite wriggling its way into the romance genre.
Ultrayano
02/01/2022, 11:39 AM
I just want to leave a short review on why I only gave a 6/10. While I do love romance anime and like the feel-good aspect of a lot of SoL anime, I didn't quite get the same from Tonikaku. In my opinion, the best aspect of romance anime is when the two people you ship are unsure about how the other one feels, with a romantic finale of them getting together. I also don't mind a story where the characters are already a couple. The problem I saw with Tonikaku is, that there is notreally a story. I can pretty much tell the whole story in less than 5 minutes. Also, while the first episodes were cute as hell, it got repetitive really fast. Another problem is that there aren't really memorable locations other than the ones the whole anime plays in. There also weren't astonishing animations or pictures. They didn't cover the secret of her at all, so the mystic element is totally unnecessary in the end. Tonikaku is definitely a feel-good anime and pretty cute as it is. I just don't see it having 13 episodes and can't recommend it to actively watch or binge it. It's a really good series to watch for when you want to chill and feel good or to watch next to playing games or something else, but I didn't have the need to binge it as I did with 5 other anime this week with a romance theme or parts of romance. All in all not bad and totally wholesome, but a bit bland.
zoomerchris
01/23/2022, 05:40 AM
This anime saved my life. Before I watched this, I was trapped within an endless spiral of darkness and suffering. However, a friend informed me of the wonders of this show, and he saved me. The main character, Yuzaki Nasa, is a sigma male and inspired me to adopt a grinding mindset, or a 'grindset' if you will, and now I am a 6'4 buff male with a really kawaii waifu for life. Her name is Yuzaki Tsukasa (yes I stole Nasa's wife). The sound for this show is brilliant! The SFX, the opening song, the ending song- all of it is better than perfection,or a masterpiece if you will. I have dedicated the rest of my life to listening solely to 'Koi No Uta' (the opening song to this piece of peak fiction). This show surpasses all the greats, for example one piece, Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, Naruto, etc. This will forever be the saviour to my life, the light that brightens my soul with eternal happiness.
DonaldBiden
03/14/2021, 03:29 PM
“You’ve only got one life, so take better care of it, okay?” – Tsukasa Tsukuyomi Tonikaku Kawaii was a downhill ride for me. It started off great but the excitement faded in the final episodes. Story: 6/10 I found the concept very interesting; Nasa and Tsukasa get married and from there on you see their relationship developing. It did get boring after a while though. We saw a lot of romantic moments between Nasa and Tsukasa, but it was a bit too much for me. In the end nothing really happened, except for a lot of romantic moments. On the other hand, we had the whole "moon stone" thing,which hinted that Tsukasa may not be a normal human being. If this would be expanded on in season 2, I'd up the score. Art: 7/10 The artstyle isn't my favorite, but it was certainly not bad. The scenery was really well animated, but the design of the characters felt a bit plain to me, especially Nasa's character design. Sound: 5/10 The OP isn't very good in my opinion. It's not recognizable and it wasn't really that interesting. The OST's are like your average rom-com OST's that don't really bring that much to the story. It did accompany the scenes well though. Character: 6/10 I had mixed feelings about the characters. They were likeable, but a bit too likeable, especially Nasa. He's your typical "nice guy", who's always positive and is easily embarrassed. Those type of main characters aren't really my vibe, but he was not a character I disliked necessarily. Tsukasa is a nice girl who occasionally had some tsundere moments. There's also some kind of vibe around her that put me off. Maybe it's the whole "not dying after getting hit by a bus" thing. The side characters played their role well. They were purely there for comedic relief and there were indeed some funny moments. Chitose was pretty annoying to me though, but oh well it's just 1 character in the whole series. Enjoyment: 6/10 The show had its ups and downs. There were a lot of wholesome moments that I genuinely liked, but there were also some dull and boring moments that made me stop watching it. I was also hoping for some more comedy, but I guess the author purely wanted to focus on the romance part. Overall: 6/10 It started off as an 8/10 for me, but at the end of the anime I'll have to give it a 6/10. There were genuinely some wholesome romantic moments, but on the other hand some boring ones as well. I'd not recommend this show to a person who has already watched a couple of good romance anime, since it will probably not mean that much to them.
literaturenerd
01/08/2021, 09:30 PM
I was going to review Rose of Versailles, but I decided to binge this somewhat polarizing series on a whim. Most of the reviews I've read are either super positive and in the 8-10 range or super negative in the 2-3 range. I personally came down somewhere in the middle. I don't think this show is good by any means, but I also don't think it's offensively bad. It's just frustrating because it had so much untapped potential. How many beloved anime couples are actually married? Really think about it. I guess Holo and Lawrence from Spice and Wolf get married in the last chapter ofthe Light Novel, but it sure as hell doesn't happen in the anime. Mamoru and Usagi from Sailor Moon do get married but it's in the future and we never see much of what their marriage is like. Several Dragonball characters get married, but Toriyama doesn't write romance. I have zero idea how Goku and ChiChi's marriage works. He's a manchild that trains in the wilderness and sometimes occasionally comes home for dinner. What if there was a relatable anime about a young married couple and how they have to face the everyday problems of married life? There are many real life couples in their late 20s and early 30s who grew up with anime and who would really enjoy a show like that! Since there isn't a single anime that's like that, it would be a wide open market! That's an amazing idea! How could they possibly screw this up?! They screw it up directly out of the starting gate. The premise is actually one of the dumbest I've ever come across in anime. I've been watching anime since 1998, so I've seen some DUMB anime in my time. I do not make this statement lightly. Our hero is named NASA after the space institute because his parents are quirky and weird. He was so embarrassed by his name that he vowed to study until he became a genius and was the greatest student in Japan. Then nobody could make fun of him. That is one dumb motivation! One day, he's walking to school and sees a cute girl. He decides to rush across the street like a moron and get plowed by Truck-kun. Fortunately, this doesn't become an isekai. Instead, his life is saved by the cute girl. She starts to walk away, but he chases after her on 2 broken legs and with severe blood loss and head trauma to ask her on a date. She says she's not interested in dating and will only be with him if he agrees to marry her then and there. He agrees, but she disappears. Nasa then does what anyone would do. He drops out of high school and wastes his natural genius by becoming a delivery boy. This is all in the hopes of somehow finding that girl he met one time when he was badly injured and suffering brain trauma. She shows up 2 years later out of the blue with a marriage certificate and they get married at midnight. Their marriage is illegal under Japanese law since he's 18 and she's only 16, but the series never actually brings this up! It would technically be legal in some provinces with parental consent, but they pay some random homeless person to be their witness and the parents never consent! So the premise is stupid. So what? It's the execution that matters. Surely these 2 have great chemistry and are an adorable couple right? Nope! Almost every scene of them together was awkward and cringe inducing rather than warm and wholesome. Firstly, they have very little chemistry together and don't play off each other at all. Nasa is an awkward, geeky virgin whose only real trait is that he's a genius when the show remembers that he is. However, Nasa still has FAR more of a personality and character than Tsukasa. She's meant to be a blushing, Yamato nadeshiko but the show takes that to an extreme. She loves to cook, clean, compliment her husbando, and rarely ever speaks accept when spoken to. This makes her extremely boring. With a good anime couple, the guy will say something, then the girl has a witty retort, then the guy responds back in a playful way, and it's like a ping pong ball being lobbed back and forth. In Over the Moon, Nasa will engage in a long inner monologue about how cute his wife is and how maybe someday they might actually hold hands. Then he awkwardly asks to hold her hand. She then blushes and lets him do it. They never go back and forth exchanging more than 4 sentences! To the show's credit there is one scene where it reveals she loves trashy movies and forces Nasa to buy her a TV so she can watch Sharknado! Sadly, that's probably the best character development she gets in the entire show! I've read some bad fanfiction. I've attempted to write mushy, romantic fanfiction. The dialogue in Over the Moon is BAD even by fanfic standards. Half of Nasa's dialogue is just "I can't believe girls are soft! I can't believe her hand is warm! I can't believe girls breathe when they sleep! I can't believe her hair smells nice!" In episode 2 he asks if he can touch her body and she replies, "From now on, my body is an all you can grab buffet!". That's Sci-fi original movie level dialogue. That's reaching Tommy Wiseau levels of stilted and unnatural. I've covered the dialogue and lack of chemistry, but that's not all that's wrong with this show. You would expect them to tackle issues that young couples would find relatable. Maybe she snores loudly and he has to sleep somewhere else. Maybe their first time having sex is awkward and we get a comedic "training" montage. Maybe she gets stressed with school and they have an argument and need to make up. Instead they just do stuff like go to the hot springs or go to a festival or the kind of dates you would see in any other anime. They never encounter any of the problems that young couples actually face. If you've ever dated a woman in your life, watching this show becomes like watching aliens interact. It's not remotely realistic or relatable. I know they can't show too much because she's 16 for some reason, but I would expect an anime about a young married couple to deal with physical intimacy. Instead, they act like 2 middle school kids going on their first date. I know I'm not the first review to say that, but it's so true! After 3 months, she's sleeping on the floor because both of them are too afraid of sleeping in the same bed! After 2 months of being married, they act like holding hands is some SUPER kinky, forbidden shit. I told my girlfriend this show was written by an Amish otaku whose entire knowledge of relationships is based off a single volume of Love Hina that he secretly bought at Walmart. At one point, Nasa comes home from work and catches her changing skirts in the bathroom. She still has her panties on, but they both freak out. She then apologizes for changing clothes in her own house because she should have known he would be coming home around that time. Also she was in the bathroom, not changing right behind the front door or anything! Trad Waifu's puritan power is hitting levels that shouldn't even be possible! When I was in college, I had a project partner from Saudi Arabia who lived with his wife from a traditional, arranged marriage. I could never imagine her apologizing for changing clothes in her own bathroom. No human being would ever do that! As much as I like to dunk on this show and berate the fact it's rated far above anime romcoms that I enjoy like Karekano, the show does have moments where it's amusing. Tsukasa has a possessive little sister that wants to marry her and perpetually screams orders at 2 idiotic minions. Basically, her little sister is Emperor Pilaf from Dragonball. That at least made me happy. The random Sharknado reference was so awkward and out of nowhere it was pretty funny. The last episode was actually almost good and started to get near wholesome territory despite all its bad writing. I honestly don't believe this show was created to cater to incels as some have suggested online. It doesn't have ill intent and isn't deliberately reactionary in its gender roles or portrayal of marriage. The author really did want to create a wholesome, young couple and mix it with traditional anime quirks. In the end, it deserves indifference rather than vitriol. This isn't actually a hateful series, just a woefully underdeveloped one with awkward writing. They also shouldn't have chosen the director of fucking Ninja Slayer and Akiba's Trip to try direct a wholesome romance anime. The series dialogue was the man behind the series composition for Akiba's Trip, which is about a guy running around Tokyo ripping girls' clothes off to save them from alien parasites. Even with flawed source material, a better director and script writer probably could have made this work. Sadly, it's just kind of a wreck.
Zuit
12/22/2020, 06:59 AM
Can't understand what is so good about this anime for those who say it was the best title in 2020... It was boring as hell. The story was lame and pretty much pointless. 0 character developement either. Overused "omg she's changing I shouldn't look..." bull$hit. I watched the whole thing but couldn't find any enjoyable moment at all. The ending was pointless as the story led to nowhere. But the most positive thing about this... that I finally have an anime that I could give a 1 rating from the bottom of my heart. The house fire was something that had potential to move the story forward but it didn't.
Gaspar445
12/21/2020, 01:53 PM
In Nasa and Tsukasa's new lives as a married couple, there is no drama and there are no high stakes. There are no drawn-out misunderstandings nor are there frustrating love triangles. Tonikaku Kawaii is twelve episodes of unwaveringly cute and inconsequential romance. The art style is very reminiscent of the anime style of the mid 2000s with its most obvious comparison being Hayate no Gotoku from the same creator. Like the anime itself, the art and animation are inoffensive, simple, and consistent. The opening song "Koi no Uta" by Yunomi is a modern bop of this decade that contrasts with the previously mentioned mid 2000sart style. The sweet and sentimental sounding ending song "Tsuki to Hoshizora" by KanoeRana often pleasantly transitioned at the end of each episode. The voice acting performances from every character were entertaining and full of life. It felt as though the cast had a fun time doing their lines. I remember two years ago, I started reading the manga for this when it was brand new. I stopped reading after a couple of chapters because I thought neither of the two main characters had any personality, and more importantly, I thought it was ridiculous that anyone would agree to marry a random person they had not seen in two years and only known for literal minutes prior. After reluctantly picking up the anime, my opinion is a bit different. Looking at this set-up alone, it sounds like uncreative wish fulfillment. But how Tonikawa articulates its idea of love throughout the show helps make that initial set-up less and less iffy. Tonikawa leans heavily into things like love at first sight and true love. For Nasa, he knew the moment he saw Tsukasa that she was the one. Though he knows nothing about her at first, something inside him tells him that it doesn't matter and his love for her is real. Tsukasa's character is more of a mystery, but she, too, made the insane decision to marry Nasa. Despite the entire situation being utterly reckless and crazy, there is nevertheless this vague notion of pure undeniable instantaneous love that attracts these two to each other. I personally don't believe in something like that, but I've always liked the exploration of the meaning of love, and Tonikawa's idealist take on it is interesting to me. Also, the anime just puts a dumb smile on my face. So, I think Tonikawa's conflict-less and immensely fluffy romance works in two ways: It is a pleasant and cute show for those who want to watch two people endlessly flirt. It also justifies Nasa's immediate proposal to Tsukasa as well as her agreement to it. Their perfect relationship drives home the idea that these two really were fated for each other - that they lucked out on the one in a zillion chance of finding the person who is undeniably, without a doubt, one-hundred percent for them. To me, Tonikawa is almost so full of fluff that it's almost depressing because nothing as perfect as Nasa's and Tsukuasa's relationship would ever happen and there's no point in ever hoping it would happen and 3D is just one dimension too many and....... But overall, Tonikaku Kawaii is, well, cute.
CaptainKenshiro
12/20/2020, 09:49 PM
Tonikaku Kawaii is a series that uses a catchy premise in order to hook the audience but soon turns into something generic. Normally I would consider that to be a negative but in this case it works in its favor because to me said hook is unnecessary. There is a supernatural element in the series which is barely present, not really adressed much and on top of that it has no real purpose in the otherwise generic plot so why is it even there? I don’t know. Thus said element is so underplayed that even the english name of the show hints to it more thanthe series itself. Aside from fooling the audience into thinking there’s more with a 0.1% of mystery bait, Tonikawa definitely grabs the attention of the audience with its first episode because it begins where at least four decades of its genre usually ends. Even a romcom from not so many years ago like Ore Monogatari! seemed to move fast at first, only to slow down right after the main couple is established. Tonikawa begins estabilishing a couple, having them holding hands and even getting married and starting to live together! Is a series that understands that in this time and age, not even a generic romcom can attach itself to the way things used to be. If your series starts slowly and does not hook the audience pretty fast nowadays, you might as well give up. It also knows how to play with expectations because it indirectly mocks the isekai genre in the way the characters get to know each other, weird but effective use of trolling and comedy. So it knows how to get an audience and it avoids the usual slow set up in order to get to the most interesting bits of its genre but at the same time the first episode makes the couple to feel completely unbelievable. I mean come on, would any of this really happen? No, this sudden girlfriend/wife appearance can only happen in anime and it has since at least three decades, especially in the harem genre. You know, My Goddess, Monogatari, Sekirei, Campione, Rec, heck even Monster Musume, and above all High School DxD which even has a bigger similarity with this show by having the protagonist being saved by the main girl in its first episode. Another catch is the main protagonist who is far more direct than any other protagonist of its kind yet I have to point out how Nasa is really obnoxious in the beginning with his embarrassment towards his actual wife, and his referential comedy is easily among the worst I’ve ever seen. At least later on he becomes a little more direct and is shown as a capable guy able to manage just about every situation. From there, the series unfolds in a close to what would happen manner, the daily routines of this couple has to do with living together, getting more stuff, buying rings, getting another better house, getting to know their families and friends, all that stuff. Yet the tone is to the most part very light, there’s no conflict between the couple and their interactions stop at being cute. Also for a series with this fast beginning they sure don’t get any further than perhaps two or three kisses per episode with never getting to the juicy parts. All of the paragraph above is still questionable because a valid criticism which I’ve seen made about the show is how it plays out almost like a kid pretending to have a wife while playing with a doll. That has to do with Tsukasa being so... submissive. This is a thing which makes sense in an anime because it comes from Japan but man would it cause an uproar if it ever becomes mainstream in the west. I don’t mind that much but I would definitely like a little more proactive character. Her character stops at doing everything Nasa wants her to do, which makes him feel obsessive and possessive half the times. She’s also idolize beyond belief because she has all the traits otaku want in their perfect waifu. Tsukasa is cute, obliging, don’t want to spend much money, likes Nasa for the most generic reason that he’s kind and on top of that she’s a gamer, and that’s pretty much it. At least the references she makes are way better than Nasa’s. She sometimes let out some lines in the likes of “your tongue will be completely mine” or “I’ll let you see me on my underwear whenever you want to” that makes you think that something juicy will finally happen but nah, both get embarrassed and the show keeps being cute and wholesome. But since the tone of the show is very light and not serious at all, and Nasa don’t come off as too pervy or desperate to me, I give it a pass, however, if it tried to be dramatic or a serious romance, instead of a comical silly version of one, I would complain about it too. Their interactions alone would make the series boring very fast and that’s why more female characters keep appearing and thankfully none of them makes the show feel like a harem, except perhaps for the 11th episode, which was easily the worst because of that and because of the way too obvious Capcom publicity. Other than that all of the other girls are funny in their own way except maybe for Chitose who’s really annoying at first but thankfully Nasa is a capable main character who knows how to deal with her and it has nothing to with romance nor misogyny. As far as production goes, the show is nothing espectacular, it plays it very safely with ok visuals and ok sound, there’s people who don’t like Chitose’s voice and say her voice actress don’t fit the character, I personally don’t know her and her job at portraying an annoying little sister was properly done to me. What I don’t like is Nasa’s voice, he looks too moe for me and yet he has quite the deep voice which sounds older than he is and looks, with each passing episode he raises his voice a little so my issue with this disappeared as I got accostumed to his voice. Down to it, despite a forced and unbelievable but otherwise weird and somewhat interesting premise with a quick set up, Tonikawa is still a basic romcom trying to be either funny or fluffly, it has nothing offending nor insulting, it can be funny at times and is to the most part just a watchable time passer, it got lucky to come out in 2020 where there wasn’t much hype, and not having any competition in its season. Is just a romcom which you watch and enjoy with your brain disconnected or hate because you don’t like the characters, then you forget in a week after it’s over and you move on to the next of its kind.
somefuckingloser
12/19/2020, 04:37 AM
I don't know why people like this show, it was one of the most bland uninteresting and boring shows of 2020. Everything about this show comes from somewhere else and when the show is doing something new it is uninteresting. The main character is the same perfect yet perverted protagonist we see in so many rom coms and the lead girl is a hand made made perfect girl made to appeal to the majority no matter who you are who is strong and fierce but also is easily embarrassed and has a cute side, as well as being underage, all the things anime fans justseem to love. They go through the usual slice of life setlist including bathing episode, trip episode and summer festival episode. Disappointingly for many fans, there is no beach episode so they couldn't see their underage female in a swimsuit. Something to look forward to in the future I guess. While I'm on the topic of bland and unoriginal, we can talk about the art style which is the most generic thing I've seen in a while with many of the characters being coloured in some of the most putrid colours the artists could have picked for a pallet making the show feel rather cheap. In fact the entire show feels incredibly cheap with many of the backgrounds feeling like the pulled them out of the bottom of the anime background stock images barrel. Overall this show is inoffensive at best with other rom-coms from this year like Love is War S2 and Kano-Kari doing far better jobs for romantic comedies this year. I could only hope that this show is only a blip on the anime radar never to be heard from again but basing off how popular this show has been this season we will likely be seeing this again within the next couple of years. This show and its surprising popularity have led me to the conclusion that anime fans are so deprived of female attention that any show about some loser where a beautiful girl loves this loser unconditionally will receive high praise from the anime community at large. Anime studios may as well just start catering to incels in order to find easy success in future.
sushiisawesome
12/18/2020, 06:58 PM
Tonikaku Kawaii is essentially a story about the lack of familiarity involving love at first sight, and ends up discussing what does it exactly mean to fall in love, as well as all the emotions that come with it. It's a story about the irrationality falling for someone can do to people, leaving them waiting endlessly for a happy ending that may or may not ever come. The opening episode is a perfect example of this, showing Nasa falling for Tsukasa's strength at saving him while also setting up the abnormality between both characters - one who due to his obsession with success has noidea what moderation is, and is willing to go so far as to confess to someone who caught his eye, and the other for striving desperately to find a place to belong after being lost for her whole life without finding one. The Tale of Princess Kaguya being used as a metaphor for the entire story, as such, is convincingly tied to the dynamic between Nasa and Tsukasa - one of two lovers that were seemingly destined to meet meeting one another, and finding solace and a place to call home in each other, with even a timeskip taking place in the first episode perfectly symbolizing the distance between the two. Symbolism is only part of the picture of what makes this series what it is, but it's rather both characters and their attempts in understanding each other that also set this series apart from the overwhelming majority of the romance genre. Opportunities for drama arise left, right and center, but end peacefully due to the characters' relative level-headedness compared to most of their equivalents in the romance genre. One example that sticks out is how a side character had feelings for Nasa, and is clearly upset that she lost and desires to continue the good fight; instead of this leading down a path of overly melodramatic and extremely pointless drama, another character outright tells her that she lost because she was late to confess, and as such simply didn't deserve to win, a gigantic change of pace from series where hundreds of chapters are spent on this exact point, as if the audience couldn't have just understood that. Both leads don't magically get used to each other after marriage - after all, they're just two strangers who survived getting run over by a truck - but take time to hug, kiss and spend time to understand each other and their respective backgrounds, quirks and personalities. This ties into one aspect that's underappreciated involving the show, and that is how we just see our main leads do something other than get into pointless drama or bicker with each other. Small pieces of characterization are laid out for both main leads, ranging from foods they like/dislike to tastes in fiction to their own social lives outside of each other and how they handle people around them as well as character flaws they both have - Nasa for example, has spent much of his life seeking to be the best at what he is, and as such is an overly perfectionist acting nerd who gets overly zealous of what he loves. By extension, this means he's just about the most awkward person involving interpersonal relationships imaginable and often overacts or steps out of bounds - something that is not uncommon in conservative cultures, Japan being one such example. Tsukasa by comparison, often expresses herself poorly and doesn't know how to communicate her feelings towards Nasa, making her dynamic with him one where he's the hotheaded man of action to her relative more insightful, quiet personality. Both characters bounce off of each other exceptionally well, with clear development and progression over the course of the series as Nasa slowly grows more accustomed to Tsukasa's presence in his life, and Tsukasa slowly but surely becoming more expressive and opening up to him in her life. The comedy is an interesting beast to tackle involving this show, as while the rather standard production values compared to the likes of Kaguya-sama or Maou-sama de Oyasumi may fall flat for some viewers, the voice acting and sound design are worthy of a lot of praise. Voice acting is done exceptionally well, with Akari Kitou deserving particular praise over her performance as Tsukasa. Similar praise must be granted to Junya Enoki as Nasa, and Yuu Serizawa as Kaname, who similarly do an exceptional job balancing the comedy with the more serious moments in the series. A scene that is a particular standout is Kaname thanking Tsukasa for saving Nasa's life, which felt exceptionally well voiced even by the show's high standards. The music is also worthy of serious praise; the opening didn't do much on my end due to a rather poor drop when the title, well, drops, but the ending song is just a pleasant romantic song and essentially the de facto leitmotif of the series, with various tracks over the course of the show essentially being soft remixes of the ED. Character designs are basic yet lightly colored, fitting the overall lighthearted tone of the show, while also being capable of being more over the top in more comedic moments, though this would come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Kenjirou Hata's previous work in Hayate no Gotoku. If there is a miss involving this first season, it's rather that for all intents and purposes the gags often get repetitive though strangely oddly specific insofar as humor goes. One example that sticks in my mind is of Tsukasa having no underwear and going commando under her clothes, with Nasa quietly losing it at what's going on - while no overly offensive sexual humor happens, thankfully, it felt strangely specific for a joke and I was left wondering why. Much of the series' jokes improve from this point onwards in the manga - though it's doubtful this'd do much for you if this wasn't already your brand of humor - and the dynamics progress considerably over the course of the series, leading to another issue wherein the last episode adapts a few chapters where the characters are much more close to one another later in the manga than they are in the rest of the anime. Of course, and ultimately one can argue that the occasional oddly specific gag could well be because of the author very directly stating in an interview that he's placing many of his own experiences after getting married in the manga, which isn't exactly uncommon for any fictional writer, but I digress. Tonikaku Kawaii is a breath of fresh air for anyone who desires a romance series that incorporates popular elements and yet executes them exceptionally well. Some of its humor feels oddly specific, the production values while decent are nothing to write home about and some of the innocence involving the two main leads and their relative conservatism in approaching each other would fly over people's heads considering the cultural dissonance, but overall there's an excellent romance anime for those willing to look past otherwise minor nitpicks. I cannot recommend this anime highly enough, and especially if you are a fan of romance series; this recommendation extends to the manga, which only improves in quality as it goes on. Thank you very much for reading this review, any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Arin-san
12/18/2020, 12:46 PM
"You don't get married because you've proven you're in love... You get married so you can prove it." - Yuzaki Nasa First, one thing I want to make clear is that if you don't like simple romance with no drama, then you need to stay away from Tonikawa, because it's definitely not for you. Anime like OreGairu will suit you better. The beauty of Tonikawa lies in it's simplicity. It's not just another wholesome fluffy rom-com, it's much more than that. What I think makes Tonikawa the perfect rom-com for me is that how the romance isn't dragged out, there is little to no drama, whichis perfect for people like me. Not that I hate it, but I find it overwhelming, drama isn't something I'd watch every time, anime like OreGairu is good, but exhausting at the same time. On the other hand, we have anime like Tonikawa, which is completely different from that, it's something I could always watch. These kind of anime is precious to me, because it just eases my exhaustion of real life, it's a real mood refresher, at the end of a tiring day, I'd love to sit with a bowl of ice-cream and enjoy this sweet anime. It's THAT kind of an anime. Another reason why I think it's great, is because of how it keeps some question unanswered. And frankly, I don't mind it, it's only been season 1 and they have been successful to pique my interest in the story that if a season 2 ever drops, I'd gladly watch it, not just because of it's wholesome romance aspect, but also because to find out where the plot is heading, because there's clearly a plot and it's definitely heading somewhere, as hinted by the mystery surrounding Tsukasa. The mystery keeps the overarching plot alive. The plot is very simple, Nasa Yuzaki, our MC, falls in love at first sight with Tsukasa, our FMC. As Nasa tries to approach her, he gets hit by truck, only to be saved by Tsukasa's swift movements. Nasa doesn't miss the opportunity and forces himself to confess and ask her out. However, Tsukasa has one condition, they can only be together if he marries her! It may sound unrealistic, but nobody said it has to be realistic to enjoy the anime. The entire story is just Nasa and Tsukasa's compilation of learning how to be a married couple. Though, it might sound boring at first, it is far from it. This is where the wholesome part shines the most. Going to bedding shopping together, Nasa trying his best to make small living space comfortable for his new bride, Tsukasa showing Nasa how to make a proper meal, Nasa introducing Tsukasa to his parents, all of these small things are a big part of this show, and most possibly the best part. This is where the true beauty of the anime lies, simply having fun in your daily life, that's what this anime is about, for most of it's part. While some questions have been left as a mystery, such as Tsukasa's past, all of it just compliments the plot while keeping the viewer's attracted. Now onto the characters, one of the best aspect of this anime! While Nasa might seem like a very childish MC, I mean who throws away their life for a girl they barely know about? But it's no doubt how his love for Tsukasa is real. Though it may seem he loves Tsukasa just because she's cute (As per the title of the anime, Tonikaku Kawaii) he actually does love everything about her, not just that she's cute. During his speech with Chitose, he said the destiny is real and how he talked about his love to Tsukasa was just too heartwarming. Riemann Zeta Function is the very last thing I would expect to appear in an anime, using math to prove your love is also something I never expected from this anime. This just goes to say how he loves Tsukasa, a girl who he just met more than a person that you love and knew from a long time. As much as Nasa loves Tsukasa, Tsukasa also loves everything about Nasa. When she was asked about what he likes about Nasa and how she blushes a little while saying that she like everything about him, it's just really heartwarming. Tsukasa notices the littlest detail about Nasa and compliments him on it, and Nasa also loves when she compliments him, what can be more cute than this? Other than Nasa and Tsukasa, all other characters are absolutely adorable! Kaname, Aya, Nasa's parents, all these side characters, I just can't get enough of these adorable set of casts! The character who was a teensy bit annoying was Chitose, she reminded me of those generic Tsundere characters, other than that I don't hate her much. Also the voicing of each and every character is so amazing! I adore all the Seiyuus (Voice actors) working behind this anime. About the artstyle, it's adorable! I don't know how anyone could not like it. The artstyle just compliments the setting and couldn't be any better. The blush lines are kinda ridiculous, but I'd be lying to myself if I said that I didn't find that cute. The opening is just amazing, at first, I kind of didn't like the idea of EDM in an anime opening, because most of the time it sounds generic, but Yunomi changed my mind. I've listened to Yunomi before this, and I was very surprised that this opening was from Yunomi. And I was even more surprised when I found out that it was Tsukasa's Seiyuu who was singing the opening. Starting with a beautiful instrumental, when the EDM part started, it took me by surprise. Not only the opening, but the ending is beautiful beyond explanation. I have already listened to it an unhealthy amount of times, the piano's involvement in the ending is really great. I'm listening to it as I'm writing this review! It's really helpful and I'd suggest you listen to it while reading this as well, kinda gives a good feeling. And now onto the most important part, enjoyment. If you read this review completely then you know that I've enjoyed this a lot. There aren't many heartwarming anime like this, which is why this is so special to me. I remember making a thread months ago, asking for a romance anime with simple story, "I just want a romance anime where the boy and girl are simply in love with each other, and do relationship stuff together without any drama." were my exact words, after I saw this anime, it felt like it was just made for me. I couldn't be more happier, I enjoyed every second of this anime. I see a lot of negative comments about this anime, most of them complain about the same thing, about how everything is too simple, how much of a fool can you be? With a little bit of research, anyone could've found out that it's those simple SoL type of anime, if it wasn't your thing then why watch it? Many people try to bring real life logic into it, like how it shouldn't be possible for them to marry each other, blah blah blah. Oh please, this fiction, nowhere did it say that it's based on real life laws. I also don't get why people say that nothing happens in this anime, please don't be ignorant. All criticisms on this anime look very shallow, it's what happens when you try too hard to find something bad about an anime. Although I don't blame those people, even if I tried then I couldn't truly find something about this anime that was absolutely terrible. Fridays have been sweeter with this anime around. This anime impacted me in a way that Fridays will be a little empty without this, this is a huge success, and for that alone, this anime is more than deserving of a solid 9.
Xiao
12/18/2020, 11:27 AM
Story 3.5/10: Basically, Tsukasa (the female MC) and Nasa (the male MC) decide to get married after she saves him from getting hit by a car. Thus starts their marriage life. The whole anime is a rom-com of the newlywed’s beginning marriage lives and the obstacles of it: romance/relationship development, learning one another’s hobbies/interests, going on trips, shopping and cooking together, sharing a house, and meeting family members/friends. Sounds cute and simple, right? The thing is, coming into this anime, I never realized how childish it would turn out to be. Almost every other line that comes out of Nasa’s mouth is going on andon about praising Tsukasa on how perfect she is. “My wife is so cute.” “This is my wife, the cutest girl in the universe!” “She’s so cute!” Ok we get it Nasa, she’s cute, you already said that a hundred times. Is his genius brain so limited that the only adjective he could think of to describe her is “cute”? And to top it off, Nasa blushes and has an internal struggle for every small thing they do like as if he’s never interacted with another girl his entire life. He freaks out when they hold hands, when they sleep in the same room (not even in the same bed), when he takes pictures of her, when she changes clothes, when they go to the women’s underwear/bra section of a clothing store, etc. Seriously, this boy is so immature for his age. “Do girls really smell this good?” “I didn’t know girls were this warm.” “Girls are this soft?! Human hands are this warm...and feel this good?” “My wife wore these clothes. W-Would she get mad if I touched them?” “I want to hug my braless, pantyless wife so much!” What a joke. Don’t let the “marriage” title fool you, because the couple acts no differently from two children who are dating and live together. A big part of marriage is learning to share/budget money and compromise, yet the story completely glosses over any financial troubles by having Nasa willingly spend everything for his cute wife who he barely knows. Actually, what does Tsukasa do on a daily basis? Does she not go to school? What’s her background? What does she do during the day besides shopping, cooking, watching TV, and going to a public bathhouse? We don’t have a clue, because this anime does not care to delve into anything outside the couple’s superficial marriage relationship. Characters 2/10: Rom-com is a risky genre because there’s not much room for a really interesting story or a huge plot-twist. So if the comedy and jokes don’t land, what’s left? The characters. And this is what made the promising story fall flat. Nasa and Tsukasa are supposedly newlywed adults, yet they act like middle-schoolers. They blush at every single small physical interaction they have. Nasa has excellent social skills and is supposedly a genius, yet he idiotically runs into the middle of the road at night without checking to see if there’s a big-ass truck driving by and doesn’t bat an eye whenever Tsukasa says anything strange about how she’s lived for centuries. And he’s a pervert. It’s not cool to try to sneakily touch someone’s breasts while they’re sleeping or smell someone’s dirty clothes while they’re not looking and use a stupid excuse like, "but she’s my wife!” This anime tries to play it off as funny and cute but no, it’s not. It’s creepy. Tsukasa is literally the very personification of the “ultimate waifu.” She has a beautiful smile, is cute and sweet, has excellent cooking skills, loves pop-culture and movies, can save you from getting killed by truck-kun, and of course, is a pro gamer girl. She’s too perfect and has next to no character depth. We know next to nothing about her past, yet somehow Nasa never questions anything and doesn’t seem to be very curious about it at all. Are you serious? Talk about a shallow relationship. If Nasa actually cared one bit about her aside from her appearance, that should’ve been the first thing on his mind to ask her. The other characters are all just as bland. Chitose has a weird obsession with Tsukasa and is the one character who exists just to show strong opposition against their marriage. Her two maids are just there to secretly show their support for the main couple and have nothing else going for them. Kaname, Nasa’s childhood friend who is there to make “funny,” dirty jokes, stare at Nasa’s dick, and occasionally give Nasa advice on how to deal with girls. Aya, Kaname’s sister who has a crush on Nasa and basically plays the role of the jealous female love rival who stands no chance to be with the male MC, because there always has to be one of those characters. Art 6/10: Not much to comment on the art style, it’s very simple and cutesy. Not much detail in the characters or backgrounds. At least it’s consistent. Music 7/10: The best thing about this anime is the opening song. 3.5/10 Enjoyment: I really, really tried to like this show. It had so much potential. I kept watching in hopes that I would at least learn to get attached to the characters, but I couldn’t. Most of the characters do not act their age. This show has spent twelve episodes trying to convince me that these two couples are perfect and fated to be with one another, but I don’t buy it. I fail to see any chemistry since the characters are as interesting as a cardboard and they spend so much time getting embarrassed for everything. Granted, there were some nice moments that made me smile (ex: the explanation of the possible connection of scientific principles and love, meeting the parents, fireworks festival), but those few scenes were vastly overshadowed by the cheesy, repetitive jokes and flat characters. The funniest lines the characters ever say are the anime and game references but other than that, it’s just a constant recycling of the same type of cringe-inducing humor. If you think watching a boy constantly pander to his wife is cute and wholesome or wish to meet someone as waifu-material as Tsukasa is, then you’ll probably like this. Otherwise, I would not recommend it at all.
Shingster
12/18/2020, 09:54 AM
Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Tonikawa Over the Moon for You and while care has been taken to minimize story related spoilers there may still be spoilers within the review. You have been warned. Based on a popular manga of the same name Tonikaku Kawaii which is more popularly known by its English title of Tonikawa: Over the Moon For You is a Romance and comedy genre anime that gives us the unique opportunity to see what will happen if one day a book smart and friendly if quiet teenage boy that’s been long ridiculedby others on account of his strange name that’s coincidently the same as a famed national space exploration agency were to not only survive a near-death experience with Japan’s most infamous serial killer Truck Kun but also in the process encounters a beautiful girl who not only saved him from certain death by taking the blow for him but miraculously survives the encounter with only light injuries. Still, a dazed Nasa musters up all of his reserves of courage that he had been saving up and confesses his love for her at that moment fearing that once the night passes, she will vanish like the moon would do as day approaches but to his eternal surprise Tsukasa not only accepts but also proposes that they also take the next step and marry as well once they get of age to which Nasa wholeheartedly agrees before passing out. And as the fated day when he reached the age of adulthood finally arrives and as if drawn by fate the girl from that day who accepted his first-ever confession returns guiding him to the local marriage office to make do their promise and by nights end Nasa who never expected to find a girlfriend so soon was now at the tender age of 18 a husband who had a beautiful wife in the form of Tsukasa and on the cusp of starting a brand-new life together as a newly wedded young couple. While the hurdles that they will face will be many on both a social and a personal level Tsukasa and Nasa will do all they can to both support each other and adapt themselves in order to learn more about each other and cement their new relationship as husband and wife together. Hand in hand they will face whatever trials serve to impede them as they begin their new journey that’s filled with endless possibilities drawing strength from their loved one that stands beside them. In general romantic comedies is a genre of anime that I tend not to watch that often largely because the great majority of them tend to make use of the school as its main medium to which its story and characters are revolved around. While over the years there have been many notable series that made effective use of school-based settings as well as some that have managed to graduate to other settings in the form of The world god only knows, Yamada and the Seven witches, Anohana and Wotakoi I felt that to me this genre had become pretty stale and needed a sense of innovation in order to rise up once more. And this spark surprisingly to me came in the form of this series Tonikawa: Over the Moon for you. While the overall encounter scenario as shown within the first ep was not something that was ground-breaking by any means I felt that the character of Tsukasa specifically the sense of majesty and mystique that clung to her like a veil really served to make the episode and story advancement that she guided along click and while I was pretty sceptical of just how strong of a bond can she form with the clueless Nasa I confess in that my interest in the show was to follow on and see the kind of magic that she can weave in this new and sudden married life that both she and Nasa seemed to have gotten into and by the seasons end I have to say it was a journey that was really worth every hour spent on it. Nasa Yuzaki Nasa Yuzaki portrayed by veteran voice actor Junya Enoki of Kono Oto Tomare fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the primary protagonist of the series. Initially, Nasa was prior to the time skip induced by his meeting of his future wife a middle school third year but soon after reaches the age of adulthood by the end of the first episode. From his initial appearances, Nasa was seen to be a friendly, calm, and confident person by nature that approached each day with positivity and enthusiasm. While intelligent and logical Nasa was shown to be lacking somewhat in social skills and his common sense was seen to be a tad wacky at times as a result of his isolation from his peers on account of his unique name. While often leading to him being easily embarrassed and causing undue anxiety due to over-worrying this was countered by his fast thinking nature that allowed him to fall back on his logical side and bounce back up as demonstrated countless times within the series. Though the path of not only dating but also forming a new family by marrying Tsukasa was one that Nasa accomplished rather early in life by conventional standards it can be seen that Nasa’s base attitude of being kind, patient, and understanding along with his honesty the latter of which can often cause tension within a relationship actually served to become an effective foundation for his relationship with Tsukasa enabling him to not only coexist with her within their apartment with no trouble but also allow him to gradually peel away the walls that Tsukasa had built around herself to protect her heart. Key to this aspect of their relationship was Nasa’s extreme honesty and his relative inexperience in romance related matters that served to not only make things between them highly entertaining but also served to make Tsukasa let down her guard in embarrassment and support Nasa by revealing to him the things that ail her. At the beginning of the series prior to his meeting with Tsukasa Nasa was shown to be someone that was ambitious and determined to prove his worth to society which is largely a result of his unfortunate forename that served to make him the butt of jokes in society. On the surface, while Nasa was shown to have no visible ill effects from this treatment beneath the surface, he was shown to be instead rather weak-willed and indecisive and while not shunning society off as one would expect was seen to prefer going about his life solo when possible. Indeed until meeting Tsukasa Nasa’s circle of friends within his immediate area consisted of only the Arisugawa sisters Kaname and Aya whom Nasa was shown to have a strong bond with on account of the shared debt of gratitude that both have for each other. However, after encountering and subsequently marrying Tsukasa and starting a new life with her this sense of isolation gradually transformed with Nasa instead becoming more confident both in himself and in dealing with others. At the same time while still relatively inexperience in matters of bonding with others Nasa thanks to his adoration of Tsukasa sought to remedy this by learning not only how to bond effectively with others but also learn how to recognize their weaknesses and learn how to complement them with his strengths and in the process learning what is it really like to love someone dear to you. Within the series, this is best exemplified in Nasa’s core aim of providing Tsukasa with the best possible life that he can and make many happy memories with her together. Tsukasa Tsukasa portrayed by veteran seiyuu Akari Kitou of Grancrest Senki and Youkoso fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main female lead of the series. A mysterious girl that Nasa encountered after being saved by her from being killed off by Japan’s most notorious serial killer Truck Kun Tsukasa from her initial appearances were shown to be a quiet, blunt, and logical person by nature that gave off the image of being someone that was indifferent to the plight of others unless they were ones that amused her a trait that served in my eyes to highlight the almost ethereal beauty that she presented in her debut appearance in the first ep that almost resembled that of a goddess. A cool, calm, polite, and soft-spoken person by nature Tsukasa in the beginning while courteous and intelligent was someone that was shown to have a curious preference to stay apart from others though in her case rather than due to a desire to avoid personality conflicts for Tsukasa’s part it seems to be due to her desire to indulge in her travels across the land to learn about the land and gain new life experiences. While the transition from single life to that of a young wife in the course of one night was a rapid one it can be seen that Tsukasa to her credit was able to adapt to her new life relatively quickly without having to make any concessions. Indeed in this regard rather than lose anything Tsukasa while learning to be dutiful to her new role also gained the opportunity to show off her more playful nature that she had kept largely hidden from her surface personality. As the series progresses and Tsukasa’s personality is gradually expanded upon it can be seen that despite her quiet and standoffish nature Tsukasa was someone that was understanding, kind and thoughtful and was noted to be someone that was quite perceptive to both the attitudes of others as well as their own struggles that they’re trying to keep hidden. Though her default persona was the very image of a calm and composed young wife it can be seen surprisingly that this side of her was surprisingly vulnerable to being surprised which can lead to her mask to slip off quite readily and allow us to see more of her maiden self that was while humble and generous was also capable of switching emotions quite readily as shown when her family tries to involve themselves in her new life with Nasa aspects that served both to enhance her character’s cuteness while also demonstrating her desire to start a new life with her new love and start a fresh chapter in her life. While the relationship between Tsukasa and Nasa that serves as the foundation for both the series and her personal arc was one that started rather abruptly and one whose true nature remains enigmatic as the series progresses it can be seen that despite the speed of their relationship that transitioned from confession to marriage in the blink of an eye that Tsukasa’s love for Nasa is indeed genuine and serious and while the life of a wife is one that will be tough for one so young that Tsukasa is determined to live her new life as Nasa’s other half as exemplified by her determination to master all the intricacies that comes from the role while also striving to spend as much time with him as possible and build the one thing that until now she had been solely lacking which was a place that she can truthfully call home a place not surrounded by riches and servants but instead one that’s filled with people that’s able to offer you love that is heartfelt and honest. Overall as a character, I felt that Tsukasa was one that was both well designed and developed with her development from a mysteriously calm and cool-headed beauty that Nasa meets one night to a loving wife that while young for her role was able to provide her husband with a wife that was not only diligent in her duties in managing the house but also serve to broaden Nasa’s views on the little pleasures that lay hidden within society that’s best shared by couples who have both the time and the opportunity to savour them. Chitose Chitose Kaginoji portrayed by Konomi Kohara of Kaguya sama Love is war fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is one of Nasa and Tsukasa’s main rivals within the series though in this sense the rivalry is one-sided on her part. A member of the same family that Tsukasa belonged to before her marriage with Nasa and a middle schooler Chitose in her initial appearances was seen to be a confident, dignified and intelligent person by nature that despite being a noble was someone that was also humble, polite and kind and was willing to admit her own mistakes to others while being readily capable of understanding and accepting the feelings of others that she crosses paths with. While for the most part, Chitose’s upbringing and base personality traits serve to allow her to easily navigate the minefield that is modern-day society it can be seen that when dealing with matters that relate to her beloved Tsukasa that she sees as someone that’s akin to a dear elder sister to her that Chitose would show off a side that she rather stay hidden from outsiders which was the devoted younger sister mode. In the past when Tsukasa and Chitose were still living together in their family home it can be inferred that the relationship between the two was relatively strong and indeed on Chitose’s part due to a combination of her young age and the fact that her parents were likely largely away for most of the time she subconsciously began to view Tsukasa as her elder sister despite this being, not the case. As a result of this when re-encountering her after many months of not hearing any news regarding her Chitose was shown to be overjoyed and understandably rushed to meet her only to find to her eternal shock that Tsukasa had in the meantime encountered and hitched with a man that she had fallen in love with a fact that proved to be exceedingly devastating to Chitose. Suffice to say Chitose’s relationship with Nasa her beloved Tsukasa’s new husband from the onset was an extremely poor one as she viewed him as the thief that stole her beloved elder sister away and in her first encounter was shown to display a very rare image of her being visibly angry which showed well the depth of the anger that she felt at this turn of events and setting the stage for her to manifest her devious persona whose main role was to create plans that she hopes will be able to successfully break the bonds of love that had been formed between Tsukasa and Nasa and bring her beloved sister back to her just like in the past. In this persona, while Chitose largely retains her confident nature she was also shown to have become much more cunning in her plans and was willing to use any method that she deems necessary even if that meant crossing lines that she should not be crossing on account of her age and role as a middle schooler. Overall the character of Chitose I felt was an interesting character that served well to act as first a potent trial that Nasa and Tsukasa must meet and face in their new life as a couple, secondly as a source of comic relief that serves to enhance the series storyline by adding a sense of hilarity when the overall plot requires it and lastly as a link to Tsukasa’s past that will prove useful to Nasa should he desire to know more about his new wife though only on the condition that he be able to overcome the fierce trial that is Chitose. AMV In terms of character designs, I felt that the designs of the individual characters while relatively simple in concept and style were never less ones that were well designed and featured an effective usage of colors that were used to enhance the characters in line with their assigned personality traits. In this, I felt that while the designs for them were beautiful I also thought that they also harmonized well with their assigned seiyuu’s performances. Location variety wise while the series only featured a handful of locations to which the cast visited throughout their adventure I felt that these locations while still making use of the concept of simplicity as a strength were also ones that served to not only allow Tsukasa and Nasa to strengthen the bonds that exist between them but also in the process allow them to learn more about each other by finding activities that both enjoy equally. Within the series, these include learning the joys that came from owning a tv, the joys that can come from owning a digital camera and the hidden treasures that one can find at service stations, and the exploration of Nara which was Nasa’s homeland which also allowed Tsukasa and us to meet Nasa’s parents. Music-wise the series made use of one opening and ending theme which was Koi no Uta that was performed by Tsukasa’s seiyuu veteran seiyuu singer Akari Kitou and Tsuki to Hoshizora that was performed by KanoeRana. While both of these songs were excellent ones I felt that these two songs had very contrasting feelings and emotions when listened too with the former one being both cute in execution and theme but also highlighting the number of bonds that they had formed with the people around them while the latter served to showcase just how much these encounters have served to allow the pair to overcome the trials that they faced and in the process allow them to explore the land together happily and in the process allow them to make many happy memories together as well. Voice acting-wise I felt that overall the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main ones or support ones. In particular, I felt that Junya Enoki, Akari Kitou, and Konomi Kohara all did an excellent job at portraying the characters of Nasa, Tsukasa, and Chitose respectively. While I didn’t cover her within the character analysis, I also felt that Yuu Serizawa also did an excellent job at portraying the character of Kaname Arisugawa whose dirty jokes, harshness, and determination to push things through for Nasa and Tsukasa all combined to make Kaname an excellent support character and dear friend for Nasa and Tsukasa. Overall conclusion In overall Tonikawa: Over the Moon For you I felt was an excellent anime that had among its main strong points a unique premise, excellent story, characters, beautiful animation, and character designs, excellent voice acting and an excellent balancing of the romance and comedy aspects that served to make the overall tale not only sweet and cute but also served to showcase just how much the two main leads have been able to develop as individuals thanks to not only their efforts but the efforts of everyone around them. In overall I feel that as a final score Tonikawa: Over the Moon For you easily deserves a final score of 10/10 for while the tale may be one that is familiar to fans of the two genre’s and Romcoms, in general, I feel that the series tale that combined the classic boys meets girls concept, marriage, relationship expansion via a mutual deepening of one's bonds and the forging of near unbreakable bonds between them as they learn what it’s like to live their lives as a couple when combined with the dual emotional aspects of the comedy from Nasa and the emotional aspect from Tsukasa served to create a series that is one of this season's sweetest, most heartfelt and cutest animes.
dlxuniuniu
12/18/2020, 08:48 AM
How would you describe a HAPPY marriage in three words? - LOVE, HONESTY, PERSEVERANCE - RESPECT, PATIENCE, UNDERSTANDING Instead of the usual things, these three words can be used to describe Tonikaku Kawaii: - HAND HOLDING BUFFET - TSUKASA DELAYS F…… - MOON GETS MARRIEDHave your insulin syringe ready and follow the life of our happy and wholesome couple: JUST TOO CUTE. STORY: Have you ever dreamed of how nice it would be to be isekai'd by truck-kun and wake up in a world that is much better than your current one? Sure, this is a dream of all of us. That happened ALMOST to our main protagonist, Nasa, when he saw a cute girl on the other side of the street and therefore wanted to cross it. But instead of losing his life in this world, the sweet girl saved his life. Before he was finally brought to the hospital by the same girl and woke up there, he managed to ask her if she would like to date him. After a moments silence, she turns around and tells him that if he marries her she'll go out with him. Nasa has done everything possible to be able to see the love of his life again. Instead of going to high school, he decides to solely focus on jobs that involve delivery and serving customers in the hopes of meeting that girl once again. As in a dream, one day his Kaguya-Hime Tsukasa appears in front of his apartment and the paper they hand in at the registry office was the happiest document of Nasa’s life. From now on the daily life of our newly married couple began. We experience their stories, their first night together, their first and second honeymoon. Basically, every wholesome moment. There doesn't have to be a deep story behind it, but watching all the wonderful moments are already magical enough for us. CHRACTERS: "No matter what fate comes at me with, I should be able to do something about it." – Nasa Yuzaki. We can all learn something from his attitude. Nasa who would become “a man who's as vast as space...", that’s the reason his father gave him this name. He is very clever and proud of himself, our main protagonist is also one of the most reliable people. However, what identifies him above all other things is the love he feels for his wife Tsukasa. He fell in love with her at first sight and he always think how cute she if, every day, every moment. Where do you experience that in a marriage nowadays? "I would never marry someone I didn't fall in love with." – Tsuakasa Yuzaki (Tsukuyomi before marriage). She really loves Nasa, no doubt about this. Tsukasa has a mysterious background story, but not much is known about it so far. At first, Tsukasa appears to act very cool, calm and level-headed. But over time she shows a lot more emotions than just being calm. She gets embarrassed very easily whenever Nasa proclaims his love for her and how cute she is. Her hobbies are the same as us: Anime, games, movies, TV etc, at least one little thing in common. Besides that, she has a lot knowledge about the Japanese history. Even she knows deep down in her heart that Nasa could never love another person, she becomes jealous when Nasa talks to other girls. Having the Kanji “月“ in her name we can assume that there is certainly a connection to Kaguya-Hime. Standing in the full moon makes her even more beautiful. It is really fate that they found each other. The perfect couple. In addition to our main characters, we also have some excellent support characters. Let’s start with our Tsundere blonde cute girl Chitose. Tsukasa saved her from falling off a cliff when they were children. Since that moment, Chitose decided to use her own life for the sake of Tsukasa to pay her back. At the beginning she was completely against the marriage of them but seeing how happy her “Onee-sama” with Nasa-kun is, she is also very happy about it, although she does not let it be expressed. Without the whole Arisugawa family, our married couple would be in deep trouble after their apartment burned down. Kaname, the younger sister, has a very outgoing personality. Despite her young age, she is very mature and always gives good suggestions to Nasa-kun to help him out with his couple life. She couldn't believe it when one day Nasa-kun suddenly came as a married man. But she wishes the couple all the best. Her older sister Aya is a bit slow when it comes to understanding some important things. As a result, she did not initially get the point that Nasa-kun had married already. She had a crush on him since she was 10. But she never had the courage to confess her feelings to Nasa. However, she decides to not sulk over this situation to not make her first love meaningless. And with courage and pride she congrats with them for their marriage. The character development of everyone can be clearly felt, not only Tsukasa and Nasa have changed through the marriage, but their environment is also affected by it. ART: The art style also only has two words: cute and wholesome. Although it is not particularly eye-catching, you can feel the warmth this anime exudes. You just feel great watching this anime. SOUND: The OP "Koi no Uta" was sung by Tsukasa aka Akari Kitou. Her name is known for me since she voiced also my "Sleepy Goddess" Kanata Konoe from Love Live! Nijigasaki. In general, she has a role in many CGDCT series, such as Adachi to Shimamura, Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu or Re: Stage! Dream Days ♪. I also like all of these series extremely. We don't hear an idol OP or anything like that here, instead the music starts a bit more traditional and slower. But in the second part the music and the lyrics get much faster, you can tell that there is more movement here. The ED "Tsuki to Hoshizora“ on the other hand is performed by KanoeRana. She is quite new in this scene but her song is amazing. You can really hear the happiness and love from the music. ENJOYMENT: I enjoyed every episode, everything was just too wholesome. It's a very cute slice of life anime. This is a marriage that everyone loves to see and we can only wish them all the best! May they live happily together till the end! Please give us a second season of this wholesome- and cuteness!
Stark700
12/18/2020, 08:35 AM
This year, 2020, had a strange phenomenon of rom-coms. We had ‘Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It’ at the beginning of the year, where the idea of romance became an experiment as part of its storyteller. Spring dropped us into a fantasy world of reverse harem and otome tropes with My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Led to Doom. And of course, let’s not forget Summer 2020 that gave us ‘Kanojo, Okarishmasu’ a rom-com with relationships based on lies. Fall 2020 decided to give us a truthful romantic comedy of a married couple, and by marriage, I mean commitmentand a lot of romance. Isn’t this just a strange year? Kenjirou Hata isn’t known for being a masterpiece storywriter. Most of his works often deal with romantic comedy elements and among them is Hayate the Combat Butler. Watching Tonikaku Kawaii gave me a similar impression at first when we meet Nasa Yuzaki, the main protagonist who gets involved in an accident. Is it fate when at that moment that he encounters his future wife, Tsukasa Tsukyomi? And that’s the funny idea about fate. When we talk about fate, it seems characters are destined to meet and one of the recurring tropes from the author’s previous work. Nasa and Tsukasa develop a relationship quickly as they get married in the very first episode. If you don’t believe me, just watch their union and signed registration. When you have two main protagonists get married from the very first episode, there’s bound to be endless questions popping into your head. One of the first questions may be why these two would get married in the first place? Doesn’t marriage take time and commitment? They barely know each other but now are a married couple, a type of relationship that may last until death do them apart. From the very first few episodes, we can deduct that both main characters does have attraction towards each other. Nasa sees Tsukasa as a girl that you can only dream of even dating, let alone marrying. On the other hand, Tsukasa sees Nasa as a gentle soul with a selfless nature that truly values her well-being. However, the two are lack experience when it comes to actual romance. For instance, it took a lot of convincing for Tsukasa to tell Nasa to talk to her without being so formal. Tsukasa herself has trouble expressing her feelings and this usually translates into dozens of awkward moments between the duo. You could easily say that each episode is a test for the two lovebirds. Although over time, Nasa and Tsukasa learns a lot about each other and what it means to love. As mentioned before, marriage is a commitment and a lifelong vow. To comprehend this idea, Tsukasa and Nasa had to arrange their life into a state where they can live comfortably. This includes securing a stable job, buying the right furniture, and making time to be with each other. It sounds a lot harder than it looks but realistically, almost any normal couple would have to go through this process. For Tsukasa and Nasa, some unfortunate circumstances drops them into a temporary home in later episodes. It’s one of those old sayings where when life knocks you down, you have to get back up. From a storytelling perspective, the duo faces the hardship of life and reality. The main storytelling theme focuses on their way of life and how they live each day to be what they committed to. Despite some of the serious wordings of the plot elements, Tonikaku Kawaii is a fairly lighthearted show with tons of comedy and entertainment. You have to remember that the author wants us to experience a light rom-com, without too many tearjerking moments or despair. Indeed, this anime adaptation remains lighthearted that focuses on entertaining rather than a complex storytelling. With 12 episodes, the anime sets the bar for being what a rom-com should be although I emphasize that the ongoing manga is fairly long. In other words, this 1-cour adaptation serves more as a tool for viewers to get into the surface of the franchise. There’s a whole lot more down the rabbit hole. Otherwise, fans should be familiar with the overall tone of the comedy such as the character name gags (namely Nasa), misunderstandings, and other mischiefs. With its small yet colorful cast of characters, the author also borrows similar character concepts from his previous work such as maids. Characters such as Kaname, Aurora, Charlotte are decorated with maid characteristics while Kaginoji Chitose serves the role of a jealous girl who gets the wrong impression about Nasa. No doubt, Chitose causes some unsettling drama between the couple and some episodes shows that she can be an annoying brat to deal with. Luckily, this is where we see Nasa at how he tackles the problem in his honest and sincere way. In many ways, Nasa is the ‘nice guy’ in their relationship but only that he doesn’t finish last. He’s first to be married to such a perfect housewife. Studio Sevens Arcs may not be a powerhouse studio when it comes to animation but one thing is for certain, they managed to connect the dots in the right places for this adaptation. Tonikaku Kawaii’s visual style has a light touch with its character designs. It has a vibrant colorful art that retains the style of the manga look. Tsukasa in particular stands out as the poster girl and while other female characters are made with delicacy. Nasa himself also has a girly look despite being a male. This may or may not rub people’s impressions in the wrong way but for a rom-com, it suits them right. Plus, who can forget all those cartoony expressions. It’s almost like a dream fantasy for Nasa, being able to find such a perfect girl like Tsukasa. Fate tied the knots together for these two characters and by no doubt, they retain a faithful relationship. Everyday is a challenge and every episode follows their steps of this married couple. If only the real world is perfect with all that buffet handholding.
maidreamin
12/18/2020, 08:35 AM
I don’t understand the praise for this. Tonikaku tries to be different and yet it falls short. Actually, scratch that. It falls FAR from being any different from any rom-com that I’ve seen. It attempted to mix up the order of a cliche and yet it still is the cliche. The show doesn’t know what it wants to be itself and there is near to nothing redeemable about the show. I have plenty of reasons why, as well. Let's dive in, shall we? TL;DR at the bottom Story One look at the plot reveals that there’s nothing special. In summary, the protagonist, Nasa, gets really smart and later seesa girl he likes and is too scared to confess. Hmmm, I’ve never seen this before. But wait! There’s Truck-Kun to save the day! Truck-Kun hits poor Nasa while he’s crossing the road! But fortunately for him, there’s the girl there to save the day. Let’s take a pause here, the synopsis itself is unappealing. It glues a bunch of cliches together into one giant mess; a protagonist that likes a girl, a girl that he’s too scared to confess to, and a truck that hits the protagonist. This has been seen God knows how many times even the newest of new weebs find the concept repetitive. Of course, this smart guy decides to try to ask out this girl after nearly bleeding to death, then she says yes on the condition that they marry. Then after a long while of not meeting, the girl just comes to his doorstep to marry him. Seriously? I don’t care how many people come up here using their excuses, this plot is straight-up brainless, like the story was made using mad libs and you pick the words using a random word generator. On top of all of this, the show clearly wants to be different. The director was like, “You know what? Let’s just skip to the end and get them married”. This is an example of them wanting to drift away from a cliche. They switch up the beginning and the end in an attempt to “stand out”, because who cares about developing relationships when you can just conclude it in the first episode, right? But guess what? It still doesn’t stand out! Because everything sandwiched in the middle is just generic Slice-of-Life without a point except for introducing side characters or showing off their failed attempts to make it “cute”. This Slice-of-Life is pretty mediocre, to say the least. It relies on “cute” faces and textbook awkward situations to tick off time, and the jokes they make aren’t that funny. Caught sniffing someone else’s clothes? Freaking out about a girl sleeping next to you? Really? I mean, I guess if you like small penis jokes and guys freaking out about a girl sleeping next to him, then this may be a bit enjoyable. And how many times does a show have to reference internet culture? It seriously got annoying after the second episode and afterward I wondered if I should drop this show or not. A girl saying to another girl that their skin is “like an iPhone X?”? And who else loves “game-streaming Youtubers?” I swear this script was made by someone who comes home after work from the studio for dinner and has to listen to his 11-year-old son blab on about internet things. Except this time, he is taking extremely loose notes. It’s mostly hit-or-miss humor except with the accuracy of a stormtrooper. They also leave many things open-ended, to the point where you can’t tell if they are serious or it was just a joke, and it was infuriating to watch and wait until they explain it again. Along with all of this, there is a random “mystery” element to it, as there is no explanation or clear backstory with Tsukasa. With that, they don’t give any further explanation why she is around and brushes off that element like it doesn’t exist. The main reason people seem to enjoy this show is because it is cute. However, I fail to find what is so cute about the same repeated jokes, Nasa acting like an awkward loser most of the time, and the side characters being absolute airheads. This is easily a 1. Sound Music is decent. The OP music is fairly interesting, as it has the vibe of Youtuber’s opening from 5 years ago, not that it’s a good or bad thing. There are also some notable VAs in this anime, like Akari Kitou, Konomi Kohara, and Sumire Uesaka. Each one of them has had their own big roles and their talent made this show a bit more tolerable. The music and sounds throughout the show, however, is a problem. It uses the wrong sounds at the wrong time. It fails to find the right emotion for the scene multiple times. This wrong use of sounds is recurring and can be unsettling. The soundtracks are catchy, so I’ll give this a 3. Art The art in the background gives a tranquil feeling. Definitely one of the better things in the series. However, there are some backgrounds and color combos that look like they were made in Microsoft 3d builder. The character designs are also one of the worst things I’ve seen. I’m not sure how people believe that these designs are cute and all. It’s expected during the hard times currently, but I’ve seen hentais with better character design than this crap. Its oversaturated colors and creepy looking eyes with their simplistic face structure make it hard to look at the half-decent scenery that was before my eyes. I also hate the blushes on this anime. Everytime someone blushes in this anime, it is represented by a bunch of red lines lazily stroked across the face. This is neither aesthetic nor appealing, and it looks disgusting. 2. Characters Characters are another black spot in the series. We have Nasa, and he acts like a clueless 11 year old around Tsukasa, the girl he fawns over. He’s absolutely hopeless in his love life and it is cringeworthy to watch the moves he makes on Tsukasa. And his personality? A textbook hopeless loner nerd, except without the harem, but still perverted. This is somehow meant to be “relatable” to the audience. What else? Oh, he’s smart? And guess why? He’s named Nasa! He felt obliged to become smart because his name was Nasa, which happened to be the name of the American Space Agency. I’ve heard many stupid explanations from anime, but this takes the cake. So let’s say he actually gets his goal, studies hard, and becomes a billionaire. If I were to see a billionaire with a scientific discovery, I’d still be reminded if they have some weird name. Like Stephen Hawking, despite him making so many discoveries, in the end he’s known for being disabled. Another weird thing about this show is that even though they bother to add a smart personality, it is almost never projected throughout the show. I actually forgot about his “smart” personality 7 episodes in until I decided to look back at the first episode, which shows how subtle and unnecessary this trait was. Now let’s look at Tsukasa, the most lazily written character. Her personality is quite questionable. She decides to save Nasa, a random guy at the moment, from getting hit by a truck and just survives. They don’t bother explaining why this happens until the very end. And like any other logical character, decides to marry this random person he saved 2 years later, because who cares about developing relationships when they can just skip to the end? There’s no effort put into developing her, either, as she still has no foreseeable characteristics or backstory. Oh yeah, let's make her underage, too. She’s 16 while Nasa’s 18, and they’re getting married… Cute, right? I get that Japan has a low age of consent, but that itself is messed up on its own. The intention for her existence is to give the perfect girl that the audience can suck-up to. Nasa and Tsukasa’s relationship goes nowhere as well, as after they get married in the first episode. The episodes after consist of either introducing side characters, Nasa fantasizing things to do with Tsukasa and failing, or doing “fiance” things like picking out a wedding ring, introducing each other’s families, and kissing. The side characters are unappealing as well, just whiny and annoying characters that provide random moments of fanservice. Let’s look into each of these side characters. First, we have Kaname. Kaname is Nasa’s friend and doesn’t make fun of his name. Awww, wholesome. Her entire existence, however, is to provide more fanservice to the audience, as she cleans Nasa’s bath while he’s still in the bath and makes fun of his penis. Her presence is an inconvenience and makes the show more uncomfortable. There’s her big sister, Aya, too. The reason for her existence is to have a random onee-chan feeling to the show. Now we have a textbook pervert and a textbook onee-chan. Really. The parents are pretty boring as well in their little appearance. If anything, they are a nuisance to the screen as they are constantly loud and worrying and I just can’t stand them. Now we can look at Tsukasa’s side of characters. There’s Chitose, the generic imouto/tsundere. She is the wannabe conflict in an episode, but after that, she’s just a whiny grudge that I despise every time she appears on the screen. And of course, they had to inject more generic themes, with her wanting to marry Tsukasa as well, adding an unnecessary yuri relationship that doesn’t even go anywhere. Another piece to glue into this mess. The maids in this show are really just there to be clueless and don’t have any meaning to them. All in all the side characters are a mess and uninteresting and exist only for the point of making the audience uncomfortable. Overall the characters are either annoying and have no sense to them or they exist for giving unnecessary fanservice. 1. Enjoyment I wasn’t able to find enjoyment in this show. As stated before, it relies on awkward situations and fanservice to keep the audience engaged. The show doesn’t even know itself what it wants to be, as it switches between random moments of fanservice and wholesome moments. It’s hard to tell if they wanted Tonikaku to be cute or uncomfortable to watch. It made me uncomfortable how they run time off of the clock making sexual jokes or giving compilations of Nasa failing to develop the little relationship that he has. It relies on the exploitation of an otaku’s fantasy of a girl just coming up to their door and wanting to marry him, and him not being able to do anything with the relationship to entertain the audience. This is yet another 1. TL;DR Story - 1/10: SOL so it’s not expected of a plot, but the premise is just plain stupid and the SOL is unfunny and tries too hard to reach out to the younger generation. Sound - 3/10: Pretty good OP/ED, but the song choices feel off during most scenes. Art - 2/10: Half-decent background/scenery, but the character designs are creepy and the art is oversaturated. Characters - 1/10: The characters either have no explanation or have tropes that aren’t used throughout the entire show. Side characters are inconvenient and give occasional fanservice as their purpose. Enjoyment - 1/10: The show doesn’t know itself, as it either switches around from cute to lewd moments in random intervals. Uncomfortable to watch. Overall Tonikaku tried hard to be different, but it couldn’t. It had no potential to be something and yet it tried to be something else. I suffered through Tonikaku. It’s a bad show that relied on random “cute” moments and unfunny situations in order to keep the audience engaged. Tonikaku truly wanted to be something, but in the end, it was a cliche mess. A cliche mess with uncomfortable characters, unbearable sounds, and eye-killing artstyle, and I’m glad it’s over.
KANLen09
12/18/2020, 08:33 AM
"If you marry me, I'll go out with you." - The (Princess Kaguya-ish) waifu material, Tsukasa Tsukuyomi: The modern-day sequel story of "The Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter's Wife". "Yes!! With pleasure!!" - The simp (that's not so simp) husbando material, Nasa Yuzaki: The man who'll achieve the speed of light faster than NASA! That's the only story plot "full of love and dreams" you need to know, an overnight done deal, and truly "faster than the speed of light". If you're wondering what Tonikaku Kawaii is all about, this is Hata Kenjirou (Hayate the Combat Butler!) flexing his marriage to Asano Mayumi (Sore ga Seiyuu!) in early 2018,that birthed the start of this amazing rom-com manga (right-smack on Valentine's Day in the same year, no less), and has finally come around to this anime adaptation (albeit under "Crunchyroll Originals" URGH). As a huge fan of the manga, I can't tell you how long fans have waited for this diamond gem of a rom-com to be brought to the small screen, and now this reality has come true. For anime-onlys, sorry, but you'll still have to read the manga regardless! Rather than going through the usual points (as my reviews tend to be), I'd like you to conduct this very simple checklist: - Wholesome, cutesy, adorable Rom-Com SoL happiness? Vanilla check. - Romance right at the START instead of the END? Story plot check. - Male MC not a clueless, spineless moron that thinks with his brain? Absolute check. - Male MC is a man of Kazuma-level culture and boldness? DOUBLE check. - Female MC not a violent tsundere bitch? Absolute check. - Female MC smug face? DOUBLE check. - Supporting cast isn't annoying AF? Hilarious, yet serious check. - Even the most annoying character (the blonde loli) is reasonably non-intrusive? Idealistic check. - No filler characters: Everyone seems real instead of feeling like they are being put there just for the sake of the MCs alone? Realistic check. - Great OST? Musically check. - "Meta" memes and references of Japan's pop culture and others? Extra check, if you're eagle-eyed, that's a plus. Good one on you. - (Most importantly) Truck-kun unable to Isekai MC? TRIPLE Check!!! If any of the points you see here checks out, then I'm sorry to say that this show is not for you. And yes, to add the salt and rub some more wounds, Japan's legal age for young marriages are truly a gleam of wonder, with males at 18 and females at 16 (and yeap, both Nasa and Tsukasa are legal of age!). Talk about moving past ALL the BS drama, troupes and cliches (NTR included) and dense "high school" relationships we've seen time and time again that gets old so quickly. What you see here, is what you get: a pure wholesome vanilla romance of a young boy and young girl, their marriage as fresh as their friendship-cum-relationship towards one another, exploring each other's quirks and identifying what is good and bad while holding no grudges, and more importantly, going through the rite of passage together as one of (if not) the best husbando and waifu couple pairings of recent times. Dr. Seuss even puts it best with this romantic quote: “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep, because reality is finally better than your dreams.” BUT, with a cinch of comedy, as Mae West puts it: “Marriage is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one.” WHEW, talk about idealistic (but realistic) gut-punching. In a nutshell: This is the marriage life of the Yuzakis': Nasa and Tsukasa, who only coincidentally met each other on a winter's night road, and within the span of the night, a marriage proposal is formed...and after 3 years of disappearance, the wishful thinking has come full circle. Day and night, this lovely and beautiful couple learns to understand each other's likes and dislikes for character development, all while committing "lewd" acts time and time again to amaze-balls of "will they get on it, or not?" (even right in Nasa's original home, such kind parents). Some backstories here and there that'll question you about Tsukasa's "immortality", but it's just a small set-up for both the anime and the manga (for now). Even with the supporting cast of the Arisugawa family of jokers: Kaname is a down-to-earth, but extremely fun and comical (best supporting) LIT younger sister; Aya being the complete airhead (of over 9000) of an older sister that has held her crush for the husbando (for far too long) and reverting into YouTubing after the damage is done; and not to mention, their loving-cum-merciless mother who always gives the cold, hard truths to the older sister with no remorse. Like mother, like (older) daughter. Also, the questions about the frustrations of blonde-haired Chitose and her able maids Aurora and Charlotte: Chitose seems like the typical "annoying AF" character that is the only opposing factor to the Yuzakis' marriage, but it sure takes a lot of convincing to get the mistress's mind straight and recognize that regardless of her actions, there's no stopping them both from divorce, and at the very least, she acknowledges that the marriage is here to stay. Both maid servants Charlotte and Aurora however, really punch in the "butt of the joke" towards the condescending naivete of the mistress, even Tsukasa (because she's THAT easy to be fooled). Carry the humour back and forth, because it's as hilarious as heck. The only thing that worried me about this adaptation is the "Crunchyroll Originals" tagline, because shows under the series get a VERY BAD rap for subpar production quality (remember Gibiate from Summer 2020 and EX-ARM for Winter 2021?). Well, colour me surprised, because this is one of the better low-budget productions (besides Onyx Equinox) that was produced decently. The production team over at Seven Arcs did a fine job at adapting Hata Kenjirou's work, and even in an interview where the creator himself said that "this work is left to good hands" under director Hiroshi Ikehara (mainly directing kids' shows) and his team, I was SO relieved, and watching this for 3 months, it held on its own pretty nicely. A pretty good job, if I were to say so. And the music, OOH. If that "historical-gone-total rap" feeling of an opening of Yunomi X Akari Kitou isn't a banger, then I don't know what is. While the ED is plentiful fine-ish, it does not get more important than getting the right VAs for both Nasa and Tsukasa. I know many have been asking for the old VAs of both main leads Hayate and Nagi (Ryouko Shiraishi and Rie Kugimiya) to reprise their roles, but what we got of the modern-day big favourites of both Junya Enoki (who's also Jujutsu Kaisen's main lead Yuuji) and Akari Kitou (who's also Adachi to Shimamura's main lead Adachi) are really good. Not quite the same nostalgia for die-hard Hayate fans, but definitely a worthy refresh for the times of now. If you haven't got the gist of what I've said so far, please go back to that checklist, because Tonikaku Kawaii is truly a masterpiece work of Hata Kenjirou's calibre as a veteran mangaka that knows what he's doing, and really moving hearts a plentiful with overflowing fluffiness. Fans of the Rom-Com genre should absolutely not swipe left against this show, because it is pure diabetes to your heart.
Luubie
12/18/2020, 08:28 AM
"It is a small step for man, a big leap for humanity". Neil Armstrong spoke these beautiful words in 1969, when he crewed his first trip to the moon. 51 years later, an anime for the first time the astronomical victory of mankind to create one of the coolest anime of 2020. And guess what? The small step is a wedding and the big leap is for a recent, sudden, but sincere and quite comical love. Once upon a time, a meeting between a simple studious boy and a genuinely beautiful girl. The boy fell in love at the first look, instinctively running towards her. However,a problem occurs: the young person is close to having an accident. Everything seemed to be disappearing in his eyes, as if death awaited him, until the girl saved his life at the last second. The boy then declares himself for his regret and receives an unexpected answer: I only accept, if you marry me. Thus begins the most different and enjoyable romance of the year. Tonikaku Kawaii, also known as Tonikawa, begins as the paragraph above and presents an immature and under construction relationship, something different from what we normally see. In romance shows, it is common to see an evolution between the characters, to develop something definitely achieved. Tonikawa reversed values that seemed immutable and created his own fun and exciting synopsis to follow. Nasa and Tsukasa are our team. The first is smart and studied hard to become ... an ordinary adult? Yes that's right! And I don't see any problem. The expected thing to do is to find the best university and have a job that recognizes all the effort of an academic life, but the reasons for your apathetic choice are in the small details. Not everyone wants to be the greatest sage on the planet, by the way, or show demonstration at each episode as advantages of Nasa, who rebuilt the bathroom of a former classmate and is constantly recognized for the minimal actions of his life. Tsukasa, on the other hand, is a very mysterious girl. She is reserved about her past and we don't even know her relatives, except for her sister. In fact, Tsukasa's sister is an important character in the couple's relationship (although she can be irritating in most cases). The show was able to use the sense of protection of one sister with the other, to give us a moral lesson on the reasons for getting married. "Marriage is not done with love already proven, but to prove love". These words were said by Nasa, as that Tsukasa's sister begins to ease her fears about her sister's feelings and comes to believe that all this madness can work. Since the beginning of their union, we have seen a positive evolution of the couple, where their love was characterized in detail. Seeing the episodes when Tsukasa moved during the night, in addition to Nasa's reactions, were cute to see. And behold, the groom has his first night when he slept badly. But it does not matter. For him, since he is next to the one she loves, he sacrifices himself to make her happy. Even though his house was on fire, he faces each event with optimism and obtains to unite the couple's relationship even more. And the anime brings even more fun things, mainly Kaname and Aya, two absolutely lovely characters, especially Kaname, who always finds his Senpai in an unusual situation, whether in a morning bath or in more intimate moments, such as small house that she offered the couple for as long as they need to move. The comedy genre makes us even forget about the show's romance proposal, which guided the story for most of its time. In addition, we had a fervent battle between all the girls, in a video game competition, where Aya stands out a lot. The episodes of Nasa's parents also contributed so that we could get to know our protagonist better! Who knew a boy would get married so soon. Not even his own family expected it. I imagine such a concern about leaving your beloved son in the care of a girl who barely knows her right. But the most interesting thing that I managed to get out of the anime was the theories about the bride Tsukasa. Her speeches from time to time have produced multiple interpretations as to her own origin. As much as we saw a cute and caring girl with her husband, she has an apparently well-experienced culture and worldview, as if she were older. Events like the couple's tour of Nara, her cooking methods, the accident of the first episode and her age are still a legal mystery to be seen. In addition, the author uses a reference to Kaguya-hime, a culturally famous story in Japan that can project a future in relation to the Moon, for example. It is no coincidence that we have the protagonist named after the American space station and "Over the Moon for You" as a continuation of the anime title. The show has already given us clues as to what is to come and I am really looking forward to a continuation. Anime is competent in what it does and it seems that it knew how to make good use of the national culture that the manga has, in the most tangible way possible. I hope that one day we find out who Tsukasa really is. Overall, Tonikaku Kawaii was one of the most respectable animes of 2020 and I hope he will always be remembered for reminding us that there are still shows that combine elements like comedy and romance so well. I admit that I was concerned to see a low number of characters for the central story, but what was delivered exceeded all expectations. The show was able to enter the anime platform and this is a good start for a well-known and famous manga franchise. The way of building the anime can be a bit annoying, with separate episodes in the middle of the couple's most remarkable moments. It probably made me give it a not so high grade. But, what matters is that the show went a small step towards becoming something big in the vast world of anime.
An1meDweeb
12/18/2020, 08:19 AM
Do you like cute things? I like cute things. When someone I follow sends a selfie with their pet, I instinctively leave a heart. I enjoy petting tame doggos, and instinctively "aww" whenever my infant relatives burp. There! Now that that's out of the way, let it be known to the jury that OP isn't a soulless loser who's incapable of enjoying cute things at surface level. I feel it's kinda necessary to point this out, as it seems that any discussion surrounding Tonikaku starts and ends with these three words: "It's so cute!" If this was seen as pure fluff and nothing more, Iwouldn't bat an eye. Instead, we're dealing with what is supposedly the SOL blockbuster of the season, and I'm not content with ending my observations by stating the obvious. So without further ado, let's figure out where this seemingly innocent show goes wrong as we take a closer, cynical look at the undeserving SOL darling of the season. This review is spoiler-free, but feel free to skip ahead to my Tl;Dr if you'd like to go in completely blind. "Wait, you're telling me we get to see them get married?" We've seen the same love story play out countless times before. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they struggle to confess, and the show ends right as the relationship finally gets off the ground. It's tried, it's tested, it's tropey as all hell. Aside from the "Will They, Won't They" conundrum, shows typically avoid romantic conflict like the plague. For whatever reason, audiences are sadly subjected to this constant retreading of material. Tonikaku's solution to all this seemed like a breath of fresh air: Put a ring on it! The series forgoes platonic courtship in favor of finally giving audiences a lighthearted take on married life. Our newly-wedded husband is Nasa Yuzaki, who at 16 almost had his life end abruptly in a disastrous accident. Miraculously he survives, thanks to the intervention of his future wife Tsukasa. On that fateful night, the infatuated Nasa asks Tsukasa out. Two years later, they get hitched, and this all happens in the span of the first episode. Sounds wholesome and sweet… cute even. But in spite of its promising premise, one can tell right away that Tonikaku has little interest in doing what we've already seen before. The building blocks are there to support Tonikaku's exploration of what being a married couple entails. Several segments of the show are fun mini infomercials, dedicated to going over the spending habits and practices of middle-class residents in Japan. The Yuzakis face practical problems on a daily basis, and learn what it's like to share a living space with someone from the opposite gender. The young couple also spend time dealing with the consequences of suddenly getting married, and Tonikaku does an impressive job with making their matrimony make sense in a lifelike setting. Topics include purchasing marriage rings, property guarantor laws, and dreaded visits to the In-Laws. These tidbits may be enough to placate audiences looking to get invested in some semblance of realism. While I did find those parts of the show inoffensive, any goodwill I may have had gets thrown out the window once the show settles into its repetitive groove. For most, Tonikaku's central conceit is the show's greatest strength; for others, its biggest weakness. On one hand, you have a show poised to deliver its spin on relationships not often popularized in anime. On the other, you have a show that intends to explore marriage only in name; even though Nasa and Tsukasa are a registered couple, they AREN'T married. They may go through daily-life struggles and share moments similar to those between married couples, but fail to put on a convincing relationship. Watching Tonikaku was watching two innocent children, whose pairing makes no sense outside of its shotgun-marriage premise, declaring sweet nothings and grandiose monologues about romance. The show trivialises and simplifies life-long intimacy to the point where the Yuzakis are barely indistinguishable from your stock "puppy-love" couples. That's not a bad thing on its own; not every romance SOL is required to provide some insightful truth on the subject. However, it's worth stressing that what the show is attempting is woefully at odds with what is advertised. Tonikaku is fully content with leaving its ambition at the altar, in favor of playing on familiar ground and formulaic jokes. The former greatly diminished my excitement for the story. As for the latter… well, let's get into it. The series suffers from its poor use of characters. By far the biggest offender is Nasa, who is kind, ever-prepared and intelligent… except when he's not. Tonikaku constantly destroys this positive image by instead handing us a daft teenager, who simped so hard it accidentally scored him a wife, almost at the cost of his life. Unless the plot demands him to be the purest snowflake alive, Nasa is possessive and downright horny. He finds strange obsessions within the most unassuming of situations; ranging from following his wife to the lingerie section, to awkwardly cuddling his wife as she sleeps, to undressing his wife in his mind as she changes in the other room (this occurs multiple times, mind you.) Not all these instances are bad, such as the scene in Episode 2 where the newly-wed couple share their first night together. It's at least a scenario unique to the show, and in small doses I'd find these scenarios to be mildly amusing… cute even. But then the joke just keeps going... and going… and going, ad nauseam. This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Horny Hyde dichotomy does the character no favors. I'm constantly told he's this unselfish and thoughtful individual, but I'm witnessing a child given the means to act out his flights of pubescent fantasy onto a fellow virgin. Speaking of Tsukasa, her utilization in the show is equally irresponsible. While her charming character is inoffensive, what sucks is that she's constantly objectified by her Hubby Dearest. These disturbing interactions make up a huge chunk of Tonikaku, leaving me unimpressed and unconvinced whenever the show indulges in preaching how kind and compatible and lovey-dovey our power couple are. It's kind of appalling how immature these characters are at times, and how they get away with their creepy implications and one-dimensional characterization just because "they're married." If the main 'ship is insufferable, the secondary cast is largely unremarkable. Kaname's sketches are the saving grace of the series and always put a smile on my face. Most of her gags are low-brow comedy, but they're enjoyable in a way that Nasa's simping is not. The key difference is that Kaname's jokes are very clearly meant to be provocative, while Nasa's testosterone-driven desires are framed as "wholesome." Aya's cluelessness is also pretty entertaining, with some of the series' funniest bits under her belt. Nasa's parents received quite a lot of build-up but fell disappointingly short of expectations. Lastly, Chitose and her maids are pretty awful, with Chitose in particular playing an uninspired tsun. She somehow makes Nasa look less dumb when she's on-screen, so that's quite the impressive feat. The show is disappointing to look at. Some shows' "chibi" slapstick asides look more detailed than the entirety of the series. Sure, it keeps in-line with the mangaka's drawing style, but the simplicity of the presentation makes me wonder if the studio picked up this adaptation knowing they could get away with a cheap cash-grab. The monetary cost-cutting devolved to unintentionally silly levels, when about 1-2 minutes of "Street Fighter V" screen-capture footage was spliced in throughout Ep 11. Tonikaku's OP could have nearly been the best of 2020, if the budget had not run out as the title card dropped. Nothing stood out to me in the score, and the VA performances are nothing special. Konomi Kohara (Chika Fujiwara, Yuuko Yoshida) sounds like she's phoning in her performance as Chitose, and doesn't sound like she's having nearly as much fun as she did in Machikado Mazoku. Tonikaku is no love story, it's wish fulfilment. There is no honest attempt at exploring married life, outside your every I-Love-Yous and embarrassed kisses. What we have instead are immature characters involved in a series of formulaic sketches that are either unfunny or disturbingly horny. I'd like to think that Truck-kun really was waiting in the wings to transport Nasa's soul into another world. A world only slightly different from our own, where the perfect girl falls into your reincarnated lap and is wholly submissive to your every request. And judging from the love Tonikaku is getting, there may well be an audience for this proposed isekai. Unfortunately, I'm just not a huge fan. Tl;Dr: In forgoing the confession phase, Tonikaku attempts to mislead you into thinking it sets itself apart from a typical romance story. Unfortunately, it's hard to see much merit with this decision when the characters are written with the same, if not greater, lack of maturity that plagues its contemporaries. Missed opportunities with exploring married life leaves a sour taste in my mouth. There are some moments that make for laid-back viewing, but Tonikaku's warped perception of love ensures that such opportunities are the exception and not the norm. Tonikaku comes across as a cheaply-produced "flavor of the month" SOL, that I wouldn't get nearly so riled up about if it wasn't so widely hailed as the Romance of the season. 4/10~ OK, that's it from me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to write about an actual good romance story… more on that soon enough. Thanks for making it this far in my rant, I apologize if I failed to communicate my critique effectively here. If you happen to like my verbose rants (they're a lot more civil I swear,) feel free to check out my other reviews for seasons past and present, peace~

Tonikaku Kawaii トニカクカワイイ

2020 fall | Episodes: 12 | Score: 7.8 (447424)

Updated every Saturdays at 01:05 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions | Warner Bros. Japan | KlockWorx | Shogakukan | Crunchyroll

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Enoki, Junya

Kitou, Akari

News

Reviews

Theprophet334
09/18/2024, 06:44 AM
The general consensus will put this anime around an 7-8 with my personal view however it was a phenomenal palate cleanser romance anime that makes jokes about the genre with it's fast paced development of the main couple stuffed with cute moments that are too much to bear sometimes. Romance genre in itself a lot of times can be mediocre and most shows try to use the same plot points to move the story forward with misunderstandings or love triangle debates. This particular show shuts down those tropes quite harshly specially the love triangle one it was the first time I saw it handled insuch a direct way that it surprised me in a good way even fan favorites like Oregairu, Toradora, Your Lie in April remain tainted by that trope itself even though those are decent shows despite them. Story itself isn't something you expect to get in a way the strong bond between the two characters are the highlight of the show with some side characters bringing good comedy aspect to it. Since I already said that it is fast paced in terms of seeing the couple get together it will provide some different perspectives on how do they handle this relationship. To be blunt in a sense it's something you think they rushed it and to an extent would even think that the girl has some big motives behind it but as episodes go on it's made obvious that she just really loves him but what most people who start this anime would not expect is regarding the backstory of Tsukasa which is neatly tied into the show with a lot of symbolism and references that gives you clue who she really is. Whether the watcher pieces it together without spoiling themselves is up to anyone but that is one thing that makes it more interesting than your general high school romance. Mc isn't a twink somethimes he is very daring as the relationship deepens but in a sense he is a general nice guy who got really really lucky but what the anime shows you about his past makes him very likeable. Art style is good nothing much to write home about it's really hard to have problems with it to be perfectly honest. Overall an easy recommend to people who are into romance and likes feel good anime similar to Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten but without dense mc and fast paced romantic development.
Huskkay
04/23/2022, 01:05 PM
PLOT It is pretty barebones. Guy sees girl, instantly falls in love, girl reciprocates the feelings for whatever reason, they marry and from there onwards, it is a mind-numbing slice of life anime. The premise is void of any logic and the execution is just as senseless. The show goes through a checklist of situations for both characters without any love for detail or complexity. Given, a simple narrative can be enjoyable but not if it is a complete snoozefest. Furthermore, they use a lot of comedy to try and make things entertaining, which is a fair concept, but the show's humor did not work forme at all. This comedic style only makes me roll my eyes. CHARACTERS Let's focus on the two main characters since the side cast is absolutely forgettable. Our main guy is Nasa Yuzaki and he has a complex about his name. For some reason, everyone chuckles and laughs about his name because it is the funniest thing ever if a guy is named after the American space agency. This humiliation motivates him to become the greatest mind ever, aiming for the very top. Well, all of it gets thrown out in the very first episode and his personality resets to a hormone-driven teen because he saw a cute girl. He is 18 years old but handholding is still way too risqué and he blushes uncontrollably if he talks with his wife for more than 5 seconds. Hopefully you enjoy this kind of "comedy", otherwise you will be miserable. Since I already mentioned the cute girl, let's shove Tsukasa into the spotlight. She resembles an AI that just knows the very basics of acting like a human. Seriously, she has no real or notable character trait. Her only purpose is to be with Nasa and fulfill his wishes while not showing any ounce of individuality. Well, her second one would be to sell merchandise. I am not joking when I say she has as much personality as a Roomba. There is no rhyme or reason to their relationships, it does not feel organic, and calling it forced is an understatement. I have not seen a single hint of actual chemistry between them. VISUALS I didn't expect much visual-wise since the anime clearly had not enough budget to pump out something stunning. The colors look washed out and the animation can get clunky but it gets the job done. Sometimes the screen is filled with a weird mish-mash of colors and shades but it is bearable. The worst offender is probably the character design, calling them grotesque might be a bit harsh, but no other word pops into my mind. To sum it up, the visuals are below average. SOUND Plain, unexciting and sometimes even a hindrance. In some scenes, the sound design just doesn't support what's happening on screen. It fails to be cohesive. OVERALL OPINION A cookie-cutter rom-com, but instead of clean cutters they used warped ones. Nothing works together, nothing about this anime is unique and nothing is memorable. Just another parasite wriggling its way into the romance genre.
Ultrayano
02/01/2022, 11:39 AM
I just want to leave a short review on why I only gave a 6/10. While I do love romance anime and like the feel-good aspect of a lot of SoL anime, I didn't quite get the same from Tonikaku. In my opinion, the best aspect of romance anime is when the two people you ship are unsure about how the other one feels, with a romantic finale of them getting together. I also don't mind a story where the characters are already a couple. The problem I saw with Tonikaku is, that there is notreally a story. I can pretty much tell the whole story in less than 5 minutes. Also, while the first episodes were cute as hell, it got repetitive really fast. Another problem is that there aren't really memorable locations other than the ones the whole anime plays in. There also weren't astonishing animations or pictures. They didn't cover the secret of her at all, so the mystic element is totally unnecessary in the end. Tonikaku is definitely a feel-good anime and pretty cute as it is. I just don't see it having 13 episodes and can't recommend it to actively watch or binge it. It's a really good series to watch for when you want to chill and feel good or to watch next to playing games or something else, but I didn't have the need to binge it as I did with 5 other anime this week with a romance theme or parts of romance. All in all not bad and totally wholesome, but a bit bland.
zoomerchris
01/23/2022, 05:40 AM
This anime saved my life. Before I watched this, I was trapped within an endless spiral of darkness and suffering. However, a friend informed me of the wonders of this show, and he saved me. The main character, Yuzaki Nasa, is a sigma male and inspired me to adopt a grinding mindset, or a 'grindset' if you will, and now I am a 6'4 buff male with a really kawaii waifu for life. Her name is Yuzaki Tsukasa (yes I stole Nasa's wife). The sound for this show is brilliant! The SFX, the opening song, the ending song- all of it is better than perfection,or a masterpiece if you will. I have dedicated the rest of my life to listening solely to 'Koi No Uta' (the opening song to this piece of peak fiction). This show surpasses all the greats, for example one piece, Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, Naruto, etc. This will forever be the saviour to my life, the light that brightens my soul with eternal happiness.
DonaldBiden
03/14/2021, 03:29 PM
“You’ve only got one life, so take better care of it, okay?” – Tsukasa Tsukuyomi Tonikaku Kawaii was a downhill ride for me. It started off great but the excitement faded in the final episodes. Story: 6/10 I found the concept very interesting; Nasa and Tsukasa get married and from there on you see their relationship developing. It did get boring after a while though. We saw a lot of romantic moments between Nasa and Tsukasa, but it was a bit too much for me. In the end nothing really happened, except for a lot of romantic moments. On the other hand, we had the whole "moon stone" thing,which hinted that Tsukasa may not be a normal human being. If this would be expanded on in season 2, I'd up the score. Art: 7/10 The artstyle isn't my favorite, but it was certainly not bad. The scenery was really well animated, but the design of the characters felt a bit plain to me, especially Nasa's character design. Sound: 5/10 The OP isn't very good in my opinion. It's not recognizable and it wasn't really that interesting. The OST's are like your average rom-com OST's that don't really bring that much to the story. It did accompany the scenes well though. Character: 6/10 I had mixed feelings about the characters. They were likeable, but a bit too likeable, especially Nasa. He's your typical "nice guy", who's always positive and is easily embarrassed. Those type of main characters aren't really my vibe, but he was not a character I disliked necessarily. Tsukasa is a nice girl who occasionally had some tsundere moments. There's also some kind of vibe around her that put me off. Maybe it's the whole "not dying after getting hit by a bus" thing. The side characters played their role well. They were purely there for comedic relief and there were indeed some funny moments. Chitose was pretty annoying to me though, but oh well it's just 1 character in the whole series. Enjoyment: 6/10 The show had its ups and downs. There were a lot of wholesome moments that I genuinely liked, but there were also some dull and boring moments that made me stop watching it. I was also hoping for some more comedy, but I guess the author purely wanted to focus on the romance part. Overall: 6/10 It started off as an 8/10 for me, but at the end of the anime I'll have to give it a 6/10. There were genuinely some wholesome romantic moments, but on the other hand some boring ones as well. I'd not recommend this show to a person who has already watched a couple of good romance anime, since it will probably not mean that much to them.
literaturenerd
01/08/2021, 09:30 PM
I was going to review Rose of Versailles, but I decided to binge this somewhat polarizing series on a whim. Most of the reviews I've read are either super positive and in the 8-10 range or super negative in the 2-3 range. I personally came down somewhere in the middle. I don't think this show is good by any means, but I also don't think it's offensively bad. It's just frustrating because it had so much untapped potential. How many beloved anime couples are actually married? Really think about it. I guess Holo and Lawrence from Spice and Wolf get married in the last chapter ofthe Light Novel, but it sure as hell doesn't happen in the anime. Mamoru and Usagi from Sailor Moon do get married but it's in the future and we never see much of what their marriage is like. Several Dragonball characters get married, but Toriyama doesn't write romance. I have zero idea how Goku and ChiChi's marriage works. He's a manchild that trains in the wilderness and sometimes occasionally comes home for dinner. What if there was a relatable anime about a young married couple and how they have to face the everyday problems of married life? There are many real life couples in their late 20s and early 30s who grew up with anime and who would really enjoy a show like that! Since there isn't a single anime that's like that, it would be a wide open market! That's an amazing idea! How could they possibly screw this up?! They screw it up directly out of the starting gate. The premise is actually one of the dumbest I've ever come across in anime. I've been watching anime since 1998, so I've seen some DUMB anime in my time. I do not make this statement lightly. Our hero is named NASA after the space institute because his parents are quirky and weird. He was so embarrassed by his name that he vowed to study until he became a genius and was the greatest student in Japan. Then nobody could make fun of him. That is one dumb motivation! One day, he's walking to school and sees a cute girl. He decides to rush across the street like a moron and get plowed by Truck-kun. Fortunately, this doesn't become an isekai. Instead, his life is saved by the cute girl. She starts to walk away, but he chases after her on 2 broken legs and with severe blood loss and head trauma to ask her on a date. She says she's not interested in dating and will only be with him if he agrees to marry her then and there. He agrees, but she disappears. Nasa then does what anyone would do. He drops out of high school and wastes his natural genius by becoming a delivery boy. This is all in the hopes of somehow finding that girl he met one time when he was badly injured and suffering brain trauma. She shows up 2 years later out of the blue with a marriage certificate and they get married at midnight. Their marriage is illegal under Japanese law since he's 18 and she's only 16, but the series never actually brings this up! It would technically be legal in some provinces with parental consent, but they pay some random homeless person to be their witness and the parents never consent! So the premise is stupid. So what? It's the execution that matters. Surely these 2 have great chemistry and are an adorable couple right? Nope! Almost every scene of them together was awkward and cringe inducing rather than warm and wholesome. Firstly, they have very little chemistry together and don't play off each other at all. Nasa is an awkward, geeky virgin whose only real trait is that he's a genius when the show remembers that he is. However, Nasa still has FAR more of a personality and character than Tsukasa. She's meant to be a blushing, Yamato nadeshiko but the show takes that to an extreme. She loves to cook, clean, compliment her husbando, and rarely ever speaks accept when spoken to. This makes her extremely boring. With a good anime couple, the guy will say something, then the girl has a witty retort, then the guy responds back in a playful way, and it's like a ping pong ball being lobbed back and forth. In Over the Moon, Nasa will engage in a long inner monologue about how cute his wife is and how maybe someday they might actually hold hands. Then he awkwardly asks to hold her hand. She then blushes and lets him do it. They never go back and forth exchanging more than 4 sentences! To the show's credit there is one scene where it reveals she loves trashy movies and forces Nasa to buy her a TV so she can watch Sharknado! Sadly, that's probably the best character development she gets in the entire show! I've read some bad fanfiction. I've attempted to write mushy, romantic fanfiction. The dialogue in Over the Moon is BAD even by fanfic standards. Half of Nasa's dialogue is just "I can't believe girls are soft! I can't believe her hand is warm! I can't believe girls breathe when they sleep! I can't believe her hair smells nice!" In episode 2 he asks if he can touch her body and she replies, "From now on, my body is an all you can grab buffet!". That's Sci-fi original movie level dialogue. That's reaching Tommy Wiseau levels of stilted and unnatural. I've covered the dialogue and lack of chemistry, but that's not all that's wrong with this show. You would expect them to tackle issues that young couples would find relatable. Maybe she snores loudly and he has to sleep somewhere else. Maybe their first time having sex is awkward and we get a comedic "training" montage. Maybe she gets stressed with school and they have an argument and need to make up. Instead they just do stuff like go to the hot springs or go to a festival or the kind of dates you would see in any other anime. They never encounter any of the problems that young couples actually face. If you've ever dated a woman in your life, watching this show becomes like watching aliens interact. It's not remotely realistic or relatable. I know they can't show too much because she's 16 for some reason, but I would expect an anime about a young married couple to deal with physical intimacy. Instead, they act like 2 middle school kids going on their first date. I know I'm not the first review to say that, but it's so true! After 3 months, she's sleeping on the floor because both of them are too afraid of sleeping in the same bed! After 2 months of being married, they act like holding hands is some SUPER kinky, forbidden shit. I told my girlfriend this show was written by an Amish otaku whose entire knowledge of relationships is based off a single volume of Love Hina that he secretly bought at Walmart. At one point, Nasa comes home from work and catches her changing skirts in the bathroom. She still has her panties on, but they both freak out. She then apologizes for changing clothes in her own house because she should have known he would be coming home around that time. Also she was in the bathroom, not changing right behind the front door or anything! Trad Waifu's puritan power is hitting levels that shouldn't even be possible! When I was in college, I had a project partner from Saudi Arabia who lived with his wife from a traditional, arranged marriage. I could never imagine her apologizing for changing clothes in her own bathroom. No human being would ever do that! As much as I like to dunk on this show and berate the fact it's rated far above anime romcoms that I enjoy like Karekano, the show does have moments where it's amusing. Tsukasa has a possessive little sister that wants to marry her and perpetually screams orders at 2 idiotic minions. Basically, her little sister is Emperor Pilaf from Dragonball. That at least made me happy. The random Sharknado reference was so awkward and out of nowhere it was pretty funny. The last episode was actually almost good and started to get near wholesome territory despite all its bad writing. I honestly don't believe this show was created to cater to incels as some have suggested online. It doesn't have ill intent and isn't deliberately reactionary in its gender roles or portrayal of marriage. The author really did want to create a wholesome, young couple and mix it with traditional anime quirks. In the end, it deserves indifference rather than vitriol. This isn't actually a hateful series, just a woefully underdeveloped one with awkward writing. They also shouldn't have chosen the director of fucking Ninja Slayer and Akiba's Trip to try direct a wholesome romance anime. The series dialogue was the man behind the series composition for Akiba's Trip, which is about a guy running around Tokyo ripping girls' clothes off to save them from alien parasites. Even with flawed source material, a better director and script writer probably could have made this work. Sadly, it's just kind of a wreck.
Zuit
12/22/2020, 06:59 AM
Can't understand what is so good about this anime for those who say it was the best title in 2020... It was boring as hell. The story was lame and pretty much pointless. 0 character developement either. Overused "omg she's changing I shouldn't look..." bull$hit. I watched the whole thing but couldn't find any enjoyable moment at all. The ending was pointless as the story led to nowhere. But the most positive thing about this... that I finally have an anime that I could give a 1 rating from the bottom of my heart. The house fire was something that had potential to move the story forward but it didn't.
Gaspar445
12/21/2020, 01:53 PM
In Nasa and Tsukasa's new lives as a married couple, there is no drama and there are no high stakes. There are no drawn-out misunderstandings nor are there frustrating love triangles. Tonikaku Kawaii is twelve episodes of unwaveringly cute and inconsequential romance. The art style is very reminiscent of the anime style of the mid 2000s with its most obvious comparison being Hayate no Gotoku from the same creator. Like the anime itself, the art and animation are inoffensive, simple, and consistent. The opening song "Koi no Uta" by Yunomi is a modern bop of this decade that contrasts with the previously mentioned mid 2000sart style. The sweet and sentimental sounding ending song "Tsuki to Hoshizora" by KanoeRana often pleasantly transitioned at the end of each episode. The voice acting performances from every character were entertaining and full of life. It felt as though the cast had a fun time doing their lines. I remember two years ago, I started reading the manga for this when it was brand new. I stopped reading after a couple of chapters because I thought neither of the two main characters had any personality, and more importantly, I thought it was ridiculous that anyone would agree to marry a random person they had not seen in two years and only known for literal minutes prior. After reluctantly picking up the anime, my opinion is a bit different. Looking at this set-up alone, it sounds like uncreative wish fulfillment. But how Tonikawa articulates its idea of love throughout the show helps make that initial set-up less and less iffy. Tonikawa leans heavily into things like love at first sight and true love. For Nasa, he knew the moment he saw Tsukasa that she was the one. Though he knows nothing about her at first, something inside him tells him that it doesn't matter and his love for her is real. Tsukasa's character is more of a mystery, but she, too, made the insane decision to marry Nasa. Despite the entire situation being utterly reckless and crazy, there is nevertheless this vague notion of pure undeniable instantaneous love that attracts these two to each other. I personally don't believe in something like that, but I've always liked the exploration of the meaning of love, and Tonikawa's idealist take on it is interesting to me. Also, the anime just puts a dumb smile on my face. So, I think Tonikawa's conflict-less and immensely fluffy romance works in two ways: It is a pleasant and cute show for those who want to watch two people endlessly flirt. It also justifies Nasa's immediate proposal to Tsukasa as well as her agreement to it. Their perfect relationship drives home the idea that these two really were fated for each other - that they lucked out on the one in a zillion chance of finding the person who is undeniably, without a doubt, one-hundred percent for them. To me, Tonikawa is almost so full of fluff that it's almost depressing because nothing as perfect as Nasa's and Tsukuasa's relationship would ever happen and there's no point in ever hoping it would happen and 3D is just one dimension too many and....... But overall, Tonikaku Kawaii is, well, cute.
CaptainKenshiro
12/20/2020, 09:49 PM
Tonikaku Kawaii is a series that uses a catchy premise in order to hook the audience but soon turns into something generic. Normally I would consider that to be a negative but in this case it works in its favor because to me said hook is unnecessary. There is a supernatural element in the series which is barely present, not really adressed much and on top of that it has no real purpose in the otherwise generic plot so why is it even there? I don’t know. Thus said element is so underplayed that even the english name of the show hints to it more thanthe series itself. Aside from fooling the audience into thinking there’s more with a 0.1% of mystery bait, Tonikawa definitely grabs the attention of the audience with its first episode because it begins where at least four decades of its genre usually ends. Even a romcom from not so many years ago like Ore Monogatari! seemed to move fast at first, only to slow down right after the main couple is established. Tonikawa begins estabilishing a couple, having them holding hands and even getting married and starting to live together! Is a series that understands that in this time and age, not even a generic romcom can attach itself to the way things used to be. If your series starts slowly and does not hook the audience pretty fast nowadays, you might as well give up. It also knows how to play with expectations because it indirectly mocks the isekai genre in the way the characters get to know each other, weird but effective use of trolling and comedy. So it knows how to get an audience and it avoids the usual slow set up in order to get to the most interesting bits of its genre but at the same time the first episode makes the couple to feel completely unbelievable. I mean come on, would any of this really happen? No, this sudden girlfriend/wife appearance can only happen in anime and it has since at least three decades, especially in the harem genre. You know, My Goddess, Monogatari, Sekirei, Campione, Rec, heck even Monster Musume, and above all High School DxD which even has a bigger similarity with this show by having the protagonist being saved by the main girl in its first episode. Another catch is the main protagonist who is far more direct than any other protagonist of its kind yet I have to point out how Nasa is really obnoxious in the beginning with his embarrassment towards his actual wife, and his referential comedy is easily among the worst I’ve ever seen. At least later on he becomes a little more direct and is shown as a capable guy able to manage just about every situation. From there, the series unfolds in a close to what would happen manner, the daily routines of this couple has to do with living together, getting more stuff, buying rings, getting another better house, getting to know their families and friends, all that stuff. Yet the tone is to the most part very light, there’s no conflict between the couple and their interactions stop at being cute. Also for a series with this fast beginning they sure don’t get any further than perhaps two or three kisses per episode with never getting to the juicy parts. All of the paragraph above is still questionable because a valid criticism which I’ve seen made about the show is how it plays out almost like a kid pretending to have a wife while playing with a doll. That has to do with Tsukasa being so... submissive. This is a thing which makes sense in an anime because it comes from Japan but man would it cause an uproar if it ever becomes mainstream in the west. I don’t mind that much but I would definitely like a little more proactive character. Her character stops at doing everything Nasa wants her to do, which makes him feel obsessive and possessive half the times. She’s also idolize beyond belief because she has all the traits otaku want in their perfect waifu. Tsukasa is cute, obliging, don’t want to spend much money, likes Nasa for the most generic reason that he’s kind and on top of that she’s a gamer, and that’s pretty much it. At least the references she makes are way better than Nasa’s. She sometimes let out some lines in the likes of “your tongue will be completely mine” or “I’ll let you see me on my underwear whenever you want to” that makes you think that something juicy will finally happen but nah, both get embarrassed and the show keeps being cute and wholesome. But since the tone of the show is very light and not serious at all, and Nasa don’t come off as too pervy or desperate to me, I give it a pass, however, if it tried to be dramatic or a serious romance, instead of a comical silly version of one, I would complain about it too. Their interactions alone would make the series boring very fast and that’s why more female characters keep appearing and thankfully none of them makes the show feel like a harem, except perhaps for the 11th episode, which was easily the worst because of that and because of the way too obvious Capcom publicity. Other than that all of the other girls are funny in their own way except maybe for Chitose who’s really annoying at first but thankfully Nasa is a capable main character who knows how to deal with her and it has nothing to with romance nor misogyny. As far as production goes, the show is nothing espectacular, it plays it very safely with ok visuals and ok sound, there’s people who don’t like Chitose’s voice and say her voice actress don’t fit the character, I personally don’t know her and her job at portraying an annoying little sister was properly done to me. What I don’t like is Nasa’s voice, he looks too moe for me and yet he has quite the deep voice which sounds older than he is and looks, with each passing episode he raises his voice a little so my issue with this disappeared as I got accostumed to his voice. Down to it, despite a forced and unbelievable but otherwise weird and somewhat interesting premise with a quick set up, Tonikawa is still a basic romcom trying to be either funny or fluffly, it has nothing offending nor insulting, it can be funny at times and is to the most part just a watchable time passer, it got lucky to come out in 2020 where there wasn’t much hype, and not having any competition in its season. Is just a romcom which you watch and enjoy with your brain disconnected or hate because you don’t like the characters, then you forget in a week after it’s over and you move on to the next of its kind.
somefuckingloser
12/19/2020, 04:37 AM
I don't know why people like this show, it was one of the most bland uninteresting and boring shows of 2020. Everything about this show comes from somewhere else and when the show is doing something new it is uninteresting. The main character is the same perfect yet perverted protagonist we see in so many rom coms and the lead girl is a hand made made perfect girl made to appeal to the majority no matter who you are who is strong and fierce but also is easily embarrassed and has a cute side, as well as being underage, all the things anime fans justseem to love. They go through the usual slice of life setlist including bathing episode, trip episode and summer festival episode. Disappointingly for many fans, there is no beach episode so they couldn't see their underage female in a swimsuit. Something to look forward to in the future I guess. While I'm on the topic of bland and unoriginal, we can talk about the art style which is the most generic thing I've seen in a while with many of the characters being coloured in some of the most putrid colours the artists could have picked for a pallet making the show feel rather cheap. In fact the entire show feels incredibly cheap with many of the backgrounds feeling like the pulled them out of the bottom of the anime background stock images barrel. Overall this show is inoffensive at best with other rom-coms from this year like Love is War S2 and Kano-Kari doing far better jobs for romantic comedies this year. I could only hope that this show is only a blip on the anime radar never to be heard from again but basing off how popular this show has been this season we will likely be seeing this again within the next couple of years. This show and its surprising popularity have led me to the conclusion that anime fans are so deprived of female attention that any show about some loser where a beautiful girl loves this loser unconditionally will receive high praise from the anime community at large. Anime studios may as well just start catering to incels in order to find easy success in future.
sushiisawesome
12/18/2020, 06:58 PM
Tonikaku Kawaii is essentially a story about the lack of familiarity involving love at first sight, and ends up discussing what does it exactly mean to fall in love, as well as all the emotions that come with it. It's a story about the irrationality falling for someone can do to people, leaving them waiting endlessly for a happy ending that may or may not ever come. The opening episode is a perfect example of this, showing Nasa falling for Tsukasa's strength at saving him while also setting up the abnormality between both characters - one who due to his obsession with success has noidea what moderation is, and is willing to go so far as to confess to someone who caught his eye, and the other for striving desperately to find a place to belong after being lost for her whole life without finding one. The Tale of Princess Kaguya being used as a metaphor for the entire story, as such, is convincingly tied to the dynamic between Nasa and Tsukasa - one of two lovers that were seemingly destined to meet meeting one another, and finding solace and a place to call home in each other, with even a timeskip taking place in the first episode perfectly symbolizing the distance between the two. Symbolism is only part of the picture of what makes this series what it is, but it's rather both characters and their attempts in understanding each other that also set this series apart from the overwhelming majority of the romance genre. Opportunities for drama arise left, right and center, but end peacefully due to the characters' relative level-headedness compared to most of their equivalents in the romance genre. One example that sticks out is how a side character had feelings for Nasa, and is clearly upset that she lost and desires to continue the good fight; instead of this leading down a path of overly melodramatic and extremely pointless drama, another character outright tells her that she lost because she was late to confess, and as such simply didn't deserve to win, a gigantic change of pace from series where hundreds of chapters are spent on this exact point, as if the audience couldn't have just understood that. Both leads don't magically get used to each other after marriage - after all, they're just two strangers who survived getting run over by a truck - but take time to hug, kiss and spend time to understand each other and their respective backgrounds, quirks and personalities. This ties into one aspect that's underappreciated involving the show, and that is how we just see our main leads do something other than get into pointless drama or bicker with each other. Small pieces of characterization are laid out for both main leads, ranging from foods they like/dislike to tastes in fiction to their own social lives outside of each other and how they handle people around them as well as character flaws they both have - Nasa for example, has spent much of his life seeking to be the best at what he is, and as such is an overly perfectionist acting nerd who gets overly zealous of what he loves. By extension, this means he's just about the most awkward person involving interpersonal relationships imaginable and often overacts or steps out of bounds - something that is not uncommon in conservative cultures, Japan being one such example. Tsukasa by comparison, often expresses herself poorly and doesn't know how to communicate her feelings towards Nasa, making her dynamic with him one where he's the hotheaded man of action to her relative more insightful, quiet personality. Both characters bounce off of each other exceptionally well, with clear development and progression over the course of the series as Nasa slowly grows more accustomed to Tsukasa's presence in his life, and Tsukasa slowly but surely becoming more expressive and opening up to him in her life. The comedy is an interesting beast to tackle involving this show, as while the rather standard production values compared to the likes of Kaguya-sama or Maou-sama de Oyasumi may fall flat for some viewers, the voice acting and sound design are worthy of a lot of praise. Voice acting is done exceptionally well, with Akari Kitou deserving particular praise over her performance as Tsukasa. Similar praise must be granted to Junya Enoki as Nasa, and Yuu Serizawa as Kaname, who similarly do an exceptional job balancing the comedy with the more serious moments in the series. A scene that is a particular standout is Kaname thanking Tsukasa for saving Nasa's life, which felt exceptionally well voiced even by the show's high standards. The music is also worthy of serious praise; the opening didn't do much on my end due to a rather poor drop when the title, well, drops, but the ending song is just a pleasant romantic song and essentially the de facto leitmotif of the series, with various tracks over the course of the show essentially being soft remixes of the ED. Character designs are basic yet lightly colored, fitting the overall lighthearted tone of the show, while also being capable of being more over the top in more comedic moments, though this would come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Kenjirou Hata's previous work in Hayate no Gotoku. If there is a miss involving this first season, it's rather that for all intents and purposes the gags often get repetitive though strangely oddly specific insofar as humor goes. One example that sticks in my mind is of Tsukasa having no underwear and going commando under her clothes, with Nasa quietly losing it at what's going on - while no overly offensive sexual humor happens, thankfully, it felt strangely specific for a joke and I was left wondering why. Much of the series' jokes improve from this point onwards in the manga - though it's doubtful this'd do much for you if this wasn't already your brand of humor - and the dynamics progress considerably over the course of the series, leading to another issue wherein the last episode adapts a few chapters where the characters are much more close to one another later in the manga than they are in the rest of the anime. Of course, and ultimately one can argue that the occasional oddly specific gag could well be because of the author very directly stating in an interview that he's placing many of his own experiences after getting married in the manga, which isn't exactly uncommon for any fictional writer, but I digress. Tonikaku Kawaii is a breath of fresh air for anyone who desires a romance series that incorporates popular elements and yet executes them exceptionally well. Some of its humor feels oddly specific, the production values while decent are nothing to write home about and some of the innocence involving the two main leads and their relative conservatism in approaching each other would fly over people's heads considering the cultural dissonance, but overall there's an excellent romance anime for those willing to look past otherwise minor nitpicks. I cannot recommend this anime highly enough, and especially if you are a fan of romance series; this recommendation extends to the manga, which only improves in quality as it goes on. Thank you very much for reading this review, any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Arin-san
12/18/2020, 12:46 PM
"You don't get married because you've proven you're in love... You get married so you can prove it." - Yuzaki Nasa First, one thing I want to make clear is that if you don't like simple romance with no drama, then you need to stay away from Tonikawa, because it's definitely not for you. Anime like OreGairu will suit you better. The beauty of Tonikawa lies in it's simplicity. It's not just another wholesome fluffy rom-com, it's much more than that. What I think makes Tonikawa the perfect rom-com for me is that how the romance isn't dragged out, there is little to no drama, whichis perfect for people like me. Not that I hate it, but I find it overwhelming, drama isn't something I'd watch every time, anime like OreGairu is good, but exhausting at the same time. On the other hand, we have anime like Tonikawa, which is completely different from that, it's something I could always watch. These kind of anime is precious to me, because it just eases my exhaustion of real life, it's a real mood refresher, at the end of a tiring day, I'd love to sit with a bowl of ice-cream and enjoy this sweet anime. It's THAT kind of an anime. Another reason why I think it's great, is because of how it keeps some question unanswered. And frankly, I don't mind it, it's only been season 1 and they have been successful to pique my interest in the story that if a season 2 ever drops, I'd gladly watch it, not just because of it's wholesome romance aspect, but also because to find out where the plot is heading, because there's clearly a plot and it's definitely heading somewhere, as hinted by the mystery surrounding Tsukasa. The mystery keeps the overarching plot alive. The plot is very simple, Nasa Yuzaki, our MC, falls in love at first sight with Tsukasa, our FMC. As Nasa tries to approach her, he gets hit by truck, only to be saved by Tsukasa's swift movements. Nasa doesn't miss the opportunity and forces himself to confess and ask her out. However, Tsukasa has one condition, they can only be together if he marries her! It may sound unrealistic, but nobody said it has to be realistic to enjoy the anime. The entire story is just Nasa and Tsukasa's compilation of learning how to be a married couple. Though, it might sound boring at first, it is far from it. This is where the wholesome part shines the most. Going to bedding shopping together, Nasa trying his best to make small living space comfortable for his new bride, Tsukasa showing Nasa how to make a proper meal, Nasa introducing Tsukasa to his parents, all of these small things are a big part of this show, and most possibly the best part. This is where the true beauty of the anime lies, simply having fun in your daily life, that's what this anime is about, for most of it's part. While some questions have been left as a mystery, such as Tsukasa's past, all of it just compliments the plot while keeping the viewer's attracted. Now onto the characters, one of the best aspect of this anime! While Nasa might seem like a very childish MC, I mean who throws away their life for a girl they barely know about? But it's no doubt how his love for Tsukasa is real. Though it may seem he loves Tsukasa just because she's cute (As per the title of the anime, Tonikaku Kawaii) he actually does love everything about her, not just that she's cute. During his speech with Chitose, he said the destiny is real and how he talked about his love to Tsukasa was just too heartwarming. Riemann Zeta Function is the very last thing I would expect to appear in an anime, using math to prove your love is also something I never expected from this anime. This just goes to say how he loves Tsukasa, a girl who he just met more than a person that you love and knew from a long time. As much as Nasa loves Tsukasa, Tsukasa also loves everything about Nasa. When she was asked about what he likes about Nasa and how she blushes a little while saying that she like everything about him, it's just really heartwarming. Tsukasa notices the littlest detail about Nasa and compliments him on it, and Nasa also loves when she compliments him, what can be more cute than this? Other than Nasa and Tsukasa, all other characters are absolutely adorable! Kaname, Aya, Nasa's parents, all these side characters, I just can't get enough of these adorable set of casts! The character who was a teensy bit annoying was Chitose, she reminded me of those generic Tsundere characters, other than that I don't hate her much. Also the voicing of each and every character is so amazing! I adore all the Seiyuus (Voice actors) working behind this anime. About the artstyle, it's adorable! I don't know how anyone could not like it. The artstyle just compliments the setting and couldn't be any better. The blush lines are kinda ridiculous, but I'd be lying to myself if I said that I didn't find that cute. The opening is just amazing, at first, I kind of didn't like the idea of EDM in an anime opening, because most of the time it sounds generic, but Yunomi changed my mind. I've listened to Yunomi before this, and I was very surprised that this opening was from Yunomi. And I was even more surprised when I found out that it was Tsukasa's Seiyuu who was singing the opening. Starting with a beautiful instrumental, when the EDM part started, it took me by surprise. Not only the opening, but the ending is beautiful beyond explanation. I have already listened to it an unhealthy amount of times, the piano's involvement in the ending is really great. I'm listening to it as I'm writing this review! It's really helpful and I'd suggest you listen to it while reading this as well, kinda gives a good feeling. And now onto the most important part, enjoyment. If you read this review completely then you know that I've enjoyed this a lot. There aren't many heartwarming anime like this, which is why this is so special to me. I remember making a thread months ago, asking for a romance anime with simple story, "I just want a romance anime where the boy and girl are simply in love with each other, and do relationship stuff together without any drama." were my exact words, after I saw this anime, it felt like it was just made for me. I couldn't be more happier, I enjoyed every second of this anime. I see a lot of negative comments about this anime, most of them complain about the same thing, about how everything is too simple, how much of a fool can you be? With a little bit of research, anyone could've found out that it's those simple SoL type of anime, if it wasn't your thing then why watch it? Many people try to bring real life logic into it, like how it shouldn't be possible for them to marry each other, blah blah blah. Oh please, this fiction, nowhere did it say that it's based on real life laws. I also don't get why people say that nothing happens in this anime, please don't be ignorant. All criticisms on this anime look very shallow, it's what happens when you try too hard to find something bad about an anime. Although I don't blame those people, even if I tried then I couldn't truly find something about this anime that was absolutely terrible. Fridays have been sweeter with this anime around. This anime impacted me in a way that Fridays will be a little empty without this, this is a huge success, and for that alone, this anime is more than deserving of a solid 9.
Xiao
12/18/2020, 11:27 AM
Story 3.5/10: Basically, Tsukasa (the female MC) and Nasa (the male MC) decide to get married after she saves him from getting hit by a car. Thus starts their marriage life. The whole anime is a rom-com of the newlywed’s beginning marriage lives and the obstacles of it: romance/relationship development, learning one another’s hobbies/interests, going on trips, shopping and cooking together, sharing a house, and meeting family members/friends. Sounds cute and simple, right? The thing is, coming into this anime, I never realized how childish it would turn out to be. Almost every other line that comes out of Nasa’s mouth is going on andon about praising Tsukasa on how perfect she is. “My wife is so cute.” “This is my wife, the cutest girl in the universe!” “She’s so cute!” Ok we get it Nasa, she’s cute, you already said that a hundred times. Is his genius brain so limited that the only adjective he could think of to describe her is “cute”? And to top it off, Nasa blushes and has an internal struggle for every small thing they do like as if he’s never interacted with another girl his entire life. He freaks out when they hold hands, when they sleep in the same room (not even in the same bed), when he takes pictures of her, when she changes clothes, when they go to the women’s underwear/bra section of a clothing store, etc. Seriously, this boy is so immature for his age. “Do girls really smell this good?” “I didn’t know girls were this warm.” “Girls are this soft?! Human hands are this warm...and feel this good?” “My wife wore these clothes. W-Would she get mad if I touched them?” “I want to hug my braless, pantyless wife so much!” What a joke. Don’t let the “marriage” title fool you, because the couple acts no differently from two children who are dating and live together. A big part of marriage is learning to share/budget money and compromise, yet the story completely glosses over any financial troubles by having Nasa willingly spend everything for his cute wife who he barely knows. Actually, what does Tsukasa do on a daily basis? Does she not go to school? What’s her background? What does she do during the day besides shopping, cooking, watching TV, and going to a public bathhouse? We don’t have a clue, because this anime does not care to delve into anything outside the couple’s superficial marriage relationship. Characters 2/10: Rom-com is a risky genre because there’s not much room for a really interesting story or a huge plot-twist. So if the comedy and jokes don’t land, what’s left? The characters. And this is what made the promising story fall flat. Nasa and Tsukasa are supposedly newlywed adults, yet they act like middle-schoolers. They blush at every single small physical interaction they have. Nasa has excellent social skills and is supposedly a genius, yet he idiotically runs into the middle of the road at night without checking to see if there’s a big-ass truck driving by and doesn’t bat an eye whenever Tsukasa says anything strange about how she’s lived for centuries. And he’s a pervert. It’s not cool to try to sneakily touch someone’s breasts while they’re sleeping or smell someone’s dirty clothes while they’re not looking and use a stupid excuse like, "but she’s my wife!” This anime tries to play it off as funny and cute but no, it’s not. It’s creepy. Tsukasa is literally the very personification of the “ultimate waifu.” She has a beautiful smile, is cute and sweet, has excellent cooking skills, loves pop-culture and movies, can save you from getting killed by truck-kun, and of course, is a pro gamer girl. She’s too perfect and has next to no character depth. We know next to nothing about her past, yet somehow Nasa never questions anything and doesn’t seem to be very curious about it at all. Are you serious? Talk about a shallow relationship. If Nasa actually cared one bit about her aside from her appearance, that should’ve been the first thing on his mind to ask her. The other characters are all just as bland. Chitose has a weird obsession with Tsukasa and is the one character who exists just to show strong opposition against their marriage. Her two maids are just there to secretly show their support for the main couple and have nothing else going for them. Kaname, Nasa’s childhood friend who is there to make “funny,” dirty jokes, stare at Nasa’s dick, and occasionally give Nasa advice on how to deal with girls. Aya, Kaname’s sister who has a crush on Nasa and basically plays the role of the jealous female love rival who stands no chance to be with the male MC, because there always has to be one of those characters. Art 6/10: Not much to comment on the art style, it’s very simple and cutesy. Not much detail in the characters or backgrounds. At least it’s consistent. Music 7/10: The best thing about this anime is the opening song. 3.5/10 Enjoyment: I really, really tried to like this show. It had so much potential. I kept watching in hopes that I would at least learn to get attached to the characters, but I couldn’t. Most of the characters do not act their age. This show has spent twelve episodes trying to convince me that these two couples are perfect and fated to be with one another, but I don’t buy it. I fail to see any chemistry since the characters are as interesting as a cardboard and they spend so much time getting embarrassed for everything. Granted, there were some nice moments that made me smile (ex: the explanation of the possible connection of scientific principles and love, meeting the parents, fireworks festival), but those few scenes were vastly overshadowed by the cheesy, repetitive jokes and flat characters. The funniest lines the characters ever say are the anime and game references but other than that, it’s just a constant recycling of the same type of cringe-inducing humor. If you think watching a boy constantly pander to his wife is cute and wholesome or wish to meet someone as waifu-material as Tsukasa is, then you’ll probably like this. Otherwise, I would not recommend it at all.
Shingster
12/18/2020, 09:54 AM
Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Tonikawa Over the Moon for You and while care has been taken to minimize story related spoilers there may still be spoilers within the review. You have been warned. Based on a popular manga of the same name Tonikaku Kawaii which is more popularly known by its English title of Tonikawa: Over the Moon For You is a Romance and comedy genre anime that gives us the unique opportunity to see what will happen if one day a book smart and friendly if quiet teenage boy that’s been long ridiculedby others on account of his strange name that’s coincidently the same as a famed national space exploration agency were to not only survive a near-death experience with Japan’s most infamous serial killer Truck Kun but also in the process encounters a beautiful girl who not only saved him from certain death by taking the blow for him but miraculously survives the encounter with only light injuries. Still, a dazed Nasa musters up all of his reserves of courage that he had been saving up and confesses his love for her at that moment fearing that once the night passes, she will vanish like the moon would do as day approaches but to his eternal surprise Tsukasa not only accepts but also proposes that they also take the next step and marry as well once they get of age to which Nasa wholeheartedly agrees before passing out. And as the fated day when he reached the age of adulthood finally arrives and as if drawn by fate the girl from that day who accepted his first-ever confession returns guiding him to the local marriage office to make do their promise and by nights end Nasa who never expected to find a girlfriend so soon was now at the tender age of 18 a husband who had a beautiful wife in the form of Tsukasa and on the cusp of starting a brand-new life together as a newly wedded young couple. While the hurdles that they will face will be many on both a social and a personal level Tsukasa and Nasa will do all they can to both support each other and adapt themselves in order to learn more about each other and cement their new relationship as husband and wife together. Hand in hand they will face whatever trials serve to impede them as they begin their new journey that’s filled with endless possibilities drawing strength from their loved one that stands beside them. In general romantic comedies is a genre of anime that I tend not to watch that often largely because the great majority of them tend to make use of the school as its main medium to which its story and characters are revolved around. While over the years there have been many notable series that made effective use of school-based settings as well as some that have managed to graduate to other settings in the form of The world god only knows, Yamada and the Seven witches, Anohana and Wotakoi I felt that to me this genre had become pretty stale and needed a sense of innovation in order to rise up once more. And this spark surprisingly to me came in the form of this series Tonikawa: Over the Moon for you. While the overall encounter scenario as shown within the first ep was not something that was ground-breaking by any means I felt that the character of Tsukasa specifically the sense of majesty and mystique that clung to her like a veil really served to make the episode and story advancement that she guided along click and while I was pretty sceptical of just how strong of a bond can she form with the clueless Nasa I confess in that my interest in the show was to follow on and see the kind of magic that she can weave in this new and sudden married life that both she and Nasa seemed to have gotten into and by the seasons end I have to say it was a journey that was really worth every hour spent on it. Nasa Yuzaki Nasa Yuzaki portrayed by veteran voice actor Junya Enoki of Kono Oto Tomare fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the primary protagonist of the series. Initially, Nasa was prior to the time skip induced by his meeting of his future wife a middle school third year but soon after reaches the age of adulthood by the end of the first episode. From his initial appearances, Nasa was seen to be a friendly, calm, and confident person by nature that approached each day with positivity and enthusiasm. While intelligent and logical Nasa was shown to be lacking somewhat in social skills and his common sense was seen to be a tad wacky at times as a result of his isolation from his peers on account of his unique name. While often leading to him being easily embarrassed and causing undue anxiety due to over-worrying this was countered by his fast thinking nature that allowed him to fall back on his logical side and bounce back up as demonstrated countless times within the series. Though the path of not only dating but also forming a new family by marrying Tsukasa was one that Nasa accomplished rather early in life by conventional standards it can be seen that Nasa’s base attitude of being kind, patient, and understanding along with his honesty the latter of which can often cause tension within a relationship actually served to become an effective foundation for his relationship with Tsukasa enabling him to not only coexist with her within their apartment with no trouble but also allow him to gradually peel away the walls that Tsukasa had built around herself to protect her heart. Key to this aspect of their relationship was Nasa’s extreme honesty and his relative inexperience in romance related matters that served to not only make things between them highly entertaining but also served to make Tsukasa let down her guard in embarrassment and support Nasa by revealing to him the things that ail her. At the beginning of the series prior to his meeting with Tsukasa Nasa was shown to be someone that was ambitious and determined to prove his worth to society which is largely a result of his unfortunate forename that served to make him the butt of jokes in society. On the surface, while Nasa was shown to have no visible ill effects from this treatment beneath the surface, he was shown to be instead rather weak-willed and indecisive and while not shunning society off as one would expect was seen to prefer going about his life solo when possible. Indeed until meeting Tsukasa Nasa’s circle of friends within his immediate area consisted of only the Arisugawa sisters Kaname and Aya whom Nasa was shown to have a strong bond with on account of the shared debt of gratitude that both have for each other. However, after encountering and subsequently marrying Tsukasa and starting a new life with her this sense of isolation gradually transformed with Nasa instead becoming more confident both in himself and in dealing with others. At the same time while still relatively inexperience in matters of bonding with others Nasa thanks to his adoration of Tsukasa sought to remedy this by learning not only how to bond effectively with others but also learn how to recognize their weaknesses and learn how to complement them with his strengths and in the process learning what is it really like to love someone dear to you. Within the series, this is best exemplified in Nasa’s core aim of providing Tsukasa with the best possible life that he can and make many happy memories with her together. Tsukasa Tsukasa portrayed by veteran seiyuu Akari Kitou of Grancrest Senki and Youkoso fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main female lead of the series. A mysterious girl that Nasa encountered after being saved by her from being killed off by Japan’s most notorious serial killer Truck Kun Tsukasa from her initial appearances were shown to be a quiet, blunt, and logical person by nature that gave off the image of being someone that was indifferent to the plight of others unless they were ones that amused her a trait that served in my eyes to highlight the almost ethereal beauty that she presented in her debut appearance in the first ep that almost resembled that of a goddess. A cool, calm, polite, and soft-spoken person by nature Tsukasa in the beginning while courteous and intelligent was someone that was shown to have a curious preference to stay apart from others though in her case rather than due to a desire to avoid personality conflicts for Tsukasa’s part it seems to be due to her desire to indulge in her travels across the land to learn about the land and gain new life experiences. While the transition from single life to that of a young wife in the course of one night was a rapid one it can be seen that Tsukasa to her credit was able to adapt to her new life relatively quickly without having to make any concessions. Indeed in this regard rather than lose anything Tsukasa while learning to be dutiful to her new role also gained the opportunity to show off her more playful nature that she had kept largely hidden from her surface personality. As the series progresses and Tsukasa’s personality is gradually expanded upon it can be seen that despite her quiet and standoffish nature Tsukasa was someone that was understanding, kind and thoughtful and was noted to be someone that was quite perceptive to both the attitudes of others as well as their own struggles that they’re trying to keep hidden. Though her default persona was the very image of a calm and composed young wife it can be seen surprisingly that this side of her was surprisingly vulnerable to being surprised which can lead to her mask to slip off quite readily and allow us to see more of her maiden self that was while humble and generous was also capable of switching emotions quite readily as shown when her family tries to involve themselves in her new life with Nasa aspects that served both to enhance her character’s cuteness while also demonstrating her desire to start a new life with her new love and start a fresh chapter in her life. While the relationship between Tsukasa and Nasa that serves as the foundation for both the series and her personal arc was one that started rather abruptly and one whose true nature remains enigmatic as the series progresses it can be seen that despite the speed of their relationship that transitioned from confession to marriage in the blink of an eye that Tsukasa’s love for Nasa is indeed genuine and serious and while the life of a wife is one that will be tough for one so young that Tsukasa is determined to live her new life as Nasa’s other half as exemplified by her determination to master all the intricacies that comes from the role while also striving to spend as much time with him as possible and build the one thing that until now she had been solely lacking which was a place that she can truthfully call home a place not surrounded by riches and servants but instead one that’s filled with people that’s able to offer you love that is heartfelt and honest. Overall as a character, I felt that Tsukasa was one that was both well designed and developed with her development from a mysteriously calm and cool-headed beauty that Nasa meets one night to a loving wife that while young for her role was able to provide her husband with a wife that was not only diligent in her duties in managing the house but also serve to broaden Nasa’s views on the little pleasures that lay hidden within society that’s best shared by couples who have both the time and the opportunity to savour them. Chitose Chitose Kaginoji portrayed by Konomi Kohara of Kaguya sama Love is war fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is one of Nasa and Tsukasa’s main rivals within the series though in this sense the rivalry is one-sided on her part. A member of the same family that Tsukasa belonged to before her marriage with Nasa and a middle schooler Chitose in her initial appearances was seen to be a confident, dignified and intelligent person by nature that despite being a noble was someone that was also humble, polite and kind and was willing to admit her own mistakes to others while being readily capable of understanding and accepting the feelings of others that she crosses paths with. While for the most part, Chitose’s upbringing and base personality traits serve to allow her to easily navigate the minefield that is modern-day society it can be seen that when dealing with matters that relate to her beloved Tsukasa that she sees as someone that’s akin to a dear elder sister to her that Chitose would show off a side that she rather stay hidden from outsiders which was the devoted younger sister mode. In the past when Tsukasa and Chitose were still living together in their family home it can be inferred that the relationship between the two was relatively strong and indeed on Chitose’s part due to a combination of her young age and the fact that her parents were likely largely away for most of the time she subconsciously began to view Tsukasa as her elder sister despite this being, not the case. As a result of this when re-encountering her after many months of not hearing any news regarding her Chitose was shown to be overjoyed and understandably rushed to meet her only to find to her eternal shock that Tsukasa had in the meantime encountered and hitched with a man that she had fallen in love with a fact that proved to be exceedingly devastating to Chitose. Suffice to say Chitose’s relationship with Nasa her beloved Tsukasa’s new husband from the onset was an extremely poor one as she viewed him as the thief that stole her beloved elder sister away and in her first encounter was shown to display a very rare image of her being visibly angry which showed well the depth of the anger that she felt at this turn of events and setting the stage for her to manifest her devious persona whose main role was to create plans that she hopes will be able to successfully break the bonds of love that had been formed between Tsukasa and Nasa and bring her beloved sister back to her just like in the past. In this persona, while Chitose largely retains her confident nature she was also shown to have become much more cunning in her plans and was willing to use any method that she deems necessary even if that meant crossing lines that she should not be crossing on account of her age and role as a middle schooler. Overall the character of Chitose I felt was an interesting character that served well to act as first a potent trial that Nasa and Tsukasa must meet and face in their new life as a couple, secondly as a source of comic relief that serves to enhance the series storyline by adding a sense of hilarity when the overall plot requires it and lastly as a link to Tsukasa’s past that will prove useful to Nasa should he desire to know more about his new wife though only on the condition that he be able to overcome the fierce trial that is Chitose. AMV In terms of character designs, I felt that the designs of the individual characters while relatively simple in concept and style were never less ones that were well designed and featured an effective usage of colors that were used to enhance the characters in line with their assigned personality traits. In this, I felt that while the designs for them were beautiful I also thought that they also harmonized well with their assigned seiyuu’s performances. Location variety wise while the series only featured a handful of locations to which the cast visited throughout their adventure I felt that these locations while still making use of the concept of simplicity as a strength were also ones that served to not only allow Tsukasa and Nasa to strengthen the bonds that exist between them but also in the process allow them to learn more about each other by finding activities that both enjoy equally. Within the series, these include learning the joys that came from owning a tv, the joys that can come from owning a digital camera and the hidden treasures that one can find at service stations, and the exploration of Nara which was Nasa’s homeland which also allowed Tsukasa and us to meet Nasa’s parents. Music-wise the series made use of one opening and ending theme which was Koi no Uta that was performed by Tsukasa’s seiyuu veteran seiyuu singer Akari Kitou and Tsuki to Hoshizora that was performed by KanoeRana. While both of these songs were excellent ones I felt that these two songs had very contrasting feelings and emotions when listened too with the former one being both cute in execution and theme but also highlighting the number of bonds that they had formed with the people around them while the latter served to showcase just how much these encounters have served to allow the pair to overcome the trials that they faced and in the process allow them to explore the land together happily and in the process allow them to make many happy memories together as well. Voice acting-wise I felt that overall the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main ones or support ones. In particular, I felt that Junya Enoki, Akari Kitou, and Konomi Kohara all did an excellent job at portraying the characters of Nasa, Tsukasa, and Chitose respectively. While I didn’t cover her within the character analysis, I also felt that Yuu Serizawa also did an excellent job at portraying the character of Kaname Arisugawa whose dirty jokes, harshness, and determination to push things through for Nasa and Tsukasa all combined to make Kaname an excellent support character and dear friend for Nasa and Tsukasa. Overall conclusion In overall Tonikawa: Over the Moon For you I felt was an excellent anime that had among its main strong points a unique premise, excellent story, characters, beautiful animation, and character designs, excellent voice acting and an excellent balancing of the romance and comedy aspects that served to make the overall tale not only sweet and cute but also served to showcase just how much the two main leads have been able to develop as individuals thanks to not only their efforts but the efforts of everyone around them. In overall I feel that as a final score Tonikawa: Over the Moon For you easily deserves a final score of 10/10 for while the tale may be one that is familiar to fans of the two genre’s and Romcoms, in general, I feel that the series tale that combined the classic boys meets girls concept, marriage, relationship expansion via a mutual deepening of one's bonds and the forging of near unbreakable bonds between them as they learn what it’s like to live their lives as a couple when combined with the dual emotional aspects of the comedy from Nasa and the emotional aspect from Tsukasa served to create a series that is one of this season's sweetest, most heartfelt and cutest animes.
dlxuniuniu
12/18/2020, 08:48 AM
How would you describe a HAPPY marriage in three words? - LOVE, HONESTY, PERSEVERANCE - RESPECT, PATIENCE, UNDERSTANDING Instead of the usual things, these three words can be used to describe Tonikaku Kawaii: - HAND HOLDING BUFFET - TSUKASA DELAYS F…… - MOON GETS MARRIEDHave your insulin syringe ready and follow the life of our happy and wholesome couple: JUST TOO CUTE. STORY: Have you ever dreamed of how nice it would be to be isekai'd by truck-kun and wake up in a world that is much better than your current one? Sure, this is a dream of all of us. That happened ALMOST to our main protagonist, Nasa, when he saw a cute girl on the other side of the street and therefore wanted to cross it. But instead of losing his life in this world, the sweet girl saved his life. Before he was finally brought to the hospital by the same girl and woke up there, he managed to ask her if she would like to date him. After a moments silence, she turns around and tells him that if he marries her she'll go out with him. Nasa has done everything possible to be able to see the love of his life again. Instead of going to high school, he decides to solely focus on jobs that involve delivery and serving customers in the hopes of meeting that girl once again. As in a dream, one day his Kaguya-Hime Tsukasa appears in front of his apartment and the paper they hand in at the registry office was the happiest document of Nasa’s life. From now on the daily life of our newly married couple began. We experience their stories, their first night together, their first and second honeymoon. Basically, every wholesome moment. There doesn't have to be a deep story behind it, but watching all the wonderful moments are already magical enough for us. CHRACTERS: "No matter what fate comes at me with, I should be able to do something about it." – Nasa Yuzaki. We can all learn something from his attitude. Nasa who would become “a man who's as vast as space...", that’s the reason his father gave him this name. He is very clever and proud of himself, our main protagonist is also one of the most reliable people. However, what identifies him above all other things is the love he feels for his wife Tsukasa. He fell in love with her at first sight and he always think how cute she if, every day, every moment. Where do you experience that in a marriage nowadays? "I would never marry someone I didn't fall in love with." – Tsuakasa Yuzaki (Tsukuyomi before marriage). She really loves Nasa, no doubt about this. Tsukasa has a mysterious background story, but not much is known about it so far. At first, Tsukasa appears to act very cool, calm and level-headed. But over time she shows a lot more emotions than just being calm. She gets embarrassed very easily whenever Nasa proclaims his love for her and how cute she is. Her hobbies are the same as us: Anime, games, movies, TV etc, at least one little thing in common. Besides that, she has a lot knowledge about the Japanese history. Even she knows deep down in her heart that Nasa could never love another person, she becomes jealous when Nasa talks to other girls. Having the Kanji “月“ in her name we can assume that there is certainly a connection to Kaguya-Hime. Standing in the full moon makes her even more beautiful. It is really fate that they found each other. The perfect couple. In addition to our main characters, we also have some excellent support characters. Let’s start with our Tsundere blonde cute girl Chitose. Tsukasa saved her from falling off a cliff when they were children. Since that moment, Chitose decided to use her own life for the sake of Tsukasa to pay her back. At the beginning she was completely against the marriage of them but seeing how happy her “Onee-sama” with Nasa-kun is, she is also very happy about it, although she does not let it be expressed. Without the whole Arisugawa family, our married couple would be in deep trouble after their apartment burned down. Kaname, the younger sister, has a very outgoing personality. Despite her young age, she is very mature and always gives good suggestions to Nasa-kun to help him out with his couple life. She couldn't believe it when one day Nasa-kun suddenly came as a married man. But she wishes the couple all the best. Her older sister Aya is a bit slow when it comes to understanding some important things. As a result, she did not initially get the point that Nasa-kun had married already. She had a crush on him since she was 10. But she never had the courage to confess her feelings to Nasa. However, she decides to not sulk over this situation to not make her first love meaningless. And with courage and pride she congrats with them for their marriage. The character development of everyone can be clearly felt, not only Tsukasa and Nasa have changed through the marriage, but their environment is also affected by it. ART: The art style also only has two words: cute and wholesome. Although it is not particularly eye-catching, you can feel the warmth this anime exudes. You just feel great watching this anime. SOUND: The OP "Koi no Uta" was sung by Tsukasa aka Akari Kitou. Her name is known for me since she voiced also my "Sleepy Goddess" Kanata Konoe from Love Live! Nijigasaki. In general, she has a role in many CGDCT series, such as Adachi to Shimamura, Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu or Re: Stage! Dream Days ♪. I also like all of these series extremely. We don't hear an idol OP or anything like that here, instead the music starts a bit more traditional and slower. But in the second part the music and the lyrics get much faster, you can tell that there is more movement here. The ED "Tsuki to Hoshizora“ on the other hand is performed by KanoeRana. She is quite new in this scene but her song is amazing. You can really hear the happiness and love from the music. ENJOYMENT: I enjoyed every episode, everything was just too wholesome. It's a very cute slice of life anime. This is a marriage that everyone loves to see and we can only wish them all the best! May they live happily together till the end! Please give us a second season of this wholesome- and cuteness!
Stark700
12/18/2020, 08:35 AM
This year, 2020, had a strange phenomenon of rom-coms. We had ‘Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It’ at the beginning of the year, where the idea of romance became an experiment as part of its storyteller. Spring dropped us into a fantasy world of reverse harem and otome tropes with My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Led to Doom. And of course, let’s not forget Summer 2020 that gave us ‘Kanojo, Okarishmasu’ a rom-com with relationships based on lies. Fall 2020 decided to give us a truthful romantic comedy of a married couple, and by marriage, I mean commitmentand a lot of romance. Isn’t this just a strange year? Kenjirou Hata isn’t known for being a masterpiece storywriter. Most of his works often deal with romantic comedy elements and among them is Hayate the Combat Butler. Watching Tonikaku Kawaii gave me a similar impression at first when we meet Nasa Yuzaki, the main protagonist who gets involved in an accident. Is it fate when at that moment that he encounters his future wife, Tsukasa Tsukyomi? And that’s the funny idea about fate. When we talk about fate, it seems characters are destined to meet and one of the recurring tropes from the author’s previous work. Nasa and Tsukasa develop a relationship quickly as they get married in the very first episode. If you don’t believe me, just watch their union and signed registration. When you have two main protagonists get married from the very first episode, there’s bound to be endless questions popping into your head. One of the first questions may be why these two would get married in the first place? Doesn’t marriage take time and commitment? They barely know each other but now are a married couple, a type of relationship that may last until death do them apart. From the very first few episodes, we can deduct that both main characters does have attraction towards each other. Nasa sees Tsukasa as a girl that you can only dream of even dating, let alone marrying. On the other hand, Tsukasa sees Nasa as a gentle soul with a selfless nature that truly values her well-being. However, the two are lack experience when it comes to actual romance. For instance, it took a lot of convincing for Tsukasa to tell Nasa to talk to her without being so formal. Tsukasa herself has trouble expressing her feelings and this usually translates into dozens of awkward moments between the duo. You could easily say that each episode is a test for the two lovebirds. Although over time, Nasa and Tsukasa learns a lot about each other and what it means to love. As mentioned before, marriage is a commitment and a lifelong vow. To comprehend this idea, Tsukasa and Nasa had to arrange their life into a state where they can live comfortably. This includes securing a stable job, buying the right furniture, and making time to be with each other. It sounds a lot harder than it looks but realistically, almost any normal couple would have to go through this process. For Tsukasa and Nasa, some unfortunate circumstances drops them into a temporary home in later episodes. It’s one of those old sayings where when life knocks you down, you have to get back up. From a storytelling perspective, the duo faces the hardship of life and reality. The main storytelling theme focuses on their way of life and how they live each day to be what they committed to. Despite some of the serious wordings of the plot elements, Tonikaku Kawaii is a fairly lighthearted show with tons of comedy and entertainment. You have to remember that the author wants us to experience a light rom-com, without too many tearjerking moments or despair. Indeed, this anime adaptation remains lighthearted that focuses on entertaining rather than a complex storytelling. With 12 episodes, the anime sets the bar for being what a rom-com should be although I emphasize that the ongoing manga is fairly long. In other words, this 1-cour adaptation serves more as a tool for viewers to get into the surface of the franchise. There’s a whole lot more down the rabbit hole. Otherwise, fans should be familiar with the overall tone of the comedy such as the character name gags (namely Nasa), misunderstandings, and other mischiefs. With its small yet colorful cast of characters, the author also borrows similar character concepts from his previous work such as maids. Characters such as Kaname, Aurora, Charlotte are decorated with maid characteristics while Kaginoji Chitose serves the role of a jealous girl who gets the wrong impression about Nasa. No doubt, Chitose causes some unsettling drama between the couple and some episodes shows that she can be an annoying brat to deal with. Luckily, this is where we see Nasa at how he tackles the problem in his honest and sincere way. In many ways, Nasa is the ‘nice guy’ in their relationship but only that he doesn’t finish last. He’s first to be married to such a perfect housewife. Studio Sevens Arcs may not be a powerhouse studio when it comes to animation but one thing is for certain, they managed to connect the dots in the right places for this adaptation. Tonikaku Kawaii’s visual style has a light touch with its character designs. It has a vibrant colorful art that retains the style of the manga look. Tsukasa in particular stands out as the poster girl and while other female characters are made with delicacy. Nasa himself also has a girly look despite being a male. This may or may not rub people’s impressions in the wrong way but for a rom-com, it suits them right. Plus, who can forget all those cartoony expressions. It’s almost like a dream fantasy for Nasa, being able to find such a perfect girl like Tsukasa. Fate tied the knots together for these two characters and by no doubt, they retain a faithful relationship. Everyday is a challenge and every episode follows their steps of this married couple. If only the real world is perfect with all that buffet handholding.
maidreamin
12/18/2020, 08:35 AM
I don’t understand the praise for this. Tonikaku tries to be different and yet it falls short. Actually, scratch that. It falls FAR from being any different from any rom-com that I’ve seen. It attempted to mix up the order of a cliche and yet it still is the cliche. The show doesn’t know what it wants to be itself and there is near to nothing redeemable about the show. I have plenty of reasons why, as well. Let's dive in, shall we? TL;DR at the bottom Story One look at the plot reveals that there’s nothing special. In summary, the protagonist, Nasa, gets really smart and later seesa girl he likes and is too scared to confess. Hmmm, I’ve never seen this before. But wait! There’s Truck-Kun to save the day! Truck-Kun hits poor Nasa while he’s crossing the road! But fortunately for him, there’s the girl there to save the day. Let’s take a pause here, the synopsis itself is unappealing. It glues a bunch of cliches together into one giant mess; a protagonist that likes a girl, a girl that he’s too scared to confess to, and a truck that hits the protagonist. This has been seen God knows how many times even the newest of new weebs find the concept repetitive. Of course, this smart guy decides to try to ask out this girl after nearly bleeding to death, then she says yes on the condition that they marry. Then after a long while of not meeting, the girl just comes to his doorstep to marry him. Seriously? I don’t care how many people come up here using their excuses, this plot is straight-up brainless, like the story was made using mad libs and you pick the words using a random word generator. On top of all of this, the show clearly wants to be different. The director was like, “You know what? Let’s just skip to the end and get them married”. This is an example of them wanting to drift away from a cliche. They switch up the beginning and the end in an attempt to “stand out”, because who cares about developing relationships when you can just conclude it in the first episode, right? But guess what? It still doesn’t stand out! Because everything sandwiched in the middle is just generic Slice-of-Life without a point except for introducing side characters or showing off their failed attempts to make it “cute”. This Slice-of-Life is pretty mediocre, to say the least. It relies on “cute” faces and textbook awkward situations to tick off time, and the jokes they make aren’t that funny. Caught sniffing someone else’s clothes? Freaking out about a girl sleeping next to you? Really? I mean, I guess if you like small penis jokes and guys freaking out about a girl sleeping next to him, then this may be a bit enjoyable. And how many times does a show have to reference internet culture? It seriously got annoying after the second episode and afterward I wondered if I should drop this show or not. A girl saying to another girl that their skin is “like an iPhone X?”? And who else loves “game-streaming Youtubers?” I swear this script was made by someone who comes home after work from the studio for dinner and has to listen to his 11-year-old son blab on about internet things. Except this time, he is taking extremely loose notes. It’s mostly hit-or-miss humor except with the accuracy of a stormtrooper. They also leave many things open-ended, to the point where you can’t tell if they are serious or it was just a joke, and it was infuriating to watch and wait until they explain it again. Along with all of this, there is a random “mystery” element to it, as there is no explanation or clear backstory with Tsukasa. With that, they don’t give any further explanation why she is around and brushes off that element like it doesn’t exist. The main reason people seem to enjoy this show is because it is cute. However, I fail to find what is so cute about the same repeated jokes, Nasa acting like an awkward loser most of the time, and the side characters being absolute airheads. This is easily a 1. Sound Music is decent. The OP music is fairly interesting, as it has the vibe of Youtuber’s opening from 5 years ago, not that it’s a good or bad thing. There are also some notable VAs in this anime, like Akari Kitou, Konomi Kohara, and Sumire Uesaka. Each one of them has had their own big roles and their talent made this show a bit more tolerable. The music and sounds throughout the show, however, is a problem. It uses the wrong sounds at the wrong time. It fails to find the right emotion for the scene multiple times. This wrong use of sounds is recurring and can be unsettling. The soundtracks are catchy, so I’ll give this a 3. Art The art in the background gives a tranquil feeling. Definitely one of the better things in the series. However, there are some backgrounds and color combos that look like they were made in Microsoft 3d builder. The character designs are also one of the worst things I’ve seen. I’m not sure how people believe that these designs are cute and all. It’s expected during the hard times currently, but I’ve seen hentais with better character design than this crap. Its oversaturated colors and creepy looking eyes with their simplistic face structure make it hard to look at the half-decent scenery that was before my eyes. I also hate the blushes on this anime. Everytime someone blushes in this anime, it is represented by a bunch of red lines lazily stroked across the face. This is neither aesthetic nor appealing, and it looks disgusting. 2. Characters Characters are another black spot in the series. We have Nasa, and he acts like a clueless 11 year old around Tsukasa, the girl he fawns over. He’s absolutely hopeless in his love life and it is cringeworthy to watch the moves he makes on Tsukasa. And his personality? A textbook hopeless loner nerd, except without the harem, but still perverted. This is somehow meant to be “relatable” to the audience. What else? Oh, he’s smart? And guess why? He’s named Nasa! He felt obliged to become smart because his name was Nasa, which happened to be the name of the American Space Agency. I’ve heard many stupid explanations from anime, but this takes the cake. So let’s say he actually gets his goal, studies hard, and becomes a billionaire. If I were to see a billionaire with a scientific discovery, I’d still be reminded if they have some weird name. Like Stephen Hawking, despite him making so many discoveries, in the end he’s known for being disabled. Another weird thing about this show is that even though they bother to add a smart personality, it is almost never projected throughout the show. I actually forgot about his “smart” personality 7 episodes in until I decided to look back at the first episode, which shows how subtle and unnecessary this trait was. Now let’s look at Tsukasa, the most lazily written character. Her personality is quite questionable. She decides to save Nasa, a random guy at the moment, from getting hit by a truck and just survives. They don’t bother explaining why this happens until the very end. And like any other logical character, decides to marry this random person he saved 2 years later, because who cares about developing relationships when they can just skip to the end? There’s no effort put into developing her, either, as she still has no foreseeable characteristics or backstory. Oh yeah, let's make her underage, too. She’s 16 while Nasa’s 18, and they’re getting married… Cute, right? I get that Japan has a low age of consent, but that itself is messed up on its own. The intention for her existence is to give the perfect girl that the audience can suck-up to. Nasa and Tsukasa’s relationship goes nowhere as well, as after they get married in the first episode. The episodes after consist of either introducing side characters, Nasa fantasizing things to do with Tsukasa and failing, or doing “fiance” things like picking out a wedding ring, introducing each other’s families, and kissing. The side characters are unappealing as well, just whiny and annoying characters that provide random moments of fanservice. Let’s look into each of these side characters. First, we have Kaname. Kaname is Nasa’s friend and doesn’t make fun of his name. Awww, wholesome. Her entire existence, however, is to provide more fanservice to the audience, as she cleans Nasa’s bath while he’s still in the bath and makes fun of his penis. Her presence is an inconvenience and makes the show more uncomfortable. There’s her big sister, Aya, too. The reason for her existence is to have a random onee-chan feeling to the show. Now we have a textbook pervert and a textbook onee-chan. Really. The parents are pretty boring as well in their little appearance. If anything, they are a nuisance to the screen as they are constantly loud and worrying and I just can’t stand them. Now we can look at Tsukasa’s side of characters. There’s Chitose, the generic imouto/tsundere. She is the wannabe conflict in an episode, but after that, she’s just a whiny grudge that I despise every time she appears on the screen. And of course, they had to inject more generic themes, with her wanting to marry Tsukasa as well, adding an unnecessary yuri relationship that doesn’t even go anywhere. Another piece to glue into this mess. The maids in this show are really just there to be clueless and don’t have any meaning to them. All in all the side characters are a mess and uninteresting and exist only for the point of making the audience uncomfortable. Overall the characters are either annoying and have no sense to them or they exist for giving unnecessary fanservice. 1. Enjoyment I wasn’t able to find enjoyment in this show. As stated before, it relies on awkward situations and fanservice to keep the audience engaged. The show doesn’t even know itself what it wants to be, as it switches between random moments of fanservice and wholesome moments. It’s hard to tell if they wanted Tonikaku to be cute or uncomfortable to watch. It made me uncomfortable how they run time off of the clock making sexual jokes or giving compilations of Nasa failing to develop the little relationship that he has. It relies on the exploitation of an otaku’s fantasy of a girl just coming up to their door and wanting to marry him, and him not being able to do anything with the relationship to entertain the audience. This is yet another 1. TL;DR Story - 1/10: SOL so it’s not expected of a plot, but the premise is just plain stupid and the SOL is unfunny and tries too hard to reach out to the younger generation. Sound - 3/10: Pretty good OP/ED, but the song choices feel off during most scenes. Art - 2/10: Half-decent background/scenery, but the character designs are creepy and the art is oversaturated. Characters - 1/10: The characters either have no explanation or have tropes that aren’t used throughout the entire show. Side characters are inconvenient and give occasional fanservice as their purpose. Enjoyment - 1/10: The show doesn’t know itself, as it either switches around from cute to lewd moments in random intervals. Uncomfortable to watch. Overall Tonikaku tried hard to be different, but it couldn’t. It had no potential to be something and yet it tried to be something else. I suffered through Tonikaku. It’s a bad show that relied on random “cute” moments and unfunny situations in order to keep the audience engaged. Tonikaku truly wanted to be something, but in the end, it was a cliche mess. A cliche mess with uncomfortable characters, unbearable sounds, and eye-killing artstyle, and I’m glad it’s over.
KANLen09
12/18/2020, 08:33 AM
"If you marry me, I'll go out with you." - The (Princess Kaguya-ish) waifu material, Tsukasa Tsukuyomi: The modern-day sequel story of "The Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter's Wife". "Yes!! With pleasure!!" - The simp (that's not so simp) husbando material, Nasa Yuzaki: The man who'll achieve the speed of light faster than NASA! That's the only story plot "full of love and dreams" you need to know, an overnight done deal, and truly "faster than the speed of light". If you're wondering what Tonikaku Kawaii is all about, this is Hata Kenjirou (Hayate the Combat Butler!) flexing his marriage to Asano Mayumi (Sore ga Seiyuu!) in early 2018,that birthed the start of this amazing rom-com manga (right-smack on Valentine's Day in the same year, no less), and has finally come around to this anime adaptation (albeit under "Crunchyroll Originals" URGH). As a huge fan of the manga, I can't tell you how long fans have waited for this diamond gem of a rom-com to be brought to the small screen, and now this reality has come true. For anime-onlys, sorry, but you'll still have to read the manga regardless! Rather than going through the usual points (as my reviews tend to be), I'd like you to conduct this very simple checklist: - Wholesome, cutesy, adorable Rom-Com SoL happiness? Vanilla check. - Romance right at the START instead of the END? Story plot check. - Male MC not a clueless, spineless moron that thinks with his brain? Absolute check. - Male MC is a man of Kazuma-level culture and boldness? DOUBLE check. - Female MC not a violent tsundere bitch? Absolute check. - Female MC smug face? DOUBLE check. - Supporting cast isn't annoying AF? Hilarious, yet serious check. - Even the most annoying character (the blonde loli) is reasonably non-intrusive? Idealistic check. - No filler characters: Everyone seems real instead of feeling like they are being put there just for the sake of the MCs alone? Realistic check. - Great OST? Musically check. - "Meta" memes and references of Japan's pop culture and others? Extra check, if you're eagle-eyed, that's a plus. Good one on you. - (Most importantly) Truck-kun unable to Isekai MC? TRIPLE Check!!! If any of the points you see here checks out, then I'm sorry to say that this show is not for you. And yes, to add the salt and rub some more wounds, Japan's legal age for young marriages are truly a gleam of wonder, with males at 18 and females at 16 (and yeap, both Nasa and Tsukasa are legal of age!). Talk about moving past ALL the BS drama, troupes and cliches (NTR included) and dense "high school" relationships we've seen time and time again that gets old so quickly. What you see here, is what you get: a pure wholesome vanilla romance of a young boy and young girl, their marriage as fresh as their friendship-cum-relationship towards one another, exploring each other's quirks and identifying what is good and bad while holding no grudges, and more importantly, going through the rite of passage together as one of (if not) the best husbando and waifu couple pairings of recent times. Dr. Seuss even puts it best with this romantic quote: “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep, because reality is finally better than your dreams.” BUT, with a cinch of comedy, as Mae West puts it: “Marriage is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one.” WHEW, talk about idealistic (but realistic) gut-punching. In a nutshell: This is the marriage life of the Yuzakis': Nasa and Tsukasa, who only coincidentally met each other on a winter's night road, and within the span of the night, a marriage proposal is formed...and after 3 years of disappearance, the wishful thinking has come full circle. Day and night, this lovely and beautiful couple learns to understand each other's likes and dislikes for character development, all while committing "lewd" acts time and time again to amaze-balls of "will they get on it, or not?" (even right in Nasa's original home, such kind parents). Some backstories here and there that'll question you about Tsukasa's "immortality", but it's just a small set-up for both the anime and the manga (for now). Even with the supporting cast of the Arisugawa family of jokers: Kaname is a down-to-earth, but extremely fun and comical (best supporting) LIT younger sister; Aya being the complete airhead (of over 9000) of an older sister that has held her crush for the husbando (for far too long) and reverting into YouTubing after the damage is done; and not to mention, their loving-cum-merciless mother who always gives the cold, hard truths to the older sister with no remorse. Like mother, like (older) daughter. Also, the questions about the frustrations of blonde-haired Chitose and her able maids Aurora and Charlotte: Chitose seems like the typical "annoying AF" character that is the only opposing factor to the Yuzakis' marriage, but it sure takes a lot of convincing to get the mistress's mind straight and recognize that regardless of her actions, there's no stopping them both from divorce, and at the very least, she acknowledges that the marriage is here to stay. Both maid servants Charlotte and Aurora however, really punch in the "butt of the joke" towards the condescending naivete of the mistress, even Tsukasa (because she's THAT easy to be fooled). Carry the humour back and forth, because it's as hilarious as heck. The only thing that worried me about this adaptation is the "Crunchyroll Originals" tagline, because shows under the series get a VERY BAD rap for subpar production quality (remember Gibiate from Summer 2020 and EX-ARM for Winter 2021?). Well, colour me surprised, because this is one of the better low-budget productions (besides Onyx Equinox) that was produced decently. The production team over at Seven Arcs did a fine job at adapting Hata Kenjirou's work, and even in an interview where the creator himself said that "this work is left to good hands" under director Hiroshi Ikehara (mainly directing kids' shows) and his team, I was SO relieved, and watching this for 3 months, it held on its own pretty nicely. A pretty good job, if I were to say so. And the music, OOH. If that "historical-gone-total rap" feeling of an opening of Yunomi X Akari Kitou isn't a banger, then I don't know what is. While the ED is plentiful fine-ish, it does not get more important than getting the right VAs for both Nasa and Tsukasa. I know many have been asking for the old VAs of both main leads Hayate and Nagi (Ryouko Shiraishi and Rie Kugimiya) to reprise their roles, but what we got of the modern-day big favourites of both Junya Enoki (who's also Jujutsu Kaisen's main lead Yuuji) and Akari Kitou (who's also Adachi to Shimamura's main lead Adachi) are really good. Not quite the same nostalgia for die-hard Hayate fans, but definitely a worthy refresh for the times of now. If you haven't got the gist of what I've said so far, please go back to that checklist, because Tonikaku Kawaii is truly a masterpiece work of Hata Kenjirou's calibre as a veteran mangaka that knows what he's doing, and really moving hearts a plentiful with overflowing fluffiness. Fans of the Rom-Com genre should absolutely not swipe left against this show, because it is pure diabetes to your heart.
Luubie
12/18/2020, 08:28 AM
"It is a small step for man, a big leap for humanity". Neil Armstrong spoke these beautiful words in 1969, when he crewed his first trip to the moon. 51 years later, an anime for the first time the astronomical victory of mankind to create one of the coolest anime of 2020. And guess what? The small step is a wedding and the big leap is for a recent, sudden, but sincere and quite comical love. Once upon a time, a meeting between a simple studious boy and a genuinely beautiful girl. The boy fell in love at the first look, instinctively running towards her. However,a problem occurs: the young person is close to having an accident. Everything seemed to be disappearing in his eyes, as if death awaited him, until the girl saved his life at the last second. The boy then declares himself for his regret and receives an unexpected answer: I only accept, if you marry me. Thus begins the most different and enjoyable romance of the year. Tonikaku Kawaii, also known as Tonikawa, begins as the paragraph above and presents an immature and under construction relationship, something different from what we normally see. In romance shows, it is common to see an evolution between the characters, to develop something definitely achieved. Tonikawa reversed values that seemed immutable and created his own fun and exciting synopsis to follow. Nasa and Tsukasa are our team. The first is smart and studied hard to become ... an ordinary adult? Yes that's right! And I don't see any problem. The expected thing to do is to find the best university and have a job that recognizes all the effort of an academic life, but the reasons for your apathetic choice are in the small details. Not everyone wants to be the greatest sage on the planet, by the way, or show demonstration at each episode as advantages of Nasa, who rebuilt the bathroom of a former classmate and is constantly recognized for the minimal actions of his life. Tsukasa, on the other hand, is a very mysterious girl. She is reserved about her past and we don't even know her relatives, except for her sister. In fact, Tsukasa's sister is an important character in the couple's relationship (although she can be irritating in most cases). The show was able to use the sense of protection of one sister with the other, to give us a moral lesson on the reasons for getting married. "Marriage is not done with love already proven, but to prove love". These words were said by Nasa, as that Tsukasa's sister begins to ease her fears about her sister's feelings and comes to believe that all this madness can work. Since the beginning of their union, we have seen a positive evolution of the couple, where their love was characterized in detail. Seeing the episodes when Tsukasa moved during the night, in addition to Nasa's reactions, were cute to see. And behold, the groom has his first night when he slept badly. But it does not matter. For him, since he is next to the one she loves, he sacrifices himself to make her happy. Even though his house was on fire, he faces each event with optimism and obtains to unite the couple's relationship even more. And the anime brings even more fun things, mainly Kaname and Aya, two absolutely lovely characters, especially Kaname, who always finds his Senpai in an unusual situation, whether in a morning bath or in more intimate moments, such as small house that she offered the couple for as long as they need to move. The comedy genre makes us even forget about the show's romance proposal, which guided the story for most of its time. In addition, we had a fervent battle between all the girls, in a video game competition, where Aya stands out a lot. The episodes of Nasa's parents also contributed so that we could get to know our protagonist better! Who knew a boy would get married so soon. Not even his own family expected it. I imagine such a concern about leaving your beloved son in the care of a girl who barely knows her right. But the most interesting thing that I managed to get out of the anime was the theories about the bride Tsukasa. Her speeches from time to time have produced multiple interpretations as to her own origin. As much as we saw a cute and caring girl with her husband, she has an apparently well-experienced culture and worldview, as if she were older. Events like the couple's tour of Nara, her cooking methods, the accident of the first episode and her age are still a legal mystery to be seen. In addition, the author uses a reference to Kaguya-hime, a culturally famous story in Japan that can project a future in relation to the Moon, for example. It is no coincidence that we have the protagonist named after the American space station and "Over the Moon for You" as a continuation of the anime title. The show has already given us clues as to what is to come and I am really looking forward to a continuation. Anime is competent in what it does and it seems that it knew how to make good use of the national culture that the manga has, in the most tangible way possible. I hope that one day we find out who Tsukasa really is. Overall, Tonikaku Kawaii was one of the most respectable animes of 2020 and I hope he will always be remembered for reminding us that there are still shows that combine elements like comedy and romance so well. I admit that I was concerned to see a low number of characters for the central story, but what was delivered exceeded all expectations. The show was able to enter the anime platform and this is a good start for a well-known and famous manga franchise. The way of building the anime can be a bit annoying, with separate episodes in the middle of the couple's most remarkable moments. It probably made me give it a not so high grade. But, what matters is that the show went a small step towards becoming something big in the vast world of anime.
An1meDweeb
12/18/2020, 08:19 AM
Do you like cute things? I like cute things. When someone I follow sends a selfie with their pet, I instinctively leave a heart. I enjoy petting tame doggos, and instinctively "aww" whenever my infant relatives burp. There! Now that that's out of the way, let it be known to the jury that OP isn't a soulless loser who's incapable of enjoying cute things at surface level. I feel it's kinda necessary to point this out, as it seems that any discussion surrounding Tonikaku starts and ends with these three words: "It's so cute!" If this was seen as pure fluff and nothing more, Iwouldn't bat an eye. Instead, we're dealing with what is supposedly the SOL blockbuster of the season, and I'm not content with ending my observations by stating the obvious. So without further ado, let's figure out where this seemingly innocent show goes wrong as we take a closer, cynical look at the undeserving SOL darling of the season. This review is spoiler-free, but feel free to skip ahead to my Tl;Dr if you'd like to go in completely blind. "Wait, you're telling me we get to see them get married?" We've seen the same love story play out countless times before. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they struggle to confess, and the show ends right as the relationship finally gets off the ground. It's tried, it's tested, it's tropey as all hell. Aside from the "Will They, Won't They" conundrum, shows typically avoid romantic conflict like the plague. For whatever reason, audiences are sadly subjected to this constant retreading of material. Tonikaku's solution to all this seemed like a breath of fresh air: Put a ring on it! The series forgoes platonic courtship in favor of finally giving audiences a lighthearted take on married life. Our newly-wedded husband is Nasa Yuzaki, who at 16 almost had his life end abruptly in a disastrous accident. Miraculously he survives, thanks to the intervention of his future wife Tsukasa. On that fateful night, the infatuated Nasa asks Tsukasa out. Two years later, they get hitched, and this all happens in the span of the first episode. Sounds wholesome and sweet… cute even. But in spite of its promising premise, one can tell right away that Tonikaku has little interest in doing what we've already seen before. The building blocks are there to support Tonikaku's exploration of what being a married couple entails. Several segments of the show are fun mini infomercials, dedicated to going over the spending habits and practices of middle-class residents in Japan. The Yuzakis face practical problems on a daily basis, and learn what it's like to share a living space with someone from the opposite gender. The young couple also spend time dealing with the consequences of suddenly getting married, and Tonikaku does an impressive job with making their matrimony make sense in a lifelike setting. Topics include purchasing marriage rings, property guarantor laws, and dreaded visits to the In-Laws. These tidbits may be enough to placate audiences looking to get invested in some semblance of realism. While I did find those parts of the show inoffensive, any goodwill I may have had gets thrown out the window once the show settles into its repetitive groove. For most, Tonikaku's central conceit is the show's greatest strength; for others, its biggest weakness. On one hand, you have a show poised to deliver its spin on relationships not often popularized in anime. On the other, you have a show that intends to explore marriage only in name; even though Nasa and Tsukasa are a registered couple, they AREN'T married. They may go through daily-life struggles and share moments similar to those between married couples, but fail to put on a convincing relationship. Watching Tonikaku was watching two innocent children, whose pairing makes no sense outside of its shotgun-marriage premise, declaring sweet nothings and grandiose monologues about romance. The show trivialises and simplifies life-long intimacy to the point where the Yuzakis are barely indistinguishable from your stock "puppy-love" couples. That's not a bad thing on its own; not every romance SOL is required to provide some insightful truth on the subject. However, it's worth stressing that what the show is attempting is woefully at odds with what is advertised. Tonikaku is fully content with leaving its ambition at the altar, in favor of playing on familiar ground and formulaic jokes. The former greatly diminished my excitement for the story. As for the latter… well, let's get into it. The series suffers from its poor use of characters. By far the biggest offender is Nasa, who is kind, ever-prepared and intelligent… except when he's not. Tonikaku constantly destroys this positive image by instead handing us a daft teenager, who simped so hard it accidentally scored him a wife, almost at the cost of his life. Unless the plot demands him to be the purest snowflake alive, Nasa is possessive and downright horny. He finds strange obsessions within the most unassuming of situations; ranging from following his wife to the lingerie section, to awkwardly cuddling his wife as she sleeps, to undressing his wife in his mind as she changes in the other room (this occurs multiple times, mind you.) Not all these instances are bad, such as the scene in Episode 2 where the newly-wed couple share their first night together. It's at least a scenario unique to the show, and in small doses I'd find these scenarios to be mildly amusing… cute even. But then the joke just keeps going... and going… and going, ad nauseam. This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Horny Hyde dichotomy does the character no favors. I'm constantly told he's this unselfish and thoughtful individual, but I'm witnessing a child given the means to act out his flights of pubescent fantasy onto a fellow virgin. Speaking of Tsukasa, her utilization in the show is equally irresponsible. While her charming character is inoffensive, what sucks is that she's constantly objectified by her Hubby Dearest. These disturbing interactions make up a huge chunk of Tonikaku, leaving me unimpressed and unconvinced whenever the show indulges in preaching how kind and compatible and lovey-dovey our power couple are. It's kind of appalling how immature these characters are at times, and how they get away with their creepy implications and one-dimensional characterization just because "they're married." If the main 'ship is insufferable, the secondary cast is largely unremarkable. Kaname's sketches are the saving grace of the series and always put a smile on my face. Most of her gags are low-brow comedy, but they're enjoyable in a way that Nasa's simping is not. The key difference is that Kaname's jokes are very clearly meant to be provocative, while Nasa's testosterone-driven desires are framed as "wholesome." Aya's cluelessness is also pretty entertaining, with some of the series' funniest bits under her belt. Nasa's parents received quite a lot of build-up but fell disappointingly short of expectations. Lastly, Chitose and her maids are pretty awful, with Chitose in particular playing an uninspired tsun. She somehow makes Nasa look less dumb when she's on-screen, so that's quite the impressive feat. The show is disappointing to look at. Some shows' "chibi" slapstick asides look more detailed than the entirety of the series. Sure, it keeps in-line with the mangaka's drawing style, but the simplicity of the presentation makes me wonder if the studio picked up this adaptation knowing they could get away with a cheap cash-grab. The monetary cost-cutting devolved to unintentionally silly levels, when about 1-2 minutes of "Street Fighter V" screen-capture footage was spliced in throughout Ep 11. Tonikaku's OP could have nearly been the best of 2020, if the budget had not run out as the title card dropped. Nothing stood out to me in the score, and the VA performances are nothing special. Konomi Kohara (Chika Fujiwara, Yuuko Yoshida) sounds like she's phoning in her performance as Chitose, and doesn't sound like she's having nearly as much fun as she did in Machikado Mazoku. Tonikaku is no love story, it's wish fulfilment. There is no honest attempt at exploring married life, outside your every I-Love-Yous and embarrassed kisses. What we have instead are immature characters involved in a series of formulaic sketches that are either unfunny or disturbingly horny. I'd like to think that Truck-kun really was waiting in the wings to transport Nasa's soul into another world. A world only slightly different from our own, where the perfect girl falls into your reincarnated lap and is wholly submissive to your every request. And judging from the love Tonikaku is getting, there may well be an audience for this proposed isekai. Unfortunately, I'm just not a huge fan. Tl;Dr: In forgoing the confession phase, Tonikaku attempts to mislead you into thinking it sets itself apart from a typical romance story. Unfortunately, it's hard to see much merit with this decision when the characters are written with the same, if not greater, lack of maturity that plagues its contemporaries. Missed opportunities with exploring married life leaves a sour taste in my mouth. There are some moments that make for laid-back viewing, but Tonikaku's warped perception of love ensures that such opportunities are the exception and not the norm. Tonikaku comes across as a cheaply-produced "flavor of the month" SOL, that I wouldn't get nearly so riled up about if it wasn't so widely hailed as the Romance of the season. 4/10~ OK, that's it from me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to write about an actual good romance story… more on that soon enough. Thanks for making it this far in my rant, I apologize if I failed to communicate my critique effectively here. If you happen to like my verbose rants (they're a lot more civil I swear,) feel free to check out my other reviews for seasons past and present, peace~

Tonikaku Kawaii トニカクカワイイ

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Tonikaku Kawaii トニカクカワイイ

North American Anime & Manga Releases for December

Q4 2022 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/6]

'Tonikaku Kawaii' Gets Second Anime Season, New Episode

'Tonikaku Kawaii' TV Anime Receives OVA in 2021

Fall 2020 Simulcast List [Update 12/1]

PV Collection for Sep 14 - 20

Fall 2020 Preview

'Tonikaku Kawaii' Reveals Additional Cast, Theme Song Artists

PV Collection for Jul 13 - 19

TV Anime 'Tonikaku Kawaii' Reveals Cast and Staff

Manga 'Tonikaku Kawaii' Gets TV Anime Adaptation in Fall 2020