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Sam Murai wrote:

I like everything about the show--character designs, frankness with teen issues, its dramatic content--but I can't stand Yamato, who comes off like an overbearing d*ck that's forcing Mei to love him to unrealistic levels (which counters the overall realism of everything else). He's supposed to be this good guy, but he can be so unlikable with his pushiness and him treating Mei like a third-grader.

I disagree. I don't really feel as though Yamato is being "pushy" or forcing Mei to love him. From where I'm standing Yamato must have god like patience or enjoy watching paint dry because if this show was as realistic as you seem to think Mei would've been dumped ages ago (assuming someone legitimately would have found her interesting enough to date in the first place). I feel as though Yamato bends over backwards for her to make her happy and to get some sort of return of affection back, but Mei is so stonewalled it makes you almost feel bad for Yamato half the time. She's so stuck in her own head that she self sabotages herself and the progress she could have in her relationships. Using being an introvert as an excuse at this point just seems like a cop out. I myself am an introvert and know what it's like to be bullied and untrusting of forming friendships/relationships with others, however when I find someone I want to have a relationship with I realize there's work necessary to go into that and maintain it and being closed up all the time is counterproductive to maintaining a relationship.

Well kakoishii, in the second half of the show, Yamato not spoiler[putting in the work he should becomes a major part of the story. He emotionally and physically distances himself from Mei and she doesn't have the experience and the self-confidence needed to confront him about it. Then Yamato distances himself from Mei again over a misunderstanding that he could have cleared up in two minutes if he'd just voiced his concern to her.]

Mei is not the only one who is unintentionally sabotaging the relationship, and at least she has the excuse that this is her first relationship. Heck, she didn't even have friends before she met him, so she has to learn how to relate to people starting with the basics. You can't blame her for not being an expert at how to manage a relationship. I mean, most normal people aren't good at handling relationships even after many goes, so expecting a shy inexperienced previously-friendless girl to do all the right things straight off the bat is very unfair.

dtm42 wrote:

Well kakoishii, in the second half of the show, Yamato not spoiler[putting in the work he should becomes a major part of the story. He emotionally and physically distances himself from Mei and she doesn't have the experience and the self-confidence needed to confront him about it. Then Yamato distances himself from Mei again over a misunderstanding that he could have cleared up in two minutes if he'd just voiced his concern to her.]

Mei is not the only one who is unintentionally sabotaging the relationship, and at least she has the excuse that this is her first relationship. Heck, she didn't even have friends before she met him, so she has to learn how to relate to people starting with the basics. You can't blame her for not being an expert at how to manage a relationship. I mean, most normal people aren't good at handling relationships even after many goes, so expecting a shy inexperienced previously-friendless girl to do all the right things straight off the bat is very unfair.

That's why I made the point to say that you feel bad for Yamato only half the time because quite clearly the other half the time he is himself contributing to the miscommunications and misunderstandings. Although, to be fair spoiler[when Yamato distances himself the first time it was only in response to Mei sending him mixed messages and then not clearing the misunderstanding up right away.]

I mean I get it to a certain extent, but story wise it's frustrating because her character doesn't seem to be advancing at any amount that isn't so small it's almost negligible. It just feels as though we keep going in circles with her character, whens it gonna click with her that if she wants her relationships to work she has to communicate? Again I get it, with relationships nobody is perfect, but were still at step one here where she actually has to open her mouth and voice an opinion before anything gets going. You want to be closer with your friends? Invite them to go shopping with you. Invite them to a sleep over. Make some sort of plans instead of acting like you don't want to hang out with them half the time, and acting all sad when they decide to do something without you. You're too nervous to say exactly how you feel about Yamato? Tell him that, otherwise he won't know what you're thinking. Sorry, it's just watching Mei makes me want to jump through the screen and shake her multiple times an episode. Heroines that lack agency really, really bother me.

kakoishii wrote:

Sam Murai wrote:

I like everything about the show--character designs, frankness with teen issues, its dramatic content--but I can't stand Yamato, who comes off like an overbearing d*ck that's forcing Mei to love him to unrealistic levels (which counters the overall realism of everything else). He's supposed to be this good guy, but he can be so unlikable with his pushiness and him treating Mei like a third-grader.

I disagree. I don't really feel as though Yamato is being "pushy" or forcing Mei to love him. From where I'm standing Yamato must have god like patience or enjoy watching paint dry because if this show was as realistic as you seem to think Mei would've been dumped ages ago...

This is why I dropped it at around the mid-point. I couldn't stand Mei's constant whimpering about him not liking her, when half way into the series she had given him absolutely nothing to work with or encourage him, not so much as a smile. Instead all he ever got as feedback was her wide-eyed looks of sheer terror.

It wasn't so much Yamato actually forcing himself on her, as her making him feel like he was, or worse, making the viewer feel like he was, because any normal guy would've said, "Okay, sorry, I know when I'm not wanted," and moved on.

Does anyone else have a problem watching this show because the boys are simply drawn so poorly? I mean, its refreshing that they're badly drawn and all, but that hair. That horrible hair.

And then I read the manga and realized, this mangaka really can't draw boys.

How come people don't like Yamato's hair?! I think it makes him insanely handsome. That and that Takahiro Sakurai voices him anyway.

But seriously, I do like Yamato's hair. It's a refreshment compared to your standard anime-dude hair - a) flat and parted in the middle b)long and messy c) short and spiky-

Gina Szanboti wrote:

kakoishii wrote:

Sam Murai wrote:

I like everything about the show--character designs, frankness with teen issues, its dramatic content--but I can't stand Yamato, who comes off like an overbearing d*ck that's forcing Mei to love him to unrealistic levels (which counters the overall realism of everything else). He's supposed to be this good guy, but he can be so unlikable with his pushiness and him treating Mei like a third-grader.

I disagree. I don't really feel as though Yamato is being "pushy" or forcing Mei to love him. From where I'm standing Yamato must have god like patience or enjoy watching paint dry because if this show was as realistic as you seem to think Mei would've been dumped ages ago...

This is why I dropped it at around the mid-point. I couldn't stand Mei's constant whimpering about him not liking her, when half way into the series she had given him absolutely nothing to work with or encourage him, not so much as a smile. Instead all he ever got as feedback was her wide-eyed looks of sheer terror.

It wasn't so much Yamato actually forcing himself on her, as her making him feel like he was, or worse, making the viewer feel like he was, because any normal guy would've said, "Okay, sorry, I know when I'm not wanted," and moved on.

What you all are highlighting is the usual generic shoujo romance trope, the inhibition of communication causing misunderstandings and misconceptions. The lesson of this is "it's good to talk" but this is what happens in adolescent love affairs. inexperience causes inhibitions because of fear of total rejection. Each is waiting for the other to break the silence, or decipher the non-verbal signals sent but unable to understand because the other doesn't know the code. 'tis one of the early lessons of life. Also some said this was Mei's "first love, or relationship." If this is the case just what was the "betrayal" that badly damaged her to cause her to be such social recluse? I know it was vaguely mentioned, but I presumed it was a betrayal of a loving relationship, to which this would be her second. Perhaps I presume too much.

Mohawk52 wrote:

Gina Szanboti wrote:

kakoishii wrote:

Sam Murai wrote:

I like everything about the show--character designs, frankness with teen issues, its dramatic content--but I can't stand Yamato, who comes off like an overbearing d*ck that's forcing Mei to love him to unrealistic levels (which counters the overall realism of everything else). He's supposed to be this good guy, but he can be so unlikable with his pushiness and him treating Mei like a third-grader.

I disagree. I don't really feel as though Yamato is being "pushy" or forcing Mei to love him. From where I'm standing Yamato must have god like patience or enjoy watching paint dry because if this show was as realistic as you seem to think Mei would've been dumped ages ago...

This is why I dropped it at around the mid-point. I couldn't stand Mei's constant whimpering about him not liking her, when half way into the series she had given him absolutely nothing to work with or encourage him, not so much as a smile. Instead all he ever got as feedback was her wide-eyed looks of sheer terror.

It wasn't so much Yamato actually forcing himself on her, as her making him feel like he was, or worse, making the viewer feel like he was, because any normal guy would've said, "Okay, sorry, I know when I'm not wanted," and moved on.

What you all are highlighting is the usual generic shoujo romance trope, the inhibition of communication causing misunderstandings and misconceptions. The lesson of this is "it's good to talk" but this is what happens in adolescent love affairs. inexperience causes inhibitions because of fear of total rejection. Each is waiting for the other to break the silence, or decipher the non-verbal signals sent but unable to understand because the other doesn't know the code. 'tis one of the early lessons of life. Also some said this was Mei's "first love, or relationship." If this is the case just what was the "betrayal" that badly damaged her to cause her to be such social recluse? I know it was vaguely mentioned, but I presumed it was a betrayal of a loving relationship, to which this would be her second. Perhaps I presume too much.

the betrayal is kind of quickly covered in the first minute or two of the first episode where people Mei had thought were her friends had used her as a scapegoat for the death of a class pet. As for miscommunication being the seed of all relationship troubles in shoujo, more or less I agree with you, however the difference is in other shoujo series I've watched where this occurs although just as frustrating at the very least some form of communication exists it's just misinterpreted causing the misunderstanding. In sukitte, the misunderstanding is caused because no communication exists, like at all. That makes it even more frustrating because it's not as if Yamato heard the tail end of a conversation on Mei's end and jumped to a wrong conclusion, it's Mei's refusal to say much of anything that's causing all the trouble, and that's the most annoying part.

Mohawk52 wrote:

What you all are highlighting is the usual generic shoujo romance trope, the inhibition of communication causing misunderstandings and misconceptions.

Yeah, I despise that too, but this was on a whole nother level. This wasn't misunderstanding, this was nearly catatonic withdrawal which only became worse in his presence, not better. Merely looking at her and smiling seemed to drive her deeper into her bunker instead of drawing her out. Again, I could have stuck with it had she ever given him the least little amount of positive feedback in her facial expressions or body language - something, anything that could have counted as encouragement, but it appeared that was never going to happen until the last episode, maybe, so unlike Yamato, I bailed.

Just so you know, the anime changed many events during the misunderstanding problem and in my opinion they made it worse than it already was.

My list of disappointments of the anime adaptation:
1) This is a smut manga so sex was one of the main themes here.

2) The lack of the secondary character stories. The anime only focused on Yamato and Mei while the rest of the secondary characters were just briefly mentioned, except Megu (and even so her story was very rushed).
In fact, Mei really shines when she helps these characters.

3) Mei's evolution. When you start reading more and more chapters of the manga you're eventually seeing how she's growing both physically and psychologically.
Just read the latest translated chapter and compare her to the first one. She's changed a lot. Or just look at the manga covers.

4) Lack of Kai's interactions with Mei and his friendship moments with Yamato.
In the anime spoiler[Kai's falling in love with Mei isn't very realistic compared to the manga where they talked many times and discovered they have many things in common. Also, Kai and Yamato became friends again before Kai fell in love with Mei and never fought with each other. Yamato became jealous of Kai because Mei could act naturally and talk about anything with him unlike when she is with Yamato.
But at least Yamato recognizes he was being unreasonable because he is too in love with Mei and wants her only to look at him.
It didn't help that Megu in the manga was more of a bitch, told Mei that she was unnecessary and made her think that her friends preferred Megu over her so that she could return to her old self of not wanting friends and being alone.]

5) Mei's childhood trauma that made her despise people. The first episode only showed little part of it.

Out of the 3 shojos I think this was the "worst" adaptation but I don't think it really isn't bad. The last episode kind of reminded of Honey and Clover and was very beautiful.
Kamisama Hajimemashita is the best one in my opinion, although some people maybe won't like that the atmosphere is too shoujo-ish. [/spoiler]

daisy23 wrote:

My list of disappointments of the anime adaptation:
1) This is a smut manga so sex was one of the main themes here.

I heard about that too, so I was waiting for the anime. I am still waiting. lol

From your accounts it sounds like one of the adaptations being worse than the original. All the things you listed were done very well by Tonari no Koibutsu-kun, however. I still love Kamishita more, than the other two, its characters are just much more likable.

^Compared to other smut mangas there isn't that much sex -one of the big questions of the manga is when will Yamato and Mei sleep together-.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun definitely didn't disappoint and the adaptation was well done, after all it's Brains Base the one which adapted it and I've liked all the animes I've seen by the studio.
But totally agree with you, Kamisama still was more enjoyable to me. They made a number of changes and introduced elements of future chapters -some of them were recently addressed in the manga- but it wasn't bothersome and in fact some of the changes played in the anime's favor.

I thought the show was brilliant. Yes, it is not the same as the manga, but they had limited episodes and budget to pull it off. They couldn't have put more emphasis on secondary characters with such a few number of episodes but they got the feel right. Also, the mature take on romance and very sharp writing really helps.

Someone said 'sexist undertones' about the show's first few episodes, but that is one of many topics the show subverts very well.

Pound for pound, the show easily had some of the best written dialog in anime this year for me.

Review mentioning that the negative part is 'shoujo cliche' sounds off though. Surely every genre type has their tropes but it doesn't matter if it is pulled off well. It just is indicative of how people hem the genre in a negative light unfairly.

Speaking of Mei, sure she has her flaws but I really liked how she had a track recordof being unsociable and none of her actions are done on a simple whim. The fact that Yamato sees her genuine emotions through her awkward stonewalling is the highlight of the show to me. It would not be an interesting show at all if she was a perfect girlfriend or how she breaks her distrust of people.

Shippoyasha wrote:

Review mentioning that the negative part is 'shoujo cliche' sounds off though. Surely every genre type has their tropes but it doesn't matter if it is pulled off well. It just is indicative of how people hem the genre in a negative light unfairly.

I feel that way too, and in actuallity isn't all real life teenaged love a gaggle of clichés of one type or another? I don't mind tropes as they are really just the templates for the story situation. It's how, and why those templates are filled in that gets to me either way as well.

rheiders wrote:

Correction: Yamato's hair is really funky. Laughing

God, I thought so too! While Yamato is pretty hot (and OMG that sexy, sexy voice of Sakurai's), his hair really bothered me. I think the asymmetry made it distracting. ^^;

Just finished this series yesterday (basically marathoned in a couple days during my free time) and loved it, though the last episode was an eyebrow-raiser. It's nice that they explore each characters' strengths and weaknesses.

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