Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「Himitsu wo Choudai」 (ひみつをちょーだい) by Ars Magna
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“I’ll Confess!”Ugly, yet Cute: Going into this summer season, if I was to pin one series as the potential hidden gem, it would have been Jitsu wa Watashi wa. I’ve been familiar with the manga since before the anime announcement, and I’d heard about the zany comedy it had going for it. That, and the rather unconventional characters designs. I’m sure hardcore fans of the manga will be disappointed by the slightly altered art style in the anime, but I think TMS Entertainment has managed to catch the cute ugliness of the original with some success. Yes, I did just say it was ugly, because it kind of is. Not in a gruesome or offensive way, but just that the character designs (especially for the male characters, and some of the females ones) aren’t the most aesthetically appealing. But equally, there’s something about that which I really like. It’s not polished – the manga even less so, and as a result even more expressive. I’m sure that many new to the series won’t like the character designs for how different they look, and long-time fans will be annoyed by how they don’t look different enough. Neither side will be entirely satisfied, but thankfully I’m somewhere in the happy medium. A Slow, Worrisome First Half: I had pretty high expectations going into this, and after about 10 minutes I was ready to call this a disappointment. Nothing was really happening, other than introducing our lead, Kuromine Asahi (Hanae Natsuki), a high school boy who is described as a ‘leaky basket’ by his closest friends. Essentially, he cannot lie. He has the worst pokerface, and he can’t keep a secret to save himself. He’s an open book, but if it weren’t for his inability to lie, I think he’d be incredibly pedestrian. Most of the first half of the episode was just building up to his ‘confession scene’ that was briefly shown at the start. I found myself looking at how much time had passed and thinking: just get to the point. We also got introduced to two more main characters who failed to make much of an impression on me, other than the obvious tropes they embody. Aizawa Nagisa (Minase Inori) is the strict class-rep who doesn’t take any nonsense – though there’s something very bizarre and out-of-this-world about her behaviour. Seeing that she seemingly ‘rejected’ Kuromine last year was smirk worthy, but overall her introduction was rather forgettable. Akemi Mikan (Ueda Reina) is much more of an active problem. I can already see that she’s going to the dedicated to her scoop, which will become very grating when paired with her irritating attitude. Maybe I should find her funny? Maybe I’ll be proven wrong as times goes on, but at this stage, Akemi and most of the other characters just aren’t doing it for me. A Funny, Charming Second Half: Except for Shiragami Youko (Serizawa Yuu). Every scene with her elevated the episode to another level of enjoyability. It might be that just like her character archetype more, but newcomer Serizawa Yuu’s distinctive voice and her embarrassing vampire antics are just too difficult not to love. Oh yeah, Shiragami is a vampire. That’s the twist. I already knew that, since it’s basically the first thing you find out from reading a synopsis. It was obvious, but once we finally focused on this mysterious green-haired girl, I could feel myself smiling and laughing much more. Nearly the whole second part of the episode takes place in that one classroom. It was a very long, very awkward scene, and I wouldn’t have it any differently. There were so many moments between Kuromine and Shiragami that had me giggling. The fact that the one boy who can’t keep a secret has to hide Shiragami’s vampiric identity has me interested to see what antics these two will get up to from here, even if isn’t the most original idea in the world – that doesn’t stop it from being fun! Hopefully we see more adorable (or emotional) reactions from Shiragami, and possibly a real love confession from Kuromine down the line. He really did shoot himself in this foot this time around, but it’s pretty much the foundation for the entire series, so he’s forgiven for the sake of the plot. Overview – What’s Next?: I’m glad that things got better once the focus shifted to Shiragami. It’s the hook of the series, and so far everyone else just seems uninteresting in comparison. There are some emotional moments in the way she’s had to live her school life in order to hide her identity, so I suspect Jitsu wa Watashi wa will dip its toe in more poignant moments from time to time. For the most part, however, I expect we’ll have plenty of gags thrown our way. If it’s anything like the drawn out confession scene in this episode, then this is a promising start to what should be a fun-loving vampire romcom. Note: There are currently no plans to blog Jitsu wa Watashi wa on a weekly basis. ED Sequence
ED: 「Ienai Ienai」 (言えない 言えない) by Hilcrhyme |
I’m really looking forward to watching this! I always need High school romance antics in my life!
So how do the character designs from the source look?
Honestly….you could just look that up by just googling it.
Why did I predict this exact answer?
Slightly moe-fied versions of the current manga designs (outside of reaction faces), significantly better than the actual artwork in the chapters being covered.
Sorry I read the question wrong.
The anime designs are slightly*
Weird faces;the anime
We had weirder.
Strikes me more of a succubus than a vampire with those wings. They should have went with that since the premise of succubus is to seduce humans into sex to steal life force for themselves lol. Sounds like an echhi romcom plot don’t it?
I don’t know much about succubus’ but wings like the ones Shirigami have seem much more fitting for a vampire considering they’re connected to bats unlike a succubus.
I think there’s already a succubus cast member in the main female foursome: The maroon-haired tease that causes the nosebleed spray in the OP who is also eating the big hot dog in the ED seems to have that role covered.
https://randomc.net/image/Jitsu%20wa%20Watashi%20wa/Jitsu%20wa%20Watashi%20wa%20-%20ED%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Jitsu%20wa%20Watashi%20wa/Jitsu%20wa%20Watashi%20wa%20-%20ED%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
@Hanover Fist
Spoiler so read at own risk 🙂
Show Spoiler ▼
I can’t blame ya for preferring Youko over the rest of the current introduced characters so far. She was my main draw to read the manga at first. But once the rest of the characters come around it’ll get better.
And trust me, you’re not supposed to really like Mikan yet. She doesn’t get awesome til later. Also we’ll get a proper introduction for Asahi real soon and if you love Youko, you’ll love Asahi too.
I would REALLY, REALLY love if this get covered. In my opinion, this episode was weak and if I didn’t know what is going to happen I would probably drop it. But as a manga reader, if they keep adapting every detail of the manga like they did this episode, I’m sure things will get much better later on – mostly because of the principal that should be introduced in the next two~three episodes and, without a doubt Show Spoiler ▼
Yeah, if they can mantain all the humor of the original source with all this cast, I’m sure you can expect maybe the funniest show of the season.
…She has a giant bolt sticking out of her head. Is it not obvious that she’s some sort of comedy-style robot or something?
No, this isn’t a spoiler, I haven’t got a clue. I’d never heard of this series before the season preview, and it didn’t catch my interest there. But… um… the girl’s got a huge bolt sticking out of her head. She isn’t human.
The artstyle isn’t that rough, IMO. Ushio & Tora’s is rougher.
Guh! No sign of the Charismatic Pervert #2’s rival! D:
Oh yeah this will be one to watch for, it’s got the humour which Dandelion is currently lacking and a setting to expand into a nice little “gag a week” comedy piece. Things can of course go downhill, but one can usually discern within the first episode if a comedy is going to work or not.
Also the artwork is surprisingly pleasant to look at, at least for me. Especially love our resident dense and dumb vampire here. Just something about fangs (trope) that makes me go “squee!” 😛
The thing that stuck out the most to me—other than Shiragami being hilarious when she actually gets to talking—is Kuromine’s friends. They were an almost idealized mix of guy friends who actually, truly care for their friend (to the point of actually complimenting him … something rare among boys, from my own experience), and who still give him a little shit (assuming he was going to fail in his confession was hilarious).
That, plus how they so perfectly embodied friendship that they got Shiragami stealing glances at them (seems like she was more jealous of their friendship than interested in Kuromine), and the friendship plotline actually sold the first episode for me. I’ll be kind of sad when they inevitably fade into the background in favor of the girls.
They are pretty cool. I was surprised when we cut back to them and they were still waiting by the bench, and I wondered what they were doing, and then I realized that they were waiting there to console him after he got rejected, just like they said they would. What does it say about male friends in anime that I was blown away to realize that? They poke fun at him, sure, because that’s just a thing friends do, but not only do they say they have his back, they really do have it. They really are some pretty good friends.
Wait, why do they have to fade into the background- they could even pair up with those other female characters and form secondary couples, making things even more interesting. Or is the source material one of those pseudo-harem things where there’s a clear main couple and a supporting cast made up of strawman/(woman???) “rivals” with no place for male characters? Guess I will go consult the source to confirm my suspicions…
This feels more like a harem romcom than a Hatsukoi Limited-style love web. That’s just my assumption, though. I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up (nor would I inflict my own desires on the story).
As Stilts says, this is more of a harem romcom than a straight-up romance. But (thankfully) one thing seems for certain: Shiragami has already won.
Thanks, I guess you guys are right- just had a look at the original manga, confirming this…
Was on the fence about the adaption for this one. Art style indeed does something. I really like what they did with Shiragami, not so fond of Kuromine changes though.
Nevertheless I’ll put on my watch list for now since I’m a sucker for Shiragami and her antics.
Kuromine is not incapable of lying; he simply has a horrible poker face. However, he is a prolific liar just in this one episode. That is made worse by the fact that he recognizes he can’t get away with any of his lies. He pretty much lies just for the sake of lying. It is completely wrong to call him an honest person. You would think someone “unable to lie” would give up trying to lie completely and actually become an outstandingly honest person (aka Jim Carrey in “Liar Liar”).
His character only works now with his paired character of Shiragami who he recognizes as “super dense”, so he takes solace and pride in the interaction that she is the only person he can actually lie/keep secrets from.
Overall, this MC sucks.
Well, they do and they don’t. They’re THERE a lot of the time, but usually they just get one gag or a couple of lines.
Secondary characters, for sure. Which is a shame, because the guy pals are all pretty great in their own way.
I ended up spoiling myself reading a good chunk of the manga before watching the show (really need to stop doing that XD), and the anime did a decent job IMO. Honestly, I don’t think the character designs are “ugly” – certainly seen worse (anime & manga). Have to agree with zztop above about Ushio to Tora being one example (have you looked at Ushio’s nose?) Compared to the manga, agree with Longhaul above. In general I find the anime’s designs an improvement outside of “reaction faces” which were a bit “over-the top”, though NOTHING new for anime with that. Certainly not as extreme as I’ve seen before. In short, no issue with the character designs at all for me.
Agree with Samu regarding pacing though. It did seem kind of slow, especially early on. Not sure why we had a weak “in medias res” beginning. Is that a thing these days, because this isn’t the first show I’ve watched recently to do that by any means (e.g. Gate anime also did that)? Not sure what it accomplishes other than kill a bit of time vs. just starting off normally.
Also agree with Samu that the anime did a good job with Youko, and yeah, she kind of did steal the show. Asahi was’t bad, but still alot of the same ‘ol same ‘ol type of anime comedy with exaggerated reaction faces combined with lots of shouting. Meh, I’m getting a bit burned out on that style of “humor”. Asahi’s friends were pretty much per source as I recall. No issues with them from my end. Mikan kind of popped up out of nowhere. Wasn’t the best character introduction, but serviceable I suppose. She should get some added depth later.
As for characters being “forgettable”, eh, not so sure they were any worse in that respect than a lot of other shows after only one episode. Have to agree with Wanderer above regarding Nagisa. Ther girl does have a giant screw sticking out of her head. Pretty memorable to me. Plus, it’s not like she had a ton of screen time in Ep. 01.
Not expecting AOTY or even AOTS type stuff here given the source material. I think they did a decent job so far, and it got better later on which gives me some hope about the presentation (including pacing) going forward. I think this could be a decent, light-hearted watch with a few LOL moments scattered among the cute romance parts. In for another episode. Let’s see how it goes.
Watching this for that more likely cute girl with a possible berserk/irresistible thirst for blood ego trope (kinda like the heroines of fortune arterial/Karin and related vamp anime)
As a manga reader, I’m totally satisfied. I went with a reasonable expectation and I got what I hoped. As unique as the art style in manga was, I’m not all that bugged about it. This kind of anime with combination of what I look for doesn’t come along all that often, and I’m happy that the production didn’t screw it big time. In my opinion, this is one of the lovable harem in the romcom field.
I’ve always appreciated this manga for its different art style…AT LEAST SOMEBODYS TRYING!! how many thousands of times do yall wanna see the same generic designs???
Anyway tis a lighthearted goofy manga……can wait to hear the vampires accent
If you like the anime at all, or think the concept is interesting, do try the manga at some point. It’s a great series and it keeps getting better. My team is working on chapter 85 as we speak, so you won’t want for new chapters.
@Tarage: Decided read a bit more of the manga (already spoiled at this point anyway), and I agree it does get better. LOL’d a bit more and the characters do tend to grown on you as the story progresses – and there is some progression. It’s not fast, but this isn’t some series where characters are locked in perennial status quo either. Lastly, thanks for you and your teams hard work.
A collar with chain? So where’s the rosari-
NO. No. I must resist comparing Jitsu wa Watashi wa to Rosario+Vampire and have fun watching it on its own strengths.
To be honest, when the synopsis revealed that Youko is a vampire, I was like, “Meh, I’ve seen my fair share of cute vampire girls–both non-loli [Moka, Erika] and loli/pretending to be loli [Evangeline, Shinobu, Mina, Leticia]–so how is Youko any different?”
And then I watched the episode. Actually speaks in Kansai dialect (only speaking formally as part of her masquerade), a bit of a ditz, and a little too self-conscious about keeping her secret (being a vampire) to the point that she has trouble socializing normally… Youko’s a pretty nice subversion of the image of most vampire girls I’ve seen (usually an aloof, somewhat haughty yet charming beauty or someone who’s stuck/chooses to stay in loli form except on certain occasions). And she’s much more adorable for it.
Now to see if Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou proves to be just as entertaining as this…
The adorable Karin is not on your list. I call foul.
And Monster Musume might have even been better than this. They did the manga all kinda of justice.
Yeah, I’ll admit not having watched/read Karin… orz (I do want to rectify that one of these days.)
Also, while Jitsu wa Watashi wa seems to focus more on non-ecchi gags and reaction faces (not that the show is bereft of fanservice), Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou goes for ecchi comedy as well as the challenges of actually hosting a monster girl (house renovations, making sure the monster-human relation laws aren’t broken, and dealing with the occasional fantastic racism).
In any case, I’m just glad to be watching both shows this season.
I liked this one a lot. The character design and facial expressions grabbed me instantly. Just seems kind of different and unique. All in all, it was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise in general.
I had to laugh at the tan gag. That caught me off guard, and was genuinely very funny.
The manga does a fine act of balancing between a charming and likable cast and outright hilarity, a combination that should extend to the anime. The VAs are doing a fine job of bringing to life the difference between Youko’s facade and her actual self, as well as the class rep’s attitude and Mikan’s “evil” personality. But I have to agree with Stilts that the trio of Okada, Sakurada, and Shimada are just fantastic. Hiro Shimono’s Shimada really reminds me of his performance as Urushihara (Lucifer) in the latter half of Hataraku Maousama!: kind of a dick, but not too malicious. It was also nice to hear just how soft-spoken Sakurada really is, something that’s difficult to convey in the English scans. Okada’s perceptiveness is also apparent here. The four boys together play well off each other, and are believable as the kind of close male-male friendship that really should be more prominent in media. It really is okay to care about your friends’ happiness and well-being!
Really love her Kansai-ben.
Really nice review Samu! I like criticism mixed with praise, just like this. I agree with all of it!
Felt sad that I didn’t laugh at this, since it has all the ingredients for good comedy. Maybe I just wasn’t immersed in the characters or plot (since we were basically getting a watered-down version of the synopsis in this first episode), or maybe it was partly because of the art style or the way the VAs didn’t seem to gel together.
I’ll stick with it, though, until I’ve lost all hope.
Nice OP and ED…
oh my I think i will like this one – characters are alightly quirky, yet likeable, and there is huge potential for comedy form the basic premise of keeping the secret alone