OP Sequence

OP: 「大好きだよ大好きだよ 生まれてきてありがとう」 (Daisuki dayo Daisuki dayo Umaretekite Arigatou) by Yuki Kurihara (CV: Ai Kakuma) & Shinya Momotsuki (CV: Nobuhiko Okamoto)

「告白…ももくんと栗原さん / 衣替えの季節に」 (Kokuhaku… Momo-kun to Kurihara-san / Koromogae no Kisetsu ni)
“Confession… Momo-kun and Kurihara-san / To the Season of Change”

That was adorable. A little bit stalkerish, but mainly adorable. I’d noticed the Momokuri ONA episodes popping up when they were airing but never got round to watching them, if only because I don’t love the idea of the 360p viewing experience. But with this TV rebroadcast we’re now able to enjoy it in HD quality, with two shorts episodes paired together as one. If you’ve already watched the ONA you may not see much point in watching this premiere (unless you really want to see it in higher quality), but by the time this catches up with the content available online you’ll want to check back in. For those, like me, who hadn’t watched the original, I’d recommend you check this out as soon as you can. We didn’t cover it in the Summer 2016 Preview due to it being a special case, but I’ll take this time to say that if you want a cute, easy to watch school romance then this is totally worth your time.

What made this premiere so good was how loveable the main pair were together. It’s refreshing that the boy in the relationship – Momotsuki Shinya (Okamoto Nobuhiko) – is the innocent one. He’s a little sweetheart who accepts the confession from Kurihara Yuki (Kakuma Ai), who is one year older than him. It seems innocent and harmless at first – and a very fast development, which is refreshing – until it becomes obvious that Kuri’s affections for Momo are borderline stalkerish. Her gushing over Momo from afar, planning her trips to run into him, loving the idea of seeing more of his skin, and having no shame when her shirt is soaked right through and her bra is showing – it all goes to show that there’s more to this girl than meets the eye. I like both of them, but Yuki definitely provided most of the laughs, while Momo gave me the ‘dawwws’. It’s a good combination, and I can’t wait to see how their relationship develops from here.

Whether the gags remain the same from here on out remains to be seen, but I do hope these two bond and grow as characters over the course of the series, if only to keep things from getting stale. Either way, this is definitely a keeper; it’s turned out one of the better premieres of the summer season thus far, and everybody needs a weekly dose of cuteness in their lives. It’s unlikely this will be picked up for coverage, but you can expect a final impressions post if I stick with it until the end.

 

Preview

9 Comments

  1. I’ve watched the original ONA series, it’s a fun bite-sized romantic comedy with an interesting twist. The only issue I have with this series is some people who insist on calling Yuki a yandere. Her behavior might be stalkerish, but this alone doesn’t make someone a yandere.

    ET
  2. I agree. As someone posted somewhere, she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She’s just clueless about what you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to your loved one.

    “and having no shame when her shirt is soaked right through and her bra is showing”
    It’s not that she has not shame. She simply didn’t realize. There was a big red box next to her saying precisely that.

    ruicarlov
  3. I would also say that Yuki is not Yandere, just really obsessed. I watched this to see how far they would take the stalking. In other situations, it would be very creepy and unsettling. The moe filter (and Yuki’s friend) help keep it more adorable than it has a right to be. I thought the subtitles said that she didn’t mind the fact that her bra was showing.

    The Walker
  4. This is cute. If it weren’t for the fact that we know that Yuki’s behavior will never become dangerous and will just be a mildly disturbing/amusing quirk, it would be unsettling. But thanks to that, it’s cute.

    Also, Yuki’s friend is awesome. Can I keep her?

    Wanderer
    1. It’s a common trope that girls have a straight talking best friends in these sorts of romances, but it’s a damn good trope. Looking forward to seeing if she’ll get her own love interest.

      Samu
  5. This series is probably gonna give some people diabetes for too much sweetness~

    I’m watching the ONA’s since its already finished [26 eps] and I can’t help myself from smiling / grinning while watching so better not watch this while in class or people will think you strange for grinning while [studying] textbooks~

    Hagiri

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