Nisekoi

Now I'm sure there will be another season of this cause this ended with little to no resolution and the manga is ongoing.... but i figure it'll probably be a year or two before we see that sequel so lets talk about the 20 episodes we did get.

So i originally went into this show knowing very little about it, i knew it was a rom com/ technically a harem show but that was it.
When i finished the first episode i was pleasently surprised.
this show is really pretty for one, they are always playing around with using the visual to emphasise the narrative and it just gives the show a unique look.
The story is really funny, i will admit i liked it better before the final girl (at least the final of the ones introduced in this season) was brought up... the dynamic of the three girls and the 1 guy worked really well and the fourth girl just felt really tacked on... but even so it had some genuinely funny moments. 

The music was also really fun...

Ok.
Nisekoi is about the son of a Yakuza house being forced to pretend to date the daughter of a mob boss so that war doesn't break out in town.
yes it's like romeo and Juliet only if the parents wanted them to be together and they hated each other.
and it works... Raku, the son, has this locket that he always wears because he made a promise with a girl 10 years ago... but apparently lots of people were doing this cause most of the girls who he meets have keys that may or may not work on his locket.

the shows comedy comes largely from misunderstandings which one one hand make it universal without having to know much or even anything about specific cultural elements.... on the other hand it makes some scenes utterly painful to watch where you are yelling at the tv "NO that's NOT what he meant! she didn't mean that! why wont you just communicate!"
but that frustration also adds to the humour... so it works out.

I really enjoyed it, even with some of the moments dragging or some of the plot twists being just too stupid.... it was still very very fun and i may pick up the manga.

The good:
Characters (except the final girl who just comes off as possessive and clingy and doesn't have nearly enough character development) are all really great and work well off each other... i especially love Onodera's friend and raku's friend cause they are constantly just the best source for entertainment.
Music is good, each of the girls have an ending song specific to them, my favs were chitoge's and Onodera's.
The animation was so pretty, i actually don't know which studio did this but it just fantastic. Ah it was done by aniplex no wonder it's so pretty.... which means it's most likely in the hands of aniplex of america...... i like the show but if it costs more then 50 for the entire set no dice... i didn't like it that much.

The not so good:
so stressful, the dynamic between onodera, raku and chitoge will make you wanna rip your hair out... it's the entire point of the show.... but yeah very very stressful to watch.
Raku is a bit too perfect, it's not too bad most of the time but when other characters start liking him i can't see it since he's really only interesting around Onodera and chitoge.
The keys, everyone has one.... it's like the author only wanted to do the two but he needed more drama so he added a third and i wouldn't be surprised if there were more... it's just so silly that so many girls that he happened to meet 10 years prior all have keys.

The bad:
At the end of each episode theres a title card drawn by another artist... this is pretty common place for certain types of shows with large followings...
some of the title cards come off as a bit Vulgar and completely do not match the tone of the show... they present it more as a show based off a dating game then one based off a shonen manga. I get it, i am not the target audience... but still it just felt unnecessary.


Like i said the manga is ongoing and this series doesn't close anything off so i will say my fav pairing of the show is Raku and Onodera....
but..... i'm 99.9% that that will not be the final pairing cause everyone else Adores Chitoge... and she is great and their dynamic is fun but i still think Onodera is the more interesting character. But that may just be my own personal bias.

But yeah if you like Rom Coms that are actually humours and can stand the comedy of errors this is a great little show and i hope we get more soon... if not then the manga will have to do.

You can watch Nisekoi on Crunchyroll.