Fondueforkharpoon

This is a great show with glaring flaws. Well, mostly one glaring flaw, but we'll get to that.
I went into watching this with no prior knowledge if the source material (or in fact any knowledge of the plot beyond skimming the description) and to say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.
The show is funny, as in properly, laugh-out-loud at least one once per episode funny. It's no secret that I am sucker for deeply charming yet mildly unhinged characters, I enjoy nothing more than a good group of weirdos and freaks, so if that's not your cup of tea I don't think this is the series for you. Personally I was blown away but how quickly and thoroughly I fell for these characters, especially Natsuo, whose inability to stop throwing himself headlong into shenanigans endeared him to me almost immediately.

I was also surprised by how well-executed the plot-hook is. Their relationship in high school is both deeply believable and based around one of my favourite comedic concepts: two characters experiencing the same story from wildly different perspectives/genres. Hiro has convinced himself he's the protagonist in a dramatic and tragic coming-of-age tale while Natsuo is having the time of his life starring in his own rom-com.
I very much appreciate how well the story walks the line between hilarious and realistic - both characters actions make a lot of sense and while Natsuo's only real crime is being a himbo who is deeply afraid of societal judgement, it's still entirely logical for Hiro to react the way he does.
Their relationship as adults and Hiro's internal struggles are also pitch-perfect in their balance between comedy and believability.

Unfortunately, that's also were the problems start. As funny and charming as the show is, it fails to engage with its own premise on anything more than an extremely shallow level, refusing to address deeper topics (like the fallout of the climactic end to their highschool friendship) outright and skating past any of the highly interesting and serious themes it hints at.
Nowhere is this more apparent than with the way the assault scene is handled. While I do think we could well have done without that scene in the first place, Hiro's actions do make sense in some horrible, twisted way. Desperation, shame, and a struggle for power can easily drive people far beyond the bounds of rational behaviour and exploring that, in all its horrific facets, can very much be worthwhile.
Except the show doesn't explore it. In fact, they pretty much completely gloss over the fact it ever happened in the first place.
Even when Natsuo, very clearly having internalised what happened to him as somehow justified, vocally surrenders himself to having such violence enacted against him AGAIN the show offers nothing more than a placid "don't be silly, it won't happen again". This is a massive and highly problematic disservice to both the audience and the characters, which immediately erases any good-will the show previously garnered by hinting at more thoughtful explorations of such topics.

So after all that, would I still recommend this show? Yes and no. Yes, about 90% of the story are charming, off-beat, and quite honestly excellent and I wholeheartedly recommend it. But ONLY if you know what you are getting into, if you are prepared for the things the show doesn't address and the abysmal and frankly insulting way it handles topics of assault and sexual abuse.
Be forewarned and please stay safe.