1
Solid premise, yet still a letdown
This show really set itself up for a homerun and then pivoted a full 90 degrees right before the touchdown and took off over the bleachers, never to be seen again.
I love nothing more than a solid, slow exploration of characters' inner lives and their complicated relationships to themselves and others. And this show really seems to be going solidly in that direction, with interesting and likeable characters and several quite excellent and meaningful moments.
But then it just... doesn't follow through. Instead of properly exploring any of the interesting topics it brings up - like the politics of coming out later in life, complicated parent-child relationships, etc. - it opts for barely brushing past those issues, resolving complex emotional stakes in mere minutes, and focusing instead on domestic drama and drawn-out, static scenes which grind the plot to a screeching halt more often than not (the final episode is especially guilty of this).
I would also have loved it if Kanade didn't look like he was getting shanked every time he engaged in even the mildest of physical intimacy. It does detract quite a bit from the genuinely sweet second-chance romance when every now and again you're forced to sit through a scene of one of the main characters looking physically pained at having to kiss his partner.
All in all you can't really go wrong with watching this show per se, there's nothing egregiously terrible or offensive about it, it's just... mildly disappointing. Mid, if you will.
Personally I'll be busy sulking in a corner over how much of a missed opportunity this was, rather than rewatching the show.
I love nothing more than a solid, slow exploration of characters' inner lives and their complicated relationships to themselves and others. And this show really seems to be going solidly in that direction, with interesting and likeable characters and several quite excellent and meaningful moments.
But then it just... doesn't follow through. Instead of properly exploring any of the interesting topics it brings up - like the politics of coming out later in life, complicated parent-child relationships, etc. - it opts for barely brushing past those issues, resolving complex emotional stakes in mere minutes, and focusing instead on domestic drama and drawn-out, static scenes which grind the plot to a screeching halt more often than not (the final episode is especially guilty of this).
I would also have loved it if Kanade didn't look like he was getting shanked every time he engaged in even the mildest of physical intimacy. It does detract quite a bit from the genuinely sweet second-chance romance when every now and again you're forced to sit through a scene of one of the main characters looking physically pained at having to kiss his partner.
All in all you can't really go wrong with watching this show per se, there's nothing egregiously terrible or offensive about it, it's just... mildly disappointing. Mid, if you will.
Personally I'll be busy sulking in a corner over how much of a missed opportunity this was, rather than rewatching the show.
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