Kawaii Dake ja Nai Shikimori-san

Kawaii Dake ja Nai Shikimori-san (Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie)

https://i.imgur.com/G6wTJWs.png

Description: Shikimori and Izumi are high school sweethearts. They hold hands walking home from school, they flirt in the halls, they tease each other. But Shikimori knows what she wants, and how to get it, and she can turn from cutie to cool in an instant!


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While Shikimori is pretty amazing, and very, very cool, she has imperfections that keep the series a little more grounded compared to say, Tonikaku Kawaii's lead where she's literally perfect in nearly every way (because she is a direct author insert of how the author of Hayate the Combat Butler views his wife, the VA Masumi Asano). That female lead's aloofness drained the series appeal over time...

Shikimori on the other hand is just as hopelessly in love with her unlucky-but-unerringly-kind boyfriend as he is with her. Her power level is still just as exaggerated, but it feels more realistic because of her attitudes and the little details, like not wanting to wear her glasses, being easily persuaded by her friends to fake being bad at something to raise her cuteness appeal (and failing at that and looking very cool instead). At her core, she's still very normal and not a superhuman perfect being. She's just unusually skilled and relentlessly cool.

Another nice detail is how this series and its source are framed. Shikimori is very clearly shown to be slightly below Izumi in height physically, but there's frequently opportunities to frame her as "larger" than he is when she's protecting him or showing off. They zoom in on her face while showing off her "cool and sharp" expressions, or her placement in the frame often makes her appear his equal or larger in presence. It's a subtle and nice way of composition and is done in a very cute way without making it feel like a gimmick, despite actually being the central gimmick.

If you're hesitating in picking this up based on the first episode because it seems like the series goes one way, Izumi and Shikimori's relationship is far more balanced than the introduction makes it seem, as somewhat hinted in the ED.

1-3

A little late to this one.

I failed to absorb the appeal. While indeed Shikimori is amazing and all-but-perfect, the main male lead is what takes me out of the experience. Izumi is just a walking 'bad luck' punching bag, and there is nothing appealing about that here. By the end of the first episode, I was convinced the 'teasing' classmates were correct: Izumi has no actual appeal as displayed to the audience, and Shikimori has no good reason to be with him. It even confirms later that same espisode that she is with him because she wants to be, which is fine, but basing her entire motivation on, taste, I guess, means there is nothing to cement their relationship other than arbitrary devotion. It was bizarre and only in service to the premise. I've long grown tired of the 'nice guy' trope (winning hearts by not being a psychopath), and Izume seems like the true king of all beta males, long may he reign.

That doesn't substitute for personality, of which he seems devoid. What is strange is that he is a rational actor, and does take some steps to reduce the burden for Shikimori, but because it never has any effect, his position and character development are all reactionary- He sure is a nice guy for not... being more angry at something he can't control? Is the tragedy of it all supposed to endear me to him? Too thick. His saintly attitude and brushing off of disproportinate misfortune (new injuries every day?) is contrived and seems to exist to elevate the nice guy schtick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

If you're hesitating in picking this up based on the first episode because it seems like the series goes one way, Izumi and Shikimori's relationship is far more balanced than the introduction makes it seem, as somewhat hinted in the ED.

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Sadly, that is not what I witnessed for these three episodes; more of their lopsided relationship dynamic of her being perfect and devoted, and him being unfortunate, but 'nice'. An uninteresting combo.

The supporting cast was more fun, and had some chemistry as well, but ultimately Izumi is my biggest barrier to enjoying this.

Four is really where they dynamic starts to shift a little and we see more of the cast toy with Shikimori. Including Izumi.

She's still incredibly cool most of the time, but she has her normal sides as well.

Hence why I said it is more balanced than it initially comes off. It's a fairly straight-forward "normal" high school romance series.