Review of Nisekoi: False Love

Nisekoi is a twenty episode anime centred on the life of Raku Ichijo who is the son of a Mafia leader. Due to tensions between a rival gang Raku is forced to stage a relationship with the opposing Mafia leaders’ daughter Chitoge Kirisaki. Thus begins the awkward façade whilst he pursues his actual crush Kosaki Onodera, deals with Chitoge’s overly violent and love stricken bodyguard Seishiro Tsugumi and the forced fiancé Marika Tachibana. I initially started to watch this show upon its release back in January 2014. I had decided to put this on hold after being less than impressed with it due to the TsundereChitoge who was a consistent thorn in my side up until episode six. Come the end of the show, Chitoge was still a major hindrance rendering the show further un-enjoyable for me. The main protagonist certainly didn't help matters with his obliviousness to realize that Onodera has feelings for him.

Story:

The story revolves around Raku Ichijo the son of a Mafia leader who enjoys his normal high school life despite his unusual upbringings around many gang members. On the way to school he is kicked in the face by a blonde transfer student Chitoge Kirisaki who would later in turn be forced into a fake relationship with Raku in order to stop the violence between the two gangs much to both parties dismay.

The two then go about putting on a front for the rest of the series in front of the gang members and school students alike.

The story is frankly not great. Throwing the two into a no win situation where they have to be together for lengthy periods of time when they don’t necessarily get along makes for bad comedy at times. Chitoge’s Tsundere act is quite annoying as she only throws anger at the direction of Raku despite his efforts to be nice and help her out on multiple occasions. Other comedy elements stem from misunderstandings which is horribly distasteful and the best friend Shu Maiko who does well on his part for the show being the most rational yet comedic trouble maker.

Characters:

Raku Ichijo is your standard guy. He just wants to live peacefully without the hassle of Mafia breathing down on him. He has a long time crush on Onodera which is sweet and all, but his inability to realize that Onodera has feeling for him infuriates me. I remember at the beginning when Raku didn't notice a substantial clue about his childhood sweetheart which was so blatantly obvious that I questioned how he can be so completely oblivious to the matter. I hate how he cannot make up his mind as to which girl he is in love with. Raku states Onodera, but his relationship progression with others would just tell you he is indecisive.

Chitoge Kirisaki is the main lead who in general can be a bitch at times. Coming back from America Chitoge is introduced and initially struggles to read Kanji amongst having a hard time making friends. Despite Raku’s dislike of her he does his utmost to help her study and make friends. Chitoge does have her moments of kindness, but it is usually thwarted by her embarrassment to admit she is wrong or thank Raku for his help. I personally wouldn't root for her in pursuit of Raku.

Kosaki Onodera is our second competitor for Raku’s heart. Onodera is a sweet and very shy girl and close friend to Raku. She has a hard time putting her feelings out towards Raku which is difficult to understand as it is painfully obvious to see. I like when she and Raku spend time together as it is very awkward but sweet to watch. The episode in which they are together at Onodera’s shop is a nice bonding episode, but in all fails to amount to any substantial development in their relationship, its as if they are as they started.

Other mentionable characters include the comedic and perverted best friend Shu Maiko who seems to be one of few people who knows what’s going on behind the scenes. Next is Seishiro Tsugumi who is a violent bodyguard for Chitoge, who can have her cute side. Lastly is Marika Tachibana the elegant lady who reformed her strange accent in order to be Raku’s ideal girl.

Art:

The artwork was well done; it had a good variety of colour and lighting which made it good to look at. The character designs were nothing spectacular just clean cut, cute girls. Animation was ok I hate when it uses the cliché tropes such as blushing faces and drastic change in the characters designs to fit comedic and awkward situations in this scenario I wasn't pleased.

Sound:

The few soundtracks that I managed to find on-line were very decent actually and a little quirky, much better off accommodated in a more comedic anime. The use of guitar and piano was very good.

Final Verdict:

Overall I had a hard time with this show. It sums up why I dropped it in the first place. While the show has its moments with comedy and a fraction of development with Raku and the females, ultimately it fails to justify the lengthy time spent watching it. This is the sort of show you shout at the protagonist to make up his mind, becoming much more commonplace these days.

If you hate rom-coms with little to no progress I suggest you steer clear. No characters are worth sticking around for and no episodes really stuck out to me.

Overall I give Nisekoi a low 6 out of 10

I suggest giving it four episodes to see if it sways you.

Alternate recommendation is Highschool DxD a harem with an indecisive main character, but this centres around supernatural circumstances.