Review of Nisekoi: False Love

Nisekoi season one is something I went into with very few expectations, not being particularly familiar with harem/rom-com animes, and left with what more or less feels like a most of them were met. Do I think it's the standard others should follow by? Or maybe it's the worst thing I've ever seen? Let's get into it. Story - 6 Being fresh to this genre as a whole, I'm not particularly familiar with what to expect in a series like this in terms of storytelling (aside from the obvious girl-meets-guy-fall-in-love plots, goes without saying really). However, in Nisekoi's case, for me it's one of the most frustratingaspects. There's so much teasing of something deeper or more important happening, but obviously with being what it is, it's not exactly expected for the big emotional moments to come early. The problem, however, is that it feels like there's so much setup that only leads to the smallest off payoffs, and it's hard to leave a lot of the episodes feeling satisfied with how events played out. The constant bait and switch is tiring, although I'd be remiss to say that there were no moments at all that gave some kind of climax that felt satisfactory.

Art - 8

Although this series doesn't exactly reach the peaks of some of the more praised animation in anime, especially for something of a somewhat longer run like this series (thus far), they've certainly done well with what was provided. Everything feels very energetic and looks consistent, and the quieter, detailed moments are executed very well. The style is appealing and does a good job of being visually interesting, even if it's not a visual feast for the eyes the likes of something like OPM Season 1.

Sound - 7
The sound is quirky and well done, the background music isn't especially notable in most cases, but there's a few tunes that pop up I've found myself happy to hear from time to time. One odd thing I've noticed (and has slightly pulled me out of my engagement) is the so often usage of stock sound effects. Not a huge deal, but somewhat distracting.

Character - 7

Being a romantic comedy (harem?) series, characterization is frankly the most important part. In this case, they've done well enough for themselves. I wouldn't exactly praise the character writing either, though. The characters are given moments to expand on their personalities (although primarily the main duo) and flesh them out a little, and I'd be lying if I said I found them unappealing. Being honest, though, these characters still manage to be fairly tropey and aren't really anything I'd call deep or distinctive compared to anything else in the genre. The designs are certainly appealing and fairly recognizable, but I just don't think I'd call them favorites of any sort, in part due to how the story is approached and the lack of real progression.

Enjoyment - 7
As mentioned, I'm still basically new to this genre. For a first time, I can say it definitely was at least entertaining enough to keep me going through this whole season, and start on to the next one. It's something of a tough balance in my mind, as I'd like to see the payoffs they've been hinting at so hard, yet there's so many episodes of very little in that way happening and constant messing about with nothing really moving forward. I did enjoy a good bit of the comedy in this series, and that certainly aided in keeping me coming back for more. In general I think most of the positives outweigh the negatives, but the negatives are still fairly obvious and hard to excuse considering the season as a whole.

Overall - 7

Conceptually, this series had a decent amount going for it. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy my time, but I think it'd be equally false of me to say it at least didn't frustrate me enough to take a lot more breaks from it than I have with most other anime as of recent. If you're a fan of the genre, I'd say give it a shot, but don't expect anything of any real note to happen throughout. You won't have a bad time by any means, just be prepared for something that can be somewhat tough to chew through at times.