My Neighborhood Story has a very whimsical art style, and I like it. It feels like the sketchbook of a fashion designer, which might have been the point of this art style. Ai Yazawa has always been a great artist. Unfortunately, the soundtrack was bad. Some of the music, particularly the opening and ending songs, were ear grating. Then you had the annoying characters. The main character, Mikako, was just plain ole mean at times. She could be unpleasant and lash out at others. She can't just say what she truly means. A tsundere. Severalother characters were unlikable at points of the story, with a few exceptions. And even then, you feel bad for those few exceptions because they have to go out of their way to work, in order to fix the problems of those around them. Some of them are spineless and lack a backbone. It's frustrating to watch! Except, not really. Flawed characters or not, they're realistic characters. That's what makes the show beautiful. It feels like a snapshot into your childhood. I found my eyes watering a lot with this anime, because it took me back to those vulnerable and uncertain years. As annoying as the characters can be, they're realistic high school students. They're awkward, selfish, too giving, spineless, abrasive, all of that. They care about how others view them, even to the point of self sabotage and hurting others. They care too much about their ego, their pride. "Well I don't want to say it first, they have to" or "I don't want to apologize first, that'll mean I'm wrong, and I can't be wrong!" Even when getting in a relationship. "My friends will mock me if I get with them", "I can't put myself out there! What if they reject me!", and stuff like that. It's realistic, and painfully so.

That is to say, I don't like all the ships. And not because they're bad. There are some ships that even if I know they're trash, I can admit they're realistic. My issue is that this anime has the "pair the spares" issue that a lot of shows have. I'm writing a fanfiction story, not based on this series btw, and even I have to tell myself that not everyone needs to end up in a relationship. Person G doesn't need to end up with Person K. Sometimes, both of them can just be single and that's it.