Review of Kiss Him, Not Me!

Know that this genre of anime isn't for everybody. The only people who are gonna enjoy it are female otakus, especially if they're into BL. We're the core audience here so if you're a straight male, you should best stay away from it. For those of you interested in the reverse harem genre, know that somethings have to be accepted at face value, including: 1. Lots of boys will like one girl, for no apparent reason other than that she's pretty (and sometimes, has a sweet personality) 2. The girl is always completely oblivious of how the boys feel for her. 3. There is no plot - all theboys compete in their own way with each other to catch the girl's eye, who in turn sees them as nothing more than friends.
5. The big reveal is always within the last 5-10 minutes of the last episode of the series.

So now that you've accepted that this WILL happen, let's move on to my review. As you have already understood by my score, I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I loved how it poked fun at the moe culture and otakus, without really being offensive to either. In many scenes, I saw myself in the shoes of the female MC ; I guess that's what made it all the more enjoyable for me. Many, many scenes had me in splits. I loved how the shipping of male characters was given an entire episode; this is something I haven't seen before in any anime.

What I also like about the reverse harem genre is how deeply respectful all the male characters are towards the feelings, decision and consent of the female character. Always. The choice is always left to *her* to decide who she likes and the boys always agree to *respect* her decision. The 4 boys in the series (apart from being very good looking) had 4 different personalities, which shone wonderfully throughout the series. I especially loved the discomfort they felt every time they were made to do something yaoi-ish. Hahaha! Those were some of the best scenes.

All in all, it's a pretty decent watch and unlike most female MCs from the reverse harem genre, this one actually has a brain. It's definitely worth a binge watch!

PS. I LOVED the anime references in this anime. They had me fangirling like crazy!

PPS. I really wanted the MC to daydream a lot more about the BL between her admirers, but unfortunately, in that way the title of the anime is misleading, because there was very little of that.

*you can stop reading this point afterwards if you haven't watched the anime*

Just a small overview of the characters and who I ship with whom:

1. Mutsumi (history club dude) was the most obvious choice for Kae, because he saw beyond her looks and loved/respected her for who she really was. He was the only one who noticed her when she was fat.
2. Igarashi (the sports guy) was the only one who understood *why* he liked Kae. That was character development! He and Nishina (the girl) had some moments together and I was hoping the two would end up together. He was my 2nd choice for Kae.
3. Nanashima (the blonde) showed the maximum character development. The ep with his sister was adorable and showed us his kinder/gentler side. Made him 10x more attractive to me and I'm sure, to many other fangirls as well. He's also ready to defend/fight for Kae's honour, which is HOT. He was my 3rd choice for Kae.
4. Shinomiya (the youngest boy) is cute, adorable and easily lovable. He was the least suited as Kae's partner, but we all fell in love with him nonetheless :)
5. Nishina (the girl) was a pleasant surprise, and it was nice to see how none of the boys poked fun at her for being a girl (and competing for the affections of a girl). They all accepted her as another competitor, which I think was wonderful for the LGBTQ+ cause. I didn't ship her with Kae, though. I got more of a crazy-otaku-bff vibe from them.
6. Kazuma was a surprise entry, and I TOTALLY shipped him and Nanashima. Hahahahahahahaha!! The Junjou Romantica references made their scenes so much more hilarious!!

If you have any thoughts, please drop by my profile! Would love to hear your opinions.