Review of Junjo Romantica
*English isn't my first language* *This review is covering all 3 seasons of the anime* Junjo Romantica is quite popular. It is known to be one of if not the greatest shounen-ai anime of all time. Many people praising it for it's "realistic story" and "interesting story." Not going to lie. When I heard this, I got quite interested. I do enjoy watching some shounen-ai shows. I always love seeing two guys fall in love with each other. Same with two girls. However, when I sat down and watched all 3 seasons of this anime, I was shocked by how underplayed this anime was. Story: 5/10 Interestinglyenough, there are 3 stories to this anime. Usagi/Misaki, Hiroki/Nowaki, and Shinobu/Miyagi. I'm not gonna lie, as generic as some of the stories for the couples are, they are quite interesting. Each pairing bringing us something interesting to see. I also enjoy how these couples do in their everyday life situation. Such as Usagi being a manga author, Hiroki being a college professor, and Miyagi dealing with the death of his wife. These are the REAL parts of the anime. I also love seeing Misaki shoot to get into the college that his brother wanted to before their parents died. And as cliche as some of it, I do enjoy watching them. However, the anime suffers from being repetitive, predictable, and even cliche. Oh dear, dead parents. Oh dear, gotta tell my brother I'm secretly gay (which never happens). Oh dear, dead wife. It follows way too many tropes that we seen in other romance anime, and done better. Also, the anime tries to pull you into certain stories that would be very interesting, but unfortunately, never gives us these things. Such as Misai telling his brother he's in a gay relationship. Usagi and Misaki have been in a relationship for 4 years and yet he STILL hasn't told his brother. I understand that it would be difficult since you are worried that they wouldn't accept you for you, but it's just ridiculous. And the pacing is poor. So many things are dragged out that should not be dragged out. Like Misaki accepting the fact he's gay, Miyagi realizing there's an 18 year old in love with, etc. The story isn't bad, but there needs to be some polishing.
Art:
4/10
I do like some of the colors that mix in. It gives you a good feeling of what kind of show you are watching. The backgrounds are in also quite nice. Nothing special, but nice as is. The animation itself is stilted. The characters move so awkwardly most of the time it becomes funny. The character designs are quite awkward themselves. Not to mention that the semes and ukes look the same. Season 3 does fix the animation making it more colourful and less awkward, but still a little funky looking. Not terrible, but needs some fixing up. The facial expressions on Misaki are really good though.
Sound:
4/10
Takahiro Sakurai, the voice of Misaki, is wonderful. His performance is real for all 3 seasons. He is having so much with the role it's just beautiful. It's so enjoyable. Everyone else does great as well. The voices match the characters well. The soundtrack, however, is bad. Maybe it's just my taste in music, but it's bad. The openings, to me, are unbearable. They are so annoying. The ending songs are mediocre. Nothing stands out. Not bad, but not great. Really bad soundtrack, great performances.
Characters:
3/10
Misaki, even with a few redeemable qualities, is a fucking idiot. I know he's human. Humans make mistakes, but this guy is just so fucking stupid and annoying that it's just irritating. Usagi tells him a million times not to do something that would seriously hurt him. And he does it anyways even knowing the consequences. And, for some reason, every single guy that is somehow related to Usagi falls in love with him. For no reason. Why him? I don't fucking know. Usagi is abusive. He constantly throws Misaki in the car, tells him he can't go out, forbids him from calling other people, he's an abusive boyfriend. He even basically MOLESTS HIM IN EPISODE ONE. What they have isn't real love, it's lust. They have sex EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. Hiroki and Nowaki are characters I enjoy. Hiroki is a college professor who struggles constantly, and Nowaki is always there for him. He truly loves Hiroki. They are a real gay couple. They are the only realistic couple in the entire anime. They are both interesting. Shinobu is an annoying, possessive freak that no one would ever associate themselves with ever. His actions would make people run away from him in a second. If something doesn't get his way, it's like it's the end of the world I want to kick him in the fucking throat. Miyagi has no personality whatsoever. Their relationship is decent despite the age difference. I do like how their romance and relationship develop. Usagi's editor, is as useless and boring. Her only joke is getting mad at Usagi for not meeting deadlines. Everyone else is forgettable and bland.
Enjoyment:
5/10
Despite my rage and frustration, I did somewhat enjoy this show sometimes. I did still want to see what was going on. I was still interested in what would happen next as predictable as it was going to be.
Overall:
Junjo Romantica is a below average anime with some decent art, a few decent characters, slightly enjoyable story, but still fails with some unrealistic relationships, predictable story and idiotic characters. I still do recommend this show to people who enjoy the shounen-ai genre and aren't as critical as me. You may get to see something in the characters that I just can't. YOu many enjoy the strange art style. You may like the predictable story. Or if you want to pass time, then I guess this wouldn't be so bad. Anyone else, I don't recommend it. It still suffers from serious issues. I heard the manga wasn't much better so I'm not thrilled. Not a terrible anime, but not a good one either. That's why we have Sekai Icchi Hatsukoi, which is like Junjo Romantica, but did everything 100% better.
4/10