Review of Nisekoi: False Love

Critic's note- This review has solely been written (rushed) for personal pleasure purposes, I had to put an end to these tickling palms, these hands that itch to write a review for each anime I watch, After a long hiatus, here I break my silence. A review by me is going up after a long time so please go easy on me minna ;) Some people may be sad that Nisekoi has ended (for now because due to the manga's popularity a second season has been confirmed) but I'm relieved that I won't have to dutifully watch it every week. Even though this anime is thetalk of the last season, It needs a fresh review, as all the others were done midway. The plot was simple and tranquil from the very start, I haven't read the manga but for those who watch a considerable amount of anime,don't have to read the manga to decide on Nisekoi's future. It still felt unfair to review something in it's incomplete state because I wanted to give Nisekoi a chance.

I'll start by giving a brief synopsis. Two childhood friends make a promise to meet and (marry??) when they grow up, The guy and the girl agree to keep a lock and a key, the guy has the pendant lock and the girl holds the key (to his heart) cliche? I am not going to focus on the protagonist who is a jerk but the two heroines, Chitoge and Onodera as I remember are irritating and stupid, respectively. Onodera being so gullibly foolish it was almost cute. Familiar, heh? So, 10 years have passed, Raku's still holding onto his promise and the pendant, and there's a new (Tsundere) girl at school and they are forced into a relationship for the next 3 years, Hence the name Nisekoi "False Love" .

There isn't much of a plot and I didn't come here expecting an adventure but there's that tiniest bit of disappointment, Just because it's SHAFT and because Nisekoi came to me as a recommendation from a very dear friend, the Art is gorgeous, I wouldn't expect any less from them. The background and minor details intrigued me very much but ill try not to drool too much over that. I didn't see much scope for plot or character development. Now, SHAFT doesn't disappoint in its production and presentation but SHAFT has always been discreet.Watch Nisekoi in HD or don't watch it at all. The fact that Nisekoi was made to look pretty and it fulfills the purpose, it targeted that type of audience, but SHAFT u have earned a rep. you do better, for example Bakemonogatari [i am only mentioning it as people wont stop comparing the two] it had great art and a great plot. Nisekoi, is nowhere near that league.

I know there are every kinds of people and every type of anime fans, we all have different likings and it makes the anime community so diverse and awesome, some like pretty art and it's their choice, they will love this anime but to go on and say it's a unique adaption, this can't get any better or that SHAFT couldn't do better. For them, either your only watching anime for it's art or you really need to watch more anime or read more manga before u think you're ready to go and write a review, because u don't want to mislead other viewers, right? As for me, I would rather watch Nodame cantabile (average art style) with a decent storyline than watch something excessively overhyped with these...(you get me)

I don't hate the music but its nothing "larger than life" The OP is ok but of the kind that will be skipped, IMO the second OP by ClariS does much better and it's likely that I'll like to listen to it.
I like mainstream anime, In fact I love Slice of Life that has beautiful art and a decent gist but Nisekoi is a mainstream anime that isn't even worthwhile SHAFT's time, It belongs to KyoAni. Lesser number of episodes could have made Nisekoi likable, it's okay to marathon in one sitting but being 20 episodes long it feels like it's just dragging on and on... [what does it matter because I am through already]

Nisekoi is not a substantial anime not by a long shot but none of this means it isn't enjoyable, Nisekoi is flawed and everyone sees that, I guess except the delusional fans of the manga. I ain't telling you to remove it (who am i?) from your watchlist but at least move it a few titles down because there's better mainstream anime floating around, than this. Hope my review visits every nook and touches a bit on everything, just an overall picture of what you're getting yourself into and how it'll look like when you start off.

On a scale of 5, 1.2 feels too harsh for Nisekoi, so 2/5 is my final rating.