Review of My Love Story!!

Shoujo romance has been very formulaic as of late. You either have the perfect boy with the perfect features or what have you, falling or trying to woo over the inadequate or least popular girl in the entire school, or you have a pair of adorable people who for love of all that is good and holy don't even confess to each other AT ALL. So, we have a predicament here. We have a shoujo romance that has neither of those things as its base story line so...what do we do with Ore Monogatari then? Story: Gouda Takeo is a first year high-schooler.Known by many of the people at school as a VERY large individual (about 6'4" in height), all Takeo ever wanted, was to get a girl to like him back. Throughout the years through no fault of his own, Takeo has always been unable to confess to the girls he likes because of his unintentionally suave friend, Makoto Sunakawa. So, after going into high school and saving a girl from a groper on a train, he meets the lovely (and ridiculously tiny) girl, Rinko Yamato, and thus a new crush begins.

Ore Monogatari plays a lot like your general shoujo romance slice of life comedy show. (Wow that is a lot of genres) Unlike a good number of shoujo romance where the main couple ALMOST reaches the point where they can maybe sorta want to kind of perhaps date each other, Ore Monogatari puts the majority of its runtime straight into the "these people are actually dating" category since post episode three, the main characters in the series actually do get together and begin dating each other, which is nice. However post the confession, what do we have? Well, we have various things, actually.

Aside from spending time with our main couple and showcasing that this show did indeed put two people together to the extent and comfort level that they can hold hands, kiss, have all sorts of lovey dovey moments, the show also focuses on essentially, building up on that. Every few episodes, they add in a new shoujo romance trope in order to "test" their love, so to speak. These include the standard things like, acceptance from spouse's friends, love rivals, spending time alone, more love rivals, and finally, a love rival for the other side. (Yeah, lot of love rivals.) As such, Ore Monogatari doesn't really part ways from the standard "Shoujo tropes" that it comes from. Sure there are a couple episodes and even an entire section that are not devoted entirely to the main couple, but in comparison, those mini side stories don't hold as much value as the original story.

In the end, Ore Monogatari is admittedly a very sweet anime with a very odd looking couple. It ends on a gentle slope so there're really no issues there, but the show didn't try to differ itself from traditional shoujo aside from its "beauty and the beast" motif with the characters' various heights. A lot of it was still stuff you see from a generic shoujo and it didn't really try and differ itself a lot in that aspect.

Overview:
+ Interesting main couple
+ Actual progression in the relationship
- Most of the story was similar and/or bland
- Story played off like a normal shoujo romance

Characters: The characters in Ore Monogatari take up two different camps. The main characters, and everyone else.

Let's start with our main protagonist, Gouda Takeo. Takeo, as mentioned before, is a very large human. He is big, he is strong, he can somehow move faster than a motor vehicle, and he's too nice to people to the extent that he won't consider his own feelings before someone else's. (Also, he's kind of dense.) He's like a big teddy bear and he wants to be helpful to everyone as much as he possibly can. As the series goes on, we get to see Takeo change as he grows to truly treasure his girlfriend Rinko and values their relationship immensely, mostly with the phrase "I love her", which is basically said about every 30 seconds whenever he's on screen, which I hate. One particular thing about the main couple is the fact that their entire personality can sort of be described by their catchphrase. For Takeo, it's "I love her", which tells you that well, he loves her and wants her to be happy.

Then we have Rinko Yamato, Takeo's fun-sized girlfriend who has an addiction to making cakes. As a character, Rinko is a very enthusiastic girl. Particularly, she is very enthusiastic by trying to make Takeo happy as every 30 seconds she spouts out "Takeo's so cool!" and other synonyms to that. In comparison, Yamato doesn't really have the growth that Takeo has, though putting one without the other is like taking strawberries out of shortcake. The issue I have is that as a character, Rinko doesn't stand out as an individual person, mostly because her defining traits are making sweets, and loving Takeo, and that's about it. She can't stand by herself as an individual character, and as such, really puts a sour taste to this supposedly really sweet story.

And finally, Makoto Sunakawa, the pretty boy that HAS to exist in every shoujo ever. Sunakawa is the pinnacle of the perfect "bro" character. Able to see what is happening in any situation including aiding the baka couple that he hangs out with often, Suna acts behind the scenes in any given moment in the anime and tries to help Takeo especially with his love, acting more like a support than anything. Suna is always the calm one in any frenzy, is always the one to drag Takeo back to earth, and is always there to help with any issues that his friend has, looking out for him like a good older brother figure of sorts. The issue I have is the fact that the show treats him as the anchor to the relationship and doesn't really expand him out all that much. They do devote a couple episodes to him, but only really one TRULY focuses on him, and even so, doesn't really explain much to me about him as a character.

The side characters in Ore Monogatari act as friends or family of either of the three main characters. For the most part, these side characters serve to add the conflict to the story by challenging one of the two main characters (mostly Takeo) and testing the couple's love by trying to impart their own selfish desires. But it's all good cause they all become friends, right? :p Nonetheless, side characters are mostly plot devices with a role that only fits into a certain part of the story before disappearing in order to make room for the next set of side characters in the next arc.

Overview:
+ Decent character development for some
- The main cast requires each other and cannot stand alone
- Repetition of lines (seriously, they have Takeo say "I love you" at least 5-6 times/episode.)
- Side characters are simply plot devices

Art: Ore Monogatari's style of art is what you would expect from a shoujo romance. The colors are all extremely light and are very bright and flowery, and especially with the character designs with the jewel-like eyes and the detailed lips, Ore Monogatari very much resembles a general shoujo and the style that they're drawn in. In addition, the detail of the show doesn't really waver all the much except during comedic moments, so that's nice.

As for comedy, Ore Monogatari hosts a lot of exaggerations and exaggerated expressions to precisely encapsulate what they want to show you. Dialing back the detail in some cases, the comedic appearance of the show varies from scene to scene, but mostly stays in the realm of changing the way the characters are drawn and especially, Takeo's perspective. (Cause my god, it he huge.)

Overview:
+ Decent art
+ Good detail
- Generic Shoujo-style artwork

Sound: The sound for Ore Monogatari is a mix of melancholy and uplifting. For its OP, we have its iconic "Answer", a cute little song that talks about cakes and asking for an answer. (Which the question I assume is, Do you love me, or something.) It's a nice uplifting song that tells you what you should expect going into it, a little love story that plays off of the idea of whether the main couple actually love each other or not.

And for its ED, we have "Shiawase no Arika", a melancholic piece that plays towards those moments of doubt that the show attempts to showcase to its audience. It's a nice little rock song that has that feeling of hope to it. It's nice, but it doesn't hold a candle to the OP in terms of memorabilia.

Overview:
+ Decent soundtrack
+ Memorable OP

Personal Enjoyment: When I first was told about Ore Monogatari, and how it was an actually good Shoujo, I was a bit apprehensive, since Shoujo romance hasn't really changed drastically in terms of story for a lot of anime. But, when the characters actually got together early on, then my interest was piqued.

Did I enjoy this anime?

Kind of. I liked the show early on as they tried to light this fire that this newly formed couple had since it was the start of the relationship and I was curious about how things would go. I also really like Suna as a character (since he is the best bro), and the OP to the whole series is a pretty enjoyable track.

What didn't I enjoy about this anime?

As the series went on, the show got incredibly repetitive, as there were a bunch of love rivals for the story that came every few episodes and took hold of the show for a good little while before releasing, go into something completely unrelated, before going back to it. The repetitiveness of the plot as well as the fact that the main characters couldn't say a different line half the time soured the experience a little.

Would I recommend this anime?

If you're a fan of shoujo or you REALLY like sweet relationships, this is the show for you. The entire show is about its main couple really with only 4 or so episodes focused on other characters, and each of those are one-off for different characters. Because of the way its story is made, aside from its odd couple, there isn't much beyond a generic shoujo. If you're fine with that, then go for it. If not, then maybe this anime isn't for you.