Review of My Love Story!!

(Spoilers ahead) !!! This is probably the first time I've ever been super excited to write a review. Despite doubting that this would be any good, within 24 episodes, Ore Monogatari flew up my romance anime list, and it's not even the usual shoujo romance. It's funny, sweet, goes against so many stereotypes and has become one of my comfort animes. Ore Monogatari has the pretty boy, but he has a really likable personality. Oh, and he's the MC's best friend. Oh, and he doesn't get the girl, despite so many chasing him. In fact, I spent the entire 24 episodes falling for him whilstrooting for the main couple.

It has the dainty, cute female character. But she's not annoyingly sweet, she has a backbone, she's likable and she's honestly an angel. Another rare character.

Then the MC is big, "gorilla-like" and heavy handed. Not popular with the girls, but surprisingly, is popular among the guys. Well respected, really funny and has a very likable personality. Those three are the centre of this anime and they make it work so, so well.

Romance animes have the ability to frustrate me like no other. I like the tension, the slow-burns (occasionally), the realistic back-and-forth, but they can drive me up the wall. But here we have a romance anime that does all three of what I mentioned, but in just the right way. I wasn't screaming at characters to say this or act a certain way. I was glad to watch characters that seemed to be able to do things realistically right or wrong. I was satisfied from start to end with what happened.

I liked that the characters were different from a usual romance, it felt like a totally different experience. Ore Monogatari didn't have much individual character development, but the relationship development was really good. The characters themselves didn't have a lot to work on, they were just your usual normal high school students with their own problems and worries. So we see characters grow together rather than separately.

In terms of pacing, it might feel like the anime isn't going anywhere. Tbh, it has quite a mundane plot. It is solely about Takeo's first relationship and the people around him. He doesn't have extreme trauma to overcome, he doesn't have a "goal" per se and well, his life has pretty much been decent the entire way through. So I can kinda see why some would feel like it's drawn out, but I enjoyed the characters and story so much that I didn't even mind. 24 episodes felt super short to me and I really did enjoy all of it.

But the absolute highlight of Ore Monogatari is its relationship development. Between both Suna and Takeo and then Takeo and Yamato. If I haven't made it clear already, the characters are what sell this anime. I love the continuous relationship development between Suna and Takeo. Probably the most unlikely pair of best friends but they both have a reason to stay so close. I adored watching them together and they had a lot of screen time together. I was glad that despite being a romance anime, the anime never neglected showing their friendship and reliance on each other. Takeo didn't do a 180 after getting into a relationship, and I like that Yamato slowly became one of Suna's friends too.

Then Takeo and Yamato, God, the innocence between them. They have a slow burn relationship for sure. But it was never frustrating. As each other's firsts, and with their personality, I'm not surprised their relationship was portrayed the way it was. They were super sweet together and their growth together puts so many other romance animes to shame. For an unconventional romance, Ore Monogatari sure does really well.

Also, little details like seeing their family and developing family characters, seeing them hang out with their friends, other problems outside the relationship, I really appreciate. The problems they encountered along the way were realistic, the characters dealt with it almost like how real people would (most of the time). There's not much drama, if any really.

The animation is really pretty, soft, warm colours, consistent throughout. I LOVE the OP and I'm so glad it didn't change the entire 24 episodes. The comedy is perfect. It's like they're not trying too hard to make it funny but it's made me genuinely laugh out loud more times than I can count. I like the little insight into what the characters are actually thinking, and every character is funny in their own right.

Without taking this too seriously, Ore Monogatari is easily in my top 5 romances. In terms of enjoyability, satisfaction, character/relationship development, it hits all the right spots. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it upon finishing it, I could've very easily watched more. I know it's not a perfect romance, and it may not appeal to everyone, but I rated it very highly for a reason. It's definitely not a starter anime though, as I feel like I've come to appreciate this after watching many other romances that were a mixture of mostly mid/bad and the few extremely good ones (Blue Spring Ride, Fruits Basket, Horimiya, Tada Never Falls in Love, Yona of the Dawn, ReLIFE etc.).

Edit: Though its realism is one of its selling points, I'd like to point out that obviously the anime has many moments that are totally ridiculous and made for comedic effect. The MC is a 6'7 guy built like a gorilla, there will be many moments that are not humanly possible and defy logic. All in the name of comedy though, it made me laugh.