Review of My Love Story!!

Honestly, I got more than I expected out of My Love Story. I was originally a bit reluctant to give it a try due to Gouda's design, but watching the trailer and hearing the premise convinced me to give it a shot. Needless to say, I'm glad I did. My Love Story has become one of my favorite Shoujo's, and I'll explain why: The characters: Let's start off with Gouda: the big lug is pretty damn lovable and goofy. He's obviously very different than most shoujo romance protagonists, where usually it's a very plain boy with a flexible but weak personality. Gouda's this manly guy whoactually gets along with the majority of his male classmates (who think he's the greatest) in contrast to how normally a male protagonist will have one guy friend who is usually a pervert, where as Gouda's best friend is actually quite the opposite, but we'll get to him next. He's not that smart and while he's confident in his physical capabilities lacks real confidence in himself when it comes to dealing with women, which many can relate to.
Onto his best friend Suna, you could sort of say he's the 'expected' protagonist of the story, with a laid back and almost bland personality and a natural allure that draws women to him. I wasn't sure what to make of him at first and thought he would be boring, but he actually serves the role of best friend perfectly for the story. For one, he loves Gouda (which you'll obviously never hear him say lol) and goes out of his way to help him when he can, knowing that Gouda is pretty dense in the field of romance. People might argue against this, but I love Suna's role. Very few rom-com's, especially in anime, have a best bro role that is taken by someone who is really trying to help the main protagonist.
Rinko is a sweetheart. Her initial infatuation with Gouda is as cute as you'd expect from a girl so tiny compared to the hulking Gouda. It's funny, because of his personality, Gouda isn't willing to put his 'selfish' desires of being closer to Rinko at the front to be respectable, so Rinko is the one who has to be 'aggressive' when it comes to this (I put quotations because the things she wants are just small things like holding hands or similar such kiddie stuff lol). Gouda is a nice guy, but he needs to catch a hint lol.

Those are the main characters at least, with a few smaller reoccurring ones that are decent but much less of the focus. I think the three of them make for a great trio in the story that doesn't involve some sort of silly love triangle. This is Gouda's love story, not the story of his fight with his best friend over a girl.

The tone of My Love Story is generally upbeat and sweet, although some could argue that it's a bit 'too' happy. I was fine with this because I wanted to see the couple succeed, even though I would find it interesting to see what would happen if Gouda were to date one of the other few women who actually like him.

Now that's not to say My Love Story is flawless. Because of the strength in their relationship with one another, it's hard for there to be any true stakes when it comes to the drama. You have a couple times where the couple is faced with an outsider who is attracted to one of the two, but it's easy to tell what choice they will make. If anything, you could almost say that My Love Story is too 'pure', as previously said before. This wasn't a problem for me but I can see why it would be a problem for watchers looking for something with more conflict.

All in all, My Love Story is honestly one of my favorite anime. It might not be a five start for everyone, but if you want a sweet story with a sweet couple, give My Love Story a shot.