Love, love, love... The month of love is almost ending. Some people often say that single people can't feel the essence of this love month because they don't have someone to express their love with—what?! I always end up cracking up when I hear that one. Yes, St. Valentine ended up dying for couples, but when you say love it doesn't solely mean the love between them. Yikes are they imagining that they're the only ones who can give love? Ok, ok, I'm being bitter again—anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm here low-key ranting about love...so yeah, of 'course like usual it's connected to the anime I finished watching yesterday.
Like me, the FMC has been single for almost all her life. It's not that fate had deprived her the right to have relationships with others for it's rather a personal choice. After experiencing an unfortunate experience in her childhood, since then she had set a high wall to guard herself, but a misunderstanding made her interact with the person whose bound to change the course of her once grim and guarded life. Will she fight or embrace the changes? Together let's find out as I share with you my review on the couple who both are new to love in Say "I Love You".
About the Anime
Say "I Love You" (Suki tte Ii na yo) is a shoujo anime that premiered last fall of 2012. This one aired from October 7, 2012 to December 30, 2012. It's a 13-episode anime plus a single OVA that focuses mainly on the drama and romance between high schoolers. This school romance anime was animated by Zexcs and was adapted from the manga written and illustrated by Kanae Hazuki.
Having experienced a rather unfortunate childhood experience with her so-called "friends", Mei Tachibana since then distanced herself from people. She built a tough and almost unapproachable facade to avoid getting hurt again, but her once uneventful life changed drastically as she gave the most popular guy in her school, Yamato Kurosawa, the kick of the century. It turned out that it was just a misunderstanding and her reaction was definitely something she couldn't undo. Surprisingly, that misunderstanding somehow roused the interest of the popular guy. She tried to ignore his insistent offer to be friends, but after a certain incident, she realized that they could be friends—or even more than that.
It didn't take long for them to realize that their feelings were mutual, but being in a romantic relationship was certainly far from the casual walk in the park. It all started well, but later on, as she immersed herself in the world he lived in, she saw and realized the huge gap between them. She tried and struggled to cope with the new experiences and people coming into her life, but her past fears and current insecurities somehow held her back from accepting all of them. With the gaps, misunderstandings, and even their naivety coming in their way, can they still learn and realize the true weight of their feelings? Especially Mei who is still reluctant to say "I love you"—those three short words that mean a lot for Yamato.
I know this is how high school romance were supposed to be, but I felt that things escalated quite quickly. Like minutes before they're like complete strangers then something happens then boom they felt attracted to each other, realized their feelings were mutual, then went on dating—I just don't find it logical. Well, love is far from being logical, but maybe I'm too used to the slow-burn romance. I felt that it would impact me more if their relationship transcended gradually, but anyway, I still enjoyed how cute high school romance is. The way they met somehow made me recall the Cdrama I've watched before.
The kick was really hilarious and I do like the FMC after that because I thought that like the usual popular guy and timid/shy girl trope, she'll be also helpless, but thank God she wasn't. Well, there's still that usual self-pity and misunderstandings which I somehow find frustrating because I know what their true feelings are, but both of them are unaware and their speculations are ridiculously far from the true ones they felt—like ahhhh can't you just shut up with the introspective ramblings and speak up! By the way, with that aside, I still enjoyed not only their story but also the story of the side couples. Also, despite that it became extensive sometimes, I like how they portrayed those parts that showed her insecurities. I was really moved by how they're able to convey her feeling of inferiority and her thoughts on losing him to another "better" girl.
With the crap she experienced way back then, I'm glad that they're able to give her the convincing character improvement because it's indeed the wounds that aren't invisible that stay longer. They're something that really won't heal easily, and I'm happy that at the end of the anime adaptation, she was gradually learning not only to accept the feelings of the people who cared for her but also the unpleasant feelings that she's been carrying along the way. Further, I like that all of the characters get character improvement—especially those who had the nastiest behavior. It may be not the most unique shoujo plot, but the way it moved and affected me says a lot about how well they're able to convey the story. And for me, that's one of the distinguishing aspect that made it memorable.
As for its art style, I can say that most characters somehow look oddly the same. If it weren't for some of their noticeable difference in character designs, I would have thought they were the same person. I have no qualms about that because most of the shoujo anime are like that also, but anyway what really matters to me is how they're able to portray the emotions of the characters. Like I said, I was moved and affected by their emotions which of 'course thanks to how they're animated. Also, I really like how the backgrounds were drawn beautifully! I usually don't pay attention to them because I, most of the time, focus on the characters, but during the times dialogues weren't said and still frames of their backgrounds were seen, I couldn't help but notice how nice they were.
Same with its pleasing art style, the soundtrack wasn't also overdone. It just went well with the visuals—even making the scenes more engaging to watch. The voice singing behind the opening song was pretty angelic, and it's like hearing the FMC whispering and singing her feelings. It's really a nice way to start an episode because it's like a calm lullaby before the chaotic misunderstandings start making noises. Unlike the soft opening song, the ending song was catchy and it's something I wanted to jam with. The opening song was nice, but I wanted to just only listen to it because I know my voice will ruin the whole mood of the song if I sing along with it (lol). Also, I noticed and assumed that the opening song was like the POV and even the FMC itself singing, while the ending is much more like the ML's POV. If that assumption is true, I think that would make a lovely detail, but even if it isn't I still find those songs nice.
Overall, my rating for this anime is 9/10. The end was satisfying and I lowkey don't want a sequel because it's always in them where much bigger and more serious problems appear. I know that if you relate it in real life, that whole anime would probably be just the beginning because they're still in high school and a lot of things could happen after that, but for now, I don't want to overthink about it, so yeah—I'll just assume that their story ended in that part. So much for that, if you're up for a high school romance with a considerable amount of drama and satisfying character improvements, then don't hesitate and watch Say "I Love You".
Before I end this review, I'll share with you its trailer, so—
Have you seen this anime before? Or is this your first time reading about it? If you have comments to share feel free to write 'em down! That's all for now, minna-san~ I hope you enjoyed reading my review.
Arigatou and tanoshinde ne~
The pictures that didn't have source were screenshots from the anime while the last picture was edited in Canva.