This anime really is the epitome of a sweet romantic comedy. It speaks to the innocence and insecurity of first love and adolescence. I really enjoyed the first episode.

The anime follows Takeo; a softhearted giant who is an absolute romantic. He often crushes on female classmates, but as he is not conventionally attractive, the feelings are not reciprocated.

Worse yet, those same girls that he likes confess their love to his best friend, Suna, who is considered handsome by…just about everyone with a pulse.

Takeo himself is quite popular with the boys in his school. They look up to him as a cool role model. He is athletic and kind, with a strong moral compass.

We see early on how protective Takeo is when – in passing, Suna tells him that there is a creep hanging around the local elementary school.

Brashly, Takeo decides to take it upon himself to guard the front gate of the school. Anytime he perceives a man as creepy, he glares menacingly to try and ward them off. It does not take long for someone to misunderstand his intentions and contact the police. Of course, it looks like he’s a creepy man in front of an elementary school, and he gets escorted off the premises.

One day, as Takeo and Suna are riding the train, Suna observes a man who is disturbing a young girl (Yamato). Act-first-ask-questions-later-Takeo leaps into action and grabs the man who was harassing the girl.

He leaps without looking and does not see who he is saving until she turns around to thank him, and be still his heart, our guy Takeo is in love again.

All three; Takeo, Yamato and Suna, escort the assailant to the police station. When Yamato comes forward to tell the officers what happened, the vile culprit BLAMES HER FOR HIS ACTIONS.

A fiery Takeo – having none of that – defends her honour by punching the guy into a wall. As a result, he gets suspended. Which is in-line with what we have seen from his personality so far.

A lot of the humor in the show has to do with mistaken assumptions. Takeo is well meaning but impulsive. Often, his good deeds can be overlooked by the people he tries to help or the credit given to Suna because people notice him more often.

When Yamato comes to visit Takeo at his house to thank him (bringing him his first cheesecake), she is nervous. To thank him, she has brought him some dessert. Suna trying to give them some privacy, gets up to leave but she asks for him to stay. It is in this moment, Takeo becomes convinced that she does not want Suna to leave because she must have feelings for him.

Because of this, it is not clear to him that Yamato is made nervous by his presence.

That whenever the three of them are speaking, she is actually just looking at Takeo. She goes out of her way to try and see him again. She goes through the added effort of making sure she has his email address so they can communicate again. She makes him hand-mixed desserts because he liked the cheesecake she brought him the day before. Further still, she promises to bake him another dessert the next time they see each other.

Even after all of that, by the end of the episode, our Takeo has made a vow to try and set Suna and Yamato up so that she is not heart broken.

Final Thoughts: Who hasn’t cheesecake before?

Although no one is as dense as Takeo, it is relatable to not know whether someone you like, likes you back. And if you are someone who is usually just a spectator with love, it can be even more difficult to believe someone might actually like you instead of your hot best friend.

This show really is wholesome. I am so glad there are 20+ episodes.

Thank you for reading. Till next time!