Nisekoi Review

The 20 episode ride is over but the amusement is still open, I hear they added a FIFTH rollercoaster.

Only now do I realize that the absurdly screwed up version of Romeo and Juliet basically sums up the entire series. Anyways, first series review of the Spring season while others have 3-4 weeks to finish up. I’d think most people would catch my impression of the series after 20 weeks of coverage but I might as well take this chance to talk about the manga’s status as well.

So here we go folks, it’s Nisekoi’s time to step to the plate.

As I simply summarized above, Nisekoi’s last episode was the official true love flag for Chitoge. So it’s official, Chitoge joins the Rakubowl and wants to win the gold. Of course, before the faux line gets uttered we get a clusterfuck of ad-libbed scenes that intrude upon the overdone Shakespeare work thanks to our numerous cast members. For better or for worse, that’s only half of the episode while the make-up dialogue comes after. The last half however is Raku reciting his lines with Onodera on the rooftop and in my opinion, this would have been a good confession scene. Oh well. The series ends in the ambiguous note.

I say this everytime I do series reviews but it feels strange doing these after weeks and weeks of episodic coverage. It happens everytime and I still cannot get used to it. You all know how I work folks. Most the shows I tend to watch rarely ever have plot and the usual excuse from me is that most shows are character driven and I rate it by how much I like the cast. Hell, there was a plot I actually wanted to know more about when there were 2 girls but then it got out of hand.

• There are not a lot of things for me to say about Raku. He’s the protagonist of the harem and he’s the average nice guy. The nice guy portion being supplemented because of his wish to stay out of the Yakuza inheritance thing going on. From how his dad acts, I assume that the gang will have a non-blood related successor while Raku lives a regular life. Like most harem MC’s nowadays, he seems able to sustain himself thanks to his cooking abilities as well. More and more leads seem to have adapated to the life without a full pair of parents. Small props to him for actually liking a girl and wanting to stay faithful…if he ever confessed. Then again, the dickless loser in To Love Ru had hots for Haruna but look at the size of his harem.
• Chitoge is the ever so quinessential tsundere present in every single harem ever. She’s one-half of the duo of “male” protag abusers but she’s the one who actual delivers some pain. Technically speaking, she’s the one who got the most “development” since the rest of the harem likes Raku from the start, she’s the one who felt the passion of love on the spot while the other 2 just liked him from the start. That being said, I’m not the one to like the character with absurd strength. Other than looking nice and giving the occasional dere, I don’t find her as appealing as the rest.
• I call everyone by their first name but always call Kosaki as Onodera because that’s just how she’s called by Raku. Anyways, Onodera is the girl who’s had a love for Raku ever since middle school. Even going to the same high school to eventually unveil her feelings. That is until everyone else came along. So unlike Chitoge, she’s the sweet one with her only flaws being that she’s rather boring. I mean that in the neutral sense that she doesn’t have too much going for her other than being extremely cute. Looks like no one in the main harem group can cook thanks to Raku picking up that skill.
• Tsugumi was a partial contender in the fight but since she has no key, she can’t be the Keymaster to Raku’s Gatekeeper. My friend was actually covinced she was a guy in her intro episode while I knew the second I saw her in the manga that she was a girl. She had like 2-3 episodes to suggest that she’s in love but she becomes a minor character later on in the series. If anything, I think she gets kicked out of the main harem circle. I like Tsugumi because she’s somewhat different but then again she falls under the same category as Chitoge when she gets embarassed.
• Seeing the adapted chapters as an anime, I realize that my favorite character from the group is Marika. She’s pretty foward in her expression and she’s pretty much the only one who has her feelings out in the open, no need for the usual misunderstanding. Then there’s the whole “undying loyalty and willingness to change for the sake her love” thing that I happen to like. She’s even more adorable when she happens to get embarassed too.
• Then we got the supporting crowd, mainly Ruri and Shu. Both act as the matchmakers that try to get their best friends to fall in love since it’s pretty obvious that Raku and Onodera love each other. Both Ruri and Shu get their specific mini-arc and in nearly both, we get a sense that they might work as a good couple.

Overall, the series is a near carbon copy of the manga adaptation and in my terms, is a great adaptation. Whether or not the source material is good or not is judged on how much you can tolerate from a love comedy harem. I need me this sort of stuff every season so it gets a passing grade because other than the paper thin plot that gets tossed aside every once in a while, the whole key thing is basically played for laughs at the pace they’re going at.

I’m referencing the manga as well since it’s still ongoing and that’s good news for fans since you can keep the ride going. A fifth girl in the harem and basically the girl with the 4th key shows up around Chapter 110 or so. I still keep up with the manga and if you could pick up the easy signs of my words, I’m not too keen on continuing the harem, much less adding a new girl. I mean if you thought the key wasn’t played for laughs, they delay opening it at least 3 times and the most recent one being with the new girl where they basically say “fuck this” and just ignore once new girl states that if can’t be opened. They tease us about it but nobody in the series knows what’s the deal with the lock.

It’s just a bit tough to let go such a principal aspect of the series and let it devolve and become a harem in my opinion. Other than that, it isn’t a bad series in my opinion. Dragged yes but still enjoyable to an extent. I’ll give special mention to the oneshot where Raku is a badass but it’s only Raku and Chitoge with no lock plot at all. So the one shot is pretty damn good since Raku pulls off something badass which I won’t spoil for you.

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