A Deeper Yet Simple Love: Kimi ni Koishitei desu Ka

Synopsis

This is the story of  Chigira Ruiji, described to have the face of a demon, he often gets into fights and scares the rest aware. But the truth is, all he wants is to live as a regular high school boy. One day, all it takes is the kind act of a sweet girl and things begin to change for him.

The Good

In the community of shoujo mangas, there is always the dramatic or highly exciting romance series to be found with either exaggerated romantic scenarios or aggressive love interests. But this is series that took the general cliche of characters and actually made what is known as a tle of soft romance. A type of romance where the male is simply happy to make the other happy or how they wish they could be better for them is something that isn’t done enough in most shoujo manga unless it’s towards the second half of the series where they had gone over the “denial of feelings” stage. The art is also a soft piece of work and is pleasing to the eye even with how intimidating the male is supposed to be, the comedic moments make him an endearing character. Overall, good romance, interesting characters and well done art.

The Bad

In all honesty, there isn’t anything new in regards to the theme or plot with this tale pr the character types. True enough there is some good differences that makes the anime unique but the entire thing is pretty predictable if you’re familiar enough with the romantic tropes of anime/manga. With the misunderstood male protagonist, the sweet female love interest and the wingman side character with a rival halfway through, there isn’t much you can expect with concepts as overused as these.

Conclusion

This is a soft and sweet short story that didn’t get overly exaggerated with its scenarios and brought up the softer concepts of love that isn’t seen enough in shoujo manga, especially from the male’s perspective. Still the story is not all that new with a scary looking but actually kind protagonist and the sweet female that they fall in love with is one in a million in the anime community.

The aspect of the girl being realistically afraid of the guy’s intimidating looks and actually apologizing when she sees there is more to him is pretty good along with the comedic moments of the male lead and the devious moments of the side characters brings up some interesting scenes. Overall, a nice look into a softer type of love, good art, and generally well done characters to keep the reader interested.

Rating: 7/10