AKA: 負けヒロインが多すぎる! ; Make Hiroin ga Osugiru!

Genre: Comedy/Romance/ Drama

Length: Television series, 12 episodes, 24 minutes each

Distributor: Currently available streaming on crunchyroll.

Content Rating: TV-14 (Mild/slapstick violence, mild fanservice)

Related Series: Season 2 (TV)

Also Recommended: Skip and Loafer; Horimiya; You and Me

Notes: Based on light novel and manga by Takibi Amamori, published by Shogakukan

Rating:

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!

Synopsis

Anna Yanami has had a long-standing affection for one Sosuke Hakamada, but he's now dating an exchange student named Karen Himemiya- and Yanami starts unloading all her resentment on a "rando", poor Kazuhiko Nukumizu (and sponging food off him as well). Nukumizu gets pressed into actually showng up at the school's Literature Club, which Yanami also joins, AND which ends up with a couple of other jilted girls: Lemon Yakishio, who crushed on her childhood friend Mitsuki Ayano, but he was stolen away by his fellow cram school classmate Chihaya Asagumo; and Chika Komari, a socially awkward girl who has a hidden longing for the president of the LIterature Club, Shintaro Tamaki, but Tamaki has a longstanding (though informal) relationship with the club's Vice President, Koto Tsukinoki.

Review

"Until recently, I'd never even talked to these people. Now that we're together, I'm getting caught up in all their drama" - Nukumizu

This was by far my favorite Crunchy show from the Summer 2024 season. Its idiosyncratic characters, and its nearly perfect balance of comedy and drama (MAINLY romantic drama, but not exclusively) make it unique- as is the fact that it's definitely NOT a harem show, despite the 3 to 1 female to male lead ratio; the girls are still very much carrying torches for the original objects of their affection. Yanami's relationship with Nukumizu seems to be the nearest one to attachment, but it's entirely transactional at first, and she explicitly "friend zones" him early on, and dismisses even any future hope he might have with her; while Komari, in fact, often treats "Nu-kun" with mild contempt. But there's nevertheless nuance about all this, and the emotional complexity of the characters is pretty amazing.

Starting with Nukumizu, he's introspective, a loner, and an otaku. (He gets humiliated about that last part, at one point.) He also has a strange obsession with finding the best-tasting water at the school. He has a bro-con little sister named Kaju, but at least he's able to channel her obsession to accomplish a major Lit Club objective. (This show, as with Takagi-san, bows to some anime cliches, but both shows are so wonderful I overlooked this- I might have some more to say about this, toward the end of the review.) Of all the members of the "Literature Club", Nukumizu seems to be the only one writing a traditional love story (as opposed to, say, an Isekai), and his sense of ethics is pretty old-fashioned too; he wants to console the girls, but due to his own lack of social experience, with girls in particular, he sometimes keeps more distance from them than they'd like themselves, and he commits some major blunders in handling Komari's issues, which were the most complex, and delicate, of them all.

Yanami is, arguably, the most attractive of the girls, though Lemon's a close second. (I agree with Tim- the art here, especially the character art, is outstanding.) However, she also has possibly the worst personality. (Though a case could be made that Komari, who describes herself as "crabby", might be worse.) Yanami gets triggered easily when she sees Sosuke and Karen together, and takes it out in rants to Nukumizu; we'll also note she eats a lot more than seems healthy, but nevertheless her vanity gets offended when this is called out, especially when Nukumizu suggests she's gained weight. (The show's art does some wonderful things with character expressions, especially Yanami's and Nukumizu's, and Nukumizu's expression when she goes on one of her nonsensical rants- a mixture of exasperation and resignation- is absolutely perfect.)

Next up is Lemon. She's a tanned athlete, the track star of her school, and her physical energy shines in her personality as well, which is warm and casual (maybe TOO casual for her own good, sometimes); she would seriously make a terrific girlfriend, if you could keep up with her. Tim declared her "best girl", and I agree- she's easy to fall in love with.

And then there's Komari. Komari's the sort of person who's not comfortable at all in social settings- she incessantly stammers when she tries to speak, and shrinks in terror from crowds. Supposedly, though, she communicates well in her writing (even if she IS writing Isekais.) Nukumizu's efforts to help her produce the most discomfort (for BOTH of them)- and the most actual VIOLENCE- that occurs in the show. It's because Komari AND Nukumizu are both, in their ways, so socially inept, that his efforts to "help" were easily misinterpreted. It was painful for me to watch this, maybe mostly because I was also socially inept at that age; but also because of my personal experience, I can appreciate how sensitively this is portrayed here. At times like this, the show approaches the depth and nuance that the best slice-of-life shows like You and Me occasionally achieve, despite Makeine's emphasis on comedy.

While there are some other interesting male characters here- Mitsuki Ayano, the bookish guy who was Lemon's childhood friend (and who she still crushes on), but who's completely oblivious to her feelings, for one- the most intriguing (or at least over-the-top) characters here are female. I particularly liked (because of her weirdness) the zombielike Yumeko Shikiya, whose gaze is so terrifying that you might not notice her particularly generous cleavage. She's on the Student Council, but when we (briefly) meet some OTHER members of the Council, we realize she might really be the nicest one of the bunch. It looked to me like we were being set up for a Club versus Council Conflict similar to that of SKET Dance.

But whether that happens or not might be a story confined to the manga. Having completed a couple of character arcs, the show ends with an "anime only" episode. Such episodes can be intended to conclude the story, and preclude any anime continuation, no matter how much further the manga runs. I'll spoil this much, and say that the final episode is open-ended enough to allow further adaptation. (It does broach a subject that Stig and Tim have been wondering about all along.) I CERTAINLY hope we get to see more of this unique story, and see how its marvelous cast grow and develop. (AND see how many dresses Yanami outgrows.)

I was frequently replaying certain scenes- and some complete episodes- because the writing here is so clever, and at times brilliant. Yes, there are some familiar anime tropes used throughout the show- it's even self-conscious about that, at times- but I'm coming to think that's often just to make the audience feel comfortable, and, well, ORIENTED. (And no, I can't articulate it better than that.) By the way, I've seen an illustration- I have no idea if it's from the manga, but it might be- that has Nukumizu and Shikiya HOLDING HANDS. Now, THAT'S a pairing I'd pay a lot to see. — Allen Moody

Recommended Audience: Crunchy says 14 and up. There's some mild violence, mild fanservice (Swimsuits- AND Lemon!), and part of a Boy's Love story (a steamy part) gets read aloud. (Koto's a fan of the genre- she's also a smoker. I guess the Seniors are given latitude that their underclassmen don't get.)