So, apparently the Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu manga is crap. I would seriously not have guessed that. I mean, I do not see any way in which the anime version is inferior to the anime adaptations of Kimi ni Todoke, SA, Kaichou wa Maid Sama, Vampire Knight, Itazura na Kiss or Shugo Chara aside from its production values.
I mean:
– It’s short and to the point.
– It doesn’t drag on endlessly.
– It’s not another one of those “will they won’t they” stories: the lead characters are an actual couple.
– Instead of not knowing whether they want to make their lead female strong or weak (leading to bizarrely unbalanced characters), the creators made the lead female just average, having both her strong and weak points without trying to make her seem anyone she isn’t.
It’s definitely refreshing in the shoujo romance genre, not to mention that the acting also was pretty good; I especially liked the lead female in it. The lead male too: at first sight he seems like another one of those cold assholes, but the rest of this episode then proves that he can do other things than be always cold to the lead character.
Of course, this episode was a tad cheesy at times, but I liked how it was pretty much a down to earth romance here. It’s just their time together at christmas and them getting to know each other better. The budget was obviously low here, but I still really like what the animators did with the visuals, giving the lead couple some interesting character designs. The main issue with the animation here is that the lip-synching is totally off.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,75/10
The anime adaptation of Vampire Knight was pretty craptastic, too (although the manga is pretty good). You won’t get much out of comparing something to it.