Anime Review: Make Heroine ga Oosugiru

It’s another slice-of-life romance story so, of course, I wasn’t going to pass this one up. At first, the synopsis for Make Heroine ga Oosugiru! screamed “harem;” however, upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a bit different in that regard. Will this show prove itself to be different?

Let’s roll!

The Story

Kazuhiko Nukumizu is someone who prefers to just sink into the background and go about his daily life. One day, while eating at a café, he oversees and overhears his classmate Anna Yanami and her supposed boyfriend talking about him going to date another girl by the name of Karen. Anna eventually tells him to just go… so he does. After he leaves, she desperately wants one last kiss from him so she drinks his soda from his straw… until she’s caught by Kazuhiko staring at her. He tries to play it off but she goes over to his table, orders a bunch of food, goes on a nonsensical rant, and makes him pay for it all.

At school, he wants to be paid back for the food but Anna doesn’t have any money. Instead, she offers to pay him back by making him bentos until it totals up to the amount that she owes him. By bento, she means buying him food from the konbini or giving him a giant block of rice. All the while, she still complains about getting dumped even though she was, technically, never going out with him, to begin with.

In the end, Kazuhiko finds Anna up on the school roof where reality has finally settled in for her. There, he recounts how high school couples don’t last and those who graduate are most likely to break up, meaning that high school romance is a waste; however, after his interactions with Anna, he begins to wonder if a high school romance is something he would like to try during his teenage years.

Of course, he’s about to soon find out that he’s not going to have a lot of time to think about romance because he’s going to be too busy being the shoulder for every girl under the sun to lean on! From Lemon’s heartbreak over learning that her crush is out of reach, to Komari giving it her all and failing at confessing her love, Nukumizu just becomes the guy that’s stuck in the eternal friendzone. Throw in the fact that he is kind of roped into joining the school’s literature club… or more like he remembered that he was a part of it this whole time and simply forgot. This just happens to be the same club in which Komari is a member of, and things begin to unravel and it’s his job to hold the strings!

The Characters

Let’s talk about Nukumizu first. As stated above, he’s just a boy who doesn’t want any attention but he gets that in spades from Anna, Lemon, Komari, and, basically, everyone else. Despite his just wanting to sink into the shadows, he has a kind heart and wants to help them out, even if it becomes a bother and he ends up regretting it. One of the common themes here is that even if he regrets having to get involved with them, he feels a sense of reward from his efforts which is enough to fulfill him. In a way, he’s kind of a strong main character because he comes off as heroic to these girls but he also comes off a bit pathetic, too. Like, how do you forget that you’re in the literary club? Also, how can you not have the spine to tell Anna to buzz off when she uses you for food but you dare to make her pay you back? It’s a bit of a weird mixed bag for me but it is what it is. The show is more about the girls anyway and Nukumizu is just there to offer up a funny facial expression here and there while he acts as the support beam.

Now we have Anna…. My least favorite character of the show. Sorry, but she’s way too out there for me. She’s pushy, tries to be a tsundere but fails hard at it, and her emotional moments don’t seem too emotional because it’s like she brings a lot of it on herself. Like, why would you take it upon yourself to sit at someone else’s booth, order food, and then make them pay for it? Granted, she was nice enough to try and pay Nukumizu back but she did so with food… which means he’s still out of his money. Then, she’ll lean on him with her problems but scold him when he tries to help, or even scold him over the actions he takes to help others. Then, she teases him as if she has some sort of interest in him only to say that she doesn’t like him at all. She even laughed at him when he asked her to be his friend and nearly freaked out when she thought it was a love confession. Even after stomping on his heart like that (inadvertently), she still has the gall to come to him, be friendly, and use him for help. Yeah, no. Those are red flags for me, and I tend to keep people like that far far away so someone like Anna will never resonate with me and I loathed her in this show.

Lemon, on the other hand, was more up my alley. She’s sassy, very tomboyish, not afraid to say some embarrassing stuff that girls don’t normally say, and wears a very tough façade; however, she is a girl and she is vulnerable just like any other and because of that, she has moments of heartbreak to where you genuinely feel for her. Unlike Anna, she seems to appreciate Nukumizu’s efforts and goes out of her way to thank him. Although, it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t have a thing for him as her interests are laid elsewhere which leads to a lot of her heartache. I thought she was fun for a character, although, stripping and becoming “horny” due to heat stroke in the early part of the series was a bit out there… even for her character.

Despite my admiration for Lemon, Komari won best girl for me. She has severe social anxiety and finds it very difficult to talk to people. This is why it made her attempted love confession with Shintaro that much more impactful. Someone in her position working up the courage that many of us without social anxiety can’t even do is a feat of strength worth celebrating. Of course, she later gets into a position where she takes over the Presidency of the literature club because she feels that she has to for Shintaro and the club’s sake. Watching her try so hard to do the job while overcoming her fears and getting frustrated was simply heartbreaking. Komari’s arc was THE BEST in the show hands-down. She was a character that you just wanted to hug and never let go of! Adorable. Relatable. Incredible. If this show was about her alone, this would be 7 out of 5 stars outside of the Tokyo Dome.

Of course, we have some other side characters such as Shintaro and the Vice President of the Literature Club, Koto. We also have Lemon’s love interest in Mitsuki and the reason for Lemon’s heartbreak in Chihaya. While they don’t add much overall, the moments where they are featured are impactful and unlike a lot of side characters who get relegated to the back burner, they get sent there with a satisfying conclusion to their stories concerning the main characters that they affect.

However, if I had to pick a favorite side character that is more than worth mentioning, that honor would go to Yumeko from the student council. She talks in a whisper-like tone, looks half-dead most of the time, and shambles down the halls like a zombie. She’s as creepy as creepy can be; however, she’s hilarious and one of the most random and fun characters in the entire show…

Oh, and there’s Sayo, the school nurse. Wow… just… wow… If you ever want to turn “sexual tension” into a character, look no further than Sayo. How is she allowed to be that suggestive around underage students and not get reported!? Maybe it has something to do with the stain on the ceiling of her office?

Art & Animation

When Makoto Shinkai himself takes notice of the show and comments on how good and interesting it looks, you know that A-1 Pictures stepped up and did their job. While the characters are average-looking at best (in terms of their school uniforms), their overall visuals look really unique to where each character stands out. I particularly liked Lemon and Komari’s designs the best as they each fit their personalities perfectly. Plus, who doesn’t love tan lines on a girl?

While I didn’t like Anna as a character, her design was cute although I thought there was way too much floof in her hair. I’m not a fan of big hairstyles like that and oftentimes it was a bit distracting. I know it’s a weird nitpick but I had the same conversation with my artist in regards to my lead character Ashe Sawyer. Somehow, her hair kept gaining more volume with each illustration and it was starting to irk me.

As far as the animation goes, nothing truly special here. Then again, this is a slice-of-life series so I wouldn’t expect high-budget CGI for large-scale battles that don’t exist in this world; however, it was good enough to where nothing seemed out of place nor did it take you out of the immersion.

Soundtrack? Again… what soundtrack? It’s slice-of-life. If you enjoy background noise that doesn’t stick around in your head long enough to hum on the way to work or school the next day then go out and buy some ambiance. Outside of that, the opening theme was catchy but a bit too much for my tastes in music and the ending theme did its job. Again, it’s slice-of-life… you’re not going to get a Sawano drop, or a masterpiece of Yoko Kanno here.

Overall Thoughts

The show got off to a rocky start with me. I gave this a MAYBE in my first reaction and the first couple of episodes nearly proved why; however, there was something special about this show that made me want to keep watching… and so I did. In the end, I’m changing that answer to a YES… go out and watch Too Many Losing Heroines! Because this is a rom-com, there are many lighthearted moments but there are also some serious heartfelt moments and that’s when this show truly shines. Komari in and of herself is worth giving this show a watch and if you love tomboys, Lemon is a great character that you will enjoy. While I didn’t enjoy Anna, I know there are a lot of other people who like the loud ditzy type so you’ll get that in spades with her.

You also felt bad for Nukumizu because he goes through a LOT to help these girls out and gets nearly nothing in return. Even if there was no chance of any of them dating him, at least give him a celebration or something. Take him out to dinner, pamper him for a day, do SOMETHING to make him feel appreciated. Instead, they just pick on him, bicker at him when he tries to help, and even scold him when he tries to come up with ideas and tell him they’re not good enough. You really get the sense that all they are doing is taking advantage of him but it’s done so for comedy’s sake. It makes me wonder how different the situations would be if this were a straight-up drama like Gimai Sekai was. For comedic purposes, though, it works.

It’s kind of like the Big Bang Theory without the laugh track. YouTube that. Trust me. You’ll understand my point of view perfectly once you watch it.

I loved all of the character interactions and how their individual stories all tied into each other. While it wasn’t as deep and intricately laid out as a Ryohgo Narita story, the supporting characters had stories that affected or tied into the main characters’ stories and all of that flowed right into Nukumizu as if he were some sort of conduit for every plot in this series. It was still well done and it made for a very enjoyable watch so if you haven’t checked this show out yet, suffer through the first couple of episodes and enjoy the reward on the other side… kind of like Nukumizu in every situation he finds himself in.