Gouda Takeo is a freshman in high school. (Both estimates) Weight: 120kg, Height: 2 meters. He spends his days peacefully with his super-popular-with-girls, yet insensitive childhood friend, Sunakawa. One morning, on the train to school, Takeo saves a girl, Yamato, from being molested by a pervert. Could this be the beginning of spring for Takeo?
In my quest to find a good new anime show to watch, I stumbled upon MY love STORY!! (Ore Monogatari). I knew it was a shoujo (romantic comedy) as soon as I saw the cover art, which was fine because shoujo is one of my favorite anime genres. However, I was skeptical to check it out, due to the fact that I've seen quite a few shoujo series and I was concerned it would fall into the same cliches and premises like the others. Fortunately, to my surprise, not only did it not follow the same shoujo trend, but it showed a completely new perspective, and I'm so glad I checked it out!
Right of the bat, the episode opened with an excellent set up of the show's premise in the form of a fairytale reference - "A kind, but lonely and misunderstood Ogre who just wants to be friends with the humans". That's the best way to describe the main protagonist, Takeo. He's this huge, hulking, gorilla looking guy but with the personality of a teddy bear. On the other hand, his best friend Suna, is your typical handsome, chick magnet kind of guy. In a typical shoujo, Suna would be the main protagonist - nerdy but cool, and surrounded by 5-7 main female characters all vying for his love. This is why I like this new show. They didn't go that route. Instead, they gave the "typical side character" the spotlight. For me, this is more relatable, seeing how most girls wouldn't even look twice to someone like Takeo. Every girl Takeo ever liked, was in love with Suna, but Suna rejects every single one of them. Why? Does he not like girls? You'll have to watch to find out.
After saving Yamato Rinko from a pervert, Takeo immediately got hit by love at first sight. Yamato starts hanging out with Takeo and Suna and bakes them pastries too for saving her. Yamato is your typical timid but adorable love interest. It seems evident that Yamato has feelings for Takeo but due to Takeo's insecurity and Suna's track record with girls, he thinks Yamato is in love with Suna, and so the hilarious misunderstanding ensues. I like the chemistry between the 3 characters. I also like the fact that there's no horde of girls involved here like other shoujo series.
MY love STORY!! (Ore Monogatari) seems to be a promising new series. The comedy is hilarious, the drama gives you the feels, and the overall story is engaging. As far as the animation, it's nice and clean. It reminds me of "Slam Dunk". Takeo in particular reminds me of a cross between Takenori Akagi and Kinnikuman. The opening theme song, "Miraikei Answer" by TRUSTRICK is a good song as well as the ending theme song, "Shiawase no Ari ka" by Local Connect. Although I enjoyed other shoujo series like Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina, and Ai Yori Aoshi among others, I'm glad MY love STORY!! didn't fall into the same paradigm. Having an averange Joe looking protagonist really shows a delightfully unique perspective in an already populated shoujo genre. I can't wait for the next episode!
Rating: A
BY: Jovanni Febrero
