One day after school, Asahi Kuromine stumbles upon the truth that Youko Shiragami, the girl he has a crush on, is actually a vampire. According to her father's rules, Youko must now quit school in order to keep her family safe. However, Asahi does not want her to go and promises that he will keep her true nature secret. Unfortunately, this turns out to be easier said than done, as Asahi is a man who is easy to read and is unable to keep any secrets to himself.
And this is only the beginning of his troubles—more supernatural beings enter his life, and he is forced to protect all of their identities or face the consequences. Jitsu wa Watashi wa follows Asahi as he deals with his new friends and the unique challenges they bring, struggles to keep his mouth shut, and desperately tries to win Youko's heart in the process.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Stark700
It seems there may be a new trend in anime in recent years. The concept of monster girls who lives in the human world is becoming more and more of a trend. Rosario + Vampire, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou, and even to an extent, To Love Ru Darkness display traits where its main character cast composes of non-human female characters. So where does that put Jitsu wa Watashi wa? Nowhere too different really. To sum it up easily, this is a series about a guy who discovers that there are non-human beings living in his world. And one ofthem is not so far away as much as he thinks.
Adapted from the manga of the same name, Jitsu wa Watashi wa (Actually, I am…) is a harem rom-com. There’s two ways the series goes about this. One is the way the characters are introduced, one by one in oddball fashions to the main character. The second is how the main character connects with them with a variety of feelings. And if you can guess, it mostly steers into a road of romance. However, it is also interesting to note that the series takes itself more as a comedy rather than human drama. How can human even fit into the same phrase here?
Well, there’s the one human protagonist we meet from the very beginning. Known to his friends and peers as Kuromine and others as “Eromine” (there’s reason for this explained comically later), he is essentially the average teenager you can expect to see in any school related series. One day at school, he discovers a startling secret. He discovers that his secret crush, Shiragami Youko is actually a vampire. The key word here is ‘actually’. This is because the show is a matter of not ‘if’ but ‘when’. By predictable plot standards, it’s easy to guess that Kuromine will find out the secrets of other characters too. But for starters, his discovery of Youko lands him into some awkward waters. The way the show sets their relationship essentially begins as a form of pact. Kuromine likes Youko and vows to keep her secret from others. In turn, Youko begins to understand Kuromine and naturally begins to develop similar feelings. And as far as that goes, their school life begins to take into a road of misadventures as others get involved with their “relationship”.
As a series about rom-com, the main protagonist is hardly outstanding. He is the typical nice guy, the beta harem type that you can find literally in any similar series. What does make him slightly interesting is that he is honest and loyal. The first few episodes establishes this as he promises to keep Youko’s true identity as a secret. If not, Youko would have to be change schools in order to avoid shame. His personality seems to have influence on others as well as the characters encountered by him understands his intentions more than they originally had thought. This seemingly also attracts others towards him as they see Kuromine as a sincere person. Characters such as Nagisa begins to have conflicting thoughts about him as the series progresses, Youko falls further and further in love, while he attracts other weirdos like self-proclaimed pervert, Shiho Shishido. As amusing as this sounds, there’s hardly any good characterization on them. The series easily makes its point that it’s more of a comedy gag show rather than something to take seriously. The plot is also structured in episodic-like nature with some episodes that have little to no connections with the rest.
Despite this, I do have to admit that the show has genuine comedy. This comes mainly from the character face expressions. In essence, we get two types. The first is human-like ones from Kuromine and his childhood friend Mikan. Their reactions to many events in the show is priceless and often seems like a work of art. Although it’s not as powerful as to the manga, it still retains its clever facial tone. The second is the dialogues. Because Kuromine is helping to keep a secret, there will be a lot of times where he gets into complicated scenarios where he may have to make up something in order to avoid trouble. Think of it more as “lying with the truth” and the dialogues that comes from it is hilarious. Of course, expect misunderstandings and events to get complicated more than they seem.
The series ultimately can be a hit or miss for fans when it comes to adaptation. To me, it’s a bit of both. I wouldn’t say it’s a failure but neither is it compelling. Rather than following the manga straightforward, the adaptation reshuffles certain chapters to make the overall story flow better. While this seems like a positive at first, it can also lead to important elements of the original omitted or parts added in too quickly. The good part that comes with this is the better pacing as some of the episodic scenarios can be frustrating and almost like if it’s testing the patience of the audience.
TMS Entertainment is not a powerhouse but their involvement for this show does have some good values. The character designs aren’t outstanding as the characters looks generic and lacks the compelling feel of the manga. However, it makes it up for the facial expressions in particular Kuromine and Youko. Every episode has them and it’s hard to ignore. Otherwise, background work such as the school, neighborhood, and communities lacks concrete in detail. There’s also some bits of fan service used mainly for comedy gags. Don’t really expect much though as the show again often emphasizes comedy rather than eye candy.
In similar terms, the soundtrack is just fine as it is. The OP and ED theme song plays on note with comedy although can be easily forgettable. There’s also some spoilers in the theme songs so fast forwarding them if you want a better experience as an anime original viewer. There’s also a problem with Youko’s voice as she sounds like a character that is younger than she actually is. It will take some time to get used to as I did throughout the show. On the contrary, character voice mannerisms during “climatic scenes” are easily laughable for its comedic intent. When combined with the face expressions, the show really brings out a colorful side to the humor.
So what’s to say about Jitsu wa Watashi wa in the end? It’s probably a better idea to watch it for yourself. The show is something that should be watched if you want a fun laugh rather than any sort of realistic drama. The romance is almost like a satire at times as it feels dense yet amusing as the story progresses. And of course, who can forget about our colorful cast of monster girls? In retrospect, this show is more like an imaginative storytelling that can strike as peculiar when a guy learns what actually is…
Shoichi
If I were to choose whether I liked it or not, I'd say I liked it. The plot is decent, the characters are funny, and the anime is without flaw... OK, it isn't flawless. But it does have a certain charm to it, and I never even had the thought of dropping it. It was really entertaining. But the ending left room for improvement, and the characters' sub-par performance, in terms of uniqueness, quality and improvisation, could have been avoidable. If it gets a sequel, I'd watch it, though. Story: 7/10 The plot takes a very rough road to its destination. Once you're in a fewepisodes, you'll start noticing you've picked a favourite girl (or guy, I suppose) subconsciously. And you'll be routing for that girl (or guy...). But then that character loses all its screen time, and "vanishes" as a "supporting character". And that can be irritating at times. So, all in all, the plot is something you either like, or you don't. And the character development is slow, if not non-existent. You'll start noticing after they mention how much Asahi "changed", that he didn't really change at all. Honestly, the only characters that sort of changed are Nagisa and Mikan. The rest stay the same, more or less, until the end. It really does depend on your point of view, but despite the ups and downs, this anime is generally likable. And so is the plot, albeit with little progress. It could have been better. But it wasn't.
Though it does have similar jests in respect to other anime, it is nonetheless interesting. If you are looking for a slice-of-life anime, or a serious and/or malicious plot, you're out of luck. If you're a fantasy fan like me, and are interested in the supernatural, then this may or may not be for you, as it lacks the seriousness some people prefer in fantasies (i.e less comedy, more battle). But if you love anime without a greater goal, in other words, simple yet moving stories, then this anime might be a great opportunity for you.
Art: 8/10
It's interesting how something so simple can be so very fitting to a single series. I cannot say I saw a single mistake in the animation, albeit through my untrained eyes. In my ever so humble opinion, in terms of quality, it really hits the mark. For example, the running animation is particularly detailed, and the facial expressions are hilarious. I cannot say they did a bad job converting the manga art, either. To be honest, it's great. And, as the Japanese like to say, Omoshiroi (For reference: 面白い).
Sound: 8/10
The OP and ED were splendid! The voice actors were really good, as well. Though one highschooler sounded like a thirty-five year old man. Overall, the soundtrack was brought to life in a unique way, seeing as how I can't think of any similar songs. Simply put, the OP outweighed the anime, in a sense. One of the few that I didn't skip, and it fits to the theme very well, as well. (Too many 'well's... Oh, well...)
Characters: 7/10
I can't say I was completely satisfied. They could've been better. But overall, I'd say they were good. If only Mikan and Nagisa had been portrayed better. It felt to me like they were lacking enough impact of sorts in the plot.
Enjoyment: 8/10
The lightheartedness is refreshing, especially after last season, so this is certainly the anime to watch if you're in the mood to relax. The comedy is only a bit better than average, though. The romance leaves room for improvement, as well. But to me, this anime is one of the highlights of the season.
Overall: 8/10
This anime is, or can be, very funny at times, and dull at others. But depending on the viewers' mood, this anime could be the best way to cheer yourself up, or the best way to fall into despair. Now, when I say something like that, you'd be thinking: "What the hell are you talking about!? This anime is awesome!" or "This series is so abysmal, I can't wait for it it to fail miserably!" Both statements are correct. Both are false. This anime is better than average. It's also worse than average. It's a better than average comedy. It is a worse than average harem. It has worse than average characters, but better than average personalities. I could go on, but you get my point. Depending on the person you are, you may like this, or you may not. Now, to be completely honest, this anime gets an 8/10. Not because I gave it that score, but because the anime genuinely gives you a homely feeling. It does. Really. It's not something you really notice at first. Or in all situations. But you'll notice when you're really tired (mentally, and physically), perhaps after a long day of work. It's relaxing. And extremely so. If you lower the volume a bit, once Asahi starts shouting, you'll know what I mean. I personally can say out of experience that most people will overlook this show. And it's their loss. No anime is perfect, but this one was great, to say the least. It's also a great way to get into the manga itself. If you really hate anime like this, then I can't say you are wrong. But if you try it out, you might actually come to like it.
Alright, lastly, to add a few recommendations, let's list some similar anime:
■ Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
■ Himouto! Umaru-chan
■ Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo (TV)
■ MM!
■ D-Frag!
■ To LOVE-Ru
TzKal-Zuk
TL;DR: pacing is awful, characters are generic and removable, + for sound and animation, poor conclusion. I felt like I've been betrayed after finishing this show. Yeah the general premise of it isn't by any means original, but given the circumstances of the show, it could have been a decent rom/com. Ironic enough the score I'm giving it is classified as "decent." The show has a promising first few episodes, filled with comedy more than anything else. Really, there isn't too much to say about this adaptation because it lacked a lot of development in every aspect. The story seemed to follow the usual trend ofboy meets girl, they fall in love with each other, beat around the bush for 10 episodes and then conclude with a cute scene at the end. Certainly I thought it was going to be like this but the last 2 episodes decided it was okay to do the inexplicable. Not going to spoil it, but what happens pretty much kicks everything prior down the drain. Makes me think that whoever did the anime adaptation decided (from what i heard) to change it from the manga. If the manga was like this then -_-. Overall for the story: worked up to nothing, falls flat and leaves a lot to be desired.
Characters are all very generic. We got the goody two shoes male protagonist, the dense main heroine, the jealous kuudere heroine, the childhood friend, and the hentai heroine. Nothing special by any means and as a matter of fact, this show really revolves around the male protagonist and the dense and jealous heroines. The other two seem to play no part in progressing the story and seem to be in on screen for no particular reason. All the other characters are generic side characters as well. The most interesting character to me was the principal, but she had very little screen time and it would've been nice to know more about her. Yeah the characters lacked a lot of originality, but some redeeming qualities were their interactions. It was funny for the most part, but most of the drama filled scenes seemed forced. Characters were not memorable.
Sound was overall decent. The opening animation seemed to give off the wrong impression of the show, but it was catchy. The ED has to be one of my more favorite ED's out there. Most of the soundtrack was forgettable, one stand out though being the one @ the pool scene. VA's were eh sound effects eh.
Animation in this show is different from a lot of other shows where it really focuses on the facial features of characters. It is really bubbly and does a good job projecting the emotions our characters are feeling. Action scenes could have been better.
I liked this show for the first 9 episodes, but it definitely dropped the ball with it's pacing. A lot of questions were left unresolved and some (what i think) key scenes were brushed over just to be one of those "remember when" moments. There were too many removable characters for me to really give a crap about the 3 main ones. I really am disappointed in how it ended because I was enjoying the slapstick humor. Too many plotholes and too many plotpoints that were completely disregarded.
Nervin
How can a romantic school comedy work if the main protagonist is someone who can't lie and the female protagonist is a very dense person? Jitsu wa Watashi wa, or "Actually, I am...", is a romantic school anime which incorporates supernatural elements as well as comedic ones to enhance the narrative. As mentioned earlier, the story is simple and centers around Kuromine Asahi, the "leaky basket", and Shiragami Youko, who happens to be a "dense" vampire. Having a person who can't keep secrets can only lead to problems. The anime utilizes these situations to its advantage to present amusing situations and develop their relationship. However, thecomedic situations are often similar, getting old quickly; the same applies to the story, which seems to have the same approach as other similar anime.
New characters are introduced as the narrative progresses, all with one common aspect: all have a supernatural background, whether it is an alien or a transforming werewolf. This is an interesting aspect that provides diversity to the characters and story, yet as the story unfolds, instead of exploring the supernatural nature of these characters, it just focuses on the romantic aspect and feelings these have for the lead character. I found this personally a letdown, making it not much different from the other romantic school comedies.
The cast of characters presented in Jitsu wa Watashi wa were unique in their own way, each with a supernatural background, though with generic personalities. There is Kuromine, who is a clumsy, shy, "leaky basket" but with a good heart. Then there is the vampire Shiragami, a dense and unaware person of her surroundings, who in the beginning seems to be very shy and unsocial person. There is the perverted werewolf who has double personalities,Shishido Shido; the alien Aizawa Nagisa with a very serious attitude, and the childhood friend, whose glasses are possessed. Not to forget the demonic director and her sister, as well as the usual cast of supporting characters such as friends.
Character development is not the strongest point in the anime, though throughout the anime the spectator observes how the romantic feelings for Kuromine affects the different characters.
The animation is well done, as well as the characters, who have a distinctive design comparing with the other modern anime. The comedy is enhanced through amusing face expressions. The eyes of the characters were toned down a bit to make the characters more appealing, comparing it to the manga. Some of the soundtracks used in Jitsu wa Watashi wa fits well, such as the rock themes, with other less interesting themes which is common in other anime. I personally enjoyed listening to some of the voice actors, as I like the Kansai accent. The opening had a catchy tune, though nothing outstanding.
Jitsu wa Watashi wa was overall an enjoyable experience, with interesting character designs, though failing into exploring these to its full potential, making the narrative itself rather dull and generic. Nevertheless, the occasional comedic situations managed to keep the story interesting. What could have been a good romantic comedy with interesting characters and interesting story progression, turned out to be rather lackluster in comparison, but entertaining.
Thank you for reading.
yume81
Basicly it's a boy loves girl but can't confess ... He finds out her secret and tries to keep it despite being a "leaky basket", to prove so he ends up being friends with her instead of just confessing his feelings. Moreover other girls come into the story to make things more difficult ... more complicated for him to get closer to "the girl" who is pretty dense when it comes to her feelings and romance, and then mistakes his affection for her thinking he's in love with THE OTHER GIRL. Comedy wise... not so funny it got me yawning most of the time, Isimply couldn't find it funny nor cute. But hey it's my personal opinion, others might have found it funny I just didn't.
In the END he never confesses. I must say it was 1 of the few animes I didn't enjoy at all.
It's a hangup story with no end.
sunnyundies
Jitsuwa Watashi was a breath of fresh air. It followed a simple story that was easy to follow, without the emotional commitment. It's a pallet-cleanser anime. I had just bawled my eyes out after watching AnoHana, and I need something to ease the pain. I decided to try it on a whim, and ended up watching the whole thing in one sitting. It delivers a refreshingly light humor that let me just relax while I watched. I credit much of that to the timing of its jokes, as well as the pacing of the story. This show is definitely a hidden gem.
Meowsorz
TL;DR Review Story- MC has to keep a girls secret or else she'll be deported to Mexico, I mean back home to her parents and will move schools. The MC can't keep a secret at all, so they try to turn that into a plot device only to not make any other plot devices. That's pretty much the show. Nothing else really happens apart from more characters popping up and a harem. Art- It's average. Not good or bad really. Sound- It gets the job done but doesn't pop out at all. I can't remember any of the background songs used apart from the intro and ending.Character-
The characters are pretty poorly written. Just your standard cut and paste characters from anime you've already seen before. Got the airhead, got the tsundere, got the pervert, and got the MC everyone likes for some reason.
Should you Watch?
No.
Keatle
Romantic-comedies are one of those staple genres in every part of the world, with some focusing more on the romantic aspects while others focus more on the comedic sied of things. Despite being quite a bit unrealistic in relation to the romance part, most rom-coms are very much grounded in reality. Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa is just the opposite with its non-sense comedy. Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa (Actually, I am…) is the anime adaptation of the rom-com manga of the same name, published by Shounen Champion and created, written and illustrated by Eiji Matsuda. The adaptation is directed by Yasutaka Yamamoto (Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara KuruSou Desu yo?, Valkyria Chronicles).
Asashi Kuromine is a high-schooler with a strange peculiarity: he can’t lie or hide his emotions. Also, he has a crush on Youko Shiragami, a mysterious girl from his class that never participates in PE class and is always the last student to leave school. One day, he decides to confess his feelings after-school. Because of that, he discovers that she is, actually, a vampire. Now he has to keep her secret, while trying to get closer to her and dealing with other supernatural beings and even aliens.
Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa is not your usual rom-com, it has too much of a taste for the weird and nonsensical to be one. At first, the comedy is a bit weird, but it builds up on its own weirdness to become something that reminded me a bit of Monty Python, with all of its craziness and novelty. As crazy as it sounds, air-headed vampires, randomly appearing ice-creams and a devil with a sweet tooth are normal occurrences in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa . The comedy never becomes stale, as, with each new character, new interactions and situations become possible. While they don’t evolve much in terms of development, all of them are instantly likeable with a decent degree of depth. Also, most of the characters are twists in the “normal” horror monsters: vampire, werewolf… Still, it is a rom-com, and, as a result, most of the development is based around the fact that characters fall in love with each other.
The characters’ interaction is wonderfully crazy and, somehow, they always outdo themselves, with crazier and crazier situations arising. This is only possible because of the great variety of the characters and their (sometimes conflicting) personalities. “Sexiness” contests, meteors’ attacks, spicy bread russian roulette and even plain old festivals are just some examples of the type of stuff that happens in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa.
The visuals are vibrant, but take some time to get used too. After the initial reactions, it becomes pleasing to look at, but never reaches anything other than that. Likewise, the character design is colorful and eye-catching, creating a unique style.
As an adaptation, it was pretty good. It changed the order of the events depicted on the manga, but stayed faithful most of the time. Unfortunately, it is not as great as the manga, simply because of the way the comedy’s “snowballing” nature. Given a second season, it could reach the same levels of the manga.
Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa strength lies not in its story or characters, but its unique comedy. Despite its great quality, its enjoyment depends on the viewer’s own sense of humor. As a result of loving wacky comedy, I enjoyed the comedy of the series, but, again, it may not be for everybody.
I would recommend Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa to people looking for an unusual rom-com that focus mostly in its comedy aspect and also to people looking to a Japanese-styled Monty Python.
BaptizED
Jitsu wa Watashi wa is indeed a surprising unexpected gem for the summer season, and has a certain thing that makes you to keep watching it even with its mediocrity. I won't say it is totally mediocre, but most of its elements are rather seen in other anime which makes it not suitable for other viewers. Despite those, it is still a fun romance to watch because of good and proper pacing and execution. The story is set to be in an ideal school harem setting, it is about a generic brown-haired guy named Kuromine Asahi who can't keep secrets. Together with the introduction of eachgirl the anime progresses fast. Just like any other harem, there is this "main girl" who will likely end up with the main guy but as you watch this you may also root for the others, as they are likable and you won't have the reason to hate them. About the plot, it's common and generic but a few twists like different attributes to the abilities each character have and being an entertaining romcom make it somewhat special. There is also this clashing of romance and comedy that some viewers may not like, but only a little.
Nothing to complain about the art, it's really plain and ordinary and doesn't leave any good or bad impression. Scenes aren't that detailed but the character designs are pretty and clever. What makes the art good I think are the colors used for details and character designs. It makes it more lively and vivid, which is what a comedy anime need. It contributes to the atmosphere greatly. Lastly, who can forget their facial expressions? They are very funny, fresh to the eyes, and can make you laugh.
Each voice actor did a great job portraying their respective characters. The soundtracks are really forgettable, though they are also responsible for setting the mood of each scene. The opening is somewhat catchy and makes you jumpy, it really suits the anime's playful and cheerful atmosphere. The ending is a gorgeous song, with it's calmer melody it portrays the drama and romantic side of the anime. My only complain about the sound is the insert music in every later half of each episode. Although it is not a bad song, it gets quite out of hand and becomes annoyingly unnecessary.
Now for the characters, they each have their own traits making them easy to distinguish from each other. Being a harem, one would expect that each character have their screen time one by one each episode. But this is not the case in Jitsu wa Watashi wa. Not only each character have their backstories, they are mostly part of each episode and no one gets left out. The main characters' personalities like being dense and bucket with holes spark a unique kind of chemistry which is good for an effective romance. Being a Romcom developments are slow, but you can see in each episode how well the creators execute scenes and dialogues for their developments.
I'm not sure if this can give any laughs, but man, this is pretty entertaining for me. Some jokes are recycled, but most of the time you may get something you won't expect. Jitsu wa Watashi wa is a friendly supernatural Romcom that can stand on its own merits.
The summer season was fun indeed, but Jitsu wa Watashi wa was just left out in the corner and was overlapped by more mainstream anime. It is quite underrated and it deserves more than what it gets. Overall, it has a few flaws but it's still covered by its own shines. It is certainly not bad, but it has its limits for being good as well.
Story - 8
Art - 7
Sound - 7
Character - 8
Enjoyment - 9
Overall - 8
Lord_Rutsah
Oh joy! I get to spend Easter (orthodox holidays) in Germany, where people wouldn't recognize good humor if it hit them in the face... Lets download some comedy anime so that I have something to watch while I'm there. Lets see... A guy who can't lie has to keep a secret about a vampire girl? That sounds hilarious! The only way they could possibly screw it up is if they added completely needless... They added god damned slapstick... You see people, the point of slapstick comedy is to take hard, painful, boring situations and turn them to funny ones. A cat chasing a mouse for exampleis mundane, but when you add slapstick to it, it becomes funny. Now in a situation that's already comedic on its own, such as an idiot who can't lie trying to keep a vampire's secret, SLAPSTICK DOESN'T FIT.
So as you can guess, the scenario revolves around a guy who can't lie, who accidentally finds out the girl he likes is in truth a vampire. It is decided that since she got caught she should give up on high-school, but upon hearing this, the protagonist swears to keep her secret, essentially sealing a pact between them. Except the vampire girl is a dumb idiot who friendzones him from the start and the way the series goes it's a wonder she hadn't got discovered already, with her moronic behavior. Along the way things get slightly more complicated when the protagonist's previous crash also turns out to be a weirdo (a chibi alien in this case, operating a human-sized robotic version of herself) and she is also discovered. So basically it is a trio of the alien chick liking the protagonist but the protagonist being oblivious to it, the protagonist liking the vampire but the vampire being oblivious to it, and the vampire trying to support the alien girl hooking up with the protagonist.
In sort, the protagonist forms his own harem full of forced tsunderes or dumb morons. To sum it up, while original, it isn't the most likable of casts, especially since their performances come out really unnatural, because we REALLY NEEDED THE F@CKING SLAPSTICK. What's truly annoying though, is that the anime was clearly written by two joke writers with completely different ideas of what humor is. And the stupid one apparently outranked the smart one. I believe the dialogue below should explain this well:
Writer 1: And just as the main character is in a moral dilemma between lying to his friends and letting his alien love interest have her skirt flipped...
Writer 2: We'll add a chase scene to it!
Writer 1:He... What?
Writer 2: You know, chase scene. Because that's what people think of when you say "good humor". Sylvester an Tweety.
Writer 1: You are a mockery of everything I work for.
Writer 2: Well too f@cking bad, I'm the boss, deal with it.
If this show was written by one idiot I'd just say "good, it's stupid, end of story". But it is clear through all that chaos that really intelligent writing is hiding underneath all the trash, but it keeps getting interrupted for filler bullsh!t. The show follows tired cliches because it's afraid of venturing the more dangerous path, even though it clearly has the potential to do so. And if there's something I hate more than natural stupid crap, it's crap that had the potential to be smart, but instead got scared and joined the comfort zone of being stupid like all the others. And even worse it ends up being JUVENILE crap.
Visuals have a fresh look about them and the voice acting is ok. But the show is too juvenile, too kid-focused to be of any real fun to a crowd that doesn't think hitting on doorbells and then running away is a good prank. Stay away.
La_Matona301
Hey , hey, Jitsuwata is over Hey, hey, what can I say? Hey, hey I'm making a review. And here's how I'm gonna do it. Story: 1 time: The plot may depend on the usual harem genre, but it cannot be consider as a true if there is an absences of competition among the harem members for the guy's affection.2 Times:
The plot does contain certain comedy that makes this anime's story category nice.
3 times:
So for the story category I hereby give it a 6, since just like the usual it always involves the guy getting his ass on the line.
Art:
1 time:
The anime's art doesn't rely on the usual fanservice to sell.
2 times:
It still has that moe and panchira thing that is a quintessential in all anime /manga, also the character's school uniforms weren't uniform, in fact I can't understand as to wtf was going on the mind of original creator Matsuda, Eiji for the cast's nonuniformal school uniforms.
3 Times:
Therefore, I think a decent 4 would do just fine.
Sound:
1 time:
Frankly, I jaz have nothing much to say about the character's voices, except that I like the opening theme.
2 times:
However both Yoko and Mikan's voices sounded a little bit mature.
3 times:
Even so I give this category a Fair 6. Since there isn't much for me to say.
Character:
1 time:
In this anime, it was basically all about Youko, Nagisa and Kuromine, now Like I've said this anime may have a harem genre it wasn't a true harem, since even the presences of Mikan and Akane, there not much competition for Kuromine's affection, even Nagisa wasn't trying hard enough to get Kuromine's affection, in fact what she did in episode 12 was merely wishy washy that it kinda annoys me.
2 Times:
Kuromine on the other hand was suppose to be this character who can't lie and yet he was present as an oxymoron, I may have hated the way he was portrayed, also Mikan wasn't give much of her own aired time which was unfortunate.
3 Times:
Then again his relationship for Youko is what gives this anime it's climax, so a Good 7 is in order.
Enjoyment:
1 time:
All I can say is that despite of the usual, it was still enjoyable enough to be watched and that's that, no more 2 times and 3 times.
Overall
I'm just gonna go for a Fair 6, since the anime itself was enjoyable, but the anime's title 'Jitsu wa Watashi wa" was just too outta place, original creator Matsuda, Eiji should have titled his creation as "Harem no Himitsu" my harem's secrets since it was all about the guy who has to keep his harem's secrets a secrets. Season 2?????????Maybe not.
PEACE Chicos.
PyraXadon
Secrets are the spice in a person's life. Everyone has a secret, and it's because of these little factoids about ourselves that make us different...and make people want to know about them even more. So, with Jitsu wa Watashi wa, or "Actually, I am...", what kind of secrets will we learn about today? Story: Kuromine Asahi is a relatively average guy in school. He's normal, but has one fatal flaw to his character, and that is, he can't hold onto someone's secret for the life of him. As such, he has been called the "Leaky Basket" by all of his peers becauseany kind of secret he is told immediately comes out in a blaze of glory. But, Asahi has a secret of his own; he likes Shiragami Youko, a girl who acts very distant from the rest of the class with weird habits like leaving school in the evening and sitting out during P.E. So, on his way to confess to her because he knows her weird habits like a creepy stalker, he bursts into the classroom and sees Youko...with wings coming out of her back. Oh boy, here we go again...
Jitsu wa, as the shorthanded way of saying this series' name is, revolves around Asahi and his band of merry fellow main characters as they go through various antics that appear either in front of them, or just come to them from some god unknown force. Since this is a school anime, the base storyline is a bunch of highschoolers spending time together, and that's really about it. However, Jitsu wa's biggest draw comes from the way its seemingly random story is presented.
Comedy is the main reason to be drawn to this series, as it's brand of comedy...cannot be explained in words very easily, so I will attempt to elaborate. As the main focal point of the series, Jitsu wa's spectrum of comedy goes from sheer stupidity of the main cast (like accidentally revealing their respective secrets) and the following retorts ironically by our main protagonist who apparently can't keep a secret, to seemingly random, balls to the wall, what the fuck just happened scenes that again, cannot be accurately explained in words. It's this blend of comedy that really makes the series unique compared to any other supernatural high school show. The only issue I have is that they don't execute the jokes well enough to properly integrate them into the series, and as a result, sometimes feel a bit forced.
The main issues this show has comes in a pair of two. First, the show doesn't flow all that well. The entire show is comprised of random chapters from the manga squished together to form an adaptation story of its own. As such, a lot of the events that occur happen either much later or earlier than they should making for some uneven flow and jumps in how things happen, and the biggest problem, is that there are characters that feel like they just show up out of nowhere without much explanation. (Cue Fuku) The other issue is the fact that the show plays itself more as a generic romcom more than anything else which doesn't translate well when compared to the source material.
In the end, this adaptation of one of the more out there stories in anime today fumbled a lot with how it wanted to present itself. Acting more as an allusion to the Jitsu wa Watashi wa series, this adaptation failed to properly explain certain things with what it wanted to show us, and made some progressional issues that seemed a bit rushed. While it still has the comedic charm with its inexplainable brand of comedy, there were still aspects to it that didn't have as much of an impact as it should've. Plus, it kinda ended in a weird place. That would not be the chapter that I would say you should end the series on.
Overview:
+/- Random but hilarious comedy (Positive or negative depending on your perception of funny.)
- Bland base story (Highschool, again.)
- Pacing and explanation issues
Characters: With its brand of comedy, Jitsu wa provides us with some interesting characters to fill in the bubbles as to who says what.
First, we have Kuromine Asahi, the main protagonist of the series, and the leaky basket. As the person who can't hold a secret to save his life, Asahi spends the entire series trying to keep the girl he befriends but secretly loves, Shiragami Youko. (As well as other characters because honestly, everyone in this show is a genuine idiot. It's not an insult. They are legitimately stupid.) Ironically playing as the straight man, Asahi retorts back any kind of stupid statement or idea that is suggested by any of the other characters, before being promptly sucked into said idea and thus, is plagued with the stupidity of the people around him. Really though, that's all Asahi's character is. Throughout the whole series, Asahi says to everyone that he loves Youko, and he stays that way with every passing episode. There's no growth for him because he starts at the point of saying he'll protect her secret, and ends with saying that he'll protect her secret. So really, there's no difference and as such, there's no development for his character.
Then we have Shiragami Youko, the vampire (or Dumpire as I like to call her. Dumb Vampire = Dumpire) and main female protagonist of the series. First seen as a distant and reserved girl, Youko is actually really cheerful and absent minded most of the time. Rather than the male being completely oblivious to the girls' feelings, Youko is a girl who is dense herself and can't see Asahi's feelings. As such, she, with help of Asahi shooting himself in the foot at the confession, thinks of him as nothing more than a friend. But not only that, a PRECIOUS friend. The whole show plays around with this idea of these two characters dancing the waltz of "Will they or won't they" while also having other players to the mix of this strange semblance of a romance show.
And finally, we have Aizawa Nagisa, or Screw Girl, as I like to call her. (You know, cause she has a screw on the back of her head?) As an alien who is about as tall as a nendoroid, Nagisa is the stoic member of the cast whose slightly militant-like personality causes her to lose any credibility that she was taught in the military because she reveals her secret about 10 minutes of her existing. (Like I said, everyone in this show is stupid to some extent.) Nagisa mostly plays as the secondary female of the series and, with the help of another character, Mikan, create the harem aspect of the series which is rather prominent in the series in the grand scheme of things.
The rest of the characters in Jitsu wa play mostly supporting roles for the series, which is a real shame because some of the best characters of the entire series either get shelved off to the side as supporting cast, or show up so late that they won't have enough time to make much of an impact. It's this treatment of the cast members that disappoint me because a lot of these "supporting members" are actually the ones that bring a lot of joy in the manga, which would've help boosted this adaptation from being what looks like a generic romcom.
Overview:
+ Unique, interesting, and above all, wonderfully stupid characters
- A lot of the cast members were just casted off to the side
Art: Art for Jitsu wa is a bit of a touchy subject. Made by TMS, this adaptation brings the Jitsu wa series to life through a style of animation that is both similar, and different to the original style in the manga.
Contrary to the goofy and overall wacky artstyle that this series has, filled with very unique facial expression oddly never seen in any series ever, as well as overdramatic events that make the series well known, TMS opted for a more moe artsyle where the characters look a bit more "normal" and didn't have that goofy looking style that the original show had. This artstyle is just average in its own right, with nothing really outstanding about it to make it stand out as a series visually. Sure we get some of Jitsu wa's signature facial expressions, but there's really nothing that special about it.
Overview:
+/- Mediocre, moe-style art
Sound: As for the soundtrack, the OP for Jitsu wa is a perfect representation of the series. With a very upbeat track that skips to its own tune, this track is, while not extraordinary, is pretty memorable. It's catchy, it's fun, and overall pretty nice to listen to.
The ED on the other hand is a bit of a random style to fit with this show. With a kind of rapping/melancholic style of music to it (I have no idea what to call it.), the ED admittedly isn't something that I would call good, but it's pretty unique for a song style/choice, I'll give it that.
Overview:
+ Catchy, memorable OP
+/- Odd ED (Has good and bad aspects to it.)
Personal Enjoyment: As someone who has read the Jitsu wa manga to the most recent chapter, I was mystified about seeing the adaptation. Since the series look rather different than what it looked like in the manga, I assumed that there were going to more than just stylistic changes to the entire series and was a bit scared about how things would turn out. In the end, it wasn't an Isuca incident, but I still don't like it.
What did I like about this series?
Sure I got a few laughs out of the whole thing but honestly, I didn't really like this adaptation. The show felt like a romcom or harem anime, not Jitsu wa. They took chapters from random parts of the manga's timeline and turned it into the series (sometimes completely out of order too) which made me wonder why they did that in all honesty rather than just sticking with the inherent plot.
What didn't I like about this series?
This adaptation didn't feel like Jitsu wa. Jitsu wa is a series that for me, is one that has twists and turns on every corner with complete balls to the wall and random crap that happens so out of this world that busting your sides is just a norm for people who read the series. They didn't use a lot of the characters to their full potential and as such, made the series less special on account of the lack of screentime for some of the best characters of the entire series. I'm also not a fan of the stylistic change of the artstyle and where the anime ended, because that is a very awkward place to end it.
Would I recommend this anime?
All in all, Jitsu wa is another anime vs. manga scenario. Even though I say that this adaptation doesn't completely feel like Jitsu wa, there are enough elements of it to allude and at least explain the main story of the series. (Even though they still did screw it up a bit.) As such, if you want to know about the Jitsu wa series without reading 90+ chapters and see the random antics in animated form, go for this adaptation. Just be warned to see some crazy shit. Because things can go from 0-100 FAST.
BanjoTheBear
(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) Jitsu wa Watashi wa loves its secrets. Many people (myself included) like secrets. It does not matter which side, either keeping or having them. Keeping them is all about trust between the parties, because once one person reveals the secret then it is a secret no longer. (This brings into question how many have to know a secret before it is no longer a secret, but that is a conversation for another day.) And having them is all about knowing who, if anyone, to tell. There is actually a third side: the people not in theknow. I found myself on this side once. For one of my birthdays, my parents and siblings told me that we were meeting up with my grandparents for a small dinner. I thought this was perfectly normal given we have done this in the past.
But when we arrived at the restaurant, my entire family – uncles, aunts, and cousins – were waiting for me. Yes, a surprise birthday party. I was baffled that they were able to keep it a secret for so long. I will never forget that feeling when it first dawned on me what had actually happened: a weird, happy feeling of betrayal.
In my case, the secret was ultimately harmless. In Jitsu’s case, the secrets it holds are more important than any birthday party could hope to be.
STORY
Jitsu starts off innocently enough. Kuromine, a shy, unable-to-lie (contextually, keep a secret) boy has a crush on Shiragami, the silent, beautiful girl in his class. He musters the courage to one day give her a love letter, only to find her with wings out and fangs bared. In other words, he found out her secret: she is a vampire.
This is how Jitsu sets up almost all of its encounters with the various girls in the harem. Said girl is hiding an absurd secret that, coincidentally, Kuromine stumbles upon. This is the first anime’s sign of its repetitive nature. Many of the jokes rely on the same shticks, such as “Ero-mine-kun” and the principal of the school getting ragged on by her great-great-granddaughter, the teacher. Many of the jokes also rely on the same premise of misplaced expectations: the characters say the opposite of what is about to happen next. (“There is no way this is going to happen,” followed immediately by it happening.)
To be fair, the anime can get pretty clever with its jokes, especially when the jokes are based on the secret motif. The episode where Kuromine has to pretend that the small, actual Aizawa is a figure that he made – subsequently earning him strange looks from everyone, including Aizawa – is smart because the joke not only plays off of the premise of the show but also incorporates the aspects of one of its characters.
Yet it is the constant avoidance of progressing the relationships that is the most egregious. As a romance-harem anime, little progression may be expected, but Jitsu does not stall the progression. Instead, the anime actively seeks to halt the progression. Kuromine, Aizawa, and Akemi each have feelings they want to share, but the anime never gives them that chance. And even when it does, they are either conveniently interrupted by a falling giant vampire or they are misunderstood after a character falls on another. Even the writing has the characters always fumbling over their words, preventing them from forming complete sentences to get their thoughts across.
In a way, this halting is the point. The anime is all about secrets. The bigger ones are revealed, such as aliens and gender-switching wolf men. The other secrets – the real feelings of the characters – never getting revealed falls in line with the anime’s own motif in that, sometimes, secrets have to be kept private.
Now, the anime goes about this in a roundabout manner when just the coincidental interruptions are stopping the secrets from surfacing. Meaning, the secrets are technically kept secret not by the characters but by random bad luck. Still, having this explanation cures some of the repetition within Jitsu.
Looking at the anime on a broad scale, the overarching plot is simple: Shiragami is not allowed to have her secret known to anyone. Otherwise, her father will take her out of (human) school. Hence, Kuromine keeps this and the other girls’ secrets secret for the whole season, once again following the show’s motif.
Still on a broad scale, the anime does not explore a definitive theme. This is not technically a negative since the anime wanted to be nothing more than a slice-of-life comedy. But refusing to be more purposeful in its presentation is not a positive, either.
On a smaller scale, there is the romantic subplot (mainly) between Kuromine and Shiragami where Shiragami’s parents mirror their relationship – a human and a vampire falling in love. Such mirroring is nice, but, since the relationship between the new (would-be) lovebirds never blossoms, the subplot serves little purpose within the anime.
Going to an even smaller scale, Jitsu is mostly episodic in its presentation. Individual episodes rarely follow one another, instead focusing on slice-of-life antics. The group trying to make chocolate to save the world from an impending asteroid, Aizawa teaching Shiragami to dodge the sun’s rays by utilizing the shadows, and Shishido demonstrating pretty clearly what it means to be “grown-up” are a sampling of the events.
These slice-of-life events bring about the laid-back nature of the show, keeping the mood from reaching overly dramatic levels and hence maintaining the comedy throughout the season. The final episode is the only strange one due to it not feeling like a final episode for two reasons. One, there is (yet again) not a confession between Kuromine and Shiragami. And two, not everyone is included.
So while the anime works as a slice-of-life, a myriad of issues bog down the show extensively.
ANIMATION
One of the better parts of Jitsu is, surprisingly, the art and animation.
Due to the wacky nature of the comedy, the actual animation has a lot of movement involved. Characters running, blood flying, and explosions exploding are rampant throughout the season. Subtler movements, for hair and for eyes, are also present. The animation itself is nothing intricate, but the animation manages to consistently stay at a high level.
In terms of the artistic direction, the art is a mix of negatives and positives. On the negative side, the locations visited are nothing special. The school’s classrooms, hallways, and nearby facilities are the most common, leading to a lack of detail and diversity. Shiragami’s room is also visited but only occasionally. Rarely does the anime include places outside of the school and Shiragami’s room – an amusement park and Shiragami’s father’s house are some of the only exceptions. The camera is similar in the sense that little experimentation is done with it throughout the season. Running segments in the hallways (there are a lot of these) are as fancy as it gets.
On the positive side, Jitsu places a lot of attention on the reactions of the characters. A myriad of different eyes, mouths, and faces are used constantly, improving the comedy of the anime. Lighting is also given focus: shadowing on the characters and differing light sources for the backgrounds demonstrate this.
The anime also employs subtle techniques. Akane’s auras that flow around her is one such technique, and Shiragami putting the back of her hand over her mouth by instinct is another. These are small details, but they add to the overall execution of the show.
But it is the characters’ designs that come out on top. Kuromine is designed as a self-insert character (bland colors and boring features), but his design does not take away from the girls of the show. The girls, in contrast to Kuromine, have vibrant colors, pretty eyes, and unique features that make them look like actual characters.
For example, Shiragami’s long, green hair, two sharp fangs, and black pantyhose with skirt and blue top give the vampire a quirky yet refined look. Aizawa is another character with a nice design: her short blue hair, her tie with collared shirt, and her bolt (her alien antenna when she is seen in her small form) paint her as both the professional class representative and the alien that she is. Shishido’s design, with her chained collar (for her wolf self) and her spotted jacket (contrasting with her sexy self), further proves the strength of the characters’ designs and the overall strength of the art.
CHARACTERS
Jitsu does not create the most compelling of characters; they are what many would say are “not well-written.” However, the anime does provide a handful of characters whose personalities fit within the confines of the show and one character whose message is something that anyone can take to heart.
Starting with Kuromine’s friends – the group of three boys who silently support him from the sidelines – they exist almost exclusively to balance out the male-to-female ratio in the show. This is not to say that they are unfunny or absent throughout the season, but they do not do much outside of giving Kuromine courage from time to time and subconsciously satisfying the audience.
Speaking of the main protagonist, Kuromine, as his design indicates, is a self-insert character. He is kind to everyone, he always tries to make the best out of every situation, and he has every (weird) girl in the school vying for him. His unique characteristic, however, is his inability to have a poker face. For this reason, the students call him a “Leaky Basket” for never being able to keep a secret. So it is only right that he must keep the secret of every harem member. Unfortunately, since the anime does little else with Kuromine beyond his initial introduction, and the girls outshine him in terms of comedy, his character is as lackluster as they come.
Aizawa is on about the same level as Kuromine. She is an alien piloting a human-sized robot that looks just like her. She tries to maintain order through her position as class representative, but she is perhaps the most spur-of-the-moment and most chaotic person in the group.
Aizawa is cute and she is fun, but her character does little else besides impede the relationship between Kuromine and Shiragami. She develops feelings for the “Leaky Basket” halfway or so through the season – due to this kindness and because he kept her secret – causing her to feel distressed, both about hurting her two best friends and about hurting herself. By the show’s end, she (internally) says she will step aside for the other two lovebirds, yet it is clear that she is not completely over her feelings.
Then there is Akemi, the childhood friend of Kuromine. Yes, she has a crush on him (the common childhood trope). And, yes, she has a secret that she hides from everyone else. (Her glasses harbor a spirit of fortune who is not-so-lucky.) Her character is actually not that important and even not that relevant to the anime. All that matters with her is her glasses which caused yet another situation in which Aizawa gets to mess up the prominent pairing of Kuromine and Shiragami.
It is not until Shishido arrives that the characters start to gain some traction. She is Shiragami’s childhood friend, and, coincidentally enough, she is a wolf man. When the moon shines bright (or if she even sees a picture of the moon), she changes into her male self and vice versa. Still, her most known feature is her perverted nature: She regularly puts her head under the skirts of the other girls among other lewd activities. Though this is not what makes her character better than the rest.
What does make her character better is her ability to read the situation. She is able to do this because of her perverted nature. She is, as she would say, “honest with her feelings.” Where the rest of the characters try to mask their feelings or play off the emotions they are feeling, Shishido is there to point out what everyone is really thinking. She is a funny and helpful person which is about all you can ask of from a side character.
Surprisingly, Shiragami is the strongest character of the show for a reason that may not seem immediately obvious. Shiragami is a vampire, or, more specifically, she is a half-vampire. She tans easily in the sun, she cannot swim, and she does not own a coffin because it is too luxurious for her. Her most defining feature, though, is how dense she is. As the characters say, this feature is why she is a perfect match for Kuromine: She is too dense to understand his painfully obvious feelings for her (“opposites attract”).
This is all that Shiragami’s character is. Like the others, she does not develop as a character. She may ever-so-slightly stray away from her path – calling Kuromine by his first name is as adventurous as she gets – but, for the most part, she remains the same quirky vampire girl from start to finish.
But she reveals something through her thoughts. In episode nine, Shiragami has a heart-to-heart with Kuromine where she says the following line: “It’s important to keep my secret, but I realized that there are even more important things.” When she says “important things” what she means are friends.
This a beautiful sentiment. Nobody should ever be lonely in life. There are strangers to greet, people to befriend, and relationships to share. For Shiragami, her secret stopped her from having these connections. She was not able to have the kind of school life that she wanted, and, indeed, the kind of life that everyone deserves.
Kuromine is the one that allows her to realize her mistake in thinking a secret is more important than enjoying life with others. And through his persistence to connect with Shiragami, Shiragami makes friends with Aizawa and then Akemi and then everyone else in the show. In other words, she finally obtains those “important things.”
The anime may not have the most compelling of characters, but, at the minimum, this message that life is best spent with others is truly wonderful.
SOUND
One of the best pieces of the original soundtrack is the transition music between the A and B parts of the episode. It is not many notes, and it is only an acoustic guitar accompanied by a flute, but the simplicity of the track and its wonderful slice-of-life feel make the track a joy to hear.
The rest of the OST is standard for this type of anime. Slice-of-life tunes, triumphant ensembles, and sad compositions fill the air as the anime is watched. There is a notable track, however. Technically two tracks are worth talking about, but they are the “same”: the insert song and the instrumental version of the insert song. The former is annoying. It is used way too much, it is played at strange times, and it is formed of silly English lyrics. The latter is wonderful. It is used less frequently, it is played at the perfect times, and it is formed of just simple and soft sounds.
Looking at the opening theme, it is a fun track which the water-droplet effect at the very beginning flags. The first half is somewhat mellow, contrasting nicely with Jitsu’s usually rambunctious self. The second half of the track still maintains the same pacing, but it chooses to ramp up the instruments and the vocals while also changing up the base beat. The track ends how it started, giving it a welcomed full-circle effect.
The ending theme is arguably not just the best track among all of the music but also the best part of the entire anime. It is a hip-hop track, although, instead going fast and hard with the lyrics, the track slows everything down. The track itself is meant to reflect how much more fun everything is in a group (following the theme from Shiragami) which is corroborated by both the change in mood in the second half of the track and the visuals. Alongside the rhyming, the background singers, and the extremely catchy beat, the ED is a wonderful track to listen to both in and out of the anime. (Plus, it is fun to sing the “jitsu wa watshi wa” lyric.)
As for the voice acting performances, they were fantastic, reaching the same level of quality as the ED. Yuu Serizawa as Shiragami does not have too many anime under her belt (approximately twenty), but she gives the cute vampire an innocent and charming voice. Inori Minase as Aizawa has been in more anime, using her slightly tomboyish voice to fit the “Iron Lady” extremely well. And Natsuki Hanae as Kuromine is just as formidable, providing the main protagonist with a lot of screaming and straining. Also, a special shout-out to Mao Ichimichi as Akane for giving the little devil a sinister yet adorable way of speaking.
ENJOYMENT
It makes me a bit sad that this one did not reach a higher level of popularity because, regardless of its faults, this is still an entertaining show.
I was drawn to this one due to the romance stuff. This anime is saturated in blushing, flirting, and loving, so many of the jokes – no matter how repetitive – were always making me laugh. Simple stuff like Shiragami sitting close to Kuromine when Shishido got clingy, and Kuromine and Shiragami’s private moment at the pool at night, made my heart flutter.
The characters themselves were rather fun, too. Shiragami acting all cute when Kuromine was there to support her and be her friend. Aizawa always misunderstanding everything and her running gag with her “Memory Erasure Device.” Shishido caring about nothing but sexy or perverted acts.
But if I am being honest, I did not particularly care much for Akemi due in part to her mean-spirited attitude towards Kuromine. I get that she was using a “teasing him so much because she likes him” mentality, and she does become less frustrating later on in the season. But the frequency of her meanness in the beginning made me dislike her. Luckily, the other girls make up for her annoyance handily enough.
As for the other characters, I found Kuromine’s other friends to be fine, but Akane and Akari were right alongside Shiragami and the other funny girls. Akane and Akari’s constant bickering and insults and abuse towards each other was really funny to me because of just how far they would take it, like Akari throwing Akane by the horns or Akane blowing up Akari’s newly-purchased car.
Jitsu wa Watashi wa is a comedy-fantasy-romance-school-shounen-supernatural anime, but that does not mean one should automatically discount its contents. The sound work is strong, the character designs are vibrant, and the main message of the characters is beautiful. Of course, this does not make up for the repetitive writing and the simplistic characters. At the same time, this does not take away from the laughs the show has in store. Putting it another way, it should come as no surprise – as no secret – that this one is just plain fun.
SUMMARY
Story: Bad, misunderstandings galore, gross repetition, and problems on each scale of the narrative obfuscate some of the cleverness the plot holds
Animation: Good, above average actual animation, a mix of strong and weak artistic direction, and nice character designs
Characters: Fine, Kuromine, Shiragami, and the rest of the cast are individually bland, but their group’s message that life is better with friends is a beautiful mantra
Sound: Good, good OP, great ED, okay OST, above average VA performances
Enjoyment: Good, lots of romance combined with fun characters create a high amount of entertainment
Final Score: 6/10
HidamariSeashore
Is it even possible for something that is very cliched to still be very enjoyable? For example, a lot of anime involve vampires, secrets, harems, and mutual feelings to never be confessed, and those are just among what this anime contains. Even though I knew this, I really looked forward to watching this particular anime when the July 2015 season rolled around; I couldn't shake off the feeling that it was going to be fun to watch. Sure enough, I was right, although I wasn't able to catch up to it in time for it to end. Well, now that I've finally been able tofinish it, what do I think now?
Ladies and gentlemen, it's no secret that I'm now reviewing "Jitsu wa Watashi wa", known as "Actually, I Am...." in English!
Jitsu wa Watashi wa follows a boy named Asahi Kuromine, who is referred to as a "leaky basket" due to how bad of a liar he is. One day, he finds himself faced with an important secret; his classmate and crush, Youko Shiragami, is actually a vampire! In order to avoid getting her pulled out of school due to her secret being exposed, Asahi tries his best to keep Youko's secret and ends up befriending her in the process. *coughfriendzonecough* Along the way, he discovers the supernatural secrets of others, such as the class rep, Nagisa Aizawa (an alien), and Youko's childhood friend, Shiho Shishido (a "wolf man"), and he must keep those secrets, too. Geez, that's a lot of secrets for one leaky basket to keep!
I bet you'd look at the summary and think, "Haven't I seen this somewhere before?" As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Jitsu wa Watashi wa is packed with cliches from fellow romantic comedy anime. You know what, though? That didn't stop the comedy from being hilarious or at least amusing; even if a joke didn't get me laughing out loud, I would at least be smiling the whole time! Its cast of characters helped this show, too; most of them are very fun to watch. Even though the romance between Youko and Asahi ends up not progressing much throughout, it was still fun to see them together.
The animation for this anime was pretty great. I haven't seen too much of TMS Entertainment's anime, but out of the ones I have seen, this is definitely some of the most appealing I've ever seen out of them, with its bright colors. The voice actors definitely nailed their roles, as well. I especially liked Inori Minase as Nagisa; I really felt that her voice fit her character. The opening theme, "Himitsu wo Choudai" by Ars Magna, is such a fun song to listen to and one that definitely fits this anime; the ending theme, "Ienai Ienai" by Hilcrhyme, is also a very nice song to listen to.
Overall, Jitsu wa Watashi wa is definitely a fun anime to watch. If you like romantic comedies and don't mind the cliches, I'd definitely recommend for you to check it out. Even if you don't like it, though.... well, it's no secret that we all have our own opinions!
islay
Jitsu wa Watashi wa (Actually I am...) To be honest with you all, I never expected to see such decent anime from the summer-season (Heat Season for Ecchi anime) of 2015 like this one. Okay. Let's be honest with ourselves. Arts for Jitsu wa Watashi wa was poor. There were number of my mates who thought the anime was going to be crap just by seeing the arts and genre under it, which was 'Romance' and 'Ecchi' and 'Comedy' and 'Vampires'. Oooh, is it going to be 'Twilight' all over again...... That was what I was thinking. How wrong I was. Story itself was quite well designed and all characterswere very loveable, But most of all, the show itself was very, very entertaining. I felt like watching a light-hearted shoujo anime show, and watching a great show about friendship and love story of Shounen Anime at the same time.
If art was good, perhaps I would even go far to give the score of 8, but I just couldn't say that art for this anime was near excellent.
For those of you who does not like romance anime, I recommend you this one to get into the world of 'Love-Come'. (Of course, those of you who love Love-Come can still watch it you know.)
Well then, until my next review......
Sayonara~
defensordeboruto
A romance anime that initially delivers a slightly different proposition. A boy who doesn't know how to lie discovering the secret of a vampire in his class. During the anime more secrets of other characters are presented, and until then the anime was very fun. However, from episode 6 onwards, the plot begins to decline and what was fun in the anime began to take a backseat. The introduction of some characters from episode 6 made the anime quite disappointing with the direction it took, along with its ending, which opens the door for a second season, but does not bring the feeling that the story hasarrived somewhere.
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Pt/Br
Um anime de romance que inicialmente entrega uma proposta um pouco diferente. Um garoto que não sabe mentir descobrindo o segredo de uma vampira de sua sala.
Durante o anime mais segredos de outros personagens são apresentados, e até aí o anime estava muito divertido. Porém a partir do episódio 6 o plot começa a decair e o que divertia no anime começou a ficar em segundo plano.
A introdução de alguns personagens a partir do episodio 6 tornou o anime bastante decepcionante com o rumo que tomou, juntamente com seu final, que abre margem para uma segunda temporada, mas não traz a sensação de que a história chegou em algum lugar.
Edil23
Alright, first and foremost before we even start this review: *Read the damn manga.* It's already completed and the story, arcs and characters are way better portrayed there. The anime adaptation, however, was only a poorly executed atempt to advertise the manga. But don't get me wrong, it is, in fact, not a complete trainwreck. Each episode mirros the original source really well and the humor is pretty much the same. The voice acting is decent to and Inori Minase as (best girl) Nagisa is, as usual, masterfully well acted from her part. The weak points of this series is the fact that it's only 13 episodes long,which barely covers all of the character development the manga has in its totality, not to mention that some characters that are of great importance in the manga don't even appear in some of the episodes. So yeah, if you manage to finish watching them all, you'll feel that something was missing and that something just didn't feel right. And that's exactly why: it only showed a portion of the whole thing that comes after the arc that was covered in the anime.
If you're a fan of romantic comedies and monster girls, this series is definitely for you, but only watch the anime as an introduction of the whole thing that the manga of Jitsu wa Watashi wa is, because it is absolutely incredible and I cannot recommend it enough.
Harizak
May I just start off saying... wow I loved the art and the sound of this anime. The story was okay, and it was one of those almost skit like anime that never goes anywhere. A love triangle story where they just do the classic ping pong back and forth and no one can solidify a relationship. That is not where this anime shines. This anime shines from the funny and outrageous things that happen and the Faces that go with those scenes. Nothing like seeing a devil get whats coming by a human but the human has the smileof a devil while the devil has the look of .. ow I messed up ... forgive me. In all honesty that is why I liked it but I did think the romance was cute but nothing to write home about. Lastly I will say I plan on reading the manga if I get time, as the ending of the anime certainly leaves many lose ends. Which it did not seem like they were trying to leave as many lose ends as they did they just got rushed is more the feeling. So if your like me and want a more complete story I would say read the manga because from other sources the anime jumps around the manga so it is hard to pick up after watching. That being said it was still well done and I laughed so if your just an anime person I would give this a shot.
davidvkimball
I'm new to anime in general, and Jitsu wa Watashi wa is one of the first series I ever completed. So take my review for what it is, a noob's review. The first episode drew me in almost immediately, and I related with the protagonist very quickly. Aside from the "fantasy" side of the story, the overall plot isn't anything out of the ordinary. Your basic love triangle type deal with complications along the way. However the characters are memorable and the school setting is fitting. Also, there are a few twists in the story that do make it stand out, especially for a romantic comedy.It has plenty of endearing moments.
I dig the opening theme music too. Overall, very satisfied and would recommend to anyone just starting out with anime. This is going to get me to watch more and more.
