What They Say:
Five new rice students have enrolled at Kokuritsu Inaho Academy, a school on the verge of shutting down, and they form a new group called “Love Rice” that’s practicing to beat Yeast King at the Harvest Show and win back the popularity rice once had… This heartfelt “kome”-dy featuring anthropomorphized grains is full of laughter and passion! Two grains aren’t needed at the dinner table… so which will become the true HarveStar?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a kind of wacky premise that hasn’t quite come together in a solid way yet, Love Rice is the kind of short form show where it can try and explore things in a way it might not be able to in a bigger show. With the focus on Hinohikari doing his best to get them into the HarveStar event, coming off of their dressing up as cute idols not quite achieving their goals, we get some decent bonding early on here as they rally to figure out a new plan while learning things about each other, including one of them growing up in an orphanage without parents. It adds a little somber material to the show but it helps to reinforce their reasoning to wanting to succeed, and for Hinkohikari to really want to do even more now.
In Summary:
While I’m willing to give most new shows, especially short form shows, a few episodes to get their legs under them and figure out the rhythm, Love Rice has been a rough one. I’m amused by the concept but the execution is awkward, the characters uninteresting, and it just feels unfocused in general with what it is it wants to do to connect us to things and make it engaging. There are some mildly amusing moments here along the way but with mediocre animation quality at best and a far too simple approach to things, it’ll take a lot to turn around opinion on this series.
Grade: C-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll