“I’m Really Just an Ordinary High School Student”
What They Say:
Question: What would you do if a girl you liked asked you out on a date? Now imagine it’s not one, but two beautiful girls, the cool beauty, Cosmos, and the cute childhood friend, Himawari!! Of course, you would make plans with both. Except for the “feelings” they confess to you are… Asking me for “romantic advice,” since they’re both in love with someone else. Hahaha… That’s it! I’m not gonna take it anymore! I’m giving up on this obtuse, harmless persona and going back to my true self. But I can’t give up hope here. If I give them my advice, at least one of them may fall in love with me!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Amatsuyu Kisaragi, who goes by the nickname Joro, is just your ordinary everyday high school student. At least that’s what he tells us anyways. But hey, it isn’t so bad for him. He’s got an adorably energetic high school friend, Himawari, who’s overwhelmingly affectionate with him. He’s got a cool best friend since middle school, Sun, who’s quite athletic and totally a bro. Even the beautiful student council president, Cosmos, is always hanging out around him and seeking his attention. He sure is popular for an average Joe, don’t you think?
One day, President Cosmos asks him to spend the day with her. It’s basically a date! Score! Joro is obviously nervous and excited. Why wouldn’t he be? The president is gorgeous. The date seems to go rather well as they go shopping, have a picnic, and a bunch of other fun stuff. At the end of the day, they sit down on a bench and the president confesses that she likes someone. When she thinks about this person, it makes her chest feel tight. Just seeing him everyday was enough to make her happy. Oh my, is our boy Joro about to be confessed to!? The president shyly lowers her head towards him…and tells him that she’s in love with his best friend! Ouch. She tells him that it all started after the final game of the regional baseball tournament. His team had lost and he was acting tough in front of his teammates, offering words of encouragement. However, she found him crying in frustration afterwards in the hall. It was at that moment that she fell in love with him.
I couldn’t help but laugh at our unlucky protagonist’s plight. His initial reaction of just staring blankly into space and simply saying, “What?”, in perfect English was amazing. The way he said it too was just so freaking funny.
With her feelings known, she asks Joro if he could help her get closer to Sun. Man, she really knows how to rub salt into the wounds! Being the nice guy that he is, he agrees to help her. He handled that better than I thought. So this date turned out to be a bust but that’s okay! He has a date with his childhood friend the next day. There’s still a chance our boy can get a girlfriend. The date with Himawari goes smoothly and it seems they’re hitting it off well. At the end of the day, they sit down on a bench and she tells Joro that there’s someone she likes. When she thinks of this person, it makes her chest feel tight. Just seeing him everyday was enough to make her happy. And that person is…Joro’s best friend! Haha, poor guy. Déjà vu! Not only that, her falling in love story was EXACTLY like the president’s except for the fact she saw him crying from the opposite corridor.
At this point, I’m just dying of laughter. His facial expressions were hilariously on point. Friend zoned, twice! And to add insult to injury, Himawari also asks him to help her get closer to Sun. Once again, he agrees because he’s such a nice guy. Is he though? I have my suspicions. I think he’s secretly an arrogant prick. And you know what? I was right! The moment Joro goes home, we get to see his true self. It was all an act. This whole dense nice guy schtick was just to get a girl to fall in love with him. He thoroughly planned this romantic comedy route and it backfired on him, big time. He’s about to drop his fake nice guy act in favor of revenge but realizes he can still salvage this situation by getting whichever girl is rejected by his friend. If anything, he certainly has determination.
Back at school, Joro flashes that nice guy smile and tries to help both girls get closer to his best friend. Unfortunately for him, they run him ragged throughout the whole day. Every available second they’re asking for his help and it’s driving him crazy. We already know he’s not too keen on either of the girls anymore. This certainly doesn’t change his feelings and well, let’s just say he doesn’t have very nice things to say about them. His only sanctuary is the library where he can hide. At least things can’t get any worse, right? Wrong! He’s not the only person in the library. In fact, there’s a bespectacled beauty with him. Hey, that’s not so bad…except for the fact that she admits that she’s his stalker. Oh boy! Naturally, Joro’s first instinct is to get up and leave but Pansy (that’s her nickname) blackmails him into staying. She knows the real him and she’s not afraid to tell the world. Reluctantly, Joro is forced to stay and sit on the very same bench where the two previous confessions happened. This girl actually had that bench delivered to the library? Is anyone else seeing the red flags here!?
Pansy tells Joro that there’s someone she likes. When she thinks of this person, it makes her chest feel tight. Just seeing him everyday was enough to make her happy. And that person is…Joro! Not the fake Joro either, but the mean one! To no one’s surprise, Joro was chagrined when he heard her confession. He was really, really, really hoping that it would be a confession for his best friend again. Granted, he did want a girl to fall in love with him. He probably didn’t think it’d be someone like her though. But you know how life is, things never go as planned. Joro is forced to spend all of his lunch breaks from now on at the library with a crazy stalker. Good luck bro!
In Summary:
Don’t you just hate it when you think you’re the main character but it actually turns out you’re just an average background character? I can relate to that…but anyways! I thought this was going to be your typical romantic comedy story but I was clearly mistaken. Everything that happened after the first confession scene was comedy gold. Joro’s reactions, facial expressions, and sarcasm as his facade started to crumble were top notch. All the jokes hit their mark. I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in a while! Good stuff. Let’s see if the series can keep up this level of hilarity throughout the season.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, VRV, HIDIVE, Funimation
