Citrus

Tinseltown has been coming under fire as of late. Celebrities' misdeeds are being exposed publicly on a weekly basis like a new sporting event. The #MeToo movement giving a platform to voice sex scandals that have gone unnoticed for far too long. Scrolling through your timeline, plastered on the TV screen, announced over the radio during daily commutes, the subject matter of countless memes, the focal point of water-cooler conversations; no matter where you turn, there it is. Accusation after accusation. Transforming popular figures into pervert pariahs overnight. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, James Woods, Bryan Singer, CaseyAffleck; an endless potpourri of bigwigs—the 21st Century witch hunt in full swing. No one is safe. And while all of this is going on, halfway across the globe, there's Citrus, minding its own business as it idly trolls along turning sexual assault into a provocative byproduct of step-sisters "bickering." While people are pooling together with torches and pitchforks in hand, shining a light on any sexual misconduct occurring in the dark recesses of the entertainment industry, Studio Passione persists with the biggest "whatever bro" shoulder shrug. What the rest of the world concerns itself with isn't going to stop them from showing girls casually molesting each other on their scheduled programming. It's actually pretty impressive. Fucked up, but impressive nonetheless. I guess you could extend that sentiment to Japan in general. Creating "fucked up shit" in a carefree manner has become something like their calling card: Has mass shootings and domestic terrorism been a hot-button issue? Well here, have some Inuyashiki. Concerned with gender politics? Don't worry, we got you covered with Skirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita. "If you want it, we got it." seems to be the motto, as they peddle anything and everything in the endless pursuit of creative freedom. Which brings us to the latest foray into the "fucked up shit" unofficial canon, Citrus. From the land that gave us distinct high-school dramas like Orange, we're handed Citrus, the undesirable fruit. The anime tells the tale of– oh, who are we kidding? It's about sexy-time with female characters. It's all lip service unless it "services the lips" of the females involved. It's pretty average-looking too, the ugly kind of average-looking. Hoards of CGI models in green linen jackets. Flat buildings without detail, walls bare of personality. Real-life-inspired locations washed of any distinct features. Stainless steel structures, straight shapes stretching on endlessly without purpose, without care. Floorboards and walkways copied and pasted into an endless loop of lethargic worldbuilding. A kind of artificial sheen to everything. Devoid of human touch, the undeniable look of computer-generated polish. Clinically sterile and evenly lit. The feeling of being done to the bare minimum. Uninspired. Uncaring. Unconcerned with anything unless it's "sexy-time," and even then, it's barely a passing grade. Everyone has dark hair and moves forward in a unified step as if puppets to their boring world. A lifeless march towards an all-girl school, a place where our Yuzu would be attending. Yuzu Aihara is the rowdy rebel, our ball of "life" in a world lacking it, and unfortunately our main lead as well. The unlikable side character in any other show given a chance to take center stage to problematic results. Makeup caked on, strawberry blonde hair puffed up, cleavage out in the sun, skirt hacked up, buttermilk tan, all manner of frilly things, school outfit altered beyond recognition, a personality as loud as her appearance; a self-proclaimed gyaru and a shameless attention-seeker at that—this is "much deep" cuz spunky gurl in a world of conformists. And standing as her polar opposite, there's Mei Aihara, a soon-to-be molester dressed up as a Mary Sue. She suffers heavily from PerfectGirl-syndrome: honor-role pupil, top of her class, student council president, poised, admired by everyone, the chairman's granddaughter, built like a walkway model, good at literally everything she does. She probably farts out Chanel No. 5 too. You get the drill, she's as interesting as wallpaper. Perfect to a sickening degree. Well, that's all before she decided to turn her new step-sister, Ms. Rowdy Rebel, into her personal play-thing. And who better to bring this together than Takeo Takahashi, a man that's equally known for his hentai contributions as he is his "safe for work" content. Citrus certainly has that kind of attribute to it. That sort of sleazy undercurrent that flows throughout every moment, well-intention or otherwise. Camera-panning that ogles the female form without concern for respecting boundaries. Narrative threads meant to help audiences relate to the cast quickly expedited to get to the next sexual encounter. Endless monologues for every characters' dilemma—subtlety isn't allowed in this universe. A sense of objectification, even if it's in regards to actions expressed with consent. Nothing is ever pure. Everything smeared with the fingerprints of hedonistic high-gloss. Even smut like 2017's Scum's Wish, at the very least, had small spurts of respect displayed for its cast, occasionally loosening its vice grip to allow a chance to express feelings openly. By comparison, everything in Citrus feels bought off. An act of slave-like procurement over the characters' bodies that's too readily apparent to ignore. Awkward half-chubs spurred on by involuntary stimuli. In a meta-sense, we're also made victims of visual misconduct (go figure). It's the kind of eroticism that arrives quickly and leaves you feeling dirty. An anime that will have a heated shower scene where non-consensual groping occurs, then follow it up with this dialogue exchange: "No!"–Yuzu pushes away in abject horror– "Why are you doing this!?"–her eyes closed, as she stands there naked and vulnerable. Mei innocently answers back without hesitation, a tone of motherly matter-of-factness: "Because you looked like you wanted me to touch you." The scene ends, never to properly address the disturbing exchange again. As long as the money shot was secured and a few man-tents were pitched, nothing else matters. This is the kind of "feeling dirty" I'm referring to. I love perverted content as much as the next guy, but sometimes, what Citrus attempts to do is genuinely off-putting. Sexual harassment shouldn't be confused with love. And if it is, a level of accountability needs to be put in place to avoid idealistic handwaving. But this is a show that thinks that if it holds a "this is wrong" PSA after it indulges in sexual misconduct, that it's suddenly not culpable of wrongdoing. An anime that sells Stockholm syndrome as a shot of Cupid's arrow. Where fighting sexual harassment with sexual harassment is treated as an actual solution. Serious issues trivialized to create marketable eroticism and comedic gags. Any act of earnestness is completely lost in a title devoid of finesse. After a while, you sort of just roll with it. Jokes at the expense of serious issues. Illogical reasoning made by characters to justify their actions. You might even buy into the lack of audiovisual effort as a part of the "theme" to contrast everything against Yuzu's personality. Of course, you'll be wrong, as even her living quarters and look has been rendered flaccid, lacking in any sense of creative vitality or noticeable effort. It's all very surface-level. Pedestrian sleaze that isn't arousing enough to keep the Kleenex nearby nor respectful enough to genuinely stimulate discussions regarding the content on display. And that's perhaps this show's biggest downfall in a nutshell: it's vanilla, but a souring type of vanilla. A type of middling existence occupied by works of far more distinction than itself. If you're interested in the taboo themes that this anime addresses, there's no need to compromise with inferior goods to get your fix. There are better alternatives out there for those actually seeking integrity (Koi Kaze) or far more titillating eye-candy (Scum's Wish). Why settle for vanilla in a world full of flavor just waiting to be discovered? Is Citrus entertaining? Sure, at times. But when 17-minutes of content is glazed over just for 3-minutes of "sexy-time," and the "sexy-time" itself is neither well-animated or concerned with addressing the elephant in the room that surrounds its content; at that point, what you're left with is a show whose sole purpose for existing is left dead in the water from the moment it dives in.

Some spectators consider themselves sophisticated, modern and avant-garde. However, when they become aware of some social taboos, they change their mind and create a disapproval towards some topics. One example, the lesbian romance. Citrus has potential but fails with some distasteful scenes as described below. The Ugly: The story mistake love with rape and forces affection from a lame sexual assault. In this world, Weinstein’s behavior would be considered romantic and not the act of a sick predator. The Good: As the plot progress you can observe the protagonists’ insecurity, problems, and feelings. The Bad: Unrealistic begin. Some characters are not well developed because the timeis not enough to let them grow. Citrus introduces a homosexual storyline where we can see a lesbian nexus, yet you don’t need to fear it. No matter your gender, you can enjoy some parts of the narrative. The plot isn’t as bad as some writers want us to believe, but it’s not surprising either. Besides, the series begins with some weird and awkward moments that sink the possibility of a good romance, and I consider them fictional and unrealistic. On the other hand, Citrus emphasize the inexperience and the doubts in a relationship and tries to establish a link between the protagonists. In some scenes, you can sense the character’s feelings. Sadly, in this modern era the taboo persists, perhaps for a woman, it is easier to tolerate this type of bond. Finally, Citrus is a Yuri anime, if you cannot bear this kind of affinity, it is better to stand aside and ignore the adaptation, or you might end up disappointed. The story The story isn’t as marvelous as you can expect, the author sometimes mistakes rape with love, though. Also, the only way explored to conceive the romance is through the physical force. For example, it is ridiculous comparing intimacy with a sexual assault under the diplomatic motto “since I love you, I can obligate you to adore me.” In a real world, this concept will be judged as rude and out of place, it will generate repulsion, a restriction order and could end with a visit to the jail. Those actions could lead the spectator to misinterpret the characters’ feelings and leaves the personal problems, fears, doubts, the lack of experience, and psychological aspects in the missing objects box. In the case of Yuzu, she does not know how to approach Mei, so the storyteller merely throws her over Mei literally, and the latter doesn’t hesitate to assault Yuzu. Can you accept it as a romance? Furthermore, this keeps happening during all the adaptation. If you read the manga, those scenes aren’t intrusive, you can pass them faster but in the anime the director focus and prolong them. Call it fanservice, hentai or sexual harassment; it does not fit the feeling setting momentum. In addition, this erroneous idea creates a false meaning of a lesbian link. From my perspective, a lesbian is like a straight; the relationship rules are alike. Why does the author use a weird and a wrong approach to initiate the attraction? Thus far, the plot fails on producing a good start for the romantic connection, it just leads the characters to a forced rape, deceiving the spectators with a cheap and fake drama. Nevertheless, the narration improves as it advances. I am not considering Citrus as a masterpiece, but the progression is acceptable. As the series continues, we can observe the inexperience of a usual acquaintance, the doubts, the pain, the suffering of the protagonists delivering the audience a better development and a different perspective. While the story picks up, it still has some defects such as the recurrent fanservice. If the social taboos do not slant the viewer, you could enjoy Citrus, though. Unfortunately, the lack of sense at the beginning ruins the possibility of a more vibrant narrative, a palpable romance and leads to the audience’s boredom. Going further, you can notice some pacing problems. You need to be honest with yourself because some characters were just placed to fill a scene. The casual spectator will only watch the first episodes and decide if skipping the show. Since the issues appear from the start, Citrus will be readily considered a bit grotesque, a raw passion and a potential drop. Finally, the overused sexual assault as a “comedy” (for some) or as a “romance” change the plot and the enjoyment. If you can survive those scenes, you can see the character’s authentic feelings. Honestly, I like Citrus manga, but the anime has been highly criticized by some unpleasant development that leads to a different meaning. In conclusion, you cannot compare intimacy with ravishment, and you cannot exploit the sexual assault to propel a romantic or comedic moment. For some viewers that scenes show affection, for others is a rape. In my case, SOME are sexual abuse and unnecessary. Lastly, the twelve episodes present a portion of the story and not all the published material and the most significant parts of the series still on the source. The characters Yuzu. In the beginning, she displays some atypical feelings for Mei. Since she has no experience in love or relationships, she could fool the viewers with her naivety, show an emptiness and a similarity with a mundane generic girl. However, as the story progresses, we can see her emotions, problems and real doubts. Mei. Some can judge her as a cold and expressionless robot. Since she is the school president, she might look strong. Nevertheless, inside she is baffled and seeks to follow her dad’s steps. She will give up everything to keep alive her family legacy and traditions. Also, she cannot communicate her emotions and has vast inexperience in the relationship area. Thus, always leads her to mistake love with sexual assault or perhaps she just enjoys doing that. Matsuri. I consider her introduction misplaced. From nowhere she arrives and creates some problems just because Mei needs an opponent. Her feelings for Yuzu are vaguely explained. Sara: Added in a similar way to Matsuri but her nature is the opposite. She is Yuzu’s rival, and her sentiments appear almost instantly. The rest of the characters help the narrative progression such as Harumi and Himeko. The art and sound Technically speaking, Citrus has a beautiful animation, clean and fluid with excellent drawings catching your attention. Despite the plot issues, you will enjoy it. The camera angles and planes blend well with the narrative and the emotions; they focus on the details. One negative aspect, the unnecessary fanservice scenes. You could misinterpret them and will sink the real story. The series has good sound. They give us a remarkable OP and ED. Honestly, I like the OP, the tune and rhythm combined with the lyrics create a fabulous composition. Enjoyment Citrus isn’t an anime for all tastes. The social taboo may make the observer indispose from the beginning. However, after some episodes, the story improves, and you can feel some character’s emotions. I like some aspects of the plot. It isn’t perfect and has a weird unrealistic start letting you with a big question mark, “is it going to be worth my time?” Thus, in combination with the “sexual assault” scenes could lead your apathetic side and make you drop the series. Finally, the manga is superior. It shows a significant evolution with better pacing. I understand, sometimes most of the spectators avoid this genre, but if you reached this point of my review, perhaps you could watch the anime and read the source to feel Yuzu’s emotions in a more desirable approach. I wanted to give Citrus a high score my conviction prevents me. I cannot accept the constant use of a sexual assault as a romantic or comedic filler that impacts the plot negatively. As I said, Citrus isn’t for all the tastes. Lastly and talking in general, you need to be broad-minded and don’t bury a show just for a sexual preference. You can criticize but don’t stigmatize the lesbian topic. If you dislike the story, skip it.

If I got a dollar every time this show featured a kiss scene, I’d probably be filthy rich now. No, not really but you have to admit, there’s almost an absurd amount of kissing in this show known as “Citrus”. To me, this show is a modern example of a trashy soap opera made with the intention of cash grab. Adapted by the manga of the same name, Citrus is one of the few series in recent years that decided to take on the idea of lesbianism and turn it into a modern day drama. In anime form, it’s defined more as yuri/shoujo-ai. As someonewho has read parts of the manga, Citrus focuses on the concept of female relationships. Unfortunately, I can’t really express any hope after reading the manga. This anime adaptation set off red flags from the start and isn’t able to fix them. It’s a shame really. Diving into this show may feel a little uncomfortable at first if you’re not used to this type of genre. The first few episodes makes it clear that there’s more going on between main characters Yuzu and Mei. Although they don’t have similar personalities, it’s shown that Yuzu feels an uneasy attraction towards Mei after getting into some compromising positions with her. Throughout the show, the both of them engage in many activities that adheres to lesbianism. The anime doesn’t hide the fact that there’s seems to be mutual attraction as each episode ventures on. Other characters gets involved in their story but the main focus is on this pair. And to be honest, it feels pretty embarrassing to watch. The show tries to be a love story but instead filled with laughably bad dialogue and clichés. I also can’t remember the number of times I shook my head at how their relationship developed. That’s actually what holds the show back a lot. Relationship dynamics in Citrus dances with an immense amount of teenage feelings and attempts to make it seem complicated. However, it ends up being washed up with little value and doesn’t seem to know what to make of its characters. Individually, Yuzu and Mei aren’t actually bad characters. At least from a realistic point of view, Yuzu is a normal girl who wants to explore romance and grow up. She’s also a bit of a daredevil and isn’t afraid to speak her mind or help others when in need. On the other hand, there’s Mei with a personality as cold as the snow. My impression of Mei is someone who would be incredibly difficult to be friends with. Her values are high standard and she never seems to let people get close to her, with perhaps the exception of Yuzu. We also get some background story about the two characters in later episodes to make viewers understand them more. However, that’s pretty much the extent of it. Yuzu and Mei are basically carrying this show while other characters are hardly worth talking about. I mean, there’s Yuzu’s best friend Himeko but she gets annoying every time her mouth opens. Harumi Taniguchi’s borderline obsession with Mei is incredibly obnoxious to watch. Oh and who can forget about Matsuri? It seems the show tries to make the audience hate her as much as possible. The Tachibana sisters introduced in later episodes are hardly likable either with their oddball personalities. The point is, most of these characters are one dimensional and hardly develops. In fact, I would say the characterization in this show really shoots itself in the foot with how certain episodes conclude. And that’s too bad really. Besides the characters and story, it seems Citrus loves to service the fans. While it’s not as explicit as some scenes in the manga, there’s quite a bit of kissing in the show. If you fancy make out scenes and yuri fan service, then this might be the type of show for you. I’m not going to lie though, it can be a bit of guilty pleasure at times. However, it gets tedious fast and after you’ve seen it a dozen times, it almost feels senseless. That being said, Citrus does do what it’s intended to do: bring out teenage feelings from characters and making a trite soap opera out of it. If there’s one thing to smile upon Citrus, it would definitely be the visual quality. To put it simply, the show is vibrant, colorful, and is full of life. The character designs are attractive and really enhances the feminine charms of the cast such as Yuzu and the Tachibana sisters. The way characters expresses their emotions is also highlighted through the choreography that’s hard to ignore. In many ways, the technical quality of Citrus is a sight for eyes to feast on. Whether it’s the fan service or characters themselves, it’s definitely there to impress. There’s not too much to go on about soundtrack as both theme songs gets its point across with the teenage drama style performance. However, the character voice mannerism is what makes some of the characters feel consistent with their roles. Yuzu is the most prominent example as she often speaks her mind and has a voice to match with her personality. Mei has a much colder voice tone that reflects her reserved persona. However, there’s also other characters that I can hardly stand whenever they speak. In particular, Matsuri’s voice sounds like she’s a 12 year old. Get ready for the ear plugs… By the time I finished Citrus, I had to question myself why the anime is even called that. The literal definition of Citrus is a type of fruit that has somewhat of a sweet and bitter flavor. Does that stand as a personification of the show’s themes? Who knows but I honestly find this show more than just bittersweet. What could have been a chance to make monumental history turned into a sour experience.

Please note this review is intended for those that have already finished watching Citrus and while care has been taken to minimise story related spoilers there may still be spoilers within character analysis. You have been warned. When sisters meet unexpected sparks fly and an unlikely romance blossoms Based off a popular manga series of the same name Citrus is a Shoujo and romance anime that takes place within a school setting and gives us the opportunity to see what will happen if you not only find yourself welcoming in a stepsister into your family from your mothers new marriage but also the actions thatcan happen if you were to fall in love with the stepsister that you just welcomed into your family. While Shoujo animes aren’t usually a genre that I'm really interested in when looking at the premise as well as the background source material that it makes use of I felt that the series itself certainly sounded interesting. Interesting enough in that I decided to give the series a chance. The first episode of the series I felt did a great job of introducing both the setting of the series which is the school and of the two main characters Yuzu and Mei. In particular, I felt that the sense of rivalry that developed between them from that moment was interesting considering how later events would play out. Looking back, I'm glad that I decided to give this series a chance as the series was one that I really enjoyed. The overall story of the series takes place at a famous and popular all-girls school situated in Tokyo that is well known for is strictness and conservative nature and follows the life of Yuzu Aihara a newly transferred student that moved to the city to join her recently remarried mother. As Yuzu, a fashionable and fun-loving girl transfers to the school and encounters the conservative and strict nature of the school she encounters the schools beautiful but strict student council president Mei Aihara who whether through fate or destiny is also Yuzu’s new stepsister. While clashing with Mei both in school and at home Yuzu soon learns that attraction and hatred just like love and hate are two sides of the same coin. As Yuzu and Mei clash with each other they also start to learn more about each other and slowly but surely the two start to bond and get closer with each other and slowly cross the line that divides the sisters and become something more. While slowly bonding with her new stepsister Yuzu as she gets used to both the school and the city also meets and makes a number of new friends while also encountering ones from her past. These include the arrogant but understanding student council vice president Himeko, the cunning and deceptive Junior high school student Matsuri and the Tachibana sisters Sara and Nina who while having differing personalities also have a close and loving bond between them. The overall story of the series covers roughly the first four volumes of the source material. Yuzu Yuzu Aihara played by veteran seiyuu singer Ayana Taketatsu of Sao and Youkoso fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A bright, fashionable and fun-loving girl by nature Yuzu at the beginning of the series was a newly transferred student that had just moved to the area to live with her mother who had remarried. While carefree and positive Yuzu was also someone that had a lot of self-confidence but did not let that make her arrogant and instead was something of a free spirit being both positive and friendly to everyone that she meets. As a result of these traits Yuzu was someone that was able to make friends easily and in this, it can be seen that she’s someone that’s very loyal to her friends and would work hard to help them and support them when they need help while hating it when she is unable to help them. While relaxed and carefree by nature it can be seen that Yuzu is also someone that can get serious at times especially with regards to helping her friends with their problems a side of her that I felt was a great contrast to her relaxed nature and fitted well with the two sides concepts that the series makes use off. In line with Yuzu’s carefree and free spirit type personality Yuzu is also someone that is noted to hate being constrained by rules especially those that restrict in how she should dress. This stems mainly from the fact that Yuzu is someone that believes that it’s the right of high school girls to be able to dress and act the way that they want in order to take advantage of their youth and any rules that prevent that will only be a bad thing for them. In line with this aspect of her personality Yuzu while mostly being someone that prefers to not stand out is also someone that’s also bold enough to make her views on subjects that concern her known even if she was to face censure when doing so. As the series goes on and as Yuzu gets to both know Mei better and encounter and befriend more characters in the school Yuzu’s personality gradually starts to change as she finds her life becoming more intertwined with that of Mei. At the beginning of the series Yuzu while carefree was also someone that was rather stubborn with her beliefs and often had arguments with people that had different views to her. As the series progresses this side of her personality gradually changes, and Yuzu begins to show more consideration to others while trying to rein in her more brash behaviour and try to think of the consequences of an action before doing them. This change is best shown in Yuzu’s willingness to admit her own mistakes and attempts to take responsibly for her actions and any effects that it had whether on the school or her friends. At the beginning of the series, Yuzu and Mei did not have the best of relationships or the best of first encounters and it can be said that their first feelings on meeting each other as sisters for the first time was hated and dislike rather than happiness and joy that would be the expected. Unlike Yuzu’s carefree and freethinking nature that values independence Mei’s personality, in the beginning, was the complete opposite being rule-bound, and strict which Yuzu applied to both Mei and her family. As the series goes on and they get to know each other more this feeling of antagonism gradually softens, and Yuzu starts seeing and treating Mei as family. As the series goes and Yuzu gets to see and understand the pain that exists within Mei she becomes somewhat determined to break through the shell of sadness that Mei has erected around herself fighting hard to get through to the real Mei that was behind it in a determined attempt to give her what she had craved the most in her life which was love and a place where she can belong too. As a result of this journey, the bond between the two gradually grows deeper as Mei slowly opens herself up to Yuzu’s determined attempts to help her and in the process creating a deeper relationship between the two that Yuzu never expected. The character of Yuzu I felt was an interesting one that was both well designed and developed as the series went on. Its been a while since I had seen Ayana Taketatsu in a lead role, but I felt that she did an excellent job of portraying the character of Yuzu. Mei Mei Aihara voiced by veteran seiyuu Minami Tsuda of Guilty Crown fame is one of the main characters of the series. The new stepsister to Yuzu Mei’s personality and attitude is markedly different from Yuzu in more ways than one. An attractive and intelligent girl by nature Mei is the very image of a cool beauty that deals with every situation with calm and logical solutions that hint at her level-headed nature. A quiet and composed girl Mei is someone that believes fervently that rules are the very pillars of society and that without it society would only be in chaos. This is a belief that Mei believes greatly and tries to inspire the students of her school in her capacity as student council president. While a quiet girl by nature Mei, however, is not unsociable and indeed while most people assume that she’s rather aloof the truth of the matter is that Mei can also be friendly to those that she has befriended and can be surprisingly understanding of others while being courteous and polite to those that she doesn’t yet know. From the beginning of the series, it can be seen that Mei is someone that’s very hardworking and takes her duty as student council president seriously. Indeed, she is the type of person that would try to do everything by herself and be unwilling to bother others with it even if it was their role to help in the first place which shows her dutiful and determined nature. To many of the students that she manages Mei is someone that is cool, level-headed and efficient that makes it hard for them to approach however the reality of this is that Mei while certainly cool and efficient is also someone that remembers those that have helped her in some way a side of her that I really liked. As the series goes on and more of Mei’s personality is revealed beneath the calm and composed attitude that she projects to her fellow students Mei is, in fact, someone that lives in constant pain and isolation and is someone that doesn’t trust others easily. Rather it can be seen that Mei is someone that tries to push those that try to know her away. As a result of having lived alone for much of her life in the beginning of the series it can be seen that Mei like Yuzu needed time to get used to the fact that they now had a much larger family than before and while the relationship between Mei and Yuzu and her mother was somewhat distant at first this gradually changed as the series went on in line with the deepening bond that is forged between them. While hinted on in the beginning as the series progressed it become apparent that Mei’s relationship with her family was rather strained and while she feels indebted to her grandfather who had raised her this also acted as a constraint for her life as well as it limited the freedom that she could have within her life. However arguably the main issue that had caused Mei’s heart to be constrained was, without doubt, the strained relationship that she had with her father which caused her to work fiercely to protect the school even to the point of causing her life to become nothing more than a set of performances. After making peace with her father and fixing this Mei’s attitude gradually began to soften and she begins to break out of her shell and not just be more open with her feelings but also learn to place her trust in others more. At the beginning of the series, Mei’s relationship with Yuzu was that of wariness which was somewhat understandable and kept her distance from her. But as the series progressed on and she gets to see and understand Yuzu’s personality a bit more this began to change. After overcoming many challenges together Mei’s attitude towards Yuzu begins to change becoming more positive and open-minded and less formal in her dealings with Yuzu showing the improving bond between them. While still retaining some of her aloof nature Mei’s personality gradually begins to thaw and begins showing her more honest and warmer feelings towards Yuzu openly unlike before. The character of Mei was an interesting one as her personality while contrasting greatly with that of Yuzu was the result of problems that was caused by family-related issues that ended up constraining her life which I felt was appropriate as it matched well with the theme of family and bonding by breaking through the wall that someone has erected to protect and hide them. I felt that her seiyuu Minami Tsuda did an excellent job in portraying the character of Mei. Matsuri Matsuri Mizusawa voiced by veteran seiyuu Shiori Izawa of Asterisk wars fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is an old friend of Yuzu. A 2nd-year junior high school student Matsuri at the beginning of the series behaved somewhat like an old friend to Yuzu being overly attached to her while still maintaining an innocent charm that was unique to her. On the surface, Matsuri was a kind, caring and polite person that seemed to value friendships and bonds. As the series goes on and more of Matsuri’s personality is revealed it can be seen that beneath this surface Matsuri’s personality is very different. Beneath her surface personality, it can be seen that Matsuri is someone that is cunning, manipulative, and deceitful and will use every available means to get ahead of others as long as victory is hers. In addition, Matsuri has also shown to be rather possessive of things that are considered dear to her such as her role as Yuzu’s little sister. At the beginning of the series, Matsuri was shown to have a rather warped view of what friendships and indeed what a relationship is as she took neither of them seriously and viewed them as something akin to a game. In this, she treated both as something that she can take advantage off to allow her to survive in society while at the same time pushing away things like love and warmth that is a result of the relationships that can form between friends. In a way, Matsuri’s personality, in the beginning, was very much like what Mei had been experiencing at the beginning of the series. As the series progresses and Matsuri see’s the depth of the relationship that exists between Yuzu and Mei and after seeing the truth of what she was missing Matsuri’s personality gradually starts to change becoming friendlier and more open with her feelings while trying to understand what real friendship is by forming her first real friendships with others. Himeko Himeko Momokino voiced by veteran seiyuu Yurika Kobo of Youkoso and Seiren fame is one of the main support characters of the series. A member of an upper-class family on account of her impressive and elegant hairstyle and the shops that she frequents Himeko true to her status is a self-confident, determined and somewhat stubborn person by nature that serves as one of the school’s vice presidents and as a result assists Mei in her duties as student council president. A childhood of Mei Himeko is someone that while arrogant is also someone that believes in rules and order and would often pursue rule breakers with vengeance which is often used for comical effort within the series. While arrogant and confident in herself Himeko is also someone that cares deeply about her friends and can be quite perceptive when it comes to sensing when something is bothering them. At the beginning of the series, Himeko had an antagonist like relationship with Yuzu as the latter seemed to enjoy breaking the very same rules that Himeko see’s as important to both the school and herself. As the series goes on and Himeko’s personality is gradually revealed it can be seen that Himeko’s feelings towards Mei go beyond that of what can be considered a simple friendship. In fact, it can be seen that Himeko has a lot of pride in serving as not just Mei’s vice president but also her oldest friend as well something she uses often when she and Yuzu face off. While Yuzu and Himeko remain rivals for Mei’s affections as the series goes on it can be seen that both share the same concern for Mei as each other and indeed when it comes to Mei’s well being it can be seen that both would drop their rivalry to help her when needed something that I felt was nicely done. Nina Nina Tachibana voiced by Rei Matsuzaki is one of the main support characters of the series and one of Yuzu’s friends that she encounters while on a school excursion to Kyoto. A high school girl from another area Nina is the younger among the Tachibana sisters and very different in attitude to her sister. A kind, caring and intelligent girl Nina unlike her sister has a rather laid-back personality and is the kind of person that will not worry needlessly about things that have already happened. True to her laid-back personality Nina is also someone that is really forgetful as well. Nina’s most prominent trait is without a doubt her tall physical height which I find to be pretty surprising for a high school girl. Despite Nina’s laid-back personality, it can be seen that Nina has a very deep bond with her sister and is very loyal to her to the point that she’s willing to act as the villain if it means that her sister is able to have happiness. Sara Sara Tachibana voiced by veteran seiyuu Hisako Kanemoto of Food Wars and Gate fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is one of Yuzu’s friends having met and befriended her when they met in Kyoto. A high school girl from another high school Sara is the elder of the Tachibana sisters. A cheerful, positive and considerate person by nature Sara is someone that unlike her sister Nina is someone that prefers to not waste time pondering on something and prefers to strike it out in one-go kinda like a boxer and as a result is also a bold, brave and determined person. While bold and daring Sara is also someone that’s perceptive of others feelings and is the kind of person that will let go of something if it would help others despite the pain that she will feel showing off her good nature. Because of this, however, Sara Is shown to have a dislike for people that give up too easily as she feels that if you don’t go all the way then all you did was take half steps that ended up creating nothing. AMV The animation for the series I felt was pretty well done with both the school and the uniforms for it being both well designed and detailed. The character designs for the series main characters I felt were also well done and were faithful to the source material to which I'm thankful. Music wise the series OST as well as the opening and ending themes I felt were excellent and did a great job at conveying the different emotions and feelings that each scene featured. Voice acting wise I felt that the main cast did an excellent job of portraying their respective characters. In particular, I felt that Ayana Taketatsu, Minami Tsuda, and Yurika Kubo did a fantastic job of portraying their respective characters. Overall conclusion Overall Citrus was an anime that I really enjoyed watching and I felt that its main strong points were its premise, story, characters, animation and voice acting and its unique use of romantic relationships to heal the hole that had formed within someone’s heart. The main premise of the show naturally is the encounter between Yuzu and Mei after Yuzu moves to the city and the subsequent escalating relationship that they forge between them. The decision to make an all-girls school as the series main setting I thought was an interesting move as though increasingly rare in this day and age single gender girls have the ability to create unique environments that can have the effect of both providing an effective place for students to learn and progress but at the same time trap them beneath layers of responsibility. One of the main themes that the story makes use off is that of the relationships that a family can have and the effect that this can have on members of that family. The decision to make use of the stepsister concept an idea unique to parents that have remarried I felt was a move well done as it not only gave the pretence for Yuzu to move to Tokyo to join her mother but also meet her new stepsister Mei as well. While Yuzu and Mei may not have had the best of first encounters watching the two of them try and come to terms with one another’s existence within their lives was interesting as until they met each other each had thought that they were alone within the family. This gradual process of getting used to being sisters contrasted well with the romantic aspect of the show. The romantic aspect of the show I felt also did a great job at making use of this theme of family as while developing feelings for each other Yuzu and Mei also in the process started to explore the many wishes, desires and restrictions and responsibilities that lay within them that stopped them from achieving the things that they desire. This exchange of feelings as with everything is two sides of the same coin and just as Mei is able to see the hesitation that lay within Yuzu she too is able to see the many problems that Mei hides within her heart problems caused by both a carefree father and an overbearing grandfather that when combined with the school almost suffocates Mei in responsibility and trapping her real feelings in a place where few can reach. The desire of Yuzu to both understand and open up Mei’s closed off heart and expose her true feelings I thought was a great use of the family theme as it provided the perfect key to open up Mei’s closed off heart and provide her with the very thing that she was missing in her life which was that of family warmth. Overall Citrus was an interesting anime that made use of an interesting premise and a unique way of forging a romantic relationship that can be used to open someone’s closed off heart while simultaneously reminding us that while society can be a harsh place trying to take too much responsibility by yourself and not letting others see your true feelings can be a bad thing. Sometimes its worth it to maybe stop one day and have one long talk with someone that you trust and not hide them anymore. In terms of final score, I think Citrus certainly deserves a score of 10/10.