My Clueless First Friend

My clueless friend is legitimately one of the most wholesome, heart warming and endearing anime I’ve ever seen. A true hidden gem in a packed season that deserved much more love. Being a kid is hard. Children are often picked on and made fun of for the most minuscule of reasons. While many times it’s harmless, often times it crosses into downright cruel bullying. The most unfortunate part of it is that you never know what other people are going through. People crack those jokes and have no idea the impact of what they’re saying. The overall message of this anime is to be kind. Treateveryone with respect and try to understand those that are different. My clueless best friend is both entertaining and informative as I do genuinely believe seeing something like this motivates you to be a better person. To be more empathetic and to be kinder to people. The things that Nishimura is subjected to simply because of her quiet nature and appearance really broke my heart and hit a little close to home. I absolutely loved she and Takada’s relationship, though. Him coming to her aid every time she was getting picked on put the biggest smile on my face. Their relationship is the purest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Every time someone puts Nishimura down, he’s there to offer a compliment to restore her self confidence. Not just to make her feel better, but because of how he genuinely feels. There’s romantic subtext as the tag suggests, but it’s more of a friendship story with the two of them learning what it means to truly have a friend you can rely on. I really liked seeing the characters’ backstories in this one too. Both Nishimura and Takada have had very sad events to occur, but despite it all Takada keeps a massive smile on his face and tries to spread that positive energy to everyone. A message that I think we can all take something from. In fact, we all need a friend like this. This is probably one of the most realistic depictions of a middle school I’ve seen. The characters behave how kids at that age do, for better or worse, and that’s really impressive for an anime to pull off. Art style is quite unique for anime as well. They went with a unique colour palette and character design that I think fits the tone of the story and the characters well. I could honestly go on for hours talking about this show, but you just need to watch it, man. It is beyond cute. Arguably the cutest show of the year thus far. Words don’t do it justice. You’ll will not regret this one at all. My Clueless Friend Gets 10, out of 10.

This show is the definition of the "ABCs of love, HOW?": Adorable, Boku no Kokoro, Cutesy, Heartwarming (and) Objectively Wholesome?" For a long time now, rom-coms have felt one and the same as the years passed, no matter how many works and shows have been released over the years. But in the case where most of it happens in school, it's always the high-school scene that gets the most rap for being the same thing all over again. Wouldn't it be nice if that formula could be replicated for an even younger setting of puppy love? That's where mangaka Taku Kawamura's Jijou wo Shiranai Tenkousei gaGuigui Kuru. a.k.a My Clueless First Friend, comes into the picture, being that of an elementary-school like comedy and slice-of-life story that has romantic subtexts in it, which makes for an interesting show and source material overall. Ask anybody if he/she did plough through their young days being bullied, because children are just immature and grow up in the kind of environment where they choose their friends, and accuse others of being different, leaving the accused to the detriment of their well-being. This is exactly the case for Akane Nishimura, who is a quiet, almost gothic-looking girl with the apt "Grim Reaper" nickname because of the way she looks and is often bullied by her classmates for their dislike of her, thinking that she would curse and bring misfortune to them. That all changes when a transfer student by the name of Taiyou Takada comes in, and being a fan of the supernatural, he befriends the Grim Reaper without any context of what is going on around him, and that says the story and plot for the antithesis of the aptly named "Clueless First Friend" that would change Akane's life for the better, and, in the process, turn that support into fluttery feelings of love. First off, let's segregate the cast of characters into the two obvious groups: the bullies and the victims. There is no doubt that Akane had all of the unheeded BS handed towards her, because let's face it: elementary school children are still developing in their early phases of their likes and dislikes, and bullying has been that one constant aspect that would just not go away, to the consequences of the victimised, having to suffer early episodes in order to be strong by themselves. And to be honest, even with Takada around to defend Akane by re-directing all of the hate onto him, anyone would have the balls to say that they would stand alongside the victimised all the way through, only to reverse that and say to stand with the bullies instead. And these people, I'd not hesitate to call them out for being hypocrites, for not honouring their word. But Takada is built differently: he is the literal meaning of "I don't care, just let me have my fun". And in many ways, we wished that we could have had a friend like Takada back in our young days to be protected from the unnecessary malignment from fellow classmates who were just having fun bullying the weak. Takada may be the clueless kid, but he's a gigachad in the same apt way. The bullies of both sexes: for the males, Kotarou Kitagawa, along with Katsunori Tanaka and Yuuya Yamamoto; and for the females, Sumire Kasahara, along with Junko Kurokawa and Megu Yanagieda. There is no doubt that in this moment of their lives, playing this bullying game is already akin to being immature, but they don't care, and Akane gets pretty much used to it for who she really is. As for the "righteous" side, Akane is pretty much used to them calling her names and the like, while Takada is just that unknowing character who is mysteriously doing her a lot of right by deflecting all of the negative points about Akane and turning them into the positives, leading her to blush and be embarrassed each and every time, thinking that he has an interest in her, but not in the romantic sense. Young kids just want to have fun, and only when they're faced with the romantic prospect does it get serious but awkward. And if this is the objective that both the show and its original source material want to point their audience to, I'm happy to say that they got it right the first time. Ironically, it's so fun to see Takada shoot down all of the negativity about Akane and make it plus points that add to her allure, that if one doesn't think about this in the romantic sense, then who are they? The innocent people of Akane and Takada are not alone in this regard. Takada's best friend is Daichi Hino, who is all about unadulterated fun and tank-tops for the win. Initially, Akane's being spoilt by Takada's assertive whims, grows her character, and people slowly recognise her good side. Starting with Umi Adachi, she initially was the side character who didn't want to get involved in Akane's affair, but subsequently, her kind, nurtured behaviour won her over, and like a good friend (a la Takada style) she stands beside her as her very first common friend, outside of the transfer student. Umi has a crush on Hino, though he's only really into tank-tops, so better luck if you're going to win his heart somehow. It's the same for another recurring bully, though she can be a little hard to impress. With the show having a rather unique appeal, there is no need for any kind of bombastic animation, just some good ol' decency to get both its production and pacing right, which is what Studio Signpost and its in-house director Shigenori Kageyama did to decency. I'm not going to lie; I like the unique character designs that were brought forth from the manga; they added more to the show's appeal than just being mere typical character lookalikes from just about any other show. It's childish but simplistic, which gives it an elementary school aspect. Simple, but it gets the job done. I quite like the music, actually, for a fluffy series such as this. Reina Kondou's OP was a surprise for me in the sense that it exudes everything about the manga's different aspects, from the chuunibyou of Akane's Grim Reaper to Takada just having fun combating and fooling around with friends. Kitri's 2nd ED (since Komi-san) is also a pleasant surprise for its simplicity, but it still has a pitch bend of sorts that I think contributed to the song. Overall, it's good. Kids in love, is a subject that is rarely seen or explored in all of AniManga, because it's all about high school romances and the like, which I feel is going to be too much in the future. Rather than just a simple flashback of sorts (which this trope has been overused too much), make a story out of it, and that's what mangaka Taku Kawamura has done here, which makes the show an adorable, neat, and sweet watch that's actual lovestruck diabetes of innocent, puppy love. Try this show if you need or want the "Feels Good" meme.

English. As sweet as this series is, it already gave me diabetes, we see romance in different ways, most of these tell us about a mature love, a love between two adult people and how they reflect it to others. Now here it is different, it is a love between children, do not think that it is something super strange, it is something very sweet, an innocent love where the boy does not realize his words, a love where innocence takes a very interesting role here. The animation is very simple (the truth) but even so in that simplicity they show what is necessary for the story,I know that they do not focus to make it look more stylized because it does not need it, here they focus on the story, on the story between these two little people. In how they feel things for each other, directly or indirectly, like a kiss they don't know what it means to them but when they see one they feel something strange, how touching hands seems insignificant to them but For an adult person it is not like that, in truth with this series you will fall in love with its characters and what they do during this series. You will not regret seeing it, highly recommended without a doubt. Español. De tan dulce que es esta serie ya me dio diabetes, el romance lo vemos en diferentes formas la mayoría de estás nos relatan un amor maduro, un amor entre dos personas adultas y el como lo reflejan a los demás. Ahora aquí es diferente es una amor entre niños, no crean que es algo super extraño es algo muy dulce, un amor inocente en donde el chico no se da cuenta de sus palabras, un amor en donde la inocencia toma un rol bastante interesante aquí. La animación es de lo mas sencillo (la verdad) pero aun así en esa sencillez muestran lo necesario para la historia, se que no se enfocan para que se vea algo mas estilizada porque no lo necesita, aquí se enfocan en la historia, en la historia entre estas dos pequeñas personas. En como ellas sienten cosas el uno por el otro, de manera directa o indirecta, el como un beso no saben lo que significa para ellos pero cuando ven uno se sienten algo extraño, el como tocarse las manos se les hace algo insignificante para ellos pero para una persona adulta no es así, en verdad con esta serie te enamoraras de sus personajes y lo que hacen en el transcurso de está. No te arrepentirás de verla, super recomendada sin lugar a duda.

I went into this anime expecting a lighthearted, fluffy rom-com, but what I got was so much more. It's like the show snuck up on me and stole my heart when I wasn't looking! Nishimura's adorable blushing face is forever etched in my memory - I mean, who wouldn't love a girl who turns beet red from just a few kind words? And Takada? _swoon_ He's the ultimate sweet and caring guy, always showering Nishimura with genuine compliments, completely oblivious to the fact that he's making her blush like crazy every time! Their dynamic is pure magic, and I found myself grinning from ear to ear everytime they interacted. The supporting cast is lovable too, but Takada and Nishimura's relationship is the real highlight of the show. I'm now left craving for more! Please, for the love of all things cute and fluffy, give us a season 2! This anime is a masterclass in subtle storytelling, nuanced characters, and heartfelt moments. It's a reminder that sometimes the simplest things in life can bring the most joy. If you haven't watched it yet, drop everything and give it a try. Trust me, you won't regret it!