The Girl Downstairs

Not too sweet romance. Somehow it's both a "mature/grown-up" & "coming-of-age" story. The characters are interesting and three-dimensional with things to like, dislike & not fully understand about them. I didn't read the source material & despite my fear of love triangles I really enjoyed the story. The animation is absolutely beautiful, especially the hair, facial expressions, and body language. The lighting, shading, movement, well really overall everything in my humble opinion it's quite visually striking and smooth. The soundtrack is limited, but that might count in its favor as one continues to watch the music ques create anexpected atmosphere. I enjoyed the music in the show. I found the Chinese voice-acting to be really enjoyable. The voices were beautiful & carried the right amount of emotion & nuance. Even though the story is mainly told from the Male Lead's perspective I'd classify this as a josei. Quite a non-cliché romance story with some light psychological twists and turns. I'd recommend it to watchers who like romance or even slice-of-life. Even if you don't like romance it's a good story about the challenges of starting a new beginning in life. Warning: No ecchi, no harem, no oppais. It's quite a wholesome show with no erotic references. If you dislike love triangles you might still enjoy this, but be warned many girls like one kind of indecisive unremarkable guy.

I just created this MAL account just for this review. So here are my takeaways: - OP was hella addicting and all OST's were top notch. - Story itself was good and the romance was 10/10. Leads too much chemistry. I'm really invested with the story that i have to finish it in one seating since the story is not the "TYPICAL" romance we are seeing in most animes. I felt like it was a sort of k-drama in the anime setting. - The animation was really captivating tho still need some improvement. I've watch many anime's mostly produced in Japan, but this one is kind ofdifferent and i like it very much. IDK how to describe it but the characters were well portrayed so kudos to Red Dog Culture House. I became a simp for the FL. - Hoping for season 2 but for god's sake please don't follow the original ending xD - It's been a long time since i've watch an anime and this anime is like a breath of fresh air for me. So i'll give it a 10/10.

This series was pretty interesting at first, but the more episodes I watched the more I started to dislike it. I had hoped for getting the typical anime romance feels, but unfortunately I was very disappointed. The part of the series that I liked was that love isn't straightforward, rather more like a roller coaster that is unpredictable. But it got to a point where I stopped caring about what kind of ending the series would have. The OSTs were literally carrying me through the series, because they were, in my opinion, the best part of every episode. I have watched a lot of romance animebecause it is my favourite genre. This has to be the first one that I didn't feel a connection to most of the characters. I was mostly bored or frustrated through the whole series. I took the series very seriously, which is why it's so sad that I am feeling the way I am feeling about this series. I don't know why this series made such a bad impression for me. Maybe it is because it was the first chinese anime I have watched or just simply that this series is not my taste of romance anime. My adjusted score: 6/10. My personal score: 5/10 (if not even lower). It's up to you if you want to watch it or not.

I did not expect this to be good, but it turned out to be spectacular. The animation is much better than your typical romance anime, and the excellent sound design really helps you feel the doki doki. The characters feel fleshed out and natural (even the crazy ones), and the story, while feeling melodramatic at times, has enough twists and turns to feel exciting. I appreciate that the characters are adults and they act more mature than the typical romance. The main conflict is a love triangle between the handsome Juntang (the protagonist), the beautiful idol Shiya, and the studious childhood sweetheart Zhu Zhu. Shiya isdirect and pushy with her love for Juntang, but Juntang is saving himself for Zhu Zhu, whom he has had a crush on forever. I think what sets this apart is what it _doesn't_ do. In your typical romance drama, you have conflicts arising from poor communication which creates misunderstandings that triggers certain characters to go batshit insane. Then we yell at the screen 'why would you do that?' and resign to the realization that the characters are not people but plot devices. While a central conflict _is_ caused by Zhu Zhu's lack of communication, it doesn't create unnatural responses. In this show, both Shiya and Zhu Zhu are developed enough that we can empathize with them. It's not exactly clear who, if any, would win out in the end. Shiya is crazy and stalkerish, but displays enough emotion to be taken seriously. Zhu Zhu is the childhood sweetheart, but is absent for critical time periods. On the other hand, Ruoli is more of an afterthought; she never was in the running to begin with and didn't really need to be there. In fact, she adds a certain amount of cringe which detracts from the show. From what I heard, the show doesn't adapt the full source material, but this show tells a complete story with a satisfying conclusion.