A Condition Called Love

Hananoi Kun is one of the most inconsistent shows I’ve watched recently. At times, it’s a great shoujo romance with some really cute and wholesome interactions between the main couple, and at other times it’s extremely uncomfortable due to the male lead’s toxic and overbearing behaviour. Luckily, the male lead does show signs of improvement and by the end of the season while still not great, he’s a lot more bearable. Certainly worth a watch for shoujo fans. It’s hard to rag on this show too much because it did have some things I really liked. I think Hananoi and Hotaru while starting as a veryunhealthy and seemingly random relationship do progress to have a stable mutually beneficial relationship in which they both grow as people and improve their insecurities. Hananoi being someone who’s dealt with a lot of trauma as a kid which has impacted how he views people and relationships, and Hotaru the traditional plain shoujo female lead who happens to pull the hottest guy in school. I’ve said before and I’ll say again, this show felt like “I can fix him” the anime. Because of Hananoi’s unresolved trauma, he has some really unhealthy tendencies. Being overly possessive with Hotaru, not wanting her to talk to other guys or spend time with people besides him, he doesn’t believe he needs friends etc. While I get that the guy has been through a lot, it was just very hard to see some of the stuff he does in the show. To her credit, Hotaru is very sympathetic and tries to be considerate of Hananoi’s situation, but at times I felt like she enabled the behaviour rather than helping. The show gives us a nice flashback arc at one point and to its credit, it does a good job of fleshing out Hananoi character and why he acts the way he does, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I think it’s very clearly just something that a lot of girls are into and since I’m not a girl I can’t really relate. As I said before, I still enjoyed a lot of the show. I think once the relationship became official, Hananoi and Hotaru had some really cute moments that made my heart flutter. I also appreciate that they were able to openly communicate about issues they had and move forward rather than avoiding problems. By the end of the show, we at least see some growth from the male lead and you get a sense that with enough time and patience from Hotaru, he’ll eventually get his act together. That’s all you can ask for with annoying characters. I’ve seen the manga being praised a lot so it’s probably just a situation of the show ending before things get really good. Production wise, it’s pretty much your standard shoujo seasonal. Some cute art, mediocre animation, decent OST and a BANGER ED which actually is my 2nd fave this season. So what’s the verdict on Hananoi kun? Worth watching? I’d say if you’re a big shoujo fan like myself it’s definitely worth it. There’s worse ways to spend 2 hours, just don’t expect furuba or Yubiren level writing. There’s some things I’d improve in the story, mainly Hananoi’s personality, but it’s a serviceable romance story with some nice moments. Hananoi kun gets 7 out of 10.

From "the weakest to the only good" remarkable points in [The disease called Hananoi] A toxic protagonist with a victim complex Hananoi is the most intense protagonist you will ever see, he plays the victim every chance he gets, the moment he makes the most possessive comment you will ever hear, which he does every episode, he will apologize for being like that and that he will hold it in, not that he will try to change, he will just hold it in. His toxicity has no limits, if his partner told him that he was talking too loud at the theater, he would take it tothe extreme and not talk for a month, and he would let his partner know that he is not talking because she told him he was talking loud. He is also the person who idolizes the person he loves to such an extent that it is unhealthy for that person, his partner will hit babies and Hananoi will tell the person that he loves the way she does uppercuts. Hananoi is someone who is possessive, dramatic, exaggerated, adulator, toxic, and has victim mentality. First Episode This episode seems to be a summary of 6 episodes, each cut leads to a scene that could be an important moment for the series, it is too rushed and if it is the same in the manga, then the manga is also rushed. An episode with a forced and unnatural presentation of the story, but if you're sick of romance anime taking 12 episodes to advance the relationship, this one will become a 4 instead of a 3 in score. Female protagonist She is the perfect victim for someone like Hananoi, someone who has zero to no experience with romantic relationships, someone who thinks what Hananoi does is normal in a relationship and apologizes for doing something a normal person would do, worse yet because she thinks what Hananoi does is normal she tries to imitate him, she is an empty shell which is filling up with the worst points of Hananoi's personality. Supporting characters For some reason after Hananoi treats the supporting characters as if they were a fly flying around him, they say things like "how quiet Hananoi is", "maybe he doesn't like to talk much", and they forget that their friend, who is important to them, is dating this guy who treats everyone badly, as if it's not something that should be mentioned. They let his behavior go on, making him and her not realize that he is doing something wrong. Souhei Yao The only character that seems to have a functional brain, he recognizes the couple's situation and knows what to say to each of them without feeling that he is meddling too much, you should thank him that he exists in this story.

A Condition Called Love - Who are we to define the stereotypical circumstance called romance? The romance genre, as easy as it can be understood, has so many outliers going for it, which range from the most wholesome to the most extreme of cases. You can write at least a story about a boy and a girl in love and the situations in which they got together, and that would be your answer. This is pretty much the same circumstance for female mangaka Megumi Morino and her latest work: Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai a.k.a A Condition Called Love, a manga that has gone to benominated and won Kodansha's Manga Award in the Shoujo category in 2021. But while this romance seems wholesome from the outside, it hides a dark and toxic secret that is not easy to pull off, much less be accepted by all as it is, serving as a detractor to series like mangaka duo suu Morashita's Yubisaki to Renren a.k.a A Sign of Affection (despite both series coincidentally being serialised in Kodansha's Dessert Shoujo/Josei magazine, in which Hananoi is serialised first in December 2017 as opposed to YubiRen in July 2019). Compared to Yubisaki to Renren with a deaf female lead and a wholly understanding male lead being sensitive to her, Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai is the exact opposite of that: a female lead who doesn't know what love is, alongside an overzealous male lead who, like an animal, marks his territory on that someone he claims and tries not to give her away to anyone outside of their circle. This is the story of Hotaru Hinase, a sophomore who is the definition of the stereotypical high school student: good friends and supporting family, but lacking romance. Her love story is akin to Otonari no Tenshi-sama a.k.a The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (which was released much later in December 2018 on Syosetu) where she witnesses a guy who just got dumped by his girlfriend and tries to comfort him in her usual gesture of kindness. Lo and behold, said guy who goes by the name of Saki Hananoi, being the playboy he is, doesn't hesitate to call Hotaru out to be his girlfriend, aiming to "fix" his ways of what made the previous relationship not work, which Hotaru agrees in a way to figure out what love really is like to her. First and foremost, I already know what you're thinking: a pure, natured young girl and a stubborn guy who refuses to admit defeat until he's found his "perfect" partner...surely this relationship will not work out the same, innit? This is where a lot of people will tune off with the manga (and now the anime), with Hananoi's character being controversially written to be such: a stalker-ish, obsessive guy who wants to be around his partner 24/7 and not let anyone spoil their relationship. But if you've caught that, great, because I'm about to throw you a curveball that this series is all about character and relationship developments, and I don't care if you still see Hananoi as an obnoxious character who is on the verge of no return, because a flawed character like him actually has a chance to make things right with Hotaru. If you still can't catch that plot progression (a la "What's wrong with flawed characters?"), then the series is definitely NOT for you. In contrast, Hotaru and Hananoi's relationship is far from toxic, it's just that Hananoi has to be constantly led back to the correct path and re-learn what it means to cherish his partner, which is where Hotaru comes in to guide him on what's right and wrong. And as they say: "It takes two hands to clap in a relationship." As much as Hotaru is genuine to Hananoi and his change for the better, he too grows over time, as such, from being sensitive to her space, to doing "crazy" things that may seem unwarranted at first, but still respecting her opinions enough to take them to heart. Assumption is never good in a romantic relationship, and Hananoi is that embodiment of trust towards Hotaru enough that the love between both boy and girl still feels genuine. And if flawed characters can even blossom a romantic love between each other with honesty and transparency, I honestly don't see why a relationship like that can not work. And together with close friends (of Hotaru's, like Hibiki "Kyo-chan" Asami and Tsukiha "Shibamu" Shibamura) and Hananoi entering the fray of her world, this seemingly unkempt relationship takes shape in a not-so-stereotypical way, which is a rather breath of fresh air against too many bites of the "the relationship is full of drama, but let's pretend it's a happy couple with a panel of sweet words and a kiss" type of pie. Sadly, the overall production really takes a hit in progressive degradation. East Fish Studio may be a rather significant new studio in the AniManga space, but with Hananoi being the studio's first ever TV anime adaptation, the adage of "seeing is believing" does take a toll on how average the overall production is, compared to the manga. Nothing really stands out...or should I say, we're watching an inferior version of Otonari no Tenshi-sama (by Project No. 9's standards, which is saying quite a lot) that it just looks bearable to watch. This is a show that you want the likes of studio Ajia-Do (who produced YubiRen) to be produced by, but we got the Wish.com dollar-store version of it instead. The OST is rather nice, I must say. And of course, this is not the same "Kimi no Sei" by the peggies, but by J-pop boy band Sexy Zone, whose OP song is rather charming and fits the series to a T. Mina Okabe contributes the ED song with the Japanese version of her song "Every Second", it's...there, that's all I can say about it. The make-or-break stigma about the show (that is, when it comes to the overall recommendation) is the acceptance that "not all bad things are bad," and as humans, we are always privy to our own "entitled" opinions...if only we're able to have a change of heart to see and understand what it looks like on the other side (a clear pun on "the grass is greener on the other side") of the spectrum. To make things clear, Hananoi-kun is not a bad show (and neither is the manga), but it's one of those shows that has a clear divide on what's right and wrong that pertains to the viewer. Opinions be damned, so make a decision on what you see, and let my review here be just a guideline to help you decide if this show is worth the effort to watch.