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12
TV
Finished Airing
Jan 6, 2026 to Mar 24, 2026
Back in middle school, Arisu Yamabuki's only solace in life was a radio show hosted by a girl named Apollo. He used to faithfully tune into the program every night until she abruptly stopped broadcasting entirely. Despite having very few clues about Apollo's identity, Yamabuki has thoroughly investigated her, which eventually led him to enroll in the newly co-ed Furin High School, hoping to find her there. Just as Yamabuki suspected, the broadcasting club's first announcement is made by the familiar voice he admires! Upon entering the club room, however, Yamabuki realizes that his search will not be that easy. The four membersāRikka Inohana, Shinobu Uzuki, Nene Himekawa, and Iko Kirinoāall sound like Apollo in different ways. Yamabuki joins the club primarily to find Apollo, but he soon discovers that each girl aspires to pursue her own career with her voice. Seeing that there is a lot of room for improvement, Yamabuki takes it upon himself to help the girls reach their individual goalsābut he never stops looking for his favorite Apollo. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
6.8/10
Average Review Score
53%
Recommend It
15
Reviews Worldwide
I am not going to pull any punches in this review. After seeing all of the episodes, I still think that this adaptation is absolutely awful and I feel really bad for the manga's author, since he surely must have been one of the first people to experience this mess. ===ANIMATION=== Letās start with the animation, which was horrendous - characters were badly drawn in A LOT of frames. Mayonaka Heart Tune does not have a consistent character design. It feels like three diferent teams were working on this show at the same time, and all of them were heavily underpaid. Background characters often looked so deformedthat, while watching this abomination, I was wondering who was brave enough to decide to release this anime in this state. Yamabuki has a different looking face in every scene (which was especially visible in episode 4), and the girls did not look much better than him: - Nene definitely had the biggest number of frames where her face was deformed ā this might be an exaggeration, but I feel like her face only looked good when the studio was directly tracing her manga panels. - Rikka looked a bit better than Nene, but the studio also did her dirty - the animation of her head movements was definitely the laziest one, and the perspective of her face was not conveyed well on many frames. - Iko was definitely the favourite character of the studio, since in many manga panels she was portrayed as an oversimplified, white creature. When that happened, she looked fine. Unfortunately, when they drew her in her normal state, she was far from perfect ā this was especially visible in episode 3, which was mainly focused on her (long story short ā she looked awful). - Shinobu had the most consistent design out of all of them, but even she had moments where her face was longer than it should be, or where she looked like a completely different character (this happened in both episode 10 & 11). The animation level went up a little bit for a single episode (the fifth one), only to go back to being atrocious from episode 6 onwards (there's a scene in that episode where Nene argued with Yamabuki around 18th minute and 15th second - if you're brave enough, check out how deformed her face is in that moment). Episode 12ās quality was a little higher again (for obvious reasons). So, overall, the anime looked āfineā for two out of twelve episodes ā thatās not a good ratio. In one of the reviews that was published alongside my preliminary review for this show, someone compared this anime to āMy Sister, My Writerā. While it was an overstatement, I can see why this person came up with this analogy. If that was not enough, then hereās a fun fact: this studio really liked reusing a certain scene where all of the girls were on the school roof ā each and every one of them had their faces drawn in a terrible, nearly spooky way, but it seems that Gekkou ālovedā this scene so much, that they reused it at least 4 times. I donāt know whether it was the lack of funds, or laziness on their end, but whatever the reason behind this decision was, Gekkou ended up disgracing themselves even further. Unfortunately, thatās not the end - there are even more issues with animation in this anime: - There's hardly any motion in the scenes - they are mostly static (still frames are used pretty often), and when there is some motion... it looks awful. I still have shivers when I remember the scene where Yamabuki was running up the stairs in episode 1. - Mouth movement was not synchronized with the lines from the voice actors much too often. Characters would open their mouths completely at random (examples: this happened with Rikka and Shinobu in episode 4 and with the red-haired Vtuber during a concert in episode 9). - I also noticed a few animation errors - Ikoās eye was moving slower than the rest of her face (so the eye got left behind for a second) in episode 9 and Neneās black ribbons were painted pink (like her hair) in episode 8. Itās not like it absolutely ruins the experience, but it shows that there was literally no quality check before the release. ===VIBE=== Weāre finally finished with the animation, next up is the overall vibe. The studio was not able to replicate the most iconic manga panels in the anime - while in the manga they look absolutely stunning, in the anime there's nearly no visual effects at all. It feels like nothing's really happening on the screen, when those moments are crucial for the story. Because of all of that, characters like Nene and Rikka "feel" different than in the manga. I compared some of Rikka's panels from the manga to the same moments in the anime and they were not "translated" well (example: the scene where she calls Yamabuki a liar in episode 2). Other girls are more acceptable, but they still feel bland in comparison to their manga counterparts. Yamabuki also does not leave the same impression as he did in the manga, but I will expand on this in a bit. Some of the scenes from the manga were cut from the adaptation and some elements were either censored or changed. Don't get me wrong - I am not saying that changing some things from the source material is a sin, and I think that there are a few changes done by the studio that were appropriate. I am not going to complain about the censorship of girlsā outfits, but removing some of the panels with Yamabuki doing his antics (for example, from episode 5) was not a good choice - even though most of those scenes were only used as a comic relief, I feel like his personality was toned-down a lot in the anime. Thatās a shame, since Yamabuki from the manga is one of the most expressive (and enjoyable) main protagonists that I have ever seen. ===MUSIC=== Now itās time to talk about the music in this anime: the opening is pretty mediocre - I feel like there was a big opportunity to do something interesting with it, since this manga is about every possible usage of voice in a career. The song from the ending was not that bad, but I donāt think that it fits this series at all. The rest of the soundtrack was... fine I guess? Some of the tracks were good, some were forgettable. The soundtrack was actually one of a few aspects of this production that were not straight up horrible. ===VOICE ACTING=== This review may sound gloomy, but there is actually one good thing about this anime: the voice actors were trying their best, and I appreciate it. They did a good job trying to portray the characters. Unfortunately, good voice acting is simply not enough to call this adaptation even "acceptable" and it does not save the show in any way. ===CONCLUSION=== Studio Gekkou absolutely failed to create a decent adaptation of Mayonaka Heart Tune. Kodansha made one of the worst decisions that they could possibly make, partnering with this studio to adapt the best harem manga thatās currently being published. I deeply regret that studios like Doga Kobo, Bibury Animation or Shaft (even with all of their quirks) did not receive the rights to adapt this manga. Even Project No.9, which I do not have a high opinion of, would be a much better choice for this adaptation. The most ambitious thing that the studio did was "trying" to do something with the lighting in some of the scenes (and even that did not work too well). Honestly, watching this adaptation every week was frustrating, especially since I know how good the source material is. Iām worried that many people might get discouraged from checking out the manga after they finish this anime, but to be honest, I wouldnāt blame them for that. By the way, the studio that's responsible for this adaptation (Gekkou) made one more anime that was airing during this season - "Yuusha Party ni Kawaii Ko ga Ita node, Kokuhaku shitemita.", which is a very mediocre isekai. I saw both shows, and I really feel like the fantasy one received more love than Mayonaka Heart Tune. The art style was more consistent and the studio even prepared an additional, special ending for a single episode (but donāt get me wrong ā the animation quality was still not good in any way). Iāll end this review saying once again that I feel bad for Masakuni Igarashi ā his work is absolutely spectacular, and I really hope that this messy adaptation will not discourage him from continuing to draw the manga. I cannot recommend this show to anyone, and If I could choose between this adaptation and no adaptation being produced at all, I would choose the second option. I saw that a season 2 was announced, but I do not have high hopes that it will be better than the first one if the studio stays the same.
Click an episode to read its synopsis.
Duh..... *inhale, exhale Mayonaka Heart Tune ā Just because it is a harem romcom doesn't mean its animation quality standard has to be insanely low. tl;dr. Manga fans are annoying and ungrateful; Micro expressions and background art are not important at all; Bad adaptations are better than no adaptations; TBATE & Uzumaki were not bad at all, either. Mayonaka Heart Tune (Tune in to the Midnight Heart) is the third adapted-to-anime series by Masakuni Igarashi after Mattaku Saikin no Tantei to Kitara (Detective These Days!) last year and Senryuu Shoujo (Senryu Girl) in 2019. The manga blew up after 5ā10 chapters due to Igarashi-sensei's beautifully drawn visuals andhow he turned the generic-looking main character Arisu Yamabuki into a competent and committed boy in hope for the success of the broadcasting club girls. The story brings you back to the good old premises of Nisekoi and Quintuplets, where Yamabuki is searching for the missing radio girl named Apollo he listened to during his middle school days. When Yamabuki became sure Apollo was in the broadcasting club in his high school, he realized that the journey of finding the voice of Apollo would be long because he would have to guess which radio girl he was looking for: Rikka Inohana, Shinobu Uzuki, Nene Himekawa, or Kirino Iko. Despite knowing the broadcasting club was meant to be all-female, Yamabuki wished to be added as a member. He realized the club's broadcasting quality was far from good, which affected their ability to attract listeners and showcase their talents effectively. Hence, Yamabuki offered a training program in his own style to improve the girls' talent while secretly gathering more information about Apollo. Let's give a round of applause to the anime's sound production, music, and voice acting for their flawless execution. The plot of the manga feels over the top, and it is insanely hilarious. Any advice and training given by Yamabuki were unpredictable, often leading to unexpected and humorous situations that kept the girls on their toes. Even if they were all ridiculous to the girls, Yamabuki had infinite guts to practice his wild theories in front of them. Kudos to Yamabuki's VA, Rikuya Yasuda, for being an absolute 'giga chad' for 12 straight episodes, despite the fact it was his 'first' time doing a big role in a shounen anime. While the four heroines looked pretty and certainly waifu-able, their respective roles were not really why the manga was that good. However, thanks to Avex Pictures and INSPION Edge, as well as all the voice actresses, their respective roles feel much more alive. You know the seiyuus did their acting passionately when the anime published behind-the-scenes videos on its social media every week during the broadcasting. Props to Avex Pictures and all the music producers involved in the insert songs as well. Excited to listen to all the insert songs when they finally arrive on streaming platforms. However, when it comes to "Anime Adaptation," animation production has always been coming first, often overshadowing the importance of a well-crafted story and character development. To be fair, disappointing animations never really mean it is a bad product. But not-even-trying animations? This is what happened to this anime throughout the season, and a similar situation likely occurred with TenPuru three years ago (6.69 anime vs. 7.49 manga). What's with those flat microexpressions on each character? The directing was so stiff, and the coloring looked awful. Additionally, others have pointed out the poor body proportions that resulted from attempts to censor large breasts and navel scenes. Look, I am also often silent when it comes to anime censorship if they hide it properly (like Ruri Rocks, Bocchi the Rock, and 100 Girlfriends), but dear, Mayonaka's censorship looked so unnatural. To think that the anime's lead director had previously directed only one anime (Butareba). To think that this adaptation would feature an uglier crying animation than the infamous filler Boruto episode (not even the ugliest, though). This anime never failed to disappoint me. Even so, props to JUNJUN for the beautiful choreography during Rikka's karaoke performance, despite being poorly animated. In a decade where even trashy harem/ecchi romcoms were animated passionately, like Chiramune, 100 Girlfriends, and even Rent-A-Girlfriend, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan somehow chose the opposite for Mayochu. It is an insane exaggeration to believe that manga readers desired high-quality animation, or sakuga, similar to that of Jujutsu Kaisen for a harem romcom title; however, it is also understandable that the unrealistic expectations of production committees, such as those for Oshi no Ko, needed to be called out. It is a shame that people tend to accept cheap productions like Mayochu, making The Beginning After The End and Uzumaki look like masterpieces. All in all, Mayonaka Heart Tune had one of the best sound productions out there. However, unless NBCUEJ brings up a better studio for a sequel, I couldn't recommend you enough to watch it, so please just read the manga. I just do not understand how the Mayonaka Heart Tune anime basically had everything but decent animation staff. I just couldn't defend this show that much and would personally be happier with no adaptation than bad adaptation. If you still want to try it and support these hardworking seiyuus and sound production, just minimize the anime and read the manga with the audio playing. Nevertheless, I am still truly hoping that all the special events run by this anime post broadcasting go successfully. If the anime truly receives a Cour 2, as previously rumored, the in-between animation and background art really need to be improved, because realistically, Gekkou will still be responsible for the anime adaptation.
This romcom was really refreshing, mostly due to MC actually being somewhat different. A note before I go further: I didn't read the manga. And from what I heard this adaptation was not received positively from manga fans. So I will judge it simply from the anime only perspective. Animation and music: quite decent. Animation is industry standard, there were no bad frames or quality drop during the entire runtime of the show. Music was excellent, especially some memorable songs in the last episodes. Overall: animation is good and music is great. No further complains in this area. Characters: Arisu, who most people know and Yamabuki-kun, isreally something. Instead of being shy, reserved and usual trash-tier MC or perfect, all favorite class rep like Chirose Yamabuki is something in between. He is somewhat of an oddball, has intelligence and charisma but the way he acts can come a bot of awkward. But when he sets his mind to something he gives it his best, and in this anime he really shines. Alongside him there are 4 girls which are your typical waifu tropes: Rikka (popular and confident girl), Uzuki (good-natured and caring girl), Iko (shy little sister girl) and Nene (typical tsundere girl). I really like how each of them get their time to shine and get some actual development. And the banter between them and Arisu is pure gold to watch. Overall - Arisu is one interesting MC and the girls are quite enjoyable to watch despite mostly being walking tropes of waifus. Story: It revolves around Arisu trying to find a girl from his childhood - a mysterious voice known only as Apollo. Problem is that all 4 girls here have a similar voice to that one, and because Apollo knows some rather private things that Arisu told during the live broadcast he made it his mission to find it and ask her to keep silent. Along the way however, he got attached to girls and decided until he finds Apollo he will try his best to let them shine as most as they can. it is a simple premise but it works very well. From here there are various situations that Arisu and girls find eachother and it is up to Arisu to give it his best and try to push trough the problems that may find themselves along the way. Suffice it to say, this is above everything else a love story. So interactions between characters are what will make it or break it, and for now it has been working fine. Overall: story has a simple premise and the events that happen along the way help the characters grow slowly but steadily. It is nothing major but it does not need to be in this case as the focus is on the characters themselves and not the story as whole. Overall grade: 10 from me, I really enjoyed it. Realistically, it is somewhere between 7 and 8. People who have read the manga may give it lower grade as their expectations were higher. But as anime only watcher this is where I think the show stands. I will recommend it to any romance and harem lovers, as the MC is really a breath of fresh air and acts very realistically. 2nd season is in the works and I will watch it for sure when it comes out.
As a manga reader, Iām honestly very disappointed with the show overall. The quality was really inconsistent throughout the season. That said, there were still some parts I likedāmostly the screen time for Iko and Nene. The story itself is fun for me, and the animation during those moments was good enough. I especially enjoyed Ikoās storyline, with all the VTuber elementsāit was always entertaining. However, Rikaās storyline was a big letdown. In the manga, sheās my #1 favorite character. The art is beautiful when she sings, even without music, and her confident, teasing personality makes her really fun to read. But in the anime, most ofher screen time just felt bad to meāit was the opposite of eye candy, and it really turned off. When she sings, the art direction focuses too much on background shots, her movements while playing guitar feel stiff, and the animation is inconsistent. All of this made those scenes quite disappointing for me. As for Season 2, if the quality stays the same, it will feel kind of misleadingālike the anime was originally planned as a 24-episode project but split into parts. This seems to be a trend in anime lately, where studios do this to build engagement. But if the quality does improve, then that would be great for us. However, I donāt think they will improve it, since Season 1 didnāt attract many people due to its quality. Most anime that get improvements in Season 2 are already popular, like Hellās Paradise or Mato Slave. From a business perspective, improving a less popular series doesnāt bring much benefit. Would it attract people to go back and watch Season 1? Maybe a few, but probably not many. On the other hand, when a series is already popular, improving Season 2 has clear value then people become more impressed and are more likely to buy merchandise or the manga. Itās not that I donāt want them to improve it. But thinking about it this way, I can understand why they might not see much reason to put extra effort into Season 2.
If you can overlook the animation quality, this series is a definitive must-watch. While critics label the visuals as "horrendous," they aren't nearly that bad, especially since romance stories rarely require top-tier production to succeed. The true strength lies in its exceptional storytelling and a refreshing protagonist who is both unique and genuinely funny. The main characterās personality adds a layer of humor that keeps the experience consistently engaging. Overall, it is an incredibly enjoyable journey that prioritizes heart and character development over flashy graphics. Donāt let the negative comments deter you; the narrative depth makes it well worth your time.