Citrus

The story is weird but standard for a Yuri anime. If you are looking for a new favorite high school anime then don't come to this anime. The animation is fine, the story is predictable but also weird at the same time. There is a lot of blatant sexual assault in the show that is in public and practically unnoticed and a lot of the plot is made under the most unrealistic circumstances in a show. The only thing that stood out for me was that the animators were able to have the main character try to stand out by completely changing her appearance from the other girls but remember that she along with everyone else in this show is very generic. 6/10 needs more cops.

The story is awesome so far, I'm looking forward for the 2nd season. :c

Gosh, this was bad, what a junior scriptwriting work here! Nothing was even a bit belivable, every scene and dialog were unrealistic like hell. (You know those bags of chips with that very strong artifical flavor which you know you should not eat, but you eat the whole bag anyway... I was curious and waiting for it to turn for the better, but it just never happened. I was tricked, indeed.)

Yuzu, our protagonist, was somewhat likeable for her ever-positive-always-cherful, headstrong attitude and she was overflowing with emotions but her actions were crazy and dumb and her mouth was never shut. Still, I somewhat could like her.

Contrary, her stepsister, Mei, had the EQ of a bucket of ice and was as talkative too, - a total introvert, which is not a problem in itself -, and somehow she was the Student Council President with all that attitude. She was so annoying I was thinking about turning the whole show off several times. A total psycho to begin with who needs mental help. (I guess, she was thinking the whole time "please, save me from these idiots".)

Then the story was intended to be about the difficulties (of the scriptwritter), of getting these two into a romantic relationship somehow, even though, they never ever had a proper talk about anything, neither Mei has shown that she is interested in her stepsister a tiniest bit or like her at all. (Nevertheless, things can just change instantly by "magic" in this world, deus ex machina surely exist. And let's just ignore the blatant, completely unexpected sexual assaults. What was that for?? Well, now that I think of it, the only serious connection between these two was physical. Yuck.)

So I just waited for an explanation on Mei's issues and there was some hope for a positive spin in the middle of the series, but then it just went back to total trainwreck. The ending... oh, nevermind the ending... maybe, it was intended to be very dramatic, but it was just comedic in an uncomfortable way. That running scene, give me a break...

The only character acting sane, who I could sympathize with was Harumin, the best friend of Yuzu. She provided the moral support for Yuzu, and to be honest, for me as well, that it's not me, who went crazy and that the world is still a logical place. "Party girl" as she said, with a healthy mind, I enjoyed seeing her on the screen, maybe she should have been the MC ;) I loved that character wholeheartedly.

So you say it's just yuri bait? Even for that it was pretty weak, imho, because they went physical a few times, indeed, but it has never elevated to anything serious. Obviously, since their souls never connected. Maybe, this show could have worked by presenting a hardcore sexual lesbian relationship turning into something beautiful or devastating, because honestly, the Mei girl acted like that; that's all she did, except some emotional mocking. She was pretty dark and gloomy and that's one of the selling points here, I guess. (Wanna see a well crafted, fulfilled romantic arc between maidens in love? Read the Bloom Into You manga.)

So at the end, I think, it's a disgrace for the genre and it does more harm than good, only to fulfil some dudes' childish fantasies about schoolgirls.

Go watch Bloom Into You or Kase-san and Morning Glories and just forget about this unless you are on a mission watching everything yuri.

(I must admit, I laughed a few times during the first few episodes, so as a comedy it worked for a while, but at the end it just became annoying and dull. The art, the music, the English dub were enjoyable, it was the script which sucked for me. Geez, how involved I got... tell me it was made intentionally grotesque. Option b) it was about a sick, emotionally neglected girl and another incompetent one trying to help her. That's worse. Btw. There is a show which does this girl-saves-girl drama way better called NTR: Netsuzou Trap.)

Citrus was a very average anime for me, which means I overall enjoyed it and wouldn't mind watching it again in the future. The show does a good job with the main character, making it easy to follow and root for her. The same cannot be said for her sister; however, as I found her character and motivations to be inconsistent and extremely hard to follow. Its almost like she has two different personas that pop in and out at random times, and it made it difficult for me to get behind her character. The show also throws in quite a bit of story tropes that you would typically find in this genre. Luckily, the strong character moments really help out here and make it so I can give the tropes a pass for the most part. I think you would likely have a good time watching Citrus, but I would also say there's no rush to check it out.

Yuzu Aihara is an easy going girl who finds her dyed blonde hair and dress sense aren't appreciated at her new school; particularly by student council president Mei Aihara. Yuzu has changed schools because her mother has remarried; she gets quite a shock when she learns that Mei is her new step-sister! To make matters worse they have to share a room. Yuzi is further shocked when Mei kisses her; she says it was just to shut her up but soon Yuzi realises she is starting to develop feelings for Mei. As the series progresses it frequently looks as if they will get together as a couple then complications arise.

This series is rather sweet; the lead characters are suitably different which creates some tension and makes one wonder how it will all work out... it isn't until the final episode that we learn if they will become a couple. The way Yuzi is tentative about telling Mei how she feels about her is very believable; she hasn't been in a relationship before and certainly never thought she might be attracted to a girl. The series manages to avoid excessive fan service; it is about their potential budding romance not what they may ultimately get up to. The character designs are good and the animation is impressive. Overall this is a charming example of the genre with enough drama and likeable protagonists; I hope there is a second series.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.