The most helpful thing I can tell viewers about TNFIL is that the first two episodes deflated interest more than peaked it. Beginning with ep3 it gets more and more endearing as the frames roll by. I'd say: Sick with it until the end of ep3. If you don't enjoy it by that point you should consider spending your time elsewhere.
The cherry blossoms are in bloom. Tada is taking photos in the park, but a cute (and rather unusual) foreign girl keeps cutting into his frame. She asks him to take her picture. Her camera battery has drained... then it's something else, next, it's another thing. She talks oddly. She definitely is a square peg in a round world... and her taste in TV is AWFUL. They run into eachother 3 times that first day. Next they run into eachother at school! Wagner Teresa is the new exchange student from Larsenburg. It's a made up country, and if one googs Larsenburg, this show gets the top result. Every student must join a club, so what club will the cute Teresa join? The photography club, where he is, of course. Snap!
Teresa's speech is awkward and inconsistent. Her accent is awful. It's out of place, too. She claims she learned Japanese by watching the TV show Rainbow Samurai. (GR😣AN! Thinks Tada). Her personality is: mTap water. The only thing that makes her interesting is that she's wealthy (and who knows what else? There's hints but no reveal). It isn't because she's on the pure side, though she is. Perhaps they are portraying her in that manner because she's severely sheltered and completely ignorant of what constitutes normal daily life. She is decent, earnest, genuine, and kind. Those happen to be some of my favorite qualities. Her emotionless friend, de Loire Charles, seems more like a bodyguard.
The first day of club is a photography contest. We get to meet the varied characters: Ijuuin Kaoru (is every Kaoru in anime bratty?) Yamashita Kentarou, Sugimoto Hajime, Tada Yui, and Magritte Alexandra and Hasegawa Hinako round out the picture taking high schoolers. The best character, however, is that jive cat. "That's right, baby, ya dig me? Idk why these fools keep calling me Miko; I'm Yanko Big, y'all." (He says Yanko "Beeeeeg," with a strong eee sound). This kitty drags in smiles and delight. Viewers don't get to know this cool cat until ep3, which he narrates. "I've heard that if 2 people can stare into eachother's eyes for 8 seconds, the two will fall in love. (Counting clock commences) Sealed the deal," he croons as he watches diners in the restaurant he presides over. He doesn't /really/ preside over it, he just hangs out there and, in a very cat-like way, fashions himself in charge.
The show has a few one-sided love relationships. At least, it's obvious that there's several couples in which A likes B, but we aren't sure how B feels at all. The only couple we're certain about is Karou and Yanko Big - that cat hates that dude no matter how much Karou tries.
If TNFIL was just a romance, it would fall short, but it's really a feature about friendship and life. The benefit is hanging out with a warm and entertaining group. The focus is more on the friends and not the love story. When the show switches gears from friends hanging to a Tada-Theresa tryst this writer considered it a small downgrade. Both passive and lowkey, neither of these characters has much fire. Perhaps it's a miracle that they found one another.
The art is pretty standard, but quite nice. The opening credits song is catchy and the song covering the closing credits is lilting and soothing. The highlights for the next episode are done in a fun way. The good outweighs the bad, but the frustration, knowing that the show could have been better, cannot be shaken. When sad moments strike towards the end of the show, I found I was not all that emotionally invested in the characters. It is a must-watch for cat lovers, though!
QUOTE📢 (He) ordered curry! Mild curry, at that. Practically baby food.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬65 📝65 🎭 65 💓6 🦋65 🌞75 🎨75 🎵/🔊73 😅5 😭35 😱0 😯25 😖0 🤔30 💤3 🔚 80
My Age Rec - 13+ Plenty of talk about breasts, taking nude pics... they show is playful but not sleazy. These are HS guys that love women. But Tada Never Falls In Love... Rated TV-14
Re-📺? This one's in the good-to-pass-the-time category, but I may never pass this way again....
