Nisekoi

Updated: 13, July 2016


I regret initially writing off Nisekoi as another run-of-the-mill romance-comedy. Though preposterous and frantic at its core, Shaft knew exactly how to exploit the source material using trademark visual and directional cues. The results boast of vivid color and heavenly charm, most evidently in the heat of moments between Raku and Chitoge. Venture beyond the surface of dense personalities and logical fallacies, and what remains to be seen underneath is a love-hate spectacular in its purest state.

Treading back on my mention of density and fallacies, both detriments were loud and clear for much of the run. Ramifications dimmed the lights on ... what could have been a blockbuster showcase between premier rivals. Whenever Chitoge or Kosaki would garner momentum to close in on Raku, the most timely of occurrences or character appearances would quickly separate the participants as a boxing referee would. The supporting members were irrelevant outside of interfering with Raku, Chitoge, or Kosaki, or distracting the audience by means of cheesy punchlines, retorts, and archetypal behaviors.

Divisive components meshed together to form a predictable, cyclic scheme sapping this series of its true potential. Developments were overly reliant on genre stereotypes and misunderstandings. It really is a shame, considering how intimate conversations involving Raku and the main heroines were meaningful, sensible, and even nostalgic in my case. These are all moments that mark a fine reminder to what falling in love should be about.


SPOILERS onward (based on final impressions).


The lock-and-key mystery should have been resolved with more urgency or geared with fascinating implications in the long run. Snapping the key after all that commotion was downright cruel, a wasteful hype charade with little substance or significance. And why keep the clingy and shallow Marika in the dark for so long? Her facile presence lacked sincerity, while her grounds of adhering to events well in the past were baseless.

Although the cake itself was unsatisfactory, the finale brought its own complimentary spread of flavorful toppings. Tragic for all the wrong reasons, this unconventional spin on a legendary epic fell right into the series’ wheelhouse of comic relief and execution on-the-fly. How sweet it was to watch Raku and Kosaki give the script a second go! The invigorating inclusion really sent this spectacle out with a bang, one that could very well pay dividends in the future.

Bear w/ me now, I never read the manga, and most likely won't continue on to the 2nd season once it airs. POSSIBLE SPOILERS.

Story: 5/10
The story was your typical bland harem rom-com anime. There was obviously something enticing about it, though, because I watched it through to the end. I wasn't a big fan of the tsundere female lead, however I am a bit biased, because I view tsundere caricatures as filler characters that are very cliché. Why? Because like in this anime, the tsundere often doesn't undergo real character development. It's often never gradual and happens rather predictably. "Oh, I'm in love w/ so-and-so ... now." What? You just suddenly decided this, after many years of self-denial and abusive behavior? And these characters expect to be treated like they were never cruel in the first place.
Secondly, I'm just not a harem fan. Again, there's bias...but I don't like how supposedly average or unnoticed guys in school life anime suddenly have all these new girls introduced, often transfer students, that fawn over him for literally no reason. I get that these characters exist so the audience can sort of "step in their shoes," but I'd much rather have a fleshed out protagonist.

Art: 6/10
Cute, nice, colorful...nothing too special.

Character: 4/10
I basically highlighted everything under Story...all the character designs have been done before. Nothing new here, not even the family dynamics (check Ranma 1/2).

Enjoyment: 6/10
Despite all that, I found it entertaining. During times of great distress or simply just boredom, it's nice to kick back and watch a mindless anime. This is one of those.

Overall: 6/10

Hello, this is my first review. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Nisekoi is an anime of the "rom-com" genre, most notably associated with anime like Toradora. These anime mix aspects of romance, situational comedy, and slice of life story elements (financial or family problems). I am grading based on the strength of these components within Nisekoi.

Although I enjoyed Nisekoi, it was a series that left me feeling rather disappointed as a whole.

Character: 7

Onodera and Chitoge's relationships with Ichijo are both interesting and funny to watch. As Ichijo discovers more about his past, the feelings he has towards people change. He becomes slightly more sympathetic (even for a ... typical romcom main character who is stereotypically nice) as the show goes on. He stops worrying about doing things and actually takes some action to spend time with the girls he is interested in. The results, however, are to be discussed with the story section of the review.

Every animation or facial reaction is highly stylized, almost to meme or moe levels of deformation. I do not mean this as a bad thing, the quick wit of the humor (when it introduces itself) is not only welcoming but genuinely funny. The characters make these situations fun to watch because of their well-developed dynamics. These dynamics change over time, especially in the case of Onodera.

Story: 4

The two main story lines revolve around Ichijo, and are dynamic and interesting. I would not call them character arcs, because the focus is constantly switching between the two.

However, the pacing of the show leaves much to be desired. The argument here is that any adaptation of a manga usually must remain loyal to the vision of the mangaka. This is especially highlighted in the first episode which is divided into shorts.

As the storylines develop, they begin to decelerate at an alarming rate.
The writing relies too much upon the internal monologues of every character. This means that a single event may take, in screen time, a full two minutes to fully expose every major character's reaction. This leaves the show feeling rather disjointed and redundant. The fact that most of these internal dialogues repeat subject matter or decisions left me shockingly bored at some parts. Knowing so much about the thoughts of each character causes the viewer to see the romance as an omniscient third person, instead of through the eyes of Ichijo. This ultimately detracted from my personal interest in the story.

As a forewarning, some of the circumstances around the plot twists within this series will make you want to tear your hair out. At least I wanted to.

Art: 8
If you have seen any anime produced by SHAFT, you can immediately recognize the style of Nisekoi. Certain scenes are of "mixed media", meaning that something like a blue border of frills may appear in the school setting, as if someone placed one in front of the animated characters. Particularly dramatic moments are treated to some gorgeous views of the sky or the city. The "design" or look of every character is consistently well-executed.

I wish I had more to say about my favorite part of this anime. Scenes like the gangster/yakuza buildings are like castles from a story book (or popular Shakespearean tragedy? hoho). The aforementioned reaction faces and character dynamics would not be possible if not for the fluid and spot-on animations done hundreds of times each episode.

Sound: 7
The voice acting is some of the best I have heard. The dialogue is so natural that one can imagine the voice actors for Ruri and Onodera in the booth together just having normal girl talk. The OP and ED are both catchy but a little too saccharine for my tastes. Background noises and sound effects are delivered at a consistent "frame" of each animation, helping make the animated world a little more realistic and consistent.

Enjoyment: 6
My biggest complaint is that the story distracted me from enjoying the characters and humor as they were. The monologues constantly bring up the story defining "who likes who?" question and force the characters to behave at a molasses pace.

Overall: 6
Several personal complaints I have about the show (like the beach episode and the rather pervy drawings shown at the end of each episode) keep me from personally recommending Nisekoi to my friends. From an objective view, Nisekoi is a solid example of the "rom-com" anime genre.
Is Nisekoi fun to watch and well-made? Yes.
Will I cherish the memory of watching this show like a childhood promise? No.

Adaptations are flawed by default. No adaptation will ever captivate the same way as its source material. With that said, they are not superior or inferior from the get-go, one clear example being the anime I'll be reviewing today. Ever wondered what would happen if you give a competent staff a bad source material? Well... Nisekoi happens.

This anime is, at its core, a lazy and generic romcom. The premise is a huge excuse to have a bunch of cute girls show up and form a harem. Whoever, despite being so generic, Shaft did an amazing job at this show's art direction and presentation. Needless ... to say it's the main reason why my grade is this high.

The story is weak to say the least, though that's expected from a show like Nisekoi. It's semi-episodic (with short stories taking no more than 3 episodes) starting with a simple excuse for the characters to meet, some kind of misunderstanding or conflict, rounded up by a romantic scene. It needed no more than that, but not much innovation either, very run-of-the-mill.

The characters are a mixed bag. Their designs are interesting and unique and some of them do get development over time. With that said, they are still very simple and stereotypical characters personality-wise. There’s the bland main character for teenagers like me to identify with him, the tsundere, the kind and cute girl, the perverted friend and the energetic girl. Not a single character is in fact original, which is a huge letdown.

The best part about the anime is its artistic approach to direction. Every shot is different, with its unique backgrounds, fluid animation and head turns, classic Shaft signature. It isn’t as absurd as Madoka or Monogatari, but that is a good thing in my opinion. Being a romantic comedy, I don’t think there is any space for that kind of absurd directing. The sound is OK, doesn’t really stand out all that much, though voice acting is on point, Kana Hanazawa’s voice always stands out.

Overall, Nisekoi has little going for it, but its great execution makes up for its flaws and was quite enjoyable thinking back. I recommend it to those who are fans of the genre, or feel like watching just for the waifu material. Either way, watch it purely for the entertainment, it’s not that great.

I chose to give Nisekoi a score a score of 6 because it fits my perception of the show: Fair.

I thought Nisekoi was simply okay. Every episode had its funny parts that made me smile or giggle audibly, but I felt it was just sorely lacking in in the overall story line and characters.

To preface: I do not have a problem straying from reality and adding fantasy and mystery to shows. Some of my favorite animes are Shinsekai Yori and Madoka. I do however get frustrated when the characters and their motivations are unrealistic, and this is the main reason that kept me ... from enjoying this how to its full extent.

The major plot point is a locket that symbolizes a promise Raku made to a girl when he was 5 or 6 years old. 5 or 6 years old. The fact that he thinks this promise holds any weight in his future love finding endeavors is just silly and entirely unrealistic. No one in their right mind would hold that to any real significance. The other members of the promise had the same issue for me.

Chitoge was an extremely tropic tsundere. She was nothing original and if you have seen any typical rom-com tsundere, you already have a full character bio on Chitoge and her attitude towards Raku. Not to mention the fact that another one dimensional tsundere is added a third the way into the series that adds little more to the situation.

Onedara had a bit more of a role to play as the folly to the fake relationship between Chitoge and Raku, but an opportunity was missed. She had the most potential to be a well developed character and strengthen the plot, but she ended up being very static and one dimensional.

The supporting cast was hit or miss. Shuu was a thoroughly creepy fellow that I felt was overdone, and often tipped the scale of playful versus sexual harassment in favor of sexual harassment. Ruri on the other had... Ruri is great. Easily the most enjoyable character in the story by a long shot. Every scene she is in is hilarious and her antics always left me laughing out loud.

I felt that this show was simply average and is over hyped. The characters, and dodgy character motivations and plot put a damper on an otherwise hilarious show with a lot of potential. If you want a show that you can enjoy for a laugh, but not get too invested in the characters, watch away. Otherwise, I recommend you skip it.

[Adapted From Original Blog Post]

Can we, just the two of us, have a little heart to heart? Come now. Let's sit down at the table, look each other in the eye, and speak without veiling what we both truly mean. Okay, I'll go first. I don't want you to hate me. Please don't. My self-esteem is low as it is, and I don't think I can handle having my own readers turn on me, so, please, hear me out.

What I need to say is this. Nisekoi is not a good anime. It's predictable. It's aimless. It is, by merely existing, ... the epitome of every single cliche school-life harem romance that the anime industry has been saddled with more for as long as I can remember. There's no innovation. It has no ambition to be, pretend, or fool the audience into thinking, it is anything more than self-regurgitated slop that it will be forced down our gullible throats, because it knows that it doesn't need to try to be more than that, as Nisekoi knows that its audience will come and make it popular no matter how bad it is. Now let me say a second thing. I love this anime.

Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, and it's time to get out the flame-shields, waifu banners and shipping containers, because today, it is one of my guiltiest of guilty pleasures: Nisekoi. Now then, let's get started.

Before we start the debate of who "best girl" is, let's talk technical shall we? Nisekoi was animated by renown studio Shaft, who are famous for their work on the Monogatari franchise, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei(which basically instantly puts them into the top tier of my favorite animation studios). The anime was directed by Akuyuki Shimbo, directer of the Monogatari franchise, Puella Magi Madoka, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei... huh. Okay, just to save time, let's just say this man has basically directed everything Shaft have animated in the last 10 years. Finally, it aired from January 10th to May 23rd of 2014, a span which gave it a total of 20 episodes. Now, the plot. Or whatever you should call it.

Story

Welcome to "Bland Generic Japanese Highschool That Is Located In A Suburban Town That Remains Nameless No. 8593#". Here, we meet "Generic Highschool-Age Harem Protagonist Who Lacks All Semblance of Personality But Still Somehow Attracts A Group of Waifu-Material Love-Interests Who Follow Him Around Like a Lost Puppy No. X#", in this case, who goes by the name of Raku Ichijou. "But wait!" yells Nisekoi, "we have something new... look! The plot of Love Hina!" Yes, as it would turn out, Raku has a couple of secrets. The first one is that he just happens to be the son of the leader of the Yakuza, which somehow doesn't interfere with his everyday life at all, and the second one concerns the key-hole shaped pendant that hangs around his neck. See, 10 years ago when he was still a child, Raku made a promise with a girl he met one faithful summer. They exchanged the locket and a key, and swore to each-other when they met again, the girl would unlock the pendant hanging around Raku's chest, and they would get married. Aw... how romantic. But unfortunately for this romance, Raku appears to have forgotten to ask the girl a few essential questions, like what her name is, or where she lives, or anything that may have been helpful in ever finding her again.

So, as Raku lives out his adolescence searching for his long-lost childhood sweet-heart, he has yet another faithful encounter with a girl, and by encounter I mean collision, as in her hurry to get to school on time, the girl: Chitoge Kirisaki slams directly into Raku. Needless to say, this starts their relationship on rocky footing, and it doesn't help when later that day, Chitoge is introduced to Raku's class as their new transfer student from America, and the following interaction fans the flames of conflict between the two even more. So, you can imagine Raku's reaction when his father informs him that Chitoge is actually the daughter of an enemy mafia faction. But since neither Chitoge or Raku's fathers really want to fight(and since they are apparently incapable of just, I don't know, calling their respective forces off from the turf war), they come up with, what I assume, is the next best possible way to quell the tension between their two sides. See, neither side will want to fight each-other... if the son and daughter of their leaders are boyfriend and girlfriend. You probably can see where this is going. Even though they only need to act like they are romantically involved, Raku and Chitoge are still at odds with one another, a situation not helped by the fact that Raku already has someone he likes: the shy and beautiful Kosaki Onodera, who unbeknownst to him, returns his feelings enthusiastically, but doesn't know that Raku's and Chitoge's relationship is a mere act. And, simply put, highschool high-jinks ensues.

If you think I've sounded a little sarcastic during those last two paragraphs, congratulations, your sarcasm-detector is working just fine. This is my way of acknowledging that I know perfectly well how dumb this all is, how cliche and fulls of holes the plot is, and how superficial the whole anime is, so... why do I not care? Well, if I had to express it... I'd say Nisekoi is perfect. Okay, let me start over. I am not saying that Nisekoi is a perfect 10/10 masterpiece that deserves unrivaled recognition from the community and trumps such petty competition like The Tatami Galaxy, Kara no Kyoukai or Welcome to the NHK. No, I'm definitely not saying that. But what I am saying is that, as a romantic comedy meant to be easily digested and enjoyed, Nisekoi does its job and does it... kind of perfectly.

Probably the biggest piece of why lies in the comedy, namely, Nisekoi is freakin' hilarious. It's a perfect mixture of comedic timing, character interaction(which particularly shines between Raku and Chitoge), and self-aware ridiculousness, which all culminates in a final episode where the class holds a Romeo and Juliet play: an episode where I'm pretty sure I never stopped laughing once. And needless to say, you don't really have time to think about how stupid it all is if you're too busy laughing. Things happen in the series that are borderline fantasy, like when a cross-dressing assassin/bodyguard transfers into the class, or how seemingly every single girl Raku meets seems to have a mysterious key and vague memories of a childhood promise, but all anybody seems to know for sure is that they were all on top of a hill together and someone made a promise to someone at some point but we're not quite sure.

And for those of you seeking cute romance with no actual emotional connection involved, Nisekoi has you covered as well. To start, all the girls look like walking marshmallows with arms and legs, so f*cking "kawaii" that you just want to squeeze them till they concede to being your waifu. See, Nisekoi has more than an adept grasp on how the keep the shipping wars going. It throws in a couple adorable girls, gives them all one episode of development with the main character, an archetype of a personality, then gives all of them a few moments of absolute adorableness that make you just love them anyway despite how bland most of them are. Oh, is Chitoge a tsundere so run-of-mill it borders on aggravating? Just give her a moment where she apologizes for her actions in English which is so goddamn cute that it makes you want to keel over and die from moe-overload. Does Onodera have the personality of a chair with moe eyes on it that can't express other traits besides from shyness and a crush on the main character? Have Kana Hanazawa make the cutest squeaks ever from behind her micro-phone when she's embarrassed and watch the legion of fans defend her honor from the "evil team Chitoge". Then rinse and repeat this process until you have a perpetual "best girl war" that threatens to tear apart the fan-base, and simply watch the dreams be crushed underneath you as you sit upon your huge pile of money. And it works. Amazingly so.

What you need to give Nisekoi credit for is that it wholeheartedly understands this concept, and also realizes that this anime will only work if it is kept in this limbo, and if anything as audacious as "plot-development" should become unavoidable, it's Nisekoi's solemn duty to prevent it at any cost. Is one of the harem members confessing? Have a baseball fly through the window to cut her off half-way. Is she trying again? Oh no, the main character fell asleep and missed it completely. Are we finally about to find out if one of the girl's key's fits Raku's locket? Oh how unfortunate, she got nervous and twisted it too hard, breaking it in the lock. Somehow.

It's times like that when Nisekoi does begin to try my patience. Usually, I'm enjoying it too much to mind the stupidity, but when things like that happen it's a harsh wake-up call for me, reminding me to once again put on my pretentious analytical glasses and stop having fun. But the series is so completely in love with itself, and so innocently fun, that I can't help but forgive it every time. Of course, this means that the anime will probably run out of novelty(for lack of a better word) soon, as the plot annoyances begin to overshadow the mindless fun, and, as it turns out, that's exactly what happened in the second season, but as for these first 20 episodes, viewing season 1 on its own, Nisekoi pulls it off, I think. 20 episodes, that unless you have the sense of humor of a rock, you should find more than entertaining enough.

Characters

I consider myself above the petty squabble of the "Best Girl Wars", because who is best girl and who is not matters not to the analytical lens of which I peer through to evaluate an anime on unbiased merits. Therefore, I shall not let any sort of embers from the flames of conflict throw off my completely objective summary of these characters, I shall trade no insults, and will take no cheap shots(because Chitoge is obviously girl and anyone is disagrees is clearly wrong). Seriously though, let's talk about characters.

If you've met the protagonist of nearly any harem anime ever made, you've probably already met our main character Raku Ichijou. He is the clueless nice guy that can, at random intervals do something epic for the sake of the plot, and that's all he really gives off as he wanders the school with a parade of attractive girls behind him. For whatever reason, I find I don't mind his lack of personality as much as I do with other main character's of this nature, and I think I can owe that to the comedy for mostly making his interactions with the other characters greatly enjoyable, especially with his friend Shu, or as I like to call him: The Best Wing-man in The World and MVP for the anime in general.

Chitoge Kirisaki is the main love interest, a blond and beautiful American transfer student that ebbs "tsundere" from every action she takes and word she says. And as tiring as that can get sometimes, her rare moments of clarity as a character surprisingly do a lot in the long run, and it also helps that she somewhat "drops the act" by the end of it. The only times the anime gets even remotely close to something tangible involves Chitoge, and that's enough to earn the "best girl" medal in my heart.

But of course, a harem would not be worth anything without a secondary love interest, so here we have Kosaki Onodera, the shy and eloquent girl who Raku has been crushing after ever since middle-school. While I don't mind her at all, she pretty much epitomizes the most frustrating element of Nisekoi: the aimless plot. The story literally could have ended at any point if Onodera got over her shyness and told Raku she liked him back, but since she doesn't have any sort of development in that that sense unlike Chitoge, that somewhat cute shyness is all she really has going for her. It helps that she has a no nonsense friend named Ruri who is basically there to call her and Raku out on just how tiring their current relationship is and one of them should just confess already, but unfortunately Nisekoi, just because you're aware of how stupid it is that this premise can be stretched for 20 episodes without any real progress being made, that doesn't make it any less stupid.

Presentation & Sound

I know a lot of people have a love-hate relationship with the eccentric art-style of studio Shaft's anime, but ever since I first saw it in Bakemonogatari, I will admit I fell completely in love with it, and Nisekoi has everything you'd expect from them: great backgrounds, cool aesthetic and character design, and a schizophrenic camera that can't seem to stop panning upwards or cutting around to eyes rapidly. So yeah, I personally think Nisekoi is top-notch in the animation department. The one complaint I will accept about it though, is that Shaft's quirks don't exactly gel very well with what is essentially just a romcom; this is no Monogatari or Zetsubou Sensei after all. If you're not well acquainted with Shaft's works in the past, the first episode of Nisekoi may take some getting used to, what with the unique cinematography and animation techniques. But... I do think an average viewer will get used to it relatively quickly; it by no means ruins the experience and becomes basically the norm a few episodes in. If you're worried about it, don't be, it's really nothing to be fussed about.

The OST for Nisekoi was handled in majority by Tomoki Kikuya, who has done previous Shaft soundtracks like Hidamari Sketch. To be honest, I don't think I ever really registered the background music of the anime, and copyright troubles have made finding the soundtrack in its entirety quite hard to do, but from what I scavenged and what I remember, it's not great. Far from bad of course, there's quite a variety of instruments and tones being expressed by Kikuya's music, but nothing is really worth listening to on its own. Which I suppose is expected for a harem anime, but what with Shaft's impressive OST collection, it does seem a little underwhelming. But there is a silver lining. I never really was found of either ED, but both OP's: "Click" and "step" are absolutely joys to listen to: 90 second jingles that worm into your ears and have you singing along after you've sat through them a number of times, and that shouldn't take long if you marathon this anime like I did.

Verdict

I realize there's no particularly substantial reason for me to put Nisekoi on this pedestal that no other anime of its genre will likely ever reach. Nisekoi is not special. There was anime similiar to it before and there will be anime similiar to it in the future, that did or could do what Nisekoi tried and better. So why do I love it so, and why will I be giving it such an, arguably undeservedly high score at the end of this review? How to put it... If I had to explain my feelings towards this show, it's the show I decided to fall in love with, despite its problems and despite its convention. It somehow managed to force its way into my heart despite so many shows similiar to it not being able to. And yes. I know that's naïve, and I know that's shallow. I know I'm just being fooled by the anime's enduring personality and pretty colors that hides the truth behind Nisekoi: that an entry in the ever vast anime medium, it's a show that truly has no new ideas to offer. But for once, just in the case of this anime, I find that I'm perfectly happy to be fooled.

Final Verdict: 6.5/10

P.S: Ruru x Shu is OTP


For this review and others, feel free to check out my blog! (Link on profile)

I never thought I’d see a Shaft adaptation of a romantic comedy, but they have gone and done one. If you’re not familiar with Shaft and their trademark style, found in shows like Madoka Magica, Hidamari Sketch, and the Monogatari series, I’d call Nisekoi a relatively gentle introduction to their absurdist, post-modern style. However, as for the story itself, which originated in the manga by Komi Naoshi (which for the record, I am not familiar with), I’d say Nisekoi is an occasionally entertaining harem-y romcom, but about average at best. Let’s break it down.

The Good

The first thing that jumps out at me in most Shaft-produced ... animation is the visuals, and Nisekoi doesn’t fail to deliver. Shaft’s trademark exaggerated camera angles, surreal background art, higher-than-average detail and frame-change rate, and of course, head tilt are all present and as fun to watch as ever. The visual style is more realistic than the ultra-sparse and very surreal Monogatari series, or the artsy mixed-media presentation of Madoka, but contains elements of both the realism and the absurdism.

I also really liked the voice acting in this show. Chitoge and Onodera (above, left to right) were both excellent. Chitoge’s VA, Touyama Nao, has a couple of starring roles in romcom type shows (Oregairu and Hataraku Maou-sama, for instance), and I appreciated how she well she handled Chitoge’s wide-ranging emotional registers in this show. Onodera’s VA, Hanazawa Kana, is practically ubiquitous but is perfect as usual in the role of the more easily-embarrassed shy girl. I also liked Raku’s VA, Uchiyama Kouki. He did a fine job with the very hammy role, playing very nicely off Chitoge’s temper and Onodera’s palpable kawaii-ness.

The Bad

If you’ve been anywhere around my blog before, you’ll know I don’t like harem-y shows very much. The whole point of harem is stagnation of the romantic status quo, or possibly just exploitation of an increasingly complicated love polygon, but regardless, the point stands. Harems don’t end up anywhere, and Nisekoi, similarly, ends up going nowhere. The final episode is about as frustratingly awkward as the first one, with the main exception of Chitoge having admitted her feelings for Raku to herself. (She’s literally the only one left at that point so…yay, progress?)

This isn’t even to mention the other two (frankly extremely annoying) girls who show up and end up with crushes on Raku. I guess they’re pretty inconsequential, since Raku dates Chitoge for the whole show and harbors a crush on Onodera from the first scene to the last, and mostly just brushes the other two off. The fact that the finale of the show has two otherwise very “romantic” scenes between each of the two female leads and Raku just cements the fact that this is really a romantic comedy with a love triangle at its center…and a harem ending as its finale.

The Ugly

The characters really pissed me off a lot of the time. Especially the supporting cast and that obnoxious Tachibana girl, who basically latches onto Raku midway through the show like a crusty barnacle. It doesn’t help that she has the most obnoxious speech patterns in the show (a self-styled ojou-sama register full of “watakushi”s and “desu wa no”s) and, well, she hits on Raku harder than a jackhammer. And that servant girl and Raku’s guy friend at school were pretty annoying, too. Onodera’s friend Ruri was okay because she was quiet and rather hilarious, but otherwise inoffensive.

At least the main characters were mostly bearable. Raku and Onodera’s mutually unadmitted (to each other, I mean) crush is the heart of the show, and Chitoge’s “fake” relationship with Raku provides the slapstick and the laughs (and the ship fuel). In short, if they hadn’t added the needless supporting “harem” characters, and if the show had provided some kind of closure to Raku’s struggles in romance, this could have been a much stronger show. Oh, and maybe if the last episode hadn’t been such a disaster.

The Verdict

A mixed bag for a cast with fun leads and some really obnoxious side characters. A silly love story that goes nowhere, and a terrible final episode that just brought the whole story (and the school, from the looks of it) down in shambles with its harem-ish and completely unresolved ending. Brilliant and hilarious Shaft animation, quality voice acting and fun theme music, and some touching romantic moments for the main triangle. All in all, I kind of enjoyed Nisekoi, but I wish it had been a lot better.

Well then, the 20 episode anime has just ended, so, time to make a review and I'm just gonna make is simple and direct;

Story: Good 7.

Ok, so the plot about two warring crime families who have decide to end their conflict by having the gang boss's child to marry another gang boss's child, such plot have some similarities with Romeo and Juliet, but in this case it's Romeo hates Juliet, but have no choice and just play along. Thought it may be another one of those harem themed animes, such twist however does deliver such uniqueness, to this anime's story plot.

Art: Poor 3.

Ok, Chitoge is ... the only one who wore knee high socks, I guess it's a give that every anime should have a character who must wear such garment, but it was kinda unfair to only limit it to her, also there is Tsugumi where I would never understand why she has to be in a school boy's uniform combine with a hair ribbon that make her look like a straight guy who is trying hard to be gay, what even worse was that she sport a different guy's school uniform where if I were this anime/manga's illustrator I would have her wore a gakuran, then again I might have her wore a girl's school uniform since she looks hot in it. About Tachibana, I also a bit disappointing as to why she has to be in her former school's school uniform that makes her look like a granny and frankly she would have look cute wearing the same school uniform that Onodera wore. There is that long yellow tie thingy in front of the girls school uniform where I can's say if it's a noose to hang themselves with or some kind of useless, dorky and embarrassing accessory that them girls have to wear, now c'mon why couldn't this anime/manga's illustrator just limit it to a certain length? Then again, just leave it to them Jap's to come up with some dorky school accessory for an anime/manga school girl's uniform.


Sound: Very Good 8.

I just love the two opening songs of this anime where I can't wait to download it as soon as it hits "Gendou.Com." Oh yeah, it's already in "Gendou.Com."


Character: Fair 6.

I think it would be better to explain each of the cast as to why I give it a 6.

Raku- basically your typical harem boy, but unlike any harem boy, this guy has someone in his sights and yes it's Onodera. However, he is also a dichotomy where he plans to keep his promise to a girl who has the key to the pendant he's been holding for 10 years. The problem, was that he is in a situation where there are 3 key holders to the pendant he's holding. What irks me about him was that there is a clear indication that whoever has the key to his pendant he will still go for Onodera. Frankly, I would have given this part an 8, but since this charater may be funny at one point, I also find him annoying.

Chitoge- a typical tsundere girl......she and Raku may have had some sweet moments with each other but I kinda love to hate her. Oh and her hair ribbon kinda make her look like a she devil, in fact "Gorilla" isn't a good moniker for her, in fact Raku should have referred to her as "Yokai onna" or "devil girl."

Onodera- what I like about her, was that she really has that girl friend material for Raku and I'm glad that there is the end arc where she gets to be with him. But it ain't enough to give this part an 8.

Marika- ok, she is actually my 2nd choice if ever that Raku X Onodera arc doesn't come forth, to me I personally believe that she is the actual holder of the key that will open Raku's pendant, however, I can't seem to fathom that Raku was a bit reluctant to be near her....where I'm thinking that he maybe a masochist where he has gotten hooked with Chitoge's physical abuse. Frankly, I kinda pity her.

Seishirou- ok so she is this tough girl, but more like a girl who is trigger happy, she may look cute.......if she were to be in a girl's school uniform, but, too bad that her role is just limited to such extent, and I don't know what else to make of her.


Enjoyment: Very Good.

The romantic comedy was very good, and very enjoyable. There were of course the sweet moments where the guy get's to spend with each girl, that I find sweet and just just sweet, but very sweet indeed.

Overall: Fair 6.

It maybe enjoyable to watch, but let's not forget that this anime has failed to show us audience as to what is inside Raku's pendant, which unfortunately leaves this anime to have a crucial open ending, and I'm not impress that such open ending has left us audience's curiosity be hanged.

"So much UGH with this"

Usual complaints about the harem genre are understandable. Add a dozen other genres, add one guy with no personality, add a bunch of sexy girls, and make a love triangle with the two top gals duking it out (With a clear winner on some occasions). Sometimes this formula becomes ether fun, or a little frustrating. Nisekoi is nether....... Nisekoi is actually BEYOND frustration. It dives too much into torture territory. And here's why.......

It all starts beautifully enough. Vivid colors, and crisp animation. The characters have really funny facial expressions during some episodes. Everybody is having fun. Everything is lollipops, ... and gumdrops. And then....the nightmare begins. It goes crashing head first into some filler, then into more filler, and then finally half asses everything right into a cliffhanger. The plot gets tossed away immediately in this show (During the middle), and it does not coming back. Usually a show would have filler, however a show would go back to its original story after going through the evolution (Or dozens of panty shots) of its characters. Not Nisekoi though. It literally tosses the point right out the window. That is the huge problem that just will not leave. And it is the reason over how Nisekoi is frustrating.

And it keeps adding more girls, and romance pointlessly. One episode it is a love triangle, then another it is a love square. Then eventually it turns into a love pentagon, and then yes..... they will add another girl during season two! So it will be a freaking love hexagon! Even the added unique quirks get forgotten. The show explains that the families of the two main characters are actually mobsters. And yet that added seasoning to make this a unique anime gets barely used, and then tossed away later on. What is the point of even explaining who their families are? They are only around for one purpose ("These two better get married, or throats will get slashed!"). And where are the drug deals? And the hookers?....... A mob life can't be about sipping tea, and fapping to hentai at home while the kids are away at school.

More annoyances appear in Nisekoi. The characters give out model-esc poses/looks. They always wonder "why" for no reason. "Why am I in love?", "Why did she say that?", "Why did this person breathe?!?!", etc. And the *big* praised treasure trove of funny facial expressions eventually runs out, and the show sticks with the same spit takes (And the same animation of heads of the characters being bouncing around in bubble form with a single color background) as the main source for comedy. There are tiny fragments of ecchi elements. And sadly those fragments are not memorable at all.

With the ax being put away after grinding, and before the metaphorical chopping off of the head. There are a few good things about Nisekoi that have to be praised. The girls are charming, and they each have their own personality. This show is fantastic through out the beginning. And music in this show is always ever changing, but really sweet to hear. Comedy during the finale is fantastic. The final moments do not exactly make it worth while, there is a cliffhanger as mentioned once before in this review, however it at least ends with a pretty funny big bang.

On a personal note: This show is a complete massive waste of time. If you want to watch this show. Then ether watch the first 8-10 episodes, skip everything between 10-19, then watch the last one, and call it a day. Or wait a few dozen years when this show ends, and then marathon everything in a week. Or watch this show, and don't follow the plot at all during the whole twenty episodes. Or read the entire manga series instead, because from what I hear you can actually get a chance to know how it will all end. Sorry for being complicated, Im just giving out good game plans here. I was disappointed with the mafia aspect not being used. That was the main reason why I bothered to tune in. It would have been fun seeing that aspect being used more, since it could have been a far more interesting story. There are OVA's you say? Well, then.....those are a bunch of middle fingers in the a**hole as well. I would have given this show a higher score. I just could not, because it is not the type of show that is re-watchable. The animation, the comedy, the designs, and the music. They are all good. It is just that if there was some follow through with the plot. Then I would have at least bumped it up 2 points. I mean even really terrible nonsensical anime shows would try to go back to its main purpose, and finish. Nisekoi just loves dangling treats in front of your face, until you accidentally trip, and slam into a wall. I might give the manga a shot one day. As for this show, I rather forget about it. Believe me. There are fun times to be had here, but if you are going to assume that it's all about the story. You will be frustrated. And if you have your theories ready to be answered, then get ready to toss everything away in the trash.

Otherwise, it won't be a fun time.

Ohhh boy. Nisekoi, more like Clichekoi.

If you came here from the manga, unless you're a generic tsundere sailor don't bother with this anime. Really. The last what 3/4 episodes gave me cancer. And I'm on SS Marika and SS Kosaki.

Let me rant a bit before I go into the review proper, because I need to get this out the way. In all honesty the manga was way better. I wouldn't recommend this unless you have a ton of time and a ton of patience.

Story: 5/10
The story is unoriginal (obviously) but with the characters having way out-of-this-world backgrounds. Which makes it interesting, for like 5 chapters, ... then you realise it doesn't make that much a difference. Since the anime follows the manga closely in terms of plot you don't actually get any plot progression besides a larger harem because that's essentially what happens in the duration of the first season: more grils with different character tropes to suit pretty much every type of girl you could be into (except lolis). Nisekoi or plot, choose one.

Art: 5/10
The animation/artwork is very SHAFT-ish, which means its 80% fine, with 20% being seemingly awkward looking characters, and a ton of head tilts. I didn't like how the lock was 3D (felt like it to me at least) but everything else wasn't and it distracted me a lot.

Sound: 7/10
Eeeeeeh sound was normal I guess. Kosaki's and Marika's VAs were HNNNGGGGG.

Character: 6/10
Oh damn. I'm trying to not be as much as an anti ship girl as possible but holy crap Chitoge properly made me cringe. Her character was half the time okay and the other half annoyed me. I almost couldn't stand watching episodes with her, but I pushed through. And I regret all the time I wasted. Kosaki on the other hand is the queen of cockblocks. Very very very cute and adorable character but literally she doesn't get anything done plot wise. BUT HER SMILE DOEEE SO INNOCENT AND PURE. Tsugumi felt like a less annoying tsundere. And finally Marika. Single handedly carrying the plot progression. Ruri and Shuu were great supporting characters though.

Enjoyment: 6/10
I didn't really like this anime.

TL;DR:
Read the manga, watch the OVAs if you wanna hear your favorite girl with sound

Well if your here your probably looking for a harem or romantic anime with some sort of interesting twist.
I'll get straight to the point with this one, the anime is interesting, there are some cool aspects about the storyline, but really
they went a little light on the "harem" and "romance" qualities. It does get better later in the season but if your just looking for something focused on those aspects I don't think this one is for you. BUT if your just looking for something with a dash of harem/romance then this is overall a solid anime with an interesting story and solid animation ... Imo. The plot is decent though pretty generic, character development is there though nothing special - it was an entertaining anime altogether.


Though let me warn you: the ending isn't animated. You will have to read the manga or just search up how the story ends after watching both seasons. That fact alone made me subtract a point.

Nisekoi is a trope-filled, cliche, completely unoriginal romance anime wrapped in Shaft's signature style. However, despite it's complete and utter unoriginality (which I can not stress enough), it is still an enjoyable watch. But let me break it down:

~~STORY~~
Minor spoilers? I guess? You can't really spoil Nisekoi, since if you have watched a single high-school romance anime you'll instinctively know most of the story. Childhood promises of marriage where no one remembers who, no one ever successfully confessing to the other, hot-spring episode, beach episode, a whole lot of misunderstandings. Is there a festival? Of course! Is there a test of courage? You bet! The ... premise is fine... probably the only original-ish thing in the whole series - but its more of a background reminder as to why the main pairing are forced to be together at all. If you're looking for a romantic story, Nisekoi is NOT for you. There isn't anything special at all about it. Convenient and inconvenient timing, chance and coincidence are what control the plot, nothing else.

~~ART~~
This is where opinions will differ greatly about Nisekoi, as Nisekoi is definitely a Shaft anime. Expect bright colours, changing backgrounds, fast sporadic cuts, head tilts, close zooms into character's eyes, random blocks of text, etc, etc. If you're into Shaft's style Nisekoi will not disappoint you, but if you don't like their previous works (probably most comparable would be Arakawa under the bridge), then you won't like this one.

~~SOUND~~
Not bad, not good, just there. I literally just finished the series and I don't remember any of the music. Not remembering is better than hating though.

~~CHARACTERS~~
Oh boy, here we go. This is where this review will get its most dislikes. The main (romantic) cast are well executed but completely cookie cutter tropes. This is an issue because I really REALLY don't like Tsunderes - and as per usual one of the main girls is one of the biggest I've seen. Oh, and she's also scared of the dark and of lightning, so let's not forget those cliches as well. Other main romantic interest is the flawless moe girl who has a crush on the main character... and of course she can't cook. Oh, and they introduce a third girl mid-way who pursues the protagonist in a more obvious way of course (most shows wait till season 2 to introduce her). They're well executed, but they're all so... typical. Of course my favorite characters in these shows are the best friend characters, both of which were the best part of Nisekoi for me. They were also the only ones who weren't completely brainless. The other side characters are also enjoyably quirky as well. As long as people recognize that Miyamoto is best girl, I'll be happy.

~~ENJOYMENT~~
Despite my criticism, I did enjoy the show. While the story is oh so bland and cliche, it is still funny. When it wants to be cute, it is cute. When it wants to be tense, it's tense. When it wants to be funny, it usually succeeds. It's well executed if nothing else. The people behind Nisekoi KNOW how to make anime, they just chose a cliche IP to work with.

~~OVERALL~~
This anime doesn't require your full attention - it's a good show to have on in the background as you do something else. The story is cliche and hits all the tropes of a romance anime, but if you like that sort of thing, go nuts. But if you're looking for a unique look at romance in anime - move along.

Toodles~

Nisekoi is a melting pot of frustration and patience testing but I wouldn't call it boredom by any means. What the show lacks in plot it makes up for with its eye-catching art style and characters that - despite all inexplicably falling for the protagonist - are at least distinct and have a variety of personalities that are fun to watch come into conflict. On paper it's your standard harem and though it isn't an exemplary show a combination of the above factors at least put it well clear of average.

Our story follows Raku Ichijou and his search for a long-lost childhood love, at ... least it starts out that way. When Chitoge Kirisaki arrives on the scene tensions boil over when the pair are asked to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend. The childhood love, which was always at the back of Ichijo's mind, suddenly comes to the fore when he realises that the past could be catching up with him. The unwelcome coupling also hurts his dream of asking out his crush Kosaki Onodera and so we now have our main conflict.

At least it's an interesting spin on the harem situation and allows even just a little bit of extra complexity to creep into the relationships between everyone involved. The situation between the leading pair is the fodder for the show's comedy, usually revolving around the act of trying to keep up appearances in front of some rather deadly opposition. I found myself laughing often enough to get me through the lack of anything of story value actually happening.

It's story 'progression' goes something along the lines of "awkward situation" -> "misunderstanding" -> "learn something new about each other" -> "can't bring themselves to act upon this information". In other words, no progression. However it doesn't mean the show can put out its share of fun moments. Despite probably not working as a complete package, due to little being achieved on the plot front, a mix of individually strong episodes and moments mean my time was definitely not wasted. In fact, I really wanted more.

I believe the show manages to avoid ever becoming completely stale. Some of the reasons for this feel a bit cheap though. If the pace starts to drop off, the show introduces a new character and lets them take control for the next few episodes until the balance is restored. Then that cycle repeats until the series ends. It works to an extent. Each character brings a new level of drama to the situation and it brings out its share of amusing moments. Some characters are certainly more interesting than others. Chitoge tends to command the scene every time she's around and also shows the most amount of development across the 20 episodes - if we can call it development.

That unmistakeable Shaft art style is an attention grabber, and another reason why things kept feeling fresh. Brightly patterned background elements, long range establishing shots, wacky reaction faces, quick cuts, unorthodox camera angles. It definitely all has an element of charm to it. This show is very, very vivid with its colour selection and suits it well. There's little actually carried out in the animation department that is of a stand-out level, but in something less action focused that's perfectly fine. All the VA's also do a really good job and go a long way at helping to bring life to their characters.

I went in with relatively low expectations but they were surpassed. I can recommend Nisekoi to anyone who's after a couple of laughs but not for anyone who wants romance. It draws a parallel to Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun in that it's a show where the romance is simply used as a device to hand out large doses of comedy instead. If you go in with this mindset you'll get much more out of it.

Tbh, in the start this whole anime looked like trash. I hate comedies where the male gets kicked around for useless stuff or when its over-use of violence. Doesnt feel right in an romance-anime which this is "trying" to be.

Not sure why, but both main charachers feels a bit off the entire plot. The series might be good, i watched this around when it came out with subs. Now that im re-watching it im realising how BAD it actually is.

Im really trying my best to watch all the 20 episodes, but the girl feels just too dramatic and violent to actually make much sense. And ... ontop of it all the fanservice seems to be a bit annoying.

Not much more i want to say about this "trash" anime. But its one of the few anime's i saw as manga form, then searched it up and remembered it was anime. It might be fun watching these old ones, but i wish there wasnt that much violence again..

I felt this anime was good without the excessive violence. Im at episode 7 now as im writing this, i dont remember much since i first watched it anyway (7-8 yrs i think ago).

Would not watch again if it wasnt for the romance, now im done writing, its 00:38 and i gotta wake up in 5 hours.

-Multi aka John.

"I want to eat octopus balls."
-Chitoge Kirisaki, Episode 17

My god, this show is cringe-worthy. First of, all of the main characters (except Raku) are fucking tsundere. Second, all of them except for Marika are always too shy to say what's on their mind, leading to the same scenario happening over and over and over and over and over again. And when they finally work up the courage, they're interrupted in one way or another. Over and over and over and over again. This gets sickening.

These characters are some of the most dense fucks I've ever seen, especially Raku (which reminds me of Ragu). It only ... takes him 19 episodes to finally identify what someone else is thinking. Only 19. He is a very painful protagonist..

The threats of Claude and Marika were interesting concepts that I was very upset to see forgotten an episode later with just a rare mention of them later.

I personally am not a fan of harems as they often leave me yelling "Come on! Don't be so fucking stupid, pick someone and get on with your life". While this show was not as bad as I expected it to be, I still managed to lose my voice after yelling profanities every time someone did something unbelievably stupid..

My favorite character was Tsugumi, only because her naiveness and shyness was justified. However, I loathe Onodera, seeing as she had PLENTY of opportunities to make some moves, yet most of the time decided not to.

Honestly, it just felt like everyone was stalling. A war of attrition. I hope the second season isn't this miserable..

I'm not a huge fan of the fate/destiny plotline and often prefer when it gets disrupted by an amazing character development.

Unfortunately, there are multiple fated promises, and the MC frustratingly doesn't remember the details of any of them.

The characters feel a bit contrived to the point where it seems they're set up to be each other's opposites. And our MC can't seem to get over the fact that he made a few promises as a kid and needs to move on to the real world.

Lastly, after all 20 episodes, there doesn't seem to be a solid resolution or any significant progress with uncovering the ... main storyline plot. In fact, the mystery is swept aside and comes back from time to time.

just your run of the mill rom-com, but at least the vivid animation makes it a little better. all the characters are pretty bland and can even be annoying at times. the main characters are so dense its painful to watch at time. there are some great funny moments added in there. the amount of fan service when all the characters are like 15 is insane too. I watched both seasons and the OVAS but overall its very predictable and most of the episodes feel like filler. i'm a big fan of the romance genre and with this you're really not missing out on anything.

This anime is not that great, enjoyable at best but the whole delaying the plot thing is something overused on anime's nowadays that it makes any new anime that uses that become mediocre...

The "plot" is about this guy who is entering high school and has this pendant with a lock, the anime makes it look at first like he was given the pendant by a girl 10 years previous the anime and that she would keep the key and once they reunite again they would marry...
As he is the son of a Yakuza mafia boss he is respected by the members of the group, but ... another mafia the Bee Hive Gang came and started trouble, as they were about to go to an all out war his father and the leader of the Bee Hive Gang decided that the best course of action is to have both their child date for the recurring 3 years of high school...
A 3 year of the daughter's leader of the Bee Hive Gang and the son of the Yakuza mafia boss to fake a relationship, as they meet they start to hate and not even able to stand each other...
It is even more complicated when Raku the Yakuza Boss's son is in love with another girl Kosaki whom he has not declared to in the entire fucking series...
To complicate things even more the one holding the key is supposed to be Kosaki herself, but what do you know? Chitoge the Bee Hive Gang boss's daughter has also a key and Raku was told by the Bee Hive Gang boss that he, Kosaki and Chitoge used to play 10 years ago when they were kid both have a memory of being promised something by a guy around that time...
To fuck things a notch the daughter of the Chief of police is apparently the fiance promised by Raku's father to the Chief, and yes you guessed it 10 years ago around the same time and to even further it she also has a key of a promised being made to her apparently by Raku...
To that point the story seemed fine and good but as they kept the story going they just seem to avoid using the main story and begin doing secondary stuff...
This anime had great potential but i doubt we'll see a 3rd season...
I'll continue this "review" on the 2nd season...

Nisekoi suffers a few smaller, fatal flaws that altogether ruin my enjoyment of it. I know that Nisekoi has a large following on this site but just know in advance that my opinions of this piece do not represent a particular active dislike of this anime or it's fans, just why it isn't for me and why like-minded people may not enjoy it.

Let me start off with the good things about it: It has a very nice art style and sound design and I can tell a lot of work went in to make this aesthetically pleasing, however, this is about the extent of ... my enjoyment of this particular anime. I will say however that the art is of very, very high quality and is amazing if you're someone who enjoys anime which are very colorful and have an atypical art style.

My main problem with Nisekoi is that the main character is incredibly unintelligent, to the point where it was sometimes painful to watch him make such poor choices and ignore such obvious answers to his own inquiry. If you are the kind of person who finds themselves yelling at their screen when characters ignore the obvious or make unfounded conclusions then Nisekoi will probably damage your vocal chords.

At the end of the day, Nisekoi is neither here nor there when it comes to quality. It's a story that's been done before a million times, and unless you like the specific type of story being presented it might be worth passing on this one, because the characters just weren't memorable for me. They fit archetypes that have been done before and you can pretty much predict their lines in advance if you've seen a lot of comedies or harem anime. Nobody really "stood out" to me and no scenes stood out as particularly memorable.

If you don't mind the above and just want another comedic harem anime then you may enjoy this. I just didn't find myself able to get invested in it at all and often times it lost my attention completely.

So far I don't know how to define Nisekoi. Because he is everything at the same time that he is nothing, I cannot explain. Romantic comedy animes tend to provoke a very similar feeling in the end of each episode, but in Nisekoi this feeling of "how cute" "I think I'm going to die laughing" or "aahh I want a relationship like this" did not happen for me, all I thought was "I hate this kid".
Don't get me wrong, Nisekoi's characters are really fun, lightly, very lightly charismatic and nice to watch, but they are not even kind at all. At least personally, I can't ... say that I care about all of them or their loving futures or something and something like that I think affects the anime as a whole.
The jokes are very 0 or 50, very rarely reaching 100. Either they are something that doesn't make you laugh at all, or they make you laugh a little and very rarely make you laugh out loud. But in spite of everything Nisekoi is fun to watch (???? I don't really know how to rate Nisekoi)
As for technical details, animation, soundtrack and plot, I would say that Nisekoi is unable to hit almost any completely. The design of the characters and the animation is decent, it doesn't miss or hit the nail on the head, but it still manages to be relevant to the point that you remember striking features of the characters. The soundtrack and the soundtrack in general is also good, nothing much, but it is extremely functional and I think that really matters. Now as for the plot, good Nisekoi, like many animes of the genre he has a funny and creative proposal, but he makes a very ugly mistake. The whole nisekoi mess affects everything else, the harem system is extremely messy and it seems that the author was lost when writing it, because strangely speaking, neither of the couples is properly developed without being the main one (making the ending obvious, which it's not even in the anime, but I know (it's just a guess, not a spoiler)). But I think that the rolling never affected an anime as much as it affected Nisekoi, as it broke any kind of narrative proposal that Nisekoi's basic idea needed.
In short, Raku sucks, Onodera and Kirisaki can't understand anything and Tsugumi best girl ... Jokes aside, Nisekoi is a fun anime to watch, but sitting and analyzing it is no big deal, but even so guaranteed you a little fun time.
Grade: 6