Tsurezure Children

Looking at the poster at first, I thought Tsurezure Children would be some sort of teen superpower superhero series. You know, a group of tedious children as in what its name suggests but got involved in some sort of national conspiracy and hence bringing forth their latent powers to save the country and ultimately the world from disaster. Oh boy, such vivid imagination I have. I should start writing such stories no matter how cliché it sounds. Anyway, this series is nothing of that sort. It is a compilation of shorts regarding these kids on how they deal with love during their high school years. Yup, just your average romantic comedy of teens discovering and experiencing love.

Episode 1A
Haruhiko Takase is being called out by Saki Kanda. He knows she is going to confess him but they have been standing in the cold for 10 minutes! Then she asks if he has anyone he likes. She is really being picky of the words he uses to say no. Takase is about to leave but she won’t let him. Is she finally going to confess? Well, she wants him to come back here same time tomorrow. So that she can confess. WTF?!

Episode 1B
Jun Furuya doesn’t like how Yuki Minagawa is slacking despite becoming a class rep with him. Her answer is simple: She likes him. She starts teasing him and no matter what issues he throws at her like all the admirers she has, it all boils down to her liking him. Well, this one is quite the brave one in confessing. And any negative vibe Furuya has, she positively brushes it aside and believes he is just shy.

Episode 1C
Masafumi Akagi the student council president catches Ryouko Kaji smoking. He will not report her if she kisses him. Yes, he’s serious. He wants to see if he could fall in love with a woman. No, he isn’t gay. Kaji thought she could brush him off that she’ll kiss anybody for money. How much. 100,000 Yen. He has that much money! When he gets serious, she starts trembling. He points out this is proof she has never prostituted herself before and should value herself more than that. He is still serious about that kiss but the stench of nicotine is killing him. He advises her to give up smoking. What is he? Her boyfriend? He doesn’t dismiss that idea. After kissing, he believes he can fall in love with her. With a condition she quits smoking.

Episode 1D
Satsuki Sasahara is in love with her senior, Hideki Yukawa. Tomorrow he is graduating and tonight is her last chance. Thing is, she has confessed so many times but made a joke out of it that he is sick of hearing it and doesn’t take her seriously. As she tries to set the mood, she can’t help going back to joking about it. So when she confesses seriously, it makes her nervous that he has this serious look. She gets scared and jokes about it. Blew it. She starts crying she’ll never get to confess to him again. He tells her he is still sick of it but would like to hear it for one last time. She confesses but I think it’s hard to take it seriously when she is still crying with that kind of face.

Episode 2A
Hotaru is Furuya’s little sister and she is happy to enrol in the same school as him. As she happily goes to see him, all that turns into horror when she sees Minagawa with him. Immediately this brother complex sister starts clinging on to dear brother. Anything Minagawa says, Hotaru becomes hostile. Even more so when Minagawa says they are friends. For now. Hotaru tries to make Furuya reject her since he hasn’t properly reply Minagawa yet. “I don’t hate you”. Standard middle ground answer. Hotaru continues to brainwash him he doesn’t need a girlfriend. His little sister is all he needs! But Furuya can’t give her a serious answer now because there are serious future things to consider like marriage and kids… More devastation for Hotaru but Minagawa views her too cute to hate. Unfortunately the hate is strong for Hotaru.

Episode 2B
Sasahara tries to recruit Yuuki Kaga to her astronomy club. He isn’t interested but since she is persistent, he tries to ask a few questions and she couldn’t answer! He can tell she isn’t even interested in the club. She sounds impressive when she tells him about the Spica star. But that is ripping off what Yukawa told her before. Still not interested? She goes on ranting about other things and Kaga sees this cute side of her. He realizes he has been a boring normal person for so long, maybe he has been looking for something to like. So I suppose he is joining because he likes her smile.

Episode 2C
Takeru Gouda sits next to Ayaka Kamine. He thought she hates him since she doesn’t say things properly. When he learns she dropped her contacts, he helps her look for it. Thinking she has something to say to him, he gets on his knees and assures he will answer it to his best. Okay. She is hinting how kind he was for lending his book earlier on. Didn’t get the hint? And now she wants his answer? About his feelings. He prostrates and apologizes he isn’t good in telling how girls feel. So please accept him the way he is. Not exactly what you think he is saying but Kamine starts crying. So when he is panicking about it, Kamine finally says it that she loves him. Now it’s his turn to panic.

Episode 2D
Chizuru Takano forgot her umbrella so Takurou Sugawara lends his and goes off himself in the rain. However he tripped. She felt bad and walked with him. She notices his shoulder getting wet and sticks close to him, making him fluster. He worries if her crush so them or anything but she assures she doesn’t have any. So he hypothetically asks if someone were to confess to her, in a straight face she says she will turn him down! Gulp. She sees herself as gloomy so he points out her good points. As he is about to confess, her bus is here. Oh, he gets on with her. He finally confesses he likes her. No reaction. Same deadpan face. Is she a robot? Takano takes it the wrong way he was trying to cheer her up. Heartbroken Sugawara alights and you can see his dramatic collapse. And all Takano could think of is to bake cookies for him as thanks for the umbrella.

Episode 3A
Kana Ijima punches Chiaki Uchimura! I guess when you’ve been dating for a year, physical abuse is allowed? Well, as long as it is not the other way round… However despite dating this long, they have not kissed. Hence their relationship looks more like the sibling type than lovers. So when Kana tries to talk about this, he jokes about it. More abuse. Then this is the real wake up call. Chiaki has never thought they were dating! Say what?! When she confessed to him a year ago, he thought she was joking and so he joked back he loved her more! Time for epic breakdown… Kana feels like a fool for thinking like that so Chiaki suggests they hook up properly. Seriously? Serious. Yeah, he even gives her permission to smack him. So let’s continue be the comedy duo. Ah, there’s your cue smack.

Episode 3B
Ayane Matsuura confessed to her crush but gets rejected. Naturally she is sad but her senior, Shinichi Katori tries to console her. Only if he isn’t talking and posing lamely. The cringe is strong. Very strong. Because of that, you can’t blame her for punching him. Or kicking him. Yeah, it sounds like he is teasing her. Even if he intended to let her hit him to relief her frustration, I think his cringe killed it. Double flying kick when he goes overboard saying she has fallen for it. You deserved it.

Episode 3C
Takao Yamane is panicking because Chiyo Kurihara is asking him out. I guess this is what otakus will react if a cute girl does so. Flashback shows he saved her from being groped on the train. So as they are out ordering their food at the café, Kurihara is telling all his good traits. However Yamane is thinking too much. Overthinking. You can obviously see him nonstop panicking. So negative. So pessimistic. And when Kurihara is about to confess, he hits his panic button. Time to order food.

Episode 3D
Sugawara helps Takano on her cleaning duty. She thinks he is a clean freak. Since he can’t explain himself, she thinks she is doing a lousy job at cleaning! Sugawara is worried about her knowing his feelings so when she says he is helping because he noticed her, he replies he is interested in her. Of course she mistakes that he wants to get better at cleaning with her. Sugawara realizes rushing in won’t do it any good. Take your time. And as expected, Takano thinks it is cleaning related. And about just letting her know his feelings? Yeah, just learn to clean quicker. This is going to take some time…

Episode 4A
Kana finds Chiaki’s porn magazine! Awkward! Being the tsundere she is, she dares him to do it with her. Itadakimasu! He wants to grope her boobs first but somehow she is reminded they never kissed. Right, there is an order to things. Crazy things are flowing through his mind when he suddenly poops! WTF?! It killed the mood. She ups the ante by taking off her clothes. But he isn’t allowed to see?! Okay… It’s taking some time to get the mood right again. Oh yeah. Sexy romantic time is here when suddenly Chiaki’s mom enters to serve some snacks. Oops. Sorry to intrude. Please continue. Then she tells the whole family not to come upstairs. The duo try again but mom had to pop back up to ask if they want to use the pill or borrow hers! WHY YOU RUIN EVERYTHING???!!!

Episode 4B
Kaji confronts Akagi to remind him that they aren’t officially dating and she isn’t quitting smoking for that. He wants to make it official so she gives excuses he doesn’t know anything about her. Then he describes how he has been watching her and knows her habits. It proves he has her on her mind for some time. He teases her she is an easy woman and will sleep with anyone if asked. Had he been a player, she would have been done in by him. She dares him to do it to her now so being the smooth operator he is, he says he wanted to take her for himself before anyone else did. He wants to make her his. Kaji is backed to the corner. There is no way out but to say yes. Sealed with a kiss.

Episode 4C
Furuya thinks he needs to answer Minagawa. It’s like she could read his mind and pesters him for it! Since he is shy, she thought he could communicate via messaging. He thought he is toying with her but it backfires when she says because he cannot answer, she isn’t sure if he is serious or just playing around. Guilt… She continues to teasing him through messaging and he is relieved she puts off the bugging for now. She is happy for now he was looking at her.

Episode 4D
Takano’s friend hands her a love letter to pass to Sugawara. So when she calls him to meet, you bet this happy dude gets the wrong idea. So happy when he gets her letter till he finds out the truth. Disappointed? He tries to hint about confessing to Takano herself but she quickly brushes it off it won’t be fun dating her. They discuss about hugging their loved ones and eventually he decides to give up confessing on her. He doesn’t want to be friendzoned and she won’t know what to do either. She still believes she isn’t the person he likes. As for her friend, he will personally turn her down tomorrow. She had the courage to go through all that (but not in person?) so he wants to honour that. Takano notes he is a nice person but if it were to happen to her, oh well, she doesn’t think it will.

Episode 5A
Kanda thinks of confessing via texting to Takase. I guess after that long winded writing, she just deletes it and writes hi. As they text back and forth, both sides are nervous and fidgeting on what to say. When it eventually takes too long to reply and Kanda finally decides to go all out in confessing, both send their text at the same time. Kanda receives his message that he thinks she has fallen asleep and should meet him tomorrow so he could tell her about the person he likes. Oh, he also hates those who try to confess via text. They’re the worst. Meanwhile Takase receives her full confession and to go out. They’re so dead…

Episode 5B
Sasahara is glad Kaga has recruited a new member, Kaoru Nanase who is his childhood friend and neighbour. It seems they hate each other as Nanase teases Kaga likes someone… When Sasahara leaves to attend a teacher’s call, Nanase accuses him of joining the club just because of Sasahara. There is no way he likes the stars. She wants him to reject her. Then she accuses him of ignoring her since middle school. He argues he thought people would think it would be odd for them to be together but she hints she doesn’t hate that idea. Now accusing each other of hating the other, if Nanase hates him, why would she come to this same school? Still don’t get it? He tries to apologize and console her. But it irks her when he is doing it because they are childhood friends. So more hate you hate me stuff. So if they hate each other, why is Nanase kissing him?! Cliché moment when Sasahara returns and sees this. So awkward…

Episode 5C
Kamine and Gouda are dating but he is keeping his distance. She wonders if they should have stayed as friends and her presence is making him uncomfortable. He drops the bomb when he wants to stop doing this. This is his first time dating so he doesn’t know what to do. It’s not doing them any good. Kamine cannot help cry but finds enough courage to thank him for going out with her. But she is shocked when he suggests holding hands for a start. Wait. Weren’t they breaking up? What Gouda meant was they should stop being so tense around each other. He thought it would be weird to start acting like a boyfriend. He was avoiding her because he was shy and sweaty from club activities. She doesn’t care as she jumps to give him a big hug.

Episode 5D
Nanase is probably regretting kissing Kaga. Nope, she is. Kaga is also embarrassed he was seen by Sasahara. She has likely gotten the wrong idea. When mom wants him to send apples to her, he doesn’t want to and claims she hates him. Mom thinks they got into a fight again and thought Nanase had a crush on him. He is surprised to hear that as mom realized that was still a secret. So he reluctantly goes over to hand over the apples.

Episode 6A
At this rate I think Kaji is going to have a mental breakdown the way Akagi is teasing her and it’s just pissing her off. Like he claims he likes her cute face and boobs but what about her inner character? He doesn’t. Because she herself said so that she is crappy. And yeah, throwing a few kisses to increase that stress. She wants to break up but she gets confused when he continues to say he loves her despite all that. She is so cute that he wants to bully her. As smooth as he is, he has her say she likes him before kissing her lips again.

Episode 6B
Kana feels weird to talk and even think about that cock block incident. Even odder, Chiaki wants her to aid in his FBI-alien comedy skit. While going with the flow, Kana realizes his face came too close. Was he trying to kiss her? Then they reverse the roles and it looks like he wants to kiss her. So she prepares herself but he pulls back. Apparently he isn’t sure about the punch line that is supposed to come here. Both still embarrassed decide to just go home.

Episode 6C
Yamane is being asked out by Kurihara for tomorrow’s date. However his fellow otaku buddy, Tomomichi Motoyama also invites him for a movie tomorrow. Yamane tries to give excuses he can’t so Motoyama suspects a girl. Yamane lies he is a middle school friend wanting to catch up so Motoyama backs out. This makes Yamane to feel bad so he comes clean about the truth. Upon hearing that, Motoyama punches him! So you got a girlfriend?! No more friends?! But the shocking thing is how Motoyama supports Yamane. He is happy his friend has found a girl even though their relationship is platonic. Yeah, lots of manly (otaku) tears. Yamane invites him if he would like to come along. Sure, if she brings her friends. Any of his friends is perfectly acceptable to him.

Episode 6D
Kazuko Hosogawa might have given many others love advice but she herself has never fallen in love before. That is, until she sees Katori saving a cat from a tree. It must be his cheesy lines and poses too that did the trick to steal her heart. She wants him to be her prince but he rejects her since he belongs to everybody. He warns her she will get burnt by doing so. She doesn’t care. And when she tries to hug him, she realizes it was only his after image. Hosogawa is frustrated to she decides to become a cat stuck on a tree. Save me! But she falls and when Katori tries to catch her, she accidentally elbows his gut! Critical damage! Being the ‘cool’ guy he is, he brushes off his injury and continues to play it cool that it is a prince’s job to save a kitten in distress. Looks like she loves him even more.

Episode 7A
Hotaru notices her brother being happier these days. It must be a woman. So without permission she hacks into his handphone and sees his conversation with Minagawa. She thought of sabotaging it by telling her to stay away but instantly Minagawa can tell it is Hotaru. And so it begins as Minagawa trolls Hotaru with some ambiguous words that little sister has yet to learn. She doesn’t even know what sleeping with each other means until Minagawa points out a child in her belly. OH NO! TRAUMA ACTIVATED!!! When Furuya returns, Hotaru is going to tell mom about it. Poor guy is left confused.

Episode 7B
Kamine is nervous as she hints to Gouda to tell his opinion about her. He thinks she wants him to take her out on a first date but after all that flustering she finally tells him she wants him to say in his own words that he loves her. He hasn’t said it to her yet. Kamine feels awkward since it might be forcing him but Gouda declares proudly he loves her from the bottom of his heart. Her face is so red but dense Gouda thinks she is mad.

Episode 7C
Continuing from that texting blunder, Takase things he has screwed up since Kanda seems to be avoiding him. At the toilet, his troubled face catches Katori’s attention. More cheesy lines and poses. He can tell Takase is having woman problems and he understands because he too made a woman cry before. Before Takase could think about asking him for advice, Katori announces he is the dating master. So his advice? He doesn’t know. All he can think about is go to her and hold her tight. Takase is impressed and will take his advice. But the moment he turns around to thank him, he is gone.

Episode 7D
Takano recently feels lethargic and her chest hurts a little. Oh, she can’t stop thinking of Sugawara too. As she heads to the infirmary, Sugawara is also there. She thinks she has a fever so it got him a little worried that her face was a little red. She flusters upon hearing that. However he is cool because he thinks she isn’t the kind who would fall in love. Takano wonders if this isn’t fever, what is it that she is having? She takes her temperature. Normal reading. Oh no. What could it be? I wonder…

Episode 8A
Kamine wants to tell Gouda what she truly wants but is too shy about it. Even if she did, she worries he will worry about her. So she asks if he likes being possessive. Not really. How about in moderation? Maybe. Like holding hands while walking. How about holding hands while sitting? Okay. Kamine gets permission to inch closer to him and doesn’t mind him being sweaty and all. Asking if he would like to cuddle her more since she won’t mind if he says so, Gouda would like to ask her one thing. He suddenly kisses her! Hey! He didn’t ask first! Kamine was clearly unprepared for that first kiss and she is embarrassed because she coughed. Want to have another go at it? Maybe after things calm down a little…

Episode 8B
Rumours of Kamine and Gouda kissing have spread. Because of that, Kana is ‘upset’ with Chiaki because in the eyes of everyone they are a couple and yet they haven’t really kissed. So we have them hinting and arguing using football terms if Chiaki should score or not. When Kana is in ‘stoppage time’, Chiaki thinks this is a good chance for him to kiss her. However at his angle it makes it very hard. When she checks to see what is taking him so long, he accidentally kisses her nose! Missed the shot! Awkward. But Chiaki feels confident with this and wants another shot at the goal! Can he do it? Well, with everyone watching them, I guess the match is over.

Episode 8C
Kaji is satisfied after Akagi helps her study. But now he wants to touch her boobs. Wait. What?! Of course she gets mad and won’t allow. He continues to bug her because he believes she will eventually give in. Then he argues that he is the one holding back, etc. I’m sure the pressure has gotten to her so when Kaji finally allows him to grope her boobs, he doesn’t want to do it. He says it was never his intention as he just wanted to know how much he was holding back all this time. Kaji is left embarrassed because it makes her feel like the needy one and that it implied that she needed something more out of this.

Episode 8D
Hosogawa is sad over her lost love. Till she sees Katori injured by a tree! She wants to call the ambulance (dramatic) but he doesn’t want to as he will be discovered. He blames himself for being famous because he flirted with a girl who already had a boyfriend. He wants to know how to be less popular. Since he needs to go into hiding for a while, Hosogawa is more than happy to let him stay at her place. However he tells her the ones after him are not the scary ones. It is the one who made him popular. You mean God? Hosogawa tries to hug him and this time she manages to keep up with his after image. But he can still break free. He stops her with a finger. How? He kisses it. He warns she will burn if she continues to fall for him. He won’t let her since he is going to find the God of romance and beat the crap out of him to become less popular. Until then, stay clear away from the flames of love. So cool! But cheesy too. Now she loves him even more. Get ready to burn…

Episode 9A
During pool lessons, Sugawara and Takano are stealing glances at each other, each wondering if the other is looking. It gets awkward when they wave to each other but no reaction, thinking they’re waving to someone else. Takano doesn’t think it is her but when she eventually asks him and he tells her straight it was her, she starts pondering why he was doing so and such. So when she finally tells him she was also looking at him, it is the wrong guy! Gouda wonders if he should tell that to Sugawara. No thanks… Hazukashii…

Episode 9B
Kanda wonders if their relationship is over since Takase hasn’t replied her confession since. She is also avoiding talking directly to him and only replying via texting, making him wonder if it is too late to reply. So when they try to talk again, it felt a bit awkward since Kanda misspoke. Because the way she says it sounded like she doesn’t like him anymore. And the way he asks back is like he is relieved she doesn’t have feelings for him anymore. So when they sheepishly agree to be friends again, Takase regrets he was too late to confess to her while Kanda regrets being friendzoned.

Episode 9C
Kamine hopes to try kissing with Gouda again since she baulked the first time. However Gouda thinks she is upset from that sudden kiss and is acting weird since. He thinks he will never do that kind of thing again. Of course Kamine really hopes he would do it. So she tries to recreate that atmosphere again by feigning she is sleepy and wants to sleep here right now. She ends up sleeping on his lap. This is sure to get him in the mood, right? HE FELL ASLEEP!!! Oh my! He really got into that mood. He wakes up, catching himself almost touching her face. Kamine is now frozen in embarrassment. Or was it disappointment?

Episode 9D
Minagawa once again trolls Furuya with more I love yous. He is upset they are not serious. On the contrary she says they are but also aren’t. Are you sh*tting him?! She explains the different type of loves and this one is the kind where he makes an angry face but is cute kind of love. Furuya would love to give his answer but he can’t do it if she isn’t serious about liking him. So she puts on a serious I love you face and then pulls it back since it’s hard to be serious. She thinks she can’t express it in words so she has him close his eyes as her face inches closer to his. Damn curtain blocking our view to see what happened. He is mad that she used her fingers to pretend she was kissing him. But she continues to mess with him that he can’t tell if it was her fingers or if she was serious.

Episode 10A
Motoyama meets up with Yamane. But what is he doing here with Kurihara?! Apparently it was Kurihara who asked to meet but since he was nervous, he thought he called Motoyama to come along. WTF. Motoyama can tell that Kurihara has made pudding for Yamane but since both of them are dense, he is forced to play the relationship manager. Since Yamane is too nervous to accept it, Motoyama has to pretend Yamane beat him up real good (bad acting anyway) just to hint that the girl is more important than his friend and thus he will take his leave. Once he is out of the way, he spies back and it looks like Yamane could accept calmly her pudding as much as Kurihara could calmly give it to him. So was it Motoyama’s presence that made them nervous?!

Episode 10B
Kamine is jealous because Gouda is nice to the other girls. And when a girl says nothing is wrong and pouts, you better realize that it is your fault and start thinking on your own what it is! He can’t put his finger on why she is mad so he meets up to apologize. But she’s back to normal. It’s her logic to make him worry about her if she is a little mean. Since he will hear anything she has to say, she starts listing down the things she doesn’t want him to do with other girls. So she’s being over possessive of him? Now she wants him to call her by her first name. Nothing comes out… Probably that was the hardest demand he has to comply.

Episode 10C
Chiaki and Kana see Kamine and Gouda together at the park. They spy on them since the duo are serious in class and never knew they were this lovey-dovey outside. They comment how people change with love but they themselves didn’t change much. They also observe all the bold things they talk to each other. And then the ultimate when Kamine wants Gouda to kiss him but he surprises her with a quick one. So the clowns now start to reflect on themselves and compare with this. So are they going to do it? It took a while for them to prepare but Gouda and Kamine are just leaving and interrupted. What are you doing here? Oh, nothing. And you, what are you doing here? Oh, nothing too. What a coincidence!

Episode 10D
Chiaki invites Kana to his house to study. Note, his parents are away on vacation. Looks like his plan to kiss her is going well. While studying, he tries to ask permission to kiss her but always chickens out. When he goes get something to drink, he returns drunk. He boldly wants to kiss her right now. Kana refuses as she doesn’t want to kiss a drunk Chiaki but the normal one. Because their first kiss is going to be a precious memory. Chiaki then drops his act and quickly steals her lips! Then he starts teasing her with their usual comedy act jokes but she is not impressed. She punches him and leaves in tears. Oh no. He can’t react to that one…

Episode 11A
Takano’s friend can tell she is in love as she stares into space. Of course she denies it but her friend brings up Gouda and Kamine. Speaking of which, here comes Kamine. She starts asking her about some details of her romance as embarrassed Takano continues to deny she is in love. But as Kamine explains how she would look and think about Gouda unconsciously, the more Takano starts to panic. Are you sure you’re not in love with somebody? She then stares at Sugawara and contemplates he is just a classmate. Too bad they could guess it right that she is thinking about him since there are rumours floating about Sugawara liking her. When Kamine is asked how she did her confession, everyone gets embarrassed and returns to practice.

Episode 11B
Chiaki is in real trouble. Kana has avoided talking to him on purpose and in her books they have already broken up. But is she okay to let this go on? Back home, Chiaki is thinking of texting to her one last time and if she doesn’t reply, he’ll give up. Similarly, Kana is waiting and willing to forgive him if he replies one more time. But Chiaki wonders if he should write a long letter… She’s waiting… And when he finally sends, her handphone drops in the bath! OMG! Hey, aren’t handphones these days supposed to be waterproof? Poor Chiaki thinks she had really given up on him. Kana tries hard to turn it back on. She’s never been so sad and desperate. Then mom comes in and learns her problem. She beats up the handphone back to life! OMG! It really worked! At this point, Chiaki can’t give up on her and calls. Kana to her relief answers but is cut off. Poor Chiaki thinks they are done but Kana’s handphone has died for real. Curse you technology!

Episode 11C
During the test, Kanda is running low on her pencil lead but doesn’t want to ask Takase in fear of him suspecting some ulterior motive. Likewise, he also thinks the same. She tries to ask Minagawa but she tells him to ask from Takase instead. Eventually Takase lends her and their relationship is back to normal. Just as simple as that.

Episode 11D
Kaji is really struggling doing last minute studying. It is one of those I-told-you moments because now she is regretting she should have done better. She even told mom she wanted to go to college but now thinks if that is even possible. She starts comparing herself to other classmates who are definitely looking smarter. Akagi isn’t helping her this time as he believes this is part of her practice since she’ll be alone during the exam. But Katori can tell he is the one who is holding it in and trying not to freak out. During the test, Kaji’s constant review makes her feel confident she can get through this. When she accidentally drops her eraser, she feels embarrassed to ask the teacher, thinking others would think of her as weird. Because you know, delinquents don’t study or take exams. Luckily her friend asks the teacher on her behalf. Everything went smoothly. So much so she starts crying right in the middle of the exam! It’s like life is giving her a second chance.

Episode 12A
The boys are having a football tournament among the classes. So we see some of the girls cheering for their crush. We have Chiaki and Sugawara wondering if they look cool in front of their girl or at least a chance to do so. When a ball is accidentally kicked towards Kana, she couldn’t react in time but Chiaki blocks it with his face! It hurts. He tries to act tough but ultimately they end up arguing like usual. So much about making up. Chiaki’s class is losing so the girls decide to cheer and support them. When they do so, Chiaki thinks only Kana isn’t part of the cheer. Why would she cheer for him? Suddenly all by herself she shouts out to him to stop fooling around and go impress her. It’s like he suddenly powers up on his skill as he waddles his way through the defenders. He is about to score but then is blocked. The other team scores and wins the game.

Episode 12B
As summer vacation is coming up, the girls are inviting some of the boys to go to the beach. Some are unsure. Kana thought this is a chance to make up with Chiaki but Sugawara interjects before her to ask him if he is going to the beach. Sugawara isn’t sure to go as Takano will be there and he thought it will be awkward. He gives an excuse he won’t come due to club activities when in actual fact there is none. Because of that, Takano’s eyes are like dead fish. Kana is waiting for a reply from Chiaki and hence waiting for this chance to patch things up. But that reply never came. Damn his handphone ran out of power again. So when he eventually sees her, he tells her they’ve already broken up. So? He believes if he does so, their relationship won’t go anywhere and break up properly. Heart break? However, once that is done, he wants to confess again. Seriously. He does so and it brings tears to Kana’s eyes. Meanwhile Takano is practising alone in the classroom and admitting she has been thinking a lot on Sugawara lately. She fees sad if he doesn’t go to the beach. When Sugawara enters to take his forgotten wallet, she asks if he would like to come. He still think he won’t be coming when she blurts out it won’t be fun if he isn’t there. Looks like he has to go buy a swimsuit. That made Takano happy. Look at her beaming smile.

Crazy, Stupid Love
And so love goes on for our high school children. Nothing really much. Just some of the troublesome pairs have gotten back on good terms so a happy ending? After all, Chiaki-Kana and Sugawara-Takano pairs are the only couples who were having it rough in the end. One wasn’t official yet and the other have somewhat broken off and there is a threat they could break off and drift even further. Compared to the other pairs who were already going steady, so are these 2 pairs going to break the streak and have a bad end? No way!

Despite there are numerous different stories put together (I believe there are like 9 or 10 of them), each story doesn’t feel too heavy or confusing. Thanks to the short duration of each episode of 12 minutes each and in each episode is divided into 4 mini stories. Each of the lover’s stories might be short and condensed and not all of them will be featured in every episode. It might look daunting at first if you’re worried and wondering if you could remember them all by the time the series ends. By the end of the day, you might not remember every technical details of what accurately happens between each of them but you have a general idea of who loves who and how their relationship is faring. In a way it is good but in some ways it is also bad. While shifting between the stories is good, having been thrown too many different stories makes it look like it is all over the place as the stories take place in a connected universe (the same school, that is) but in a mini world of their own. Therefore the straightforward love story can either be intriguing or boring since no love triangles. Okay, Kaga-Sasahara-Nanase as well as Minagawa-Furuya-Hotaru might look so but there is nothing really serious going on.

Like me, after a while when you get used to the characters, at the start of the next skit, my brain will be like taking some ‘processing’ time to remember who they are and how they’ve been. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to recall their names. But as I’ve said, splitting the stories is also good because for example instead of remembering one long sentence, you break them up into smaller sentences to help easily remember them. Or when you are reviewing your studies, you don’t study a particular subject for long periods of time. You take a break and then try reviewing another subject. I’m not a psychology expert but this mixture of diversifying helps the mind to recall better. Except when you’re doing last minute rushing and cramming in of course.

With so many different characters, each character and relationship has its own quirks and moments that makes them unique. But the only thing in common that I can see in all of the relationships is that everyone has this undecided and uncertain outlook of varying degrees when they are dealing with love. This is what mainly drives the dynamics of each relationship and each story to be interesting, hence making the characters interesting in their own right. There might be a few that looks confident, namely Minagawa, Gouda, Akagi and Katori. Like Akagi he looks like he stringing Kaji around only because her reactions are fun to watch as. Especially a delinquent teen like her, love seems so out of place. So he is just messing with her by playing the cool cat but in actual fact deep down inside he is as nervous as hell and doesn’t show it on the outside. The same can be said for Minagawa who keeps teasing Furuya and just enough so that guy won’t find it annoying enough to never want to see her ever again. Gouda looks like the taciturn type but you often here his thoughts and indecisiveness of whether his actions are right. Katori? I think he is full of drama and that drama covers up nervousness. His is dubbed the love master but not in a relationship himself? Suspicious…

One of my favourite couples goes to Chiaki and Kana because the duo have been a manzai comedy duo for a very long time. They take a jab each other while at the same time trying to properly grow their love for each other but at the same time they get cold feet and use that comedy stint to cover it all up. So much so they couldn’t tell what is a joke and what is love. After all, I believe they are the couple who has been together for the longest and the only ones who have tried to take a step further in their relationship. As in, they almost had sex, right? If not only for mom’s timing… Mom, why you have to go spoil it when the things are getting so good?!

Most amusing couple award would go to Akagi and Kaji. This guy has really strung her and made her dance right in the palm of his hands from start to finish. It is fun to see Akagi being the smooth operator while embarrassed Kaji trying to resist it all due to her pride but eventually caves in. This guy is the Jesus of romance if he could fully rehabilitate a bad girl like her under his thumb. Also amusing to watch is Minagawa and Furuya but only when Hotaru is in the picture because little sister thinks her precious big brother belongs to nobody else except her. She can never beat Minagawa as long as the latter doesn’t see her as the enemy.

If there is one couple that is plain draggy and boring, personally I have to point out Takano and Sugawara. Both are being super hesitant although Sugawara is trying to take the initiative but he still lacks confident. On the other hand, Takano is probably the densest character even with hints pointing right in her face, she just can’t seem to get the hint that he likes her. And when she starts to develop strange feelings (it’s called love), she becomes more uncertain. I believe their relationship is the farthest if you compare it to others. They weren’t officially a couple at the end too. They just started to get better with each other’s company. Watching them feels painful as sometimes you want to scream out to them to just realize it and confess to each other already. Making it slightly worse is the fact that their story is one of the most prominently featured with more skits (hence, screen time) compared to some that are not as notable like Yamane-Kurihara and Kaga-Sasahara-Nanase pairs.

Art and drawing feel pretty standard but plain and simple. But it certainly feels lacking if you compare it to other Studio Gokumi works like Kiniro Mosaic, A-Channel, Seiren, Yuuki Yuuna Yuusha De Aru and Kono Naka Ni Hitori Imouto Ga Iru. At least these had some moe and bishoujo effect. Well, maybe on the same level as the Saki series.

There are a handful of recognizable seiyuus, namely Kana Hanazawa as Minagawa, Yui Ogura as Kamine, Daisuke Ono as Yukawa, Hiro Shimono as Yamane, Ayane Sakura as Kaji and Haruka Tomatsu as Hotaru. Other casts include Kaito Ishikawa as Sugawara (Iida in Boku No Hero Academia), Inori Minase as Takano (Rem in Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatstu), Seiichirou Yamashita as Chiaki (Kakeru in Orange), Akari Kitou as Chiaki (Yonaga in Alice To Zoroku), Kensho Ono as Akagi (Arata in ReLIFE), Daisuke Namikawa as Katori (Italy in Hetalia series), Kouhei Amasaki as Furuya (Takeshi in Mob Psycho 100), Tomoaki Maeno as Gouda (Takeru in Maken-Ki), Kentarou Kumagai as Takase (Aston in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans), Haruka Miyake as Kanda and Souichirou Hoshi as Motoyama (Kaoru in Ai Yori Aoshi).

The opening theme is Aimai Moko by Inori Minase. A decent lively anime rock pop. Not too bad. As for the ending theme, Dear, I had mistakenly thought Yukari Tamura was singing this slow piece. Funny I thought she had no voice acting role here but had a singing one. Then I later found out it wasn’t her but Yui Ogura instead. Up till this day I am still straining my ear to confirm whether it is really her because I still ‘hear’ the sound Yukari Tamura singing no matter how hard I try. Most probably because there is no real ending credits animation so the song is played quiet softly in the background as the skit is still ongoing. Looks like there is going to be another person whom I will be confused with if she starts using her trademark cute squeaky voice to sound similar to another trademark cute squeaky voice.

Overall, this short series is actually fun to watch if you are in the mood for some light high school romance and comedy. Despite the fact that generally each story is just a repetition or copycat of one another but it feels different thanks to the different approach. Sometimes it feels like your high school romance (if you had any) falls into either one or more of the stories featured here. Well, they sure had a supporting love role but they had none on gays and lesbians. It’s a must in today’s politically correct era! Thank goodness it didn’t. Let’s just allow the children to fall in love naturally the way they see fit, okay? That is why, to each their own. Hence, Sorezore Children. Oh, did they subtly make a pun on this?