https://blacknerdproblems.com/anyway-im-falling-in-love-with-you-e1-review/

It’s the year 2020, and Mizuha is having the worst 17th birthday ever. Her parents forgot it’s her birthday, she still can’t seem to get close to the senior she likes, and all her school trips and tournaments are canceled thanks to a new disease going around. She’s convinced she’ll never have the kind of youth she’s always dreamt of…until her childhood friend, Mizuki, suddenly asks her out.

Here’s a mostly spoiler free review for the first episode of Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You which will premiere on Thursday, January 9, 2025 on Crunchyroll. A big thanks to Crunchyroll for the early access!

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“An Awful Birthday”

The very first episode of Anyway, I’m Falling In Love With You begins with an adult Mizuha out in the big city, contemplating her adolescence after seeing some students walking the streets. She thinks back on the start of an awful birthday that she had as a teen when she was much more carefree. The audience is transported back to the morning of July 1, 2020 when she wakes up on her birthday–one that everyone seemingly has forgotten. On her way to school, she’s greeted by her four childhood best friends, whom she’s known all her life. She mentions all four boys are partially her siblings as they walk their way to their local high school where they are all second year students.

These childhood friends are the bespectacled Shuugo, the influencer Airu, the blonde and quite observant Shin, and the youngest of the group, Kizuki. Kizuki is perhaps the closest to our main character, labeled as “the baby” of the group, and someone Mizuhan sees as someone to look after. Finally at school, she comes to the realization that her slightly younger male friend is growing up and someone who is eye candy to the girls at school. She’s on a mission though–she’s hoping to meet someone at school who is important to her, and she has a message for them.

What initially drew me to Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You when I was reading the manga (read the Manga, Chapters 1-4, for Free via Kodansha) was Shojo romance via a crushing pandemic. Originally set during when the COVID-19, I remember reading the start of the manga series and really loving how the series was reflecting the times. Mizuha is a teenage girl during a year where everything is cancelled and postponed: sporting tournaments for her athletic friends, classes suspended, firework shows. The world hasn’t stopped completely, but nothing is going right for this girl in the grand scheme of being a teenager and all the plans she had. Not to be dramatic but she comes home that evening thinking to top it off that the people closest to her have forgotten her birthday! 

You may watch this first episode of Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You and decide that there are no big action scenes. Yet, there is rising action and plenty of scenes where characters are sharing big confessions and connecting the dots on current events within their friend circle popping off. Yes, there are a few swimmers on the high school team (Kizuki is one of them), but this isn’t  Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club. 

Instead, I do like that most of the action focuses on Mizuha and the catalyst of this very important year of her life with all the transitions and changes that come with it. There’s a big pivotal scene toward the end that is very flashy that fits the high emotional intensity of the scene that audiences will be sure to pay attention to. I loved the nighttime scenes of Mizuha’s birthday evening where her friends surprise her and the audiences both–some serious and others and very comedic via the animation. I’m happy that Typhoon Graphics got assigned this series as they handled Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion, another Shojo/Josei leaning fave from the realm of manhwa quite well.

“Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You focuses on all the ups and downs of the brilliant adolescence of a teen girl whose life is upended in 2020. Shojo lovers will recognize a meaningful story starting to build in this very first episode that includes longing, discomfort and several realizations that will change lives forever.”

Verdict

Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You has given us a well-paced, charming first episode full of the highs and lows of teenage adolescence. I am a big fan of the story adapted from the manga that resonates for anyone watching who experienced growth, transitions, and many changes: good and bad. So far, it is looking like the manga’s distinctive story is being adapted well to anime, and it is engaging and entertaining to see a newer Shojo series blossoming in its anime version. I am a fan of seeing Mizuha and friends on screen and seeing their different personalities shine as she comes into her seventeenth year and one step closer to being an adult. 

As a Shojo stan, I am always hoping that more and more Shojo anime gets to us in the ongoing and very much publicized Shojo anime drought–here’s a great video from one of my faves, Colleen of Colleen’s Manga Recs and another from Phoenix of The Anime Tea. Not only have we been in a decline of Shojo anime (and by association, Josei anime), we’ve also been in a decline of longer running adaptations. Yes, I’m looking at every twelve-episode series that we’ve been receiving with little to no communication of whether we are receiving another season or some other update to see more.

I very much want to see more Shojo anime and more interest from studios in bringing it to us as these stories are very important. Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You brings us a shining example of the genre focusing on all the ups and downs of the brilliant adolescence of a teen girl whose life is upended in 2020. Shojo lovers will recognize a meaningful story starting to build in this very first episode that includes longing, discomfort and several realizations that will change lives forever.

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Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You

Premiering on Crunchyroll

January 9, 2025

– PRODUCTION STAFF –

Based on the Manga Anyway, I’m Falling in Love With You Created by

Haruka Mitsui

Directed by

Junichi Yamamoto

Series Composition Written by

Yu Murai

Script Written by

Yu Murai and Nagisa Nario

Character Design

Io Shiiba

Sub-Character Design

Katsuzo Hirata

Rena Okuyama

Prop Design

Yoshihiro Ujiie

Daiki Ueda

Art Director

Atsushi Satomi

Art Director

Yuriko Imose

Color Design by 

Chieko Hibi

Director of Photography

Yuzuru Funakoshi

Editor

Tsuyoshi Imai

Music Composed by

Keiji Inai

Sound Director

Yasunori Ebina

Animation Producer

Takashi Sakurai

Animation Production by 

Typhoon Graphics

– SONGS –

Opening Theme Song “Make It Count” Performed by

INI

Ending Theme Song “Negaigoto” Performed by

Marcy

– JAPANESE VOICE CAST – 

Sakura Shinfuku as Mizuho Nishino

Kazuki Ura as Kizuki Hazawa

Sion Yoshitaka as Shin Kashiwagi

Shoya Chiba as Airu Izumi

Satoshi Inomata as Shugo Hoshikawa

Yuto Uemura as Ryosuke Saito

Azusa Tadokoro as Chika Kurashiki

Yūichirō Umehara as Tōgo Hoshikawa

Kaori Nazuka as Manami Shiraishi

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About Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is the global anime brand that fuels fans’ love of anime. With the ambition to make anime an even bigger part of pop culture, Crunchyroll offers fans the ultimate anime experience and destination centered around a premium streaming service. Crunchyroll has the largest dedicated anime library, an immersive world of events, exciting theatrical releases, unique games, must-have merchandise, timely news, and more. Anime is for everyone and is accessible to stream across territories through Crunchyroll—whether on the go on mobile, through gaming consoles and big-screen devices at home, or on desktops anywhere.

Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.

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Cover image: ©Haruka Mitsui, KODANSHA/Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You Production Committee

Read the Manga, Chapters 1-4, for Free via Kodansha

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The post Shojo Reflecting The Times: ‘Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You’ Episode 1 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.