I included romantic titles among my fall anime picks to balance out what I presumed would be a season laden with serious themes. I do have to admit, though, that I was particularly excited to add Sukitte Ii na yo. to that list.
Sometime last year, I was browsing through manga titles at a scanlation site while waiting for the latest chapters of my usual reading list picks. I think I was curious about the rankings at the site and wondered why there were so many shoujo/romance titles. I tried reading a few chapters of one title, but ended up looking for something else to read.
The next one I read was titled Say "I Love You". It only had 19 chapters at the time, all of which I ended up reading in one sitting. I tried to find out more about the manga series, but couldn't find any other information until I found out that it was actually titled Sukitte Ii na yo. in most resource sites, which, by the way, were pretty sparse on information.
Tachibana Mei is known in school as that quiet, weird girl who doesn't have any friends. While Mei likes to keep that status quo, she accidentally catches the attention of popular guy Kurosawa Yamato after kicking him due to a misunderstanding. Despite trying to avoid Yamato's attempts at befriending her, Mei ends up asking for his help when she is stalked by a customer who frequents the bakery where she works.
Sukitte Ii na yo. is one of two romance anime titles of the season that actually focuses on the relationship, instead of making the connection a by-product of other events. Although, I wouldn't weigh them against each other, since Sukitte Ii na yo. is a little bit more serious in terms of character development and relationship lessons than Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, which is more rooted in comedy when it comes to storytelling. And unlike Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, which features silly situations and quirky characters, Sukitte Ii na yo. takes a more straightforward approach to the experiences that the main couple has to go through.
Long time viewers of anime and readers of manga know that the most common form of storytelling in the purely shoujo genre involves having the couple in question go through a variety of challenges or taking the roundabout route before they actually end up together. Sukitte Ii na yo. eschews the stereotype by resolving the issue of dating by the end of the second episode. So, with the couple already together so early in the story, the question is... what else is there to tell in the story of Mei and Yamato?
The answer offered by creator Hazuki Kanae turned out to be... a lot. What follows is the evolution of the relationship between Mei and Yamato, which is rife with new experiences and a handful of challenges. Since Sukitte Ii na yo. was created to show a relationship between normal people, albeit with magazine ready hairstyles (I mean, just look at Yamato's hair), those experiences and challenges are in the normal Japanese high school category (though I do not claim to be an expert in this topic, since I'm not Japanese nor in high school). So, you can expect wonderful first experiences, insecurities, jealousy and discoveries about oneself among the many scenarios offered by the series.
While the squee-worthy relationship between Mei and Yamato is the reason why many people watched the series, I felt that it only served as a catalyst to showcase the one element in the series that I truly enjoyed. For me, Sukitte Ii na yo. is ultimately about Mei. While the character lacks social graces, table manners and confidence, she can also be refreshingly straightforward, especially when she draws on her experiences in order to impart lessons to the people she would eventually encounter because of her relationship with Yamato. Whatever hurdles that she and Yamato have to go through together parallel the changes that are occurring in Mei and her way of thinking, particularly when it comes to gauging her self-worth and in learning how to trust others.
While I feel that the anime adaptation is very much worthy of the must-watch label, I have to admit that there's more enjoyment in reading its original manga version. With the short thirteen episode run of the series and the decision to be more conservative on certain issues that can be considered mature, the anime version tends to rush through some of the important character developments and the resolutions that the couple gets to. Instead of following the same timeline in the manga, which spans over a year of being together (so far), the anime made it feel as if Mei and Yamato were going through a heck of a lot of drama in their first few weeks together.
But like I said, Sukitte Ii na yo. is a definite must-watch. The adaptation is still relevant and enjoyable to watch. At the very least, it should serve as a great anime pick that's lighter in tone and mood than what the rest of the fall anime season has to offer (I'm looking at you PSYCHO-PASS and Shinsekai Yori).
Happy viewing!!Labels: Adaptation, Anime, Drama, Must-Watch, Romance, Slice of Life, Sukitte Ii na yo., TV
