Sakura Chiyo is an average 2nd year high school student who has a crush on her stoic peer Nozaki Umetaro. She gathers up the courage to confess but it doesn't come out the way she intended. When she tries again Nozaki misunderstands her intentions and gives her an autograph. Confused by and misunderstanding the situation she agrees to go to his house with him, to discover Nozaki is the creator of a popular shojo romance manga and he wants her to be his new assistant. She whole heartedly agrees as a way to be close to him and soon discovers a number of people from school help with the manga. Can she gather up the courage to properly express herself and will the oblivious Nozaki even understand her feelings?
This was a well written and enjoyable series that ended too soon. In many ways it reminded me of School Rumble. While Chiyo is the lead character, the show is really more about Nozaki. Chiyo's attempts to express her feelings fall to the side for most of the show, only to appear rather hastily in the second to last episode as a signal for the stories conclusion. Instead the series focuses on introducing the cast of oddball students who orbit around the main characters and the process everyone goes through to help with the manga. This isn't Bakuman though and it doesn't focus on the technical details of being a manga-ka. Many of the situations involve Nozaki seeking inspiration for future story arcs, sometimes without informing the people he’s using as inspiration. Aside from the heroine, the theme of all of the characters is that appearances are deceptive. Chiyo, as opposed to everyone else, is 'what you see is what you get'. She seems more like an empty vessel for the viewer to insert themselves into. Almost all of the other characters have an outward appearance and presence that does not reflect their actual personality. These traits are what end up driving many of the plot lines and humor.
Design wise, the series is pretty good. It has modern shojo styling with a great balance between realistic and comical proportions and expressions. The series relies on classic routines for its comedy and recalls many older series'. Aside from reminding me of School Rumble there are also elements that reminded me of Ouran High School Host Club. In the end this was a fun series that was enjoyable to watch from start to finish. It was just too short. It looks like I will have to pick up the manga to enjoy more from this fun and light comedy series. The last episode was well done and put a great finishing touch to the entire series.
The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll, but there is no word on any disc releases in North America. The manga as well is not commercially available.
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