Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie

 Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie (可愛いだけじゃない式守さん) is a 12 episode slice of life romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Maki Keigo.  The anime originally aired over the Spring of 2023.

     Izumi Yuuki is genetically predestined for misfortune and accident.  No matter what he does, fate seems to roll snake eyes for him at every opportunity.  His entire life has been fraught with unnatural danger and personal damage.  But after suffering through this terrible misfortune, he has an upbeat attitude to the world around him.  It also doesn't help that he's dating the most beautiful girl in his grade, Shikimori Miyako.  But his tender love life brings a new set of concerns regarding his perpetual personal danger.  he fears that Shikimori will soon tire of his clumsiness and accident prone nature.  He also fears that his bad luck will negatively effect her as well, putting the girl he loves in danger.

    Shikimori may be more in love with Yuuki than he is of her.  She's great at everything she does and carries her self with a well defined poise, earning the admiration of everyone around her.  She possesses the opposite innate abilities of her boyfriend, unnatural reflexes and observation.  She gladly uses her talents to protect the boy she loves as much as possible.  But deep down she struggles with his feelings for her, knowing the poise and grace is a cover for her spoiled and competitive nature.  Prior to high school she was more of a tomboy, who excelled in karate, living within the shadow of her older brother.  She often lets her emotions control her, leading her to have a very dominating personality.  On top of that she fears that Izumi's self esteem will be worn down to a point where he can no longer face his ideal image of her.  Even though they are both shy at times they try to let the other understand their feelings and hearts, not wanting to lose the other.

     This is the very definition of innocent heartwarming love.  Unlike most romance anime this one starts off with the couple already being in a relationship from well before the beginning of the story.  While they are unnaturally awkward at times, they really do have good communication.  When a problem arises they do work to find a resolution, the biggest concern being their individual self worth.  Each of them, which happy and open, struggles with their own value but they don't really shy away from discussing it between themselves.  There is even a momentary rival love interest for Izumi that is handled in a more natural way, with both girls recognizing the situation and discussing it between themselves, choosing to keep it from him.  Not even the parts of the story that fall into the standard high school romance tropes can tarnish the gloss of this story.  Its literally eternal optimism in motion.

    I can't stress enough how pure and innocent this anime is as well as how satisfying it was to watch.  It does fit many of the stereotypes of the genre but does it in away that isn't offensive of annoying.  Every moment of the story is enjoyable and fun.  The only bad part...we only have a short amount of time with these pure characters.  Time to start reading the manga as there appears to be quite a bit more story.  We barely dig into Shikimori's family, which we see hints of being not exactly being a loving place.  It would also be really nice to see more of Shikimori's intense side...particularly when she comes close to sexually assaulting Izumi while eating s'mores....this girls got some huge balls.  Outside of that, the artwork isn't too bad, nothing special, but well within the current standards of slice of life anime.

     The anime is currently available on Crunchyroll in both sub and dub formats.