You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story (経験済みなキミと、経験ゼロなオレが、お付き合いする話) is a 12 episode romance based on the light novel series of the same name by Nagaoka Makiko. The anime originally aired during the Fall of 2023.
Kashima Ryuto is a lonely nerd living through his second year of high school. The only other people he has meaningful interactions with are his fellow nerd outcasts, Sekiya Shugo and Nishina Ren, force him to confess to the girl he likes due to losing a bet. To their surprise, he goes ahead with the punishment and confesses to the most desired girl in his class and grade, fashionable gyaru Shirakawa Runa. In a startling twist she agrees to date Ryuto, purely due to not currently dating anyone else. Not understanding what else to do, they end up at her house on their first day as a couple, Runa more than willing to have sex with him. The sudden jump to physical intimacy makes Ryuto pause, rejecting the offer, even though its what he really wants. He wants to approach the relationship slowly, building their understanding of each other before moving to the ultimate goal. Runa is surprised by his wholesome approach to their relationship and agrees to not have sex with him until she builds stranger feelings for him. Unlike her other boyfriends, Ryuto wanting to get to know her instead of using her for her body puts her own priorities in a different perspective.
No one had ever taken her wants into consideration, just taking advantage of her willingness to have sex with them so easily. She explains to Ryuto she moves between partners so regularly because the boys she dates quickly grow tired of her. She has a policy of dating someone as a way to get to know them, feelings that she will have better luck finding the real love of her life this way. Unfortunately none of the people she has dated have been good for her, many have cheated on her or gotten bored with her in short order, mostly using her as a trophy at first. She is unsure what to do about this new and different relationship with the shy and average nerd. Ryuto sees this as a stroke of luck that he can't let slip through his hands. Even though he regretfully turned down the chance to have sex with her, he hopes they can build something meaningful instead, leaving intimacy to a more worthy point in their relationship. Now it's a matter of how to get closer when they have nothing on common. Runa is the typical gyaru type, more concerned with fashion and popularity than anything else around her. Ryuto is the typical inadequate otaku, who doesn't know the first thing about having meaningful interactions with people he doesn't trust let alone a beautiful girl.
On the surface this feels like a pandering story designed to be a fantasy for the loser male target audience. By the end of the first episode it shows a bit more depth than some vapid shonen romance series. The entire justification from Runa about her prior relationship sets her up as a unique female lead. She is not some innocent neighborhood figure, a stand in for a little sister/childhood friend. She has willingly dated many men and had sex with many of them as well. She is open and honest about her relationship past and why she has been willing to be that way. It comes from a place of understanding that may not be the most informed but she is honest in her intentions. She truly feels being close to someone is the best way to get to know them, believing that it allows them to be more honest and open to themselves. She is willing to be physical with her partners so easily due to her strong desire to please them. She feels that if their desires and needs are placed ahead of hers it will allow them to be more honest with her. Unfortunately, as one would expect, its led her to being used and ignored by a revolving door of terrible guys who only wanted her body. Ryuto, being the protagonist and stereotypical white knight otaku, provides that alternative relationship model to Runa, a model in which she is able to be her self and have her desires responded to.
The series does have its faults though. The main characters and everyone around them are literally caricatures of their identities. Runa is the ditsy girl who is only focused on fashion and loves to show off her curvy body. Ryuto is the otaku ideal of an otaku, understanding, patient, the good guy. Yet the word of 2-chan/4-chan show us that those 'good guy' nerds tend to lean into toxicity and contempt. Ryuto could easily be the fedora wearing incel who say's the hot chicks only fall for bad guys, instead of people like me. Yet, he doesn't get this chance to express this level of toxicity, he wins the nerd lottery and the idealized woman doesn't bat an eye when he asks her to go out with him. He isn't sure what to do, but unlike a lot of similar main characters, his indecisiveness doesn't last very long. He does pretty well to address misconceptions and, while not always immediately so, tends to be quite open with Runa. Runa also tends to be pretty vocal about her concerns and desires. One of the biggest strains on their continued relationship is Runa second guessing how long it will last for, given her track record is quite abysmal when it comes to the length of her relationships. Yet, even with it's more easily digestible tropes, it still checks off a lot of the rote themes, beach episode, firework and festival, school festival, cheating misunderstanding, etc. But, this was quite a bit more enjoyable than its ridiculous title would suggest. We are definitely seeing a more substantial shift in the narrative types in modern romance and it looks like we are going to keep seeing better stories.
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