Review - My Love Story!! (Ore Monogatari!!)

My Love Story!! is a feel good anime romantic comedy directed by Morio Aska at Madhouse and is based on the hit manga series of the same name.

My Love Story!! follows Gouda Takeo, a first year high school student who, despite his kind and caring attitude, has no luck at all with girls. To make matters worse for Takeo, all the girls are only interested in the popular Matoko Sunakawa, who also happens to be his longtime best friend. The story really sets into motion when the unlikely duo are on their daily commute and see a man harassing a girl on the train, causing Takeo to take action and ultimately being arrested for his roughness. While taking matters into his own hands didn’t go down well with the authorities, it certainly caught the attention and iration of the victim, Rinko. She and Takeo begin exchanging messages and Rinko brings him baked goods to say thank you for his bravery. Takeo begins to fall for Rinko but quickly he starts to believe that she is only spending time with him to get to know Sunakawa.

The scenes leading up to Takeo learning the truth were both heartwarming and heartbreaking as we hear his thoughts and feelings through somber monologues, where he thinks a lot about past resection and how he wants to be there for Sunakawa and Rinko’s “new relationship”. It’s clearly breaking his heart but he still wants to see his best friend and the girl he loves happy, so he goes to all sorts of lengths to try to get them together. It’s at this point I began to really care for the character of Takeo, he is completely selfless in his actions and always puts others before himself – even those who judge and pick on him for his looks. Once Takeo learns the truth the two quickly blossom their romance and the story takes off with them together, getting better and better by the episode.

Simply put – this show really surprised me, well and truly. I was honestly expecting some long drawn out story about them liking each other and not getting together until the end but they really got straight to the point. It really was a welcome setup for me personally as I’ve watched a few romance anime that’s full of filler until two characters finally get together and the story ends or continues, either way it’s a drag to watch and often I end up falling away from it entirely or for at least for a while. It’s also worth mentioning that while My Love Story!! takes time to show just how loved-up Takeo and Rinko are as a couple, it doesn’t get old and in fact it’s often funny. Their relationship is depicted as pure and innocent as high school romances should be and was one that certainly made me smile throughout. Takeo and Sunakawa’s bromance style relationship is also another strongpoint of the show. The two have such a strong bond from over the years that they have developed a deep and meaningful understanding of each other that shows many times over the course of 24 episodes.

My Love Story!! is a beautifully animated romantic comedy from Madhouse that leaves you wanting more and more. Those uninterested in romance need not apply, but I recommend highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a sweet romantic light-hearted story.

My Love Story!! (Ore Monogatari!!!) will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD from June 5th 2017.