And what a smorgasbord of soulmates it is. Talls and smols. Americans. Rentaro’s actual cousin…honestly, I’m surprised it took him this long to date a blood relative.

One other escalation I’ve noted this season for 100 GFs is that it seems even more marinated in metahumor and fourth-wall-breaking than before. Perhaps that’s a natural consequence of its escalations. It needs to strive for more unreality if it has any hope of hitting that mythical number of 100.

And it also means its outlandish standards will be able to keep all other harem romance anime honest. Another reason we need 100 Girlfriends (the show, I do not need one hundred actual girlfriends).

All’s to say I’m very happy for the vocal fans of Polar Opposites that their GOAT is back, and reminds me I should properly check this one out sooner rather than later.

This was one that Coop and Lucas mentioned in their roughly reviewed roundup, and it’s not hard to see how it wound up down there. The whole time I watched this first episode, I felt like I was poking the show with a stick, urging it to do something.

It’s sort of like…well honestly, it’s more like the sort of polite, understanding reaction you might give in real life upon finding out one of your guy friends grew up to be a girl. That might work if Oh Boy could engage with that premise. Or any premise. But it doesn’t! It just lies there!

Yeah, this one looks bad too. Not a surprise it got dragged the way it did. On that note, I guess we can get the other dishonorable mention out of the way too.

The main thing The Duke’s Son Claims He Won’t Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration aligns with Boy Was I Wrong on is demonstrating the adage that the worst show isn’t an outright bad one, but a really boring one.

As you say, this brings up the uncertainty with collating things under the “romcom” label for this column. I threw The Duke’s Son on since it seemed like it might fit the bill at description, but in practice there’s no “comedy” to it (or any feelings, really, for that matter)! Similarly, there are a bunch of other anime that are nominally “romance” airing this season that don’t really seem to click in the comedy category either. Things like Sparks of Tomorrow, Though I Am an Inept Villainess, and I Want to Love You Til Your Dying Day (the last one meaning we miss a yuri entry this season, dang).

And here I thought the isekai roundup was the one that tested genre definitions.

Even apart from that classically taboo subject matter, Please Excuse My Younger Brothers is sauced up by just being more expressive than the last couple of shows we looked at. Ito is a font of fun reactions to this otome-game premise she’s been drafted into.

And yeah, Please Excuse My Younger Brothers gets the step-sibling romance fundamentals right (I can’t believe I get to type that sentence) by showing how a functional familial connection works as a baseline. Like Ito, I spent all episode trying to figure out what Gen’s deal was before his genuine sweetness was made clear.

It’s basic, but it’s a well-executed basic, and it plays off the point that the two of them are more alike than they realized. You know, in a way that could facilitate a romantic connection?

Want to talk about Boy Was I Wrong‘s stock character designs? I’m not convinced that Rich Girl Caretaker didn’t start as someone’s Kirito/Asuna AU fic.

She’s honestly kinda terrible, and I can’t believe I find myself saying this, not in a way that made her endearing to me.

Also, I’m reasonably sure that Hinako doesn’t need a caretaker; she just has depression and needs therapy. You could probably buy a lot of that with a trillion-yen company.

Also, unlike the Kirito/Asuna knockoff, Hanaori-san actually is an isekai (of the “reverse” variety, specifically), making it the irregular crossover title in our seasonal roundups.

In a fight, of course.

Truly an intangible appeal.

Meanwhile, speaking of how some shows were treated, I could use a smoke break as we get close to the end here.

One of those where I wasn’t quite sure how the premise would sustain a full series (and I can absolutely see where they were able to chop it up into smoke-break-sized mini-episodes), but yeah, this is a show with legs.

I saw how some of y’all reacted to Larry Pokémon.

I could get on Sasaki for not being able to tell they’re the same person, but hey, maybe he’s got face blindness. I can relate. At least he didn’t get her entire gender wrong, like some people in this column.

I am taking points off for the fact that there’s going to be someone in this show who vapes, though.

Ah. Ms. Ayana.

Just the sound of Hikari Senga‘s evocative anime-girl wail alongside the kaiju roar when she transforms is a brilliant touch that sells the appeal of this monster-girl angst.

It immediately commits itself to the thesis of the story: how everyone, even an “actual monster,” still deserves the opportunity to be loved for who they are.

And to be sure, I think that’s a great thing. It’s a valuable point that’s heartening to hear for a lot of people. And I love how it lets Kuroe and Minami bond over their shared appreciation of each other for who they are.

Like part of me thought it might be kind of trite, but by the end of the first date, I really was positively squeeing over these two. Or whatever it is the kids do these days.

But this is why I trust Yuniko Ayana to handle the adaptational writing of some freaks (complimentary). Also, just the general pacing of the first episode. This is a writer who we know understands the time to spend on setting an emotional baseline before all the shoe-dropping hits.

I’m not trying to say that funny faces are an essential element of a good romcom, but they have been a component of all the premieres I’ve liked out of this batch, sooo…