21 June 2015: Ore Monogatari!! is about getting what you wish for
This is how Rinko sees Takeo all the time.
For years I've lamented the lack of anime romances wherein couples get together early on and spend the rest of the series developing their relationship. Typically, an anime "romance" will either be about unrequited love in the form of tsundere bullshit, or (more commonly) simply not commit at all. There is the occasional Kare Kano, but such shows are quite rare. Amazingly, the spring 2015 anime season gave us Ore Monogatari!!, a show which basically does everything I wished for all these years. And yet, perhaps predictably, it's still a little unsatisfying.
All the time.
Ore Monogatari!! (My Story!!) is about a gigantic, well-meaning, but somewhat thickheaded boy and a tiny, easily flustered girl who fall in love. Miraculously, they successfully declare their mutual attraction to each other thanks to the indefatigable assistance of Takeo's childhood friend and hall-of-fame wingman, "Suna" (Sunakawa Makoto). Subsequent episodes mostly feature humorous canned adventures between Takeo and Rinko as they continue to advance their romance despite consistent failures to communicate. Lucky for them, Suna's steady hand repeatedly prevents the couple from steering their chuck wagon of love off a cliff.
Takeo is very large.
Perhaps recognizing how incredible such fortune happens to be in Animestan, Ore Monogatari!! regularly exposes the lovebirds to ridiculous hazards. Because this isn't Saikano, Takeo and Rinko safely escape these perils each time, usually thanks to Takeo's prodigious strength. Each of these adventures serve to reinforce Rinko's intense physical attraction to the oblivious Takeo. Naturally, Takeo is dedicated to the Otaku Virtues and sees his first girlfriend from the purest viewpoint, because otherwise...we would probably end up with an entirely different sort of show.
Very large.
On paper, at least, Ore Monogatari!! should fall squarely into the It's-About-Damn-Time category and establish itself as the instant recommendation when someone asks for an anime romantic comedy. It may, in fact, still be that, but there is something unsatisfying about the Takeo x Rinko romance which prevents me from cheering for them as enthusiastically as I otherwise might. I think it's because Suna is the real hero of Ore Monogatari!!, given how much they rely on him. At least through 11 episodes, I feel the rewards for his efforts are inadequate. Dude's a saint.
