Title: Koikimo
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Where and When: Crunchyroll on Mondays at 7:45 am CDT
Synopsis: One rainy day, salaryman Amakusa Ryo is saved by a high school girl he doesn’t know at the station. He later finds out that the girl is Arima Ichika. Ryo is somewhat of a womanizer and to repay her for saving him, he suggests giving her a kiss or going out on a date with her, in which Ichika tells him he’s creepy. This, however, opens a new door for Ryo and he falls madly in love with her. Ever since then, Ryo tries to overly express his feelings to Ichika. Ichika just keeps insulting him and says he’s being creepy, but he just seems to take it as her way of showing affection towards him. (Credit: https://www.crunchyroll.com/koikimo)
Chalk this up to another show that I had no intention of watching. Thankfully, Rugjen and I will watch the first episode of just about any show. I am 100% glad that we clicked play on this one.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
If you’re a fan of formulaic romantic comedies, this would be right up your alley. There isn’t anything that stands out about this show, but that isn’t a bad thing. I’ve mentioned this many times before. I don’t mind a show using “the formula”. Sometimes, you need the show to be predictable and cute.
Koikimo definitely fits that bill.
Our male protagonist, Ryo, is a womanizer. He’s been smart, talented, and good-looking his entire life and he’s grown into a pattern of closing off his heart and becoming a cold, distant version of himself. He’s a successful salaryman, but living a pretty empty life. On his way to work, he was exhausted from a long night with a woman. He gets bumped and almost falls down the stairs, but is saved by our female protagonist, Ichika. Seeing that he was pale, she quickly throws her bento at him and rushes to school.
When he comes home later that night, Ichika is in his home. By chance, Ichika happens to be his little sister’s classmate and friend.
In return for saving his life, he offers his body to Ichika which she quickly gives him a piece of her mind and calls him weird. Something stirs in Ryo and he is captivated by this high school girl who was kind, yet, direct and not afraid to speak her mind.
What ensues is Ryo being overly affectionate and making high school life hard for Ichika. We get to see the relationship between Ryo and his younger sister heal a bit due to this mutual friendship.
I laughed. A. LOT.
Again, the dynamic is nothing new. We have the male protagonist pursuer and the female protagonist doing everything in her power to refuse his advances, but it works. Their interactions are wholesome and adorable. Ryo is like an adorable puppy and you get this delightful sincerity in his actions. On the other hand, you have this awkward high school girl who doesn’t exactly know what to do with those emotions.
I feel that this show has a lot of potential. At the time of this blog entry, we’re on week four of this show. If you just want to smile and laugh, give this one a go.
Filthy Casual for Life 