Welcome one and all to the worst fucking review you've ever seen. Why is this? Because it's... Halo and calidynd's first joint review!


Sasameki Koto is the first anime that we both found independently and decided to pick up. We were both expecting a simple shoujo-ai anime with in a high school setting. What we were not expecting was the quality of the animation and the depth of the characters. The two important characters that this anime revolves around are Murasame Sumika and Kazana Ushio.




Sumika is tall, dark, and handsome.



Ushio is OMG TOO CUUUUUUTE.


Basically, the plot is this: Sumika is secretly in love with Ushio. However, Ushio only likes KAWAII girls. This is very apparent in the first episode, where we see Ushio crushing on senpai.




Senpai doesn't actually have a name, but she's cute, so it's okay.


We loved the first scene of this episode, because Ushio's question of "Why can't girls like girls?" sparked the fire of yuri love in both of us. Unlike most yuri or shoujo-ai anime, we are made blatantly aware from the start (either by actual dialogue or actions) that both Sumika and Ushio are gay. This is a good contrast to animes like Strawberry Panic and Kannazuki no Miko, where the feelings seem to develop with no real recognition until things comes to a head.




I want to know why girls can't like girls toooooo!


While we find out Ushio's feelings fairly early on during the lunchtime scenes, Sumika's feelings only start to become apparent as the episode goes on. These come in scenes like the library scene where she has this... how should I put this?



STALKER MOMENT!


It's during this stalker moment that Sumika learns who it is that Ushio actually likes. At this point, the main plot of this episode comes to a head, and Sumika tells Ushio that it's never going to work. This is another refreshing aspect of this anime, that Sumika is enough of a realist to understand that this situation is going to end badly, "like it always does". This leads to a bit of a falling out between the two friends.




Her hair is long a pretty. Prettyyyy.


In an awful twist of fate, it turns out Sumika is actually correct in her assumptions. Not only does senpai not return Ushio's feelings, but the boy that senpai likes is actually crushing on Ushio as well, causing a huge unresolvable love triangle.



This leads to some UNDUE RESENTMENT.


Sumika finds Ushio in tears after senpai rejects her with some harsh and hateful words. While she was there to comfort Ushio at that moment in the library, the true reconciliation came later, as they were walking home. After a sweet reconciliation containing a sad, "I told you so," they were back to being friends again.




Can they kiss now too?


All in all, with the exception of the dismal (slow and boring) OP, this was a genuinely enjoyable experience. Not only did we get a cute (although at times somewhat depressing) story of love and friendship, we also got a very realistic, and pretty, take on these themes.


Halo's rating: 9/10
calidynd's rating: 9/10


Resounding: 9/10


FYI: For the first ep, there's actually an option that's NOT Crunchyroll lameness like Horriblesubs. Go find it. It's worth it.


Total time to write this review: 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Average time for single person review: 25 minutes


- Halo & calidynd


Mamiko Noto: No