I think at this point we can assess Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta on its own merits to, say, about an 85% level.  That is, that’s what remains of the GoHands effect.  We’re not fully clear – there are still some weird rotoscoping shots every week, and Kaede’s character is just a little misaligned from what he should be.  But on balance that’s a lot less than I feared – expected, frankly – and it does allow one to address the criticisms of the material itself, rather than the adaptation.

When looking at romcoms, one way I think you can tell the really great ones apart is that they don’t need a “hook”.  BokuYaba, for example – it pretends to have one, then subverts it by the 10th chapter.  Obviously The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses has a hook, and it that sense it’s more like something akin to Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san.  Or Komi-san, or Kubo-san, Tonari no Sek-kun, even Aharen-san.  These hook series certainly have a broad range of quality, and some of them are quite wonderful, but they do rely on that crutch than something like BokuYaba or Tsuki ga Kirei doesn’t need.

Now, that said, I do think some of the criticism of the hook in this series’ case is over the top.  As Kaede says himself, it’s not like Ai forgets her glasses every day.  It’s just that the days she remembers them (which is most of them), we don’t have much of a story.  The narrative here is from Komura-kun’s perspective, and it’s like a “best of” compilation.  Most of the best days for him are when she forgets the glasses, because then she depends on him.  He even feels guilty about feeling that way, but it is what it is.  Of course Mie-san sends plenty of signals she likes him well beyond his role as a service animal, but he’s a 13 year-old boy – come on.  Anime fans being irritated that 13 year-old boys lack emotional intelligence is way more irritating than the characters’ lack of it.

This series does grow beyond the hook (trust me).  And some of the logical solutions do get addressed directly.  But for now, it is what it is – and for me, it’s very enjoyable based on my affection for the characters.  Kaede’s manic side is overplayed in the anime, but his over-analytical nature makes a fun contrast with her total artlessness.  We get some of the usual romcom tropes here – the indirect kiss, for example.  But the subtext is always charming.  I liked the bit with the poster, for example, with Azuma-kun effortlessly trumping Kaede but that turning into an excuse for Ai to declare her affection for him.  And besides, Azuma’s wingman status is irrefutable at this point (nicely played with the nurse’s office).

Another enjoyable bit was Ai’s “Mori, mori, mori, mori”, because Kanji is so freaking hard for middle schoolers even if they aren’t half-blind.  I like the fact that she can laugh at herself like that – again, there’s just no pretension to the girl at all.  That’s followed up by the cloud sequence, where Kaede risks the teacher’s wrath by snapping pictures of the heart in question so Ai can see them later.  It’s worth noting that at every Japanese junior high school I know of, the students are forbidden to bring phones – but that never seems to stop manga and anime…

Ai once more shows her affection for Kaede when she forgets her glasses in the bathroom (that’s sort of a moral victory).  Classmate Someya-san finds them, and recruits Komura-kun to return them (not so much as an assist but laziness, I think).  She teasingly plants them on his head, and as you’d expect Mie-san has one hell of a strong prescription.  The resulting disorientation causes Kaede to execute an unintentional kabedon, which strongly commands Ai’s attention when she hears his name.  I don’t think Ai herself is even aware of her feelings at this point – she just acts reflexively, and occasionally blurts out what she feels without thinking of the implications.

Finally, we have the spare glasses.  It’s a hell of an honor to be chosen to help someone choose glasses, as Kaede is only too aware.  Unfortunately he’s so much in love that she’s pretty much incapable of looking bad to him in any of them,  which makes him useless as an assistant (which he feels badly about).  But in the end his unconditional approval does prove very useful – it gives her license to pick whichever spare frames she wants (namely, the same as her main pair).  Of course she falls asleep in them and breaks them on the very first night, but as is so often the case with these two, it’s the thought that counts.