I started out the day knowing I’d be doing two season finale posts for shows under the A-1 umbrella. If you’d told me neither would come with a sequel announcement, I’d have been very surprised. But the feeling with each is very different. No need to rehash the bleak depression of the Nigewaka situation again here. But with Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!, it truly is a matter only of when, not if. So not getting confirmation of a second season now is no big deal. Night and day situations emotionally.
Given all that – plus the fact that I don’t have quite the same emotional buy-in here – this was a low-stress finale for me. And to be honest, it was a pretty weak effort compared to most of the series. Not bad or anything, but pretty disconnected and lacking in narrative momentum. Original episodes of adapted anime are always a tricky matter. Even when, as here, they’re penned by the original author. Amamori Takibi created this ep specifically for the anime, and you can really tell. It plays more like an OVA than something that’s part of the main narrative.
The pretext here is that Yanami-san is getting hounded by middle school friends and eligible bachelors because the word is out that she and Nukumizu-kun aren’t actually dating. So the two of them cook up the idea of a fake date which they can document on social media to bolster the illusion that she’s actually got a beau. This eventually mushrooms into it being a “grown-up” date, around which Yanami concocts an elaborate fiction about her boyfriend being a successful businessman. But the grown-up date winds up being at a very teen place (amusement park-slash-natural history museum-slash-botanical garden) when Voyeur-sensei gives them some passes in the hopes of spying on some underage public foreplay.
I don’t think we need to dig too deeply into all that. It’s a pretty silly premise and I’m really not sure why Nuk-kun is playing along with all of it, but whatever. It’s just an excuse for a lot of Anna being Anna and comic cameos for everyone in the main cast. There are amusing bits, like Lemon-san thinking a triceratops skeleton was a kaijuu. And the bit with Sousuke and Karen making out with the same ice cream was pretty out there. But nothing here stands out too much in either direction. It’s fine.
What this ep does seem to confirm beyond any reasonable doubt is that Amamori is firmly in the Kazu-Anna camp as far as the shipping wars go. Which was already, you know, pretty obvious but this seems to cement it. As you may be aware I’m Team Lemon but not in the romance sense, just generally, so this is fine. Although it must be said that although I like both Nuk-kun and Yanami a lot, I don’t see a ton of romantic spark between them. Right now it seems like they’ll eventually start dating because the idea that it’s the next logical step will become irresistible to them. And being teenagers they might get physical just for the sake of stress release. But there’s work to be done to convince me there’s a real romance lurking here.
Amamori-sensei said in a recent interview that the two romcoms that most influenced him were Bokuyaba and Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Monday ga Aru. And while he might have included the latter just as a nod to his co-creator Imigi Muru, I think that tracks. If that’s how your taste runs it’s no shock you’re going to create something good, as Makeine indeed is. Those are two of the funniest and most charming romcoms around (both middle school-based, and that’s no coincidence), though Bokuyaba is orders of magnitude deeper as a relationship study. And I get echoes of both in the vibe with Makeine (above and beyond the main heroine being a food-loving girl named Anna Y., which now must be taken as a direct homage).
I’ve already said what I think has to happen in S2 (or at least eventually) for this series to prove itself to be really special and not just “great for a light novel”. Kazuhiko needs a heroine arc of his own. He needs to become a character who lives for himself and not just as a utensil and cheerleader for the three girls. He needs desires and dreams and romantic inclinations. In short, to become a fully realized person in his own right. I’ll be surprised if it happens to be honest, because as good as this series is I think the limitations of the medium it springs from will be too restrictive for it to truly transcend them.
It wouldn’t totally shock me to be wrong, though, because LN or no it’s clear that Makeine is pretty damn smart. Especially as a study of introverts and introversion but also as an examination of the emotional frailty of adolescents it’s written with a lot of insight and – yes – restraint (not so much that on the comedy side). This is certainly my favorite LN romcom in a long time (to be honest I can’t even think of the last one I really liked) and one of the real pleasant surprises of 2024. It’s also, it must be said, a truly gorgeous anime with a great sense of style and a ton of artistic ambition. I have no idea if the second season will be the next time in charge for rookie director Kitamura Shoutarou, a Hatakeyama Mamoru disciple, but he’s someone I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on.
Guy Thompson
September 29, 2024 at 6:05 pmThis last episode is probably a mandatory fan service extra, that could not be comfortably included into the main plot.
I’m unsure that there is a lot for Anna shippers from the author though, chemistry is indeed demonstrably lacking, which may be a point in itself: who knows how many date opportunities between the two LN future holds.
What I liked about the series apart from all the art style and composition is the number of unexpected anime-only hints and references. Even in this episode Lemon-like soft toy in Nukumizu room was half-obscured pointing at a different focus of the episode. Also it was funny to see vague references to fairy tales like in case of Komari in a carriage and Lemon inside a flower, but Anna didn’t follow the pattern and chose a toy car. Even the scene with Shikiya referenced one of the horror animes.
Anyway, thank you for the great coverage as usual and looking forward to season 2 episode reviews, agreeing that this is a matter of ‘when’.
Guardian Enzo
September 29, 2024 at 8:28 pmYou’re welcome. I think any notion of Lemon Water is the good ship wishful thinking, and TBF I don’t see any romantic chemistry there either (as I sad, she’s totally his gal pal). But it’ll be interesting to find out.
A fun series to cover. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering introversion over the years so it’s always nice to see a series tackle it thoughtfully.
Brian Guy
September 30, 2024 at 10:40 amWrt romantic chemistry, do keep in mind that all three losing heroines whose stories featured this season are still in various stages of the recovery process at this point; any conscious or overt displays of such affection, should they occur, would undoubtedly lie in the future. (As for unconscious developments… let’s just say the anime fumbled the ball on that in a way the source material made it easy not to.)
Nadavu
September 30, 2024 at 5:31 amThis show quickly became the season’s highlight for me (Komari’s confession at the end of episode 3 had sealed the deal). I think it shined particularly bright on three fronts: 1. Basically every character (except from the teachers, which don’t count) is a fundamentally good and caring person, 2. the show is genuinely funny, 3. It’s self aware of its LN-ness in just the right amount.
I think Tiara put it best when she asked, “Why do these stupid uniforms have four ribbons?!”
Brian Guy
September 30, 2024 at 11:10 amHave to admit my surprise that the other major influence cited was not Haruhi Suzumiya but the art club title, given the more outre whackiness of the latter vs. the somewhat more restrained dramedy-focused nature of the former and how they each stack up to the tone in Makeine. Not that I expect supernatural shenanigans or androids to show up in a title like this (or to waste half a season to prove a point), but it just seems to lean more toward one than the other.
Of course, the footprints of Norio-sensei are all over the place here and we’re blessed to have them.
Guardian Enzo
September 30, 2024 at 11:23 amI do see a similar tone in the humor with Konobi, though BokuYaba is clearly the biggest influence.
As I said in the post Imigi-sensei is the artist for the LNs and the character designer for the anime, and it may be that Amamori felt like he couldn’t not mention Kono Bijutsubu.
geha714
September 30, 2024 at 7:37 pmAgreed that Makeine was a pleasant surprise. Funny, engaging and joyful. It has one of the best supporting cast I’ve seen in a romantic high school amine in a while (I want a spin-off of the nurse/teacher duo ASAP). I really liked all the leads and overall the show didn’t felt like many other series of its kind. The last episode felt more like a OVA extra but it complemented the 11 previous eps well. My fingers crossed for a S2 but time will tell
Nicc
October 2, 2024 at 7:26 amOkay, so this is the actual season finale to this show, though it doesn’t really feel liken it. I agree with your sentiment that this episode could have been an OVA. It’s a fun bonus episode in a Blu-ray set, but it doesn’t come across as a finale. Incidentally, I use OVA episodes to test out how the dubs sound. All of the characters are introduced and established by then and so I can hear everybody at once how they sound in English.
Right, the premise is that since folks have figured out that Nukumizu and Yanami aren’t an item, she’s being asked out. The original plan to use Ayano didn’t pan out and so Nukumizu is up to bat. A little bit of blackmail persuades him to go with it… She’s going to cook up having a fake boyfriend, who becomes increasingly more high-spec as the episode goes along. Komari and Yakishio are also there as the third and fourth wheels in this fake date and off they go to this amusement park which seems to have everything. The tickets were courtesy of Konuki-sensei, who also handed them out to other students. So, there are rides, museum exhibits, shopping and eating (She’s eating on screen as often as Brad Pitt). Oh yeah, and making sure that’s all recorded too.
It’s not exactly a date for “grown-ups”, but everybody seems to be having a fun time. Except for Nukumizu, who seems to be mildly irritated the whole time.Two of the winning couples show up briefly too, including Hakamada and Himemiya who are somehow there too on the same day. If the two fo them willing to do that much out in public, how much of a show are they putting on in front of Yanami when she’s third-wheeling on their outings? The fake boyfriend angle is becoming a bit too convoluted (That, and she imagines another Karen taking away said fake boyfriend. Maybe Nukumizu was wearing that NTR shirt underneath) and so it ends like a proper fake date, I guess? I do think she likes him, but at the same time still clearly hasn’t gotten over Hamamada and Himemiya dating each other. I also don’t sense a spark between them yet either.
Perhaps a second season will address that. I also agree that Nukumizu needs an arc of his own to flesh out his character some more. If a heroine is required to tag along, how about alongside Kaju? This was one of the biggest surprises for me in the Summer season and I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I’m fairly certain there is more to come and thanks for your coverage for this series.
Guardian Enzo
October 2, 2024 at 8:02 amNot for me. I don’t want a whole creepy brocon arc. Besides then the whole thing would wind up being more about her than him.