“Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie” is a currently ongoing anime with 7 episodes, one being a 6.5 episode which involves the voice actors reacting to the first episode. Its original source material, the manga, is also still ongoing with 11 volumes available. 

The show has amazing visuals and a beautiful color palate. Its voice acting is great and the music accompanying each episode is just as good as the art.

Each episode features a scene where Shikimori shows off for Izumi and it is played off amazingly each time. A certain uplifting and motivational orchestra will play in the background while the animation becomes fluid. It’s a perfect way to capture a heart pounding moment and does just that each time.

“Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie” follows Izumi, the main character, and Shikimori, his girlfriend. They can also be seen accompanied by their friend group, Nekozaki, Inuzuka, and Hachimitsu. 

The anime itself is a high school romance comedy with a twist. 

Izumi is a very unlucky person and can get hurt very easily, yet his girlfriend, Shikimori, always protects him from getting injured in any way. The high jinks range from kicking a large sign board away that threatened to fall on him to punching an eraser that nearly hit his head.

The other twist it puts the two characters in is having Shikimori seen as the “prince” type of character rather than a “princess.” 

There are multiple instances where the characters will fawn over her, male and female. Izumi also calls her cool and awesome a handful of times while sprinkling a few comments about her cute moments as well.

Izumi is put into more of a damsel character and it shows. Though, he does have those few times where he acted as a good supporting boyfriend.

With all of this, you’d think the anime would be the next rising star of this season, however there are a few problems that this anime has that keeps it from becoming that.

Despite the interesting concept of the story, it’s proven to be a romantic comedy more than its twist. It’s original in its own way, but still turns out to have the typical romance clichés you’d see in any other type of rom-com.  While it does have its moments, the times where it didn’t, made me want to stop watching entirely. 

This anime is definitely better left into the hands of the watcher. 

If you like the rom-com trope and all the clichés it brings, this is a great anime for you to check out since it brings something slightly new to the table. If you’re just there to see the twist they spun on it, then you’d better have some patience. 

This anime is good, maybe even great, but not amazing.