Overview:
Also known as My Love Story, Ore Monogatari follows Takeo as he starts high school and for the first time ever finds a girl who likes him back. The series follows Yamato and Takeo as they work through their first romance and occasionally try to help out their friends.
Review:
Ore Monogatari is a romance anime but it focusses very much on the males viewpoint. However, given the nature of the male, I can only assume the intended audience were females who are already fans of shoujo anime given Takeo freaks out at holding hands and tells his girlfriend he won’t kiss her until Autumn of their third year of high school (though that changes) and that’s about as far as anything physical in this romance is going in this anime. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s a perfectly sweet story, but despite Takeo’s size and sporting prowess, I’m thinking he isn’t exactly the most relatable male protagonist romance has every constructed.
I really enjoy this anime and it became one of my favourite binge anime almost immediately after it finished airing. It’s sweet and easy going. Each episode focusses on some problem or issue that the characters overcome in some way but there isn’t an awful lot of drama. The most dramatic moment probably comes fairly early in the season when Yamato’s friends are overheard trash-talking Takeo and Yamato runs away. When Yamato and Takeo come back, the building is on fire and two of Yamato’s friends are trapped inside. Takeo saves them but is then trapped himself. This ends after a phone call that informs Takeo that Yamato is going to go inside the building and so he escapes and bursts out through a second story window with flames billowing as he launches himself into a tree.
Not realistic, but certainly entertaining.
Other than these few moments of action and drama, most of the tension comes from the character’s having to confront their feelings about different situations. Most of this is funnelled through Takeo’s perception, but that isn’t really a problem because Takeo is known for not being the brightest bulb so people tend to carefully explain things to him.
The relationship between Takeo and Yamato proceeds fairly typically. We have Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Birthday’s, and all the usual occasions. Each one passes fairly innocuously but we continue to see the two become closer and understand a little bit more about each other. I did like the beach trip as for once it wasn’t the girl getting stared at but the guy (by the mother’s of the other kids at the beach), which was a change from the norm.
The opening theme is great. As a song it is so-so, but it kind of captures the overall spirit of the anime and watching it you can really feel the main characters.
Which leads us to the last thing I want to mention: Suna. Takeo’s next door neighbour and best friend. He is a great supporting character and actually the most emotional moments in the story tend to focus on him. Early on we learn that he has turned down every girl who has ever asked him out because they said mean things about Takeo behind his back. He’s also the one who get’s Takeo and Yamato over their initial misunderstandings so that they can actually date. His father’s hospitalization gives us one of the more nail-biting episodes. My favourite moment with Suna though comes in the third last episode of the series. A girl who has liked him for a very long time confesses and while he doesn’t dislike her (so does not reject her outright as he has every other girl before) she realises that he doesn’t actually like her and that kind of breaks her heart. Her conclusion is that Suna loves Takeo though it is ambiguous if she means as a friend or something more. All and all, Suna is what takes this show from being watchable and kind of enjoyable to fairly memorable.
Clearly, this anime isn’t really doing all that much different other than the male lead, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s a sweet romance and fun to watch and a great way to spend an afternoon.
What did you think of Ore Monogatari?
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Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
Ashamed to say that I’m still only about 3/4 episodes in this series. But even that early on I can agree that Suna is a great character and perhaps even more subversive that Takeo himself. In any case, you’ve given me the kick up the butt to get on and finish the series. Cheers!
Hope you enjoy the final episodes.
I do want to watch the show , but I cringe at the image of Takeo’s size vs. yamato’s. . My brain is rejecting the image.
Damn, now I really have to watch this, I love when there’s strong friendship or hints of shounen-ai *_*
Plus I like that he isn’t conventional MC in terms of body, face or attitude!
I usually stay well away from romance anime buuuut this one sounds interesting. I think I’ll give it a go. One day.
(For some reason, I’ve stopped receiving alerts of your posts. I re-subscribed so hopefully it’ll sort itself out.)
There’s probably no rush on this one. The story isn’t exactly break through. But, if you ever are feeling like something chill with a sweet romance, this one should definitely be the pick.
It is a really sweet series and although I like Takeo and Yamato, my favourite character is Suna. He is so supportive and a true friend, who unfortunately for him (hilarious for me) was even used to practise kissing. I will never forget that scene.
Nice review 🙂
I loved that scene and how Suna remembers it later on when Takeo seems to be about to ask for another favour. So funny.
I skimmed this review as I have yet to watch it and wanted to avoid spoilers. I’m trying to get my wife to watch this since she loves romance anime but she’s avoided this one so far. As long as it’s a sweet story I’m sure she’ll be on board.
Hope you enjoy watching it.
I wanna watch this before but never had the time… Hopefully I can watch this in the future. Nice review dood!
Have not seen the anime, but I have been reading the manga. Your review seems on point, it is a very sweet story. Although for me, sometimes it gets a little too sweet…. the number of timnes Takeo says I love you to Yamato is way too frequent and gets cringy at times. And yes, Suna is pretty great!
Yeah, it does get a little too sweet sometimes but there’s usually enough humour in the episode to keep it from becoming tedious.
suna is best character
A little on the spoiler-y side this time. Hopefully by the time I watch the show I’ll forget about ’em. Nice review.