Just Because Review — A-

Angsty teenagers awkwardly fall in love.

Darn, this was good. It really captures what it feels like to graduate high school and move onto college, and brought back a lot of memories for me. Anime often cover this period of life, but they don’t really think about the separation that will ensure or what the future holds. Instead, they tend to focus on people making new friends and all having a great time right until the graduation ceremony, where the show cuts off. Just Because, instead, emphasizes the sense of inevitable loss and separation that everyone knows is coming. And it’s much more true to life for it. (Or at least, it matched my experience.)

I love how Just Because captures the messiness of relationships. None of these kids are able to communicate their feelings with one another. More importantly,  they aren’t even sure what their feelings are in the first place. They’re filled with uncertainty and self-doubt as everyone just flails around and tries their best, screwing up  over and over again. And through all this, they grow and come to find themselves, at least a little bit. For me, the highlight of the show was Eita and Mio’s relationship. Throughout the show, they mostly treat each other like shit. And yet… you really come to see why they like each other, and why they’re a good match. They deserve each other (in the worst way, and also, in the best way).

This was one of the best romance anime ever made.

  • Storytelling – A – Stupendous.
  • Voice – A – Consistent, unique feel. Great thematically.
  • Characters – A – Wow.
  • Attention Grab – A – Each episode flew by.
  • Production – C – Art left much to be desired. But still managed to capture its own style.
  • Overall – A-

Recommendations – Tsuki ga Kirei, True Tears, Kimikiss Pure Rouge

2 thoughts on “Just Because Review — A-

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *