Gotoubon no Hanayome - Worth Your Time?

Hello everyone, Thomas here, AKA StarManOfAtmora! I recently received the position of editor and writer here on Meganime, and I couldn't be more excited. I've been writing about anime for a while now, but the thought of my writing appearing on someone else's website... It's pretty surreal to think about. But enough rambling about me, let's talk anime. More specifically, this seasons most popular harem show and the 8th most popular overall, Gotoubun no Hanayome.

Gotoubon no Hanayome is a 12 episode currently airing harem show. It's produced by Tezuka Productions and the director for the series is Kuwahara Satoshi, who, apart from having worked on a lot of Osamu Tezuka IP's, hasn't really done that much. He's done storyboards and been an episode director on a lot of different shows. Well, he's done a lot, but not that much notable stuff. Still though, interesting work. The seiyuu are more prolific, with Yoshigitsu Matsuoka (who voiced Bell from 'Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka' and Teruki from 'Mob Psycho 100') and Ayane Sakura (who has voiced Ochako from 'Boku no Hero Academia' and Arisa from 'Love Live School Idol Project') both having roles in the main cast.

So, it's a harem. But what's it about? Well, the story is simple as always. The main character, Uesugi, has a family who's racked up a lot of debt. Because of this, they're obviously pretty poor, which has caused him to dedicate himself entirely to studying. One day, he gets an offer to be a tutor for five girls, and you can see where this is going. It's nothing revolutionary, though it probably didn't need to be either.

One thing which is quite weird about the show, is the character designs. The girls all have the same body type. They're all basically the same height with the same breast size. While I haven't really watched any other harem anime, even I understand that the point of it even being a harem is so the characters can look diverse. So that the viewer can pick and choose which character he/she likes the best. But apart from hair style and colour... they all look exactly the same. This is even used in a few jokes in the show, but simply recognizing that your show has a problem doesn't make it go away. Now this entire thing can probably be blamed on the artist for the original manga this show is based on instead, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem.

But enough beating around the bush, how is the show? Well, it's kinda meh. I've been watching it weekly, and while it's kind of underwhelming at times, I really enjoy the art style and characterization. All the personalities feel varied and distinct, and most of the jokes I found to be pretty funny. Now this ain't no Evangelion, but for a 6/10 seasonal, this is as good as they come. I've certainly enjoyed my time with the show, but there are a few things I would like to see improved upon:

1. More varied body types

It's 2019, and all the girls are tall with big breasts!? Come on, get with the times! Not one of the five have a flat chest, or is short, where's the loli? I'd even take a mildy chubby character! I don't dislike the body type the characters have, but some more variation would be nice

2. More characterization for the dad

The five girls do have a dad, and he barely gets any screentime. He's been in a few phone calls with some of the characters, and that's about it. I need more, damn it! He's literally just a shadow with a voice, I don't even know his eye colour! There are already so many good dad's in anime, and I don't think one more would hurt.

3. More characterization

"HUH? But you already said the show has good characterization?" Yep, and it sure does. Their personalities and interests are well defined and I never feel like a character does something they wouldn't do. But you know what I would like? MORE. I want them to have more than just one or two interests. Right now they feel a bit too much like characters, and not nearly enough like people.

Well, those were my thoughts on 'Gotoubon no Hanayome'. All in all, I think it's a pretty average 6/10 show. It has a lot of strengths, but glaring problems such asthe almost copy paste look of the character designs, one note personalities and mediocre production values make this really only worth watching if you're into this one body type. The voice work is good, but it feels a bit to generic and none of the seiyuu really stand out. But all in all, I enjoy my time watching and I will definitely complete watching it. What did you think? Is it as good as i said it is? Or is it complete trash? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

I'm really looking forward to continue doing work here on Meganime :)