Seiren

Although an anime original project, its omnibus format of different arcs each focusing on a specific heroine and character design style make “Seiren” a spiritual successor of sorts to “Amagami SS”. Considering I enjoyed “Amagami SS”, was looking forward to this new romantic comedy.

Unfortunately, the first arc of “Seiren” that focused on feisty heroine Tsuneki Hikari was regrettably disappointing. Boasting a wimpy male lead character may be normal for this genre, but the character interactions, romance plot and dialogue where all subpar compared to similar shows. Especially the arc’s confession scene suffered from some jarring directing inconsistencies that made this pivotal scene and the story’s conclusion all feeling poorly executed.

While this type of romantic comedy anime usually bring little in the way of original content, compelling stories or interesting characters, some do offer a genuinely enjoyable viewing experience and am afraid that “Seiren” will fail to do so.

Even though “Seiren” could redeem itself in the upcoming arcs focusing on Toru and Kyouko, doubt it will get better considering that Hikari was very obviously advertised as the most popular and appealing girl of the three. No doubt she is this show’s equivalent of Haruka from “Amagami SS”, but sadly Hikari & Shouichi fall short as individual characters and the pair’s chemistry is severely lacking compared to Haruka & Junichi.

Those of you who like the typical anime high school romantic comedies may enjoy “Seiren”, however I recommend watching shows like “Amagami SS” or “KimiKiss: Pure Rouge” instead.
You can watch “Seiren” on Crunchyroll.