I am honestly unsure what to make of Anyway, I’m Falling in Love With You.
The series begins with Mizuha as an adult feeling dejected about her work in manga and unmotivated because nothing has happened to her in her life. Seeing a teenage girl with four teenage boys she then has a flashback to her own time as a teenager with her four male friends. As a teenager she is dejected because her birthday has been forgotten by her family, a pandemic is cancelling most school events, and her crush rejects her. But her four guy friends throw her a surprise party and then one of them, Kizuki Hazawa, says he loves her.
Now Kizuki is a heart throb to most of the school girls but Mizuha sees him as her most child-like friend even though he seems very intense through most of the episode. He confesses his love to her and she believes it is a joke. The other three friends know he is serious and subtly try to get her to understand. It all ends with a declaration by Kizuki to Mizuha that since she doesn’t believe he will have to make her fall in love with him.
With the set-up it seems to be her deciding what to make of her friend now liking her; it left me uncertain where it was going. The other three friends aren’t really well defined yet but seem to know Kizuki’s feelings and did not appear to want Mizuha as a girlfriend themselves, but I am unclear of their role overall. Kizuki also didn’t leave much of an impression beyond being a swimmer and knowing when he was younger wanting Mizuha to stay with him when he was sick. He was just very intense and obviously dedicated to getting Mizuha but I am uncertain if I felt much desire to root for him. His declaration felt creepy, and maybe they are going for a more alpha male/alpha jerk romance, which could work depending on how they go forward.
Also, starting with Mizuha as an adult was a strange choice, implying that whatever happened here didn’t leave a lasting impact on her, and took away a lot of the mystery of their potential relationship. Maybe it makes her seek him out as an adult or maybe they are together and she is now just thinking about their relationship in a new way. Yet Mizuha in the past seemed really indifferent to Kizuki and into her crush, not an all-encompassing love or anything. In fact he was kind of like Kizuki, a strong quiet type, just not her long time friend.
I am left with a lot of questions about where Anyway, I’m Falling in Love With You will go, mainly because it was so open-ended and not clear what the story is. Obviously, with one episode not everything should be spelled out but it just didn’t give me that much to think about. I had no reason to root for Kizuki to win her over, and that left me without a major hook to keep watching. The ideas this show could pursue could make it very interesting. I just wish they started us out on a stronger footing.
Anyway, I’m Falling in Love With You airs on Crunchyroll on January 6 on Crunchyroll.
