Giji Harem

Here's why you should watch Pseudo Harem:
1. Hayami Saori
- If you're a fan of her, you will definitely enjoy this one. The role she's playing has her utilizing her talent in every corner, so you get to hear every kind of voice aside from the renowned soft-spoken tone you'd hear from her usual roles. Not to mention having her character being an actress, you would get an endless amount of talent just oozing in every second of her screentime. Let's not forget the other guys as well, they do well to commend the character and help make Rin stand out as well.

2. Just Cute
- Like ... the many roles her characters have to strap into, you get many scenarios with the main couple that are enjoyable to watch for romance fans. Blushing, rizzing main heroine endlessly, holding hands out of nowhere, or getting close, it's the whole package for your romance delicacy.

Biggest Downside of Pseudo Harem:
No Build-up/Storytelling
- The anime is only interested in showing you cute scenes and has no actual scenario creation. There's no plot cohesion either, so you're constantly jumping from one cute scene to another without proper build-up or connection between scenes. It may seem like a plus for not having your romance being sidetracked by the other plot, but the lack of plot means there is no chance for character development except for cute moments or random drama it sometimes throws once in a while.

Other than that, you get an experience equivalent to getting diabetes. As much as I would appreciate the anime having storytelling, think of it as a large dose of sugar sweetness that keeps going nonstop without a break. It's a good ride, try it if you want to.

Thank you for reading.

There's some bits I like. Both Saori Hayami and Nobuhiko Okamoto are great and carry the whole show. The art and animation are fine and the ED is really good! But other than that it's all over the place. Main girl Rin is in love with MC for no apparent reason, it's as if they skipped that part entirely.

It feels incredible rushed! So far they went for all the classic rom-com tropes: christmas date, new years date, going to the boy's house and taking care of him while he has a fever and THAT WAS ALL IN EPISODE 2!!! The pacing is akward and it's ... just weird how it unfolds.

I'd love if they took some time to let things breath and develop at a normal pace but so far nope. Might want to skip this one!

I wanted to give Hayami Saori every chance to continue her absolutely virtuoso performance in this series. But I am getting the impression that even her prestigious talents aren't going to keep this one afloat.

Sure started out well. The first three episodes were cute as hell, and well written to take advantage of the main plot gimmick. But sadly things decended into romcom trope and cliche hell in eps 4-6. The writers completely crushed whatever goodwill they had mustered up to that point.

The artwork is nothing special to start off with, although in the first couple eps, it was cute enough. But in ... eps 4-6 it falls off. But not as badly as the animation. OMG, by ep 6 it was down to Saturday Morning Cartoons bad. Budget cuts definitely slamming this production hard.

I've already raved about Hayami-san. The MMC's VA is pretty good too, and is a good foil for the FMC. Any other characters are meh. I think these two are saving the director from looking completely incompetant.

I wish these characters and voice cast were getting the writing support they deserve. Where this series started out a B+, the grade has slid to an uninspired C+ 78/100. There is nothing phoney about that. If not for Hayami-san, this would be into the D range. But I'll keep watching, because her talent is so amazing.