Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose (2021)

[幼なじみが絶対に負けないラブコメ]

Director: Takashi Naoya
Studio: Doga Kobo
Starring: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Inori Minase, Ayane Sakura
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
When a former child actor learns the girl he has a crush on already has a boyfriend, his childhood friend helps him plot revenge, but she has an ulterior motive for helping him.

Impressions:
I went into this series based on the title alone as the childhood friend rarely wins in Japanese romcoms. Then I learned that the gimmick is sort of like Nisekoi where all three of the main love interests are childhood friends of the protagonist. I was annoyed, but then the revenge plot blew up and I thought the fallout might be interesting. I was wrong. This only narrowly ranks above KanoKari in that I don't find Sueharu as despicable as Kazuya from that series. (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka hamming it up also helps.) Kuroha quickly loses sympathy and never gets it back. Shiro and Momo are only marginally better. In fact, all the shenanigans left me rooting for no one and I just wanted the series to end. (Naturally, it has to be frustrating to the very end.) I started watching this series because I was hoping to subvert the usual nonsense I hate in bad Japanese romcoms, but this is just as bad as any, to the point where I'm seriously considering abandoning the subgenre. (It's only because there is the occasional diamond in the dungheap that I don't commit to the idea.) In summary, this was a miserable experience that I don't recommend to anyone. The only things going for it are the appealing character designs and Matsuoka's performance (and there are better examples of the latter to be had). Give this one a hard pass.

Rating:
Avoid It