Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and the Inexperienced Me (2023)

[経験済みなキミと、経験ゼロなオレが、お付き合いする話。]

Director: Hideaki Oba
Studio: ENGI
Starring: Natsuki Hanae, Saori Onishi, Aoi Koga
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A boy asks out popular girl on a dare and is surprised to find that she accepts, but their difference in experience and expectations lead to complicated relationship.

Impressions:
I gave this a shot because the character designs looked nice, and spoiler alert: that's about the only good thing I've got to say about this trainwreck. I saw some promise with the premise. You've got an introverted virgin pairing up with a girl who's only had physical relationships up until now and there's this uneasy balance of the guy keeping his hormones in check as they try to have an emotionally fulfilling relationship with both sides dealing with the hangups particular to their respective backgrounds. That's perfectly workable, and it even gives a reasonable excuse for the usual loser male lead in these romcoms. However, I quickly came to hate the characters. Not just the leads. All the characters. Everyone's trash in one way or another and any potential this series had gets wasted in short order. I particularly found the character of Maria frustrating because she's so thoroughly unlikable but doesn't really have to do anything for reconciliation. At very least, they could've played up her twisted nature and made the most of having cast Aoi Koga in the role and entertained us, but no such luck. I could tear down the rest of the cast, but it'd be a waste of my time and yours. Even if the first few eps draw you in, you'll hate it by the end. So, in the end, the nice character designs are all I can complement and even those are just slightly above average. There's not nearly enough meritable to warrant a watch and I strongly encourage you to spare yourself the annoyance and pass on this.

Rating:
Avoid It