When Will Ayumu Make His Move? (2022)
[ใใใงใๆญฉใฏๅฏใใฆใใ]
Director: Mirai Minato
Studio: Silver Link
Starring: Yohei Azakami, Kanna Nakamura, Tsubasa Gouden
Episodes: 12
Synopsis:
A serious-minded high school student struggles to improve at shogi so he can confess his feelings for the head of the school's shogi club.
Impressions:
This series comes from the mind that brought you Teasing Master Takagi-san and I've been waffling for years about investing in the manga. Some people call this Reverse Takagi-san, as the main gimmick is that the lead female tries to tease the lead male and it blows up in her face. Rather than playing pranks and setting up games, it's almost exclusively Urushi trying to fluster Ayumu and his straightforward answers flustering her. There's no question about how he feels about her, but he refuses to take any steps forward until he can beat her at shogi, only their skill levels are nowhere near in the same league. This is fine and all, but unlike Takagi-san, the formula gets old real quick and we're just left in a rut spinning our tires. At least in Takagi-san, both Takagi and Nishikata were constantly coming up with new pranks, games and challenges. There's no such range here. Things get shaken up a little when Rin is added to the cast and Urushi starts to become more aware of her own feelings, but it's only enough for a partial resuscitation. It doesn't help that Ayumu doesn't have much going for him besides being serious and straightforward. Consider something like Raido in Aharen-san, where his deadpan voice and lack of expression was offset by his wild imagination. It's all rather bland, sadly, and Urushi's cuteness (or that of her mischievous best friend Maki) isn't enough to make up for it. I'll narrowly recommend giving it a watch, but realize that this is the weakest entry in the Forehead Cinematic Universe.
Rating:
Watch It