Girlfriend, Girlfriend

Girlfriend, Girlfriend released as Kanojo mo Kanojo is a short-lived 2021 anime series produced by Tezuka Productions based on the 2020 manga of the same series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki.

Plot
Naoya Mukai had begun a relationship with his childhood friend Saki Saki. but Nagisa Minase, his classmate, decides to confess her feelings to him as well, and after some initial hesitation, he accepts her request to be her boyfriend at the same time.

Why It Will Never Be Your Girlfriend

 * 1) The idea of making an anime adaptation based on a manga that was released one year before is a pretty rushed idea, since the manga was launched way too early and almost has made no marketing for an executive to buy the idea.
 * 2) The story itself, feels more like fanfiction written by an 11-years old rather than something made by a professional writer.
 * 3) Certain elements copy some aspects from mh:besttvshows:The Quintessential Quintuplets as both shows follow a teenage boy with a blunt personality that meets a girl in school, and tries to marry her. To add insult to the injury, both shows are made by the same studio, Tezuka Productions.
 * 4) Almost all the characters are either unlikable, selfish, obnoxious, annoying, unrelatable, or just plain stereotypical.
 * 5) * The main character Naoya is by far the worst in the series since he's very rude and hypocritical to his girlfriends to the point that he literally hid them in a balcony, and even disrespecting Mirika's persistent efforts.
 * 6) * Mirika is a ditzy blonde.
 * 7) * Nagisa is a Tsundere.
 * 8) * Saki is a considerate Mary-Sue who thinks that she is popular.
 * 9) Unfunny and nonsensical attempts at humor. For example, in one episode the main characters try to find on school a restroom that doesn't smell bad just because Saki can eat alone.
 * 10) Saki Saki, one of the characters, has a very stupid name, because her name is just Saki but twice and Saki is the name of a very well-known wine in Japan. It means bloom in Japanese and seriously what kind of a parent name their child after an alcoholic drink and the same name twice?!
 * 11) Even more laughably, "Saki Saki" is also the name of a song from the Bollywood movie Batla House, which had already become a meme and a TikTok trend in India before this anime premiered.
 * 12) Unconvincing world-building with the locations almost having no one living there.
 * 13) Cheap and incredibly stiff animation even for Slice of life anime standards. Sometimes the character's movements are very slow to the point that it looks like some frames are recycled, especially when the characters open and close their mouths.
 * 14) Some moments wrap up questions like, who let an underaged teenager like Naoya be alone at home and trying to have sex with girls?
 * 15) Similar to Breadwinners, the show is very hyperactive, to the point, there are not enough moments where the characters calm down or stop screaming.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Despite the cheap-looking animation, the character designs are very well done.
 * 2) Passable voice acting, mainly from Junya Enoki as Naoya.
 * 3) Some funny moments.
 * 4) Decent soundtrack.
 * 5) Shino is the only likable character since she has some feelings for some people she loves.
 * 6) The pacing for the first episode is surprisingly good, considering that explains right how Naoya meets again his childhood girlfriends.

Reception
After its original publication, the manga was a commercial success with over 700,000 copies being sold in Japan, but the anime received mixed to negative reviews by some MyAnimeList users who criticized the writing, and the Harem cliches.

Videos
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