Overview:
Murai is a student at Takebe Gakuen High School and loves his teacher, Ayano Tanaka. Tanka is an otome game otaku and is in love with her favorite character, Hitotose. But when Murai decides to get a haircut, he becomes the spitting image of Hitotose. How will Tanaka handle this turn of events?
Our Take(Spoilers):
First things first I’m going to rip the band-aid off on what sets this series back and it’s a biggie. The animation for Murai in Love is absolute dogshit. If you ever watched The Way of the Househusband it’s very similar and I understand that since these shows are “anime” that means animation is a key factor. However, even though the animation was horrible in The Way of the Househusband I still enjoyed it and luckily that was the case with Murai in Love too.
The problem with the animation being so bad is that it puts the chances of a second season at nearly zero. This leads me to the show’s biggest selling point which is the fact that it has a definitive ending. The manga is only seven volumes long and this covers all of it. Speaking of the manga I went and looked at it to see if maybe the way it’s presented is the reason for the disparity in animation but it’s a pretty normally drawn manga.
Since the animation isn’t going to keep your attention then most of what is going to make this show enjoyable rests on the shoulders of the voice actors and they come through brilliantly. Brandon Winkler and Morgan Garrett voice our two leads, Murai and Tanaka. I know both of these VAs have had lead roles before but I felt like I spent a lot of time with them in this one and I loved how they came through. The supporting characters of Murai’s friends are voiced by Matt Shipman, Laura Stahl, and John Patneaude. Although the character of the head teacher, Yamakado isn’t introduced until the last half, I was very excited to hear Crispin Freeman in something new.
What made this anime so enjoyable for me despite the horrible animation was its heart. I experienced almost every emotion on the spectrum while watching this show. I laughed, I cried, and I also got frustratingly angry. My only complaint when it comes to the story is my usual complaint when it comes to romance anime. By the time the main couple get together (if they do at all) we get no time with them as a couple. I want to be rewarded for my investment in something and unfortunately, with most romance anime it never feels like the payoff is worth the investment.
You might be surprised at the score I end up giving this series one way or another. I loved this show and despite the poor animation I enjoyed watching Murai in Love. I’ll be honest eventually I got used to the animation and it didn’t bother me anymore. I do have to knock it a point or two because of the animation but if you’re a rom-com fan and want to watch an anime that has a definitive ending there are few anime I would recommend before Murai in Love.