English Dub Review: Citrus “sisterly love?”

Yuzu struggles to balance feelings of sisterhood and romance.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After realizing her romantic feelings for Mei, Yuzu tries getting to know her better. They’re polar opposites, and Mei hasn’t even used Yuzu’s name out loud yet. They clash over sharing a bed, staying out too late, and reading inappropriate manga at school. Will Yuzu ever be able to win Mei over?

Our Take:

Citrus is slowly starting to come down from the outrageous highs of the first couple episodes. There was less going on in this episode, as the plot took a bit of a break to allow Yuzu to come to grips with her feelings for Mei. (There was only one forced kiss this time around, which is saying something for this series!) Yuzu trying to balance her desire to form a proper new family and her desires for Mei to see her as more than a sister are intriguing, and I hope the show continues to explore this angle.

Harumi and Himeko (the vice president of the school) are pretty much the only supporting characters in this episode… which I’m fine with because they’re both wonderful. I doubt if Yuzu has ever had a friend as understanding as Harumi. (And I don’t even want to think about how Harumi survived at the school before Yuzu arrived.) Himeko seems a bit suspicious of Mei’s new older sister – I wonder if she’ll be somewhat of an antagonist going forward.

The visuals of the show were fine in this third episode. It’s certainly not a contender for the best-looking series of the season, but the designs and animation are serviceable. The rooftop scene on top of the hospital was definitely the most gorgeous scene of the episode. I also noticed the soundtrack (especially the strings during the dinner scene) standing out to me more than usual, in a good way.

Amber Lee Connor’s performance as Mei is starting to bug me a little. In almost every scene, her dialogue is delivered in such a monotone whisper that it starts to sound like it doesn’t belong in the same scene as the other characters. Maybe it’s something that is improved in the audio mixing? The script was solid, especially with the way Yuzu is so excited about her first love: “Let’s do this whole ‘talking’ thing again tomorrow!”

I’m glad that Citrus seems to have gotten the shock factor out of its system, and am excited to see more of Yuzu and Mei’s relationship form – if they can start to overcome their many differences.