They did it! They finally did it! Yukimura and Himuro finally kissed! The ridiculous fight is finally over and they finally met all the criteria they were looking for. I guess all the drama that led up to it paid off in the end. I mean, by no means was anything in this episode surprising, but I think it definitely ended in a pretty satisfying way.
Ah, so i was wrong in the last episode and it really was the manga girl who broke the glasses case. It’s not all that surprising, but she made a case (ba dum tsh) for herself saying her pursuance of manga was the same as Yukimura giving no regard for others so long as he’s able to pursue the scientific answer. That was a really good comparison to make because it describes Yukimura incredibly well. He’s very very science focused at all times and arguably more consistent in his mannerisms than Himuro, so having her express their similarity really clicked for me. Yeah! It was a scummy thing for her to do – but just as Yukimura won’t give leeway in his science, she won’t let anything get in the way of her manga. And where did that get both of them? Yukimura caused a one-sided fight and eventually got to kiss Himuro. And manga girl, got the good drama for her manga at the expense of Ibarada. I’ve been seeing a lot of hate for her recently which, to me is really surprising. From the moment she was introduced to us we knew she was here to mess things up – Ibarada even said it herself that they should be careful of her…. And I mean, at the end of the day everything ended up working out better and honestly probably produced a better outcome than if Himuro gave him the gift on the beach, the mood just wasn’t high enough then. Plus, she didn’t actually break the real glasses case…So yeah, she’s bad, but ¯(ツ)/¯.
I absolutely lost it when Yukimura finally found Himuro and basically told her that her apology thesis sucked. It’s so on brand for him, I had to pause the episode to laugh. It was a great way to break up the tension, but also just really funny. And despite his criticism, everything worked out for them in the end. After a stressful night for everyone (and Kosuke looking in the trash for Himuro lol) the two of them finally made up and it was a happy ending. All around, a good way to end the anime.
Final Impression
Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita in simplest terms is a rom-com about two graduate school scientists trying to use the scientific method to prove love to each other. The characters are very distinct from one another, from your lazy gamer girl, dating sim otaku sports kid, to incredibly buff professor each with their own interesting stories, but the focus is primarily on two “Science-Types”. I put science-types in quotes because everyone in the anime is technically a science type. They’re graduate students in a lab. The opening and ending themes of the anime are incredibly catchy and all around the soundtrack was enjoyable.
This anime takes a new spin on romantic comedy by having all romantic moments interrupted by funny scientific banter. Something, that I personally think tended to be hit or miss. At the beginning, I thought this anime would be akin to Kaguya-sama, Gekkan-Shoujo, or even Wotakoi. It quickly became apparent to me that it would be very different from all three of these series. I can’t really think of an equivalent… so it stands out in its genre for being unique.
And despite all of this I would still give this anime a 5.5/10. It’s not bad, it’s just feels pretty average despite all of its uniqueness that it could have brought to the table. There were some genuinely good moments where I wanted to root for our main couple and there were moments that had me crying with laughter, but I often found the anime to be incredibly frustrating especially towards the end when Himuro basically turned into the “oh woe is me, no one will ever love me. also i’m going to create drama for no reason” character. It started to feel very inconsistent and fell back on exhausted tropes as if it was trying to add some extra spice. The overall gimmick of the anime also… felt a bit overused. Every joke was just, “haha they’re making progress let’s throw science in there for fun!” and then the bear would show up and I never warmed up to him. The bear… was just mean. >:I
I found myself more interested in the side characters rather than the main couple. Ibarada was an absolute gem, anytime she appeared on-screen I knew I was in for a good time. Kosuke was definitely the loveable idiot character who sometimes became a bit much but loveable nonetheless. Kanade was… probably the only sane person in the group and quite frankly was the connection with the audience. Watching everything unfold, she and I were matching in our reactions to the main couple pretty consistently.
The end of the anime was very satisfying though! It wrapped everything up every nicely for our main couple, but also left the story open-ended for us to know that the shenanigans of the Ikeda lab will continue despite the anime ending. There’s always a question of whether or not something like this will get a second season. Personally, I think it’s highly unlikely because I don’t know what story they would tell. They already met the big climax moment in this anime. So what’s the next step for the two of them? A break up? They pretty much had one that spanned the last few episodes. If anything, I think a sequel would be the same lab years after the current cohort has graduated with a new couple trying to recreate what Himuro and Yukimura laid out with occasional appearances of the original cast.
So do I recommend this anime? It depends. All around I believe that this anime can be hit or miss. What I found to be incredibly frustrating, others may find to be incredibly enjoyable. Like many of you, I watched this anime as it came out each week which gave me ample time to sit on what had happened in the most recent episode before he next one came out. Perhaps my thoughts towards the anime may have changed if I had opted to wait for it all to be subbed and binged watched it. But at the end of the day, I do think there’s at least one thing that will appeal to everyone. Be it the jokes, the character design, the plot, the drama, the chaos. There is at least one thing that I think everyone will enjoy.
So, I stand by that this anime can be hit or miss all around. I encourage you to give the first few episodes a chance to see if this is something you would be interested in seeing through to the end!
