The best way I can describe Nisekoi is as follows. Imagine you have your classic, by the books men’s dress shoe. There’s nothing different or new about the shoe. It has the same shape and it only comes in classic piano black but when you put it on your feet it is the most comfortable shoe you’ve ever put on. Long story short Nisekoi is your standard classic haram however it has great visual flair, great direction, and enjoyable characters. If you don’t like haram anime then this probably not for you, however if the shoe fits, you wear that sucker.
Right off the back you can see that Nisekoi is beautiful and a joy to watch. It’s not just bright and colorful and it’s detailed and the characters look awesome. The thing that I love the most about Nisekoi’s visuals is how the animation changes so we can see how the characters are feeling. I can say that Nisekoi one of most visually appealing shows I have ever seen.
In the shot above you can see how isolated and small Chitoge being alone in the dark woods without a flashlight.
Another shot from the same scene showing how all of her fears are surrounding Chitoge.
Now being a haram you tend to see some of the trends that are common in Nisekoi. You have a beautiful girl fall into the life of a normal male protagonist, (in this case a landing a flying knee to the face.) You have the child-hood friend and love interest and you also have the male best friend that’s also a bit of a pervert. They managed to fit in beach, swimming pool, and hot spring episodes all in one 20-episode season. But this isn’t a big deal to me, what is a problem is the lack of romantic development that the characters have. Whenever I feel like Ichijo has a touching moment with one of the girls they always seem to go back to square one, and all that progress is lost. What’s even worse is that the second season is just a compilation of off shoot stories from the novels that don’t further the plot at all either. 
The music of Nisekoi is nice, its relaxing and does well to accompany what’s happening on screen.
When it’s all said, and done Nisekoi is a great harem. Don’t expect anything revolutionize the genre or touch your heart in a deep way. However, if you like the occasional haram anime then you will love Nisekoi. It looks awesome, it’s directed well, has fun characters and is just a fun show.
Nisekoi is a 2014 anime created by studio Shaft based off the manga of the same name written by Naoshi Komi. Nisekoi is licensed in north America by Aniplex. All images used in this review are from the Nisekoi anime. If you’re interested you can watch it on hulu here.
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