(Adapted from my MAL review)
In reality, it's not possible to date multiple girls at once.... at least, not if you don't want to be seen by society in a bad light as a cheater. However, if you're not dating your girlfriend but instead a different girl in an alternate universe, you're not cheating on her, right? This is the case with a man like Junichi Tachibana; in different alternate universes, he's giving a different girl the love she deserves, and if you think about it, everyone's happy that way. A few years ago, I watched an anime called "Photo Kano", and while I can't say I disliked that anime, I was oblivious to the omnibus format it held until it was too late. For that reason, when I found out that this particular anime, which aired years before it, was pretty much the same, I was ready to take it on; however, I wasn't ready for exactly how good it was.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, get ready to hear my thoughts on such an anime, "Amagami SS", which was originally called just "Amagami". (I don't know why the SS was added, but whatever!)
Amagami SS generally follows the romantic misadventures of Junichi Tachibana, a (kind of perverted) high school student. Two years prior, his heart was broken by a girl who never showed up for a date on Christmas Eve; because of that, he is distrustful when it comes to relationships. However, in each arc of this anime, one of six girls manages to change his minds; these six girls are Haruka Morishima (an eccentric senpai), Kaoru Tanamachi (a classmate and good friend), Sae Nakata (a shy underclassman), Ai Nanasaki (an underclassman on the swim team), Rihoko Sakurai (Junichi's childhood friend), and Tsukasa Ayatsuji (the hardworking class rep). In four episodes of season one and two episodes of season two each (making a total of six episodes each), we get to see how the relationship between Junichi and one of these girls develops.
The story arcs of Amagami SS would be either a hit or a miss, but luckily, there's more "hits" than "misses"; even though not all of the arcs are great, it was interesting to see how each of the girls' characters would develop in each arc. There is a great number of enjoyable side characters, with one of my favorites being Umehara, Junichi's best friend; he is a "goofy, pervy friend" kind of character done right, and some of his actions have proved how true of a friend he is to Junichi. However, this series truly wouldn't be as great as it is without its heroines; all of them are fun in their own way, with two of my favorites being Haruka and Tsukasa. Haruka is definitely a favorite, as she has a great personality, great looks (I can't believe I just said that either), and a great arc in both the first and second seasons; on the other hand, while Tsukasa seems like a kind, hardworking girl on the outside.... well, without giving too much away, I'm just going to say I was kind of surprised by her revelation and loved the character development she was given. The only heroine I kind of didn't like was Risa Kamizaki; while I could honestly see her good intentions, it's hard to truly forgive her actions, and I have a hard time believing her relationship with Junichi, with the fact that she only got one episode in the first season not helping.
The animation for Amagami SS isn't the best, but it's definitely serene animation with solid character designs. I know that I keep saying this, but I'll say it again; AIC did a great job with the animation with this anime. There are also some solid voice actors working on this anime, and they did a great job, as always. The three opening themes, "i Love", "Kimi no Mama de", and "Check My Soul" all by azusa, are catchy, upbeat songs that I really liked. The first season had a variety of different ending themes for each girl, with most of them being great and my favorite being "Koi wa Aserazu", the ending theme for Rihoko's arc. However, in the second season, there is instead only one ending theme for the whole season, "Kokuhaku" by azusa; the fact that the different ending theme per arc thing isn't done again is a bit disheartening, but the song itself is quite serene.
It's not just the huge majority of ending themes that makes Amagami SS enjoyable, though; it's everything I have just mentioned. If you're tired of your "best girl" not winning the heart of the protagonist in harem anime, I'd recommend you to watch this. After all, this is one anime where everyone wins!
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