There are few things quite as embarrassing as a high school crush. In an effort to get close to the object of your affections, you may end up doing things that you'll think back on years later and cringe at your younger self; plus, you'll feel all sorts of messy emotions, which get worse with puberty in the mix. I'm sure that straight people and members of the LGBTQ+ community alike will attest to that; at the very least, I know of one particular gay anime character who is very likely to agree with me. Said anime character stars in a series that is adapted from a manga that started being released in 2014; my curiosity about this manga was what led to me watching its anime adaptation. Ultimately, I'm glad that I did, as "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!" is a very charming series that would have been a contender for Anime of the Season if not for some issues it has.
Ganbare Nakamura-kun, known in English as "Go For It, Nakamura-kun!!", focuses on the titular Okuto Nakamura, a shy and gay high school student. On the first day of school, he experiences love at first sight when he sees one of his new classmates, Aiki Hirose. From then on, Nakamura has one goal: become friends with Hirose. Too bad Nakamura's a complete nervous wreck around Hirose! As he tries to close the distance between him and the boy of his dreams, Nakamura gets into all sorts of wacky shenanigans, alongside a cast of supporting characters who may remind you of characters from manga that were being released in the 1980's! (Personality- and design-wise, I mean, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.)
The story of Ganbare Nakamura-kun isn't a bad one, per se. It's a pretty typical slice-of-life comedy, but there is significant progress made in Nakamura and Hirose's relationship as it goes on. Not as much progress as a fujoshi watching this might want, but they are a lot closer by the last episode compared to the first, at least. It doesn't end on a very satisfying note, and yet, it does, if that makes any sense. Ultimately, though, Ganbare Nakamura-kun is more of a character-driven anime than a story-driven one, so if you don't like the characters - especially not Nakamura - you aren't going to like the story.
Luckily, the cast of Ganbare Nakamura-kun is charming enough. Nakamura himself is a very fun protagonist to follow; his awkwardness is both adorable and relatable, it's fun to see him get excited about things he likes, and while he does have some questionable moments surrounding his crush on Hirose, he does genuinely care about him, which is sweet. Hirose himself doesn't start off as the most interesting character, but he turns out to have a fun personality and a surprising amount of depth to his character; this allowed me to more genuinely root for Nakamura in his attempts to get closer to him. Most of the supporting cast, while not always important to the overall narrative, can also be fun to watch; a couple of stand-outs are Hifumi Kawamura, an artistic fujoshi who absolutely deserves the world, and Reiko Aokiyama, the Occult Horror Research Club president who I think would fit right in with the kooky characters of a Rumiko Takahashi manga or something similar to that. The one character I'd say I have a major problem with is Kousei Matsumura; his debut episode is easily the worst in the series, and it's because of his creepy behavior regarding Hirose and how he sort of brought out Nakamura's worst side in the process. He does show a pretty kind side later on, so there's that, I guess.
Syundei, the creator of the original manga, has a style that seems to be reminiscent of older manga like Urusei Yatsura, and character designer(/director/scriptwriter) Aoi Umeki faithfully replicates it for the anime. That, combined with colorful and fluid animation from Drive, makes for a unique and appealing visual style. The oldies influence continues with a fantastic selection of 12 different ending themes that can most likely be found in a 1980's Japanese city-pop playlist; heck, I recognized episode 5's ending theme, Yasuha's "Fly-day Chinatown", from such a playlist! Of course, the opening theme - "Shunpatsu-teki ni Koishiyou" by Yasuyuki Okamura and Kento Nakajima - is also a great song; it's just so bouncy and catchy! Even the voice acting is top-notch; Chiaki Kobayashi, in particular, breathes so much life into Nakamura and makes already-funny scenes even funnier with his line deliveries!
Overall, I really liked Ganbare Nakamura-kun, even if Matsumura and some other things kept me from really loving it. Still, I highly recommend it if you want a BL anime that you can likely watch within the remaining days of Pride Month this year. It may even get you to say, "Go for it, Nakamura-kun!"
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