Amagami SS: Episode 1

This was a fair episode. While it does have a lot of flaws, the ending was enough of a reason to keep me invested in the show. The story of Amagami SS follows Tachibana Junichi, a second year in high school who was left heartbroken by a girl who didn't show up for a date on Christmas Eve two years earlier. After having a chance encounter with a third year student named Morishima Haruka, we then get to see the male protagonist get closer and friendlier with her, resulting in him falling in love with her. From what I can tell so far, the anime will be presented in omnibus form, meaning that each girl on the cover above will get to have their own story animated in separate arcs, meaning that each arc should be about four to five episodes long.

While I most definitely will follow this series, there are a few major issues that I think could harm the series later on. The biggest problem would be the male protagonist, who is probably the most bland character in this whole entire show. While he is by no means unlikable, it is pretty hard to care about a guy with no personality. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a normal protagonist, it is a huge problem when he has very little flaws or personality traits to define him. At the least, he is a nice guy.

Thankfully, this is made up by a great female cast, as while some characters may not have been given any backstory, it is nice that they at least give some personality to a show that has a male lead with the personality of a blank sheet of paper. A great example would be Haruka, as she is extroverted and charismatic, making her a fresh and very likable protagonist. 

What makes this show nice is that everything looks very realistic. The backgrounds look nice, with character models that are absolutely fantastic. The female character models are the best though, as they look realistic, meaning that they lack weird hairstyles and odd physical features, making them look very nice. The only downside is that there will be a few moments where you may actually get confused over some of the characters, as most characters either have black or brown hair. Thankfully, this isn't a problem that will stop people from understanding what's going on in the story!

This first half of this episode was a bit boring, as it had the main protagonist walking around the school meeting some of the other female leads. This wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that little to no information about these characters is disclosed, meaning that the experience can become tedious. Thankfully, the second half sort of makes up for this, as it has the main character confessing his love to the female lead of this arc, only to get immediately rejected due to his age. This displayed that the pacing of the show will be very quick, a huge leap from most romances that take seasons to have the male or female lead confess their love for someone.

Overall, this episode was OK. While the beginning was flat out boring, the latter half showed that the show will have relationship that develop fast and realistically, something that I'm really looking forward to later on in the series.

Opening: Pretty uneventful, with music that lacks energy.

Ending: Actually superior to the opening. Much better music and more colorful visuals (Albeit inferior animation.).

Rating: Fair