As everybody else on this planet, I have an opinion. As many people do too, I like to write about it. Share it generously. And I am excellent at keeping score (mentally), so I will try tallying up my fondness of things according to balance.

You and I Are Polar Opposites

First love is a special thing. It’s not for nothing an endless source of entertainment, emotions and stories. This anime does something special with the standard cliché of opposites attract though. It makes it work without feeling too performative.

Miyu Suzuki and Yusuke Tani are quite the opposites. A bumbly and sociable girl with a quiet and serious guy. However, getting to the romance between these two suprisingly doesn’t take too long and they make for a very sweet but still relatable couple once it happens. The other two couples in the cast take a bit longer to get to a certain level though. Kentaro Yamada and Natsumi Nishi are the opposites of our main characters, but different enough in their own ways, and get some much-needed help from Natsumi’s good friend Rikako Honda and Suzuki. Shino Azuma and Shuji Taiga on the other hand keep circling around, seemingly moving the needle very little. However, looking at where the second season ends with the two of them, it’s clear they’ve also taken some steps of their own.

Over the course of the two seasons, the main couples’ stories are given enough room to breathe. Every couple gets to be in the spotlight from time to time, highlighting their different personalities and how it influences their relationships. Our main couple seems to have it somewhat the easiest, although they do get believable drama in the second season related to university choices and balancing a relationship with your own desires. Yamada and Nishi also manage to become official fast enough, although Honda wouldn’t have minded it happening even faster, and also manage to create a different type of ‘opposites attract’ dynamic that forces them to grow in their own ways. Azuma and Taiga have the least romantic development, which can be somewhat frustrating, but seeing their individual growth from their more self-destructive tendencies is almost equally satisfying.

What’s especially refreshing, is to see some drama happening because characters are nervous, insecure or inexperienced, but it generally gets resolved fairly quickly in a way that seems believable. The awkardness and eagerness of all the teenagers is front and center which can make the viewer laugh in one scene and melancholic in the next. Additionally, all main couples are part of a bumbling friend group and often interact with different classmates in a way that shows their world is bigger beyond their romantic pursuits.

I don’t have particular fondness for my high school memories, but this series made it feel like I could be part of this lovable group of teenagers as they stumble through first love and beyond. I rate it first loves done well.