Anime ● Review: Watari-kun’s ****** Is About to Collapse
- Very Average Joe
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
English Title: Watari-kun’s ****** Is About to Collapse
Japanese Title: 渡くんの××が崩壊寸前
Director(s): Naoya Takashi, Nishida Masayoshi + others
Screenwriter(s): Takahashi Tatsuya, Yamada Tetsuya, Naoya Takashi
Studio: Staple Entertainment
Released: 2025
Runtime: 26 episodes, ~23m each.
Starring: Umeda Shuuichirou, Yano Yumika, Igoma Yurie, Umezawa Megu, Yano Hinaki, Nakajima Yoshiki
My Verdict: Nothing interesting despite the premise. Looks good enough but it just drags on and on. It’s just 26 tiresome episodes of a guy who is unable to be decisive, allowing things to be more complicated than they need to be.
● Based on the manga of the same name by Narumi Naru that ran from 2014 to 2023, the plot follows high school student Watari Naoto as he deals with the sudden return of a childhood friend.
● Naoto skips many school activities because he has to take care of his clingy younger sister, Suzu. They are orphans and they live with their aunt (father’s younger sister), Tamayo, the only relative who hasn’t rejected them.
● One day, Tachibana Satsuki reappears in his life. Naoto and Satsuki were childhood friends back in their hometown until she suddenly ruined his garden and disappeared six years ago. In the present, they reconnect and she plays games with him, being suggestive but mostly not meaning it.
● Meanwhile, Naoto has a crush on Ishihara Yukari, the most popular girl in his year level. Although he is resigned to not doing anything about it, as he has no life but taking care of Suzu, she actually likes him. Soon after, he bumps into Umezawa Makina, a junior star track athlete from his old school.
● It is basically a harem setup, an awkward guy’s fantasy of being popular with three good-looking girls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go anywhere…
● Given Tachibana’s brashness, the mystery of why she disappeared from Naoto’s life, and that he is relatively quiet and shy, it seems like a premise for a psychological thriller. Perhaps it would be interesting if that is the case, but it is unfortunately not.
● The anime leans towards the harem drama-comedy with the usual contrived awkward situations in which the girls unintentionally expose themselves or, in the case of Tachibana, half-intentionally as she likes to play mind games.
● The plot revolves around Tachibana suggesting that she may have feelings for Naoto without expecting him to reciprocate, Naoto and Ishihara trying to work out whether they are right for each other, and Umezawa demanding Naoto’s attention as senpai. And it’s just that on repeat with very little development.
● Naoto is shy and awkward, that is the character and genre. However, he is annoyingly incapable of standing up for himself. Granted, he has a lot to deal with. He has to look after Suzu but he does allow her to be too demanding.
● It is understandable that he is taken aback by Tachibana’s sudden reappearance and that he is unsure of how to move forward with his crush Ishihara, but he allows himself to get too involved with Umezawa which unnecessarily complicates his life.
● Even with Tachibana and Ishihara, he is indecisive and wavers for too long despite a few moments of seemingly decisive action. It is part of the character and drama for him to be like that but there should be some sort of development, a character arc, and not just like that most of the time.
● In short, throughout the series, the relationships progress a little but there is very little development of the individuals.
● Suzu is established quite strongly and she is, in Naoto’s mind, an obstacle for him to living his own life. Unfortunately, there is no gradual development. After a few episodes, Suzu practically disappears from the narrative only to appear occasionally to make some precocious comment.
● Naoto has a friend, Tokui Shigenobu, who is the “perceptive and capable guy who can help solve the main characters’ problems”. Unfortunately, he is the token smart dude who is conveniently used for that purpose. The story does next to nothing with him.
● Of course, Tachibana and Ishihara proposition Naoto (individually, not together). In the case of Tachibana, that is just her playing games and the story is trying to be edgy.
● However, to be fair, in the case of Ishihara, it is initially more than just teen horniness or the series trying to be edgy. With Ishihara’s perceptive mother stepping in, the plot for a moment hints at some complexity and depth, and maybe even expanding to cover other characters… but no, it doesn’t go anywhere interesting which is a lost opportunity.
● It is only in the final stint of episodes that the narrative clumsily looks at Naoto’s family and their past as well as explores the themes of family. And that is setting aside that some of the situations are a bit contrived, even for this type of drama.
● Visually, it is well-produced. The environment is nicely rendered and is very clean, at times a little too good for the characters. But the characters are not bad.
● The score is average. It may be produced well enough but the insistent piano theme is too upbeat and cheesy when it is difficult to buy the main characters’ (in)decisions. The suspenseful, jazzy block chords try to be too dramatic when the story is not. And then there are the synths for the romantic moments which come across as a bit dated.
● Overall, it is 26 episodes of a guy trying to handle three girls because he is incapable of uncomplicating his life. And it just drags on and on and on. It could be done in less than ten episodes.
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