Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You

I’ve reviewed most of the anime adaptations of Hayate: The Combat Butler, and reviewed much of the manga that’s been officially released in English to date (in spite of the official US release being several years behind the Japanese release – which has since ended). When I learned that author Kenjiro Hata’s latest manga, Tonikawa, was getting an anime adaptation, that show quickly ended up on the list of shows on my watchlist for that season, and I was not disappointed. Tonikawa is something of a refutation of the Moonlighting rule – that romantic comedies will only hook the audience for as long as they are still in the “Will They or Won’t They” phase. According to the rule, once the relationship was firmly established and that question is answered with a “yes”, there’s nowhere to go. This rule is false, and the show basically sets up that it’s going to be refuting this rule from the jump. The show follows Nasa, a young man whose parents are very loving, very well meaning, and have very poor choice in names. Consequently, Nasa has become something of an overachiever, as he’s trying to, basically, cause people to stop thinking of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration when they hear his name. One winter day, while coming home from school, he sees an utterly beautiful girl walking on the other side from the street from him. So, he crosses the street to talk to her, without looking both ways, and thus doesn’t see the incoming truck. Thankfully, the girl, Tsukasa, saves Nasa from certain death or life in an isekai anime. Injured, Nasa asks Tsukasa out, and she agrees only under the condition that he marry her. He accepts, gets her name – loses consciousness, and ultimately doesn’t see her again for several years – until his 18th birthday. As Nasa is coming home from his job at a convenience store to his apartment where he’s living alone, he suddenly encounters Tsukasa again – and she’s got the marriage paperwork. They have a civil ceremony, and move in together, and the show proceeds from there. Where the show works well is twofold. First, there is no significant relationship drama over whether or not they’ll break up. There’s no heavy romantic tension over the course of this show. This couple is going to stay together. It’s very low drama, and also this means That One Guy from my old anime club who kept complaining during rom-com anime about romantic comedy series making people believe in true love and there being only one person for them and how that lead to his divorce is going to hate this show. Instead, the focus of episodes of the show are related to normal stuff that a couple moving into together faces – particularly newly-weds. For example, stuff like “going shopping for the extra things you’ll need when two people start living together – like a new bed.” This also relates to media sides of things, like Tsukasa being a big cinephile, while Nasa (who has very few hobbies) is cineclueless. All of this ties in to Hata’s eye for writing romantic comedy. Nasa fits some of the archetypes of Hayate – he’s very book smart and actually fairly good at adulting, but he’s clueless in lots of other life stuff, particularly on the romantic side of things. A great example is his surprise that marriage includes stuff like “hand-holding”. Tsukasa is more outgoing and gregarious, but also has a comedic level of over-enthusiasm in various things. The show also keeps that sort of dry, self-deprecating deadpan humor of Hayate, though without the snarky narration over the top of it, and the 4th wall breaking responses to that narration. Stuff like characters internally realizing something in their internal narration came out wrong, or through a display of eager overconfidence at a particular task. The show also has a degree of magical realism that slips here and there into the plot – less over-the-top than the more fantastical elements of Hayate, or some of that show’s science-fictional elements. However, there is a recurring plot bit that implies that maybe Tsukasa might actually be Princess Kaguya, but it’s never made explicit. However, a whole bunch of little hints are dropped. The anime ends fairly early into the manga, and the US release isn’t that much further than we got in the show, so I can’t say if things get more into the Hayate realm later in the series. Still, Tonikawa was pretty much exactly what I needed to round out the year – a light, fluffy, enjoyable romantic comedy that was chill and relaxing to watch, without being too horny on main. I definitely recommend giving it a watch.

I’m still trying to figure out how people actually catch goldfish with that tiny paper net 😂

Watching this episode seriously made me crave takoyaki 😂🐙 lol

I’m craving pork tonkatsu so bad now 😭🍛 It looks way too crispy and delicious.

Wait… underwear is that expensive?!

No wonder Nasa’s parents were so shocked 😂 Usually you meet the parents before getting married, but they did everything backwards lol

WTF, udon with lime?!

Tsukasa teasing Nasa by asking if he wanted to bathe together was so funny 😭

Nasa is so sweet for putting so much thought into picking a wedding ring for Tsukasa

I’m so curious about Tsukasa’s past, what happened to her? 🥺

If I were Tsukasa, I’d already be so mad at Nasa for proudly hyping up another girl 😭

Going to Donki to buy a mattress was so fun lol 😭 That song is such an earworm, it instantly makes me miss Don Quijote⁠

Turns out getting married in Japan is pretty easy lol ,the registration process is surprisingly simple! 😂

I'm genuinely amazed at how they CGI-d those fish, but the overall animation of this anime isn't really that good lmfao. I feel like the ending didn't address key plot points, and the majority of the questions I've been meaning to ask go unanswered. I hope the 2nd season will look at these questions and answer them. Still, this is a feel-good last episode. This show was surprisingly good and exceeded my expectations. Here's a 9/10!

This episode felt like a filler episode more than anything. Although I guess the focus of this episode is to show how the other characters react to the Yuzakis' relationship, it's still important to the plot. But if you're here for a good laugh, this episode is for you. But if you're here for plot progression, sadly, there is none in this episode.

Que tiernos 🥰, esta pareja es tan dulce... se cuidan, se quieren y al parecer estarán por mucho tiempo juntos, además su timides a pesar de ser matrimonio es adorable. Y ahora confimo que Tsukasa trae una historia detrás, la cual aquí no descubrimos (este no es ultimo episodio 😉).

Este episodio trata la relación entre todas las muejres que rodean a Nasa 😂, verás los conflictos, celos, verguenzas que existen entre ellas. Y además verás también en que son especialistas y las habilidades que poseen todas.

Si quieres saber las cosas domésticas que debe enfrentar una pareja, este es el episodio 😂 se refleja tal cual la realidad. Me gusta mucho el personaje de Kaname desde sus bromas en doble sentido, hasta su madurez para encargarse de sus labores.

Episodio que nos refleja con total claridad los sentimientos y lo que piensa Tsukasa de Nasa. Por otro lado una interesante prueba de vida para ambos, que lo enfrenta a situaciones complejas y como deben resolverla.

🥺 Este episodio me emocionó mucho, los padres de Nasa tiene una reacción muy especial y tal ves poco esperada, me encantó. Los diálogos de Tsukasa a veces me dejan tan intrigada respecto a su historia, que solo me motiva para seguir viendo rápidamente los demás episodios.