Actually, I am...

実は私は (Jitsu wa Watashi wa)

6.8(135,794)

MAL Score

Ranked #5830

Popularity #953

Comedy
Romance
Supernatural
Harem
School
Vampire

Episodes: 13
Duration: 23 min per ep
Aired: Jul 7, 2015 to Sep 29, 2015
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

After school one day, Asahi Kuromine discovers the secret of the girl he likes: Youko Shiragami is a vampire. Bound by her father’s strict rules to protect their family, Youko is expected to leave school now that her identity has been exposed. Refusing to let her disappear from his life, Asahi vows to keep her true nature hidden—an ambitious promise for someone who can barely keep a secret.

As complications pile up, Asahi finds himself drawn into a growing circle of classmates with supernatural identities of their own, each one adding new pressure to his already shaky discretion. Between dodging close calls, guarding everyone’s secrets, and trying to get closer to Youko, his school days quickly become a balancing act of romance and chaos.

Otaku Consensus

Actually, I am... lands as a modest but warmly remembered supernatural rom-com: Yasutaka Yamamoto's direction and Kenichi Yamashita's series composition keep the 13-episode adaptation moving like a chain of escalating secret-keeping gags rather than a lore-heavy vampire story. Critics and viewers consistently praise its quirky cast chemistry, feel-good tone, and compact pacing, while the recurring criticism is that it stays too light, rarely mining its supernatural setup for emotional weight or darker consequences.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Actually, I am... if you want a school harem comedy where the appeal is panic timing, awkward affection, and monster-girl absurdity rather than fanservice escalation or supernatural combat. It scratches some of the same itch as Nisekoi's confession-blocking chaos and Rosario + Vampire's creature-classmate hook, but it is gentler than both: the humor comes from social collisions, bad secrecy, and characters trying to act normal while clearly failing. The single-cour length also makes it an easy weekend watch, especially for viewers who prefer romantic comedy with a steady gag rhythm and a soft landing. If you want vampire material without gothic angst, and harem dynamics without a mean-spirited edge, this is exactly the lane it occupies.

Key Characters

A
Asahi Kuromine
Asahi is memorable because the show turns his inability to hide anything into a full-time comic engine, making him less a smooth harem lead than a stress-tested straight man.
Y
Youko Shiragami
Youko works because her vampire identity is treated less as horror iconography and more as a source of bashful, school-life comedy that keeps the romance soft rather than melodramatic.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
TMS Entertainment produced the anime as a 13-episode Summer 2015 TV series, airing from July 7 to September 29, which gives it a compressed single-cour structure rather than a sprawling manga adaptation.
2
The adaptation is built around comedy-first supernatural writing: AniList's strongest tags include School at 92%, Vampire at 91%, Monster Girl at 79%, and Urban Fantasy at 79%, but reviews repeatedly note that the show avoids heavy mythology or dark genre turns.
3
Director Yasutaka Yamamoto and series composer Kenichi Yamashita shape the material around quick escalation and reset-friendly school comedy, which is why the reception highlights pacing and feel-good momentum more than dramatic payoff.
4
Akito Matsuda handles the music, giving the production a dedicated rom-com scoring identity rather than relying on the vampire premise to define the atmosphere.
5
Its audience footprint is stronger than its critical ranking suggests: it sits at a 6.82 MAL score from 135,794 votes and an AniList score of 65/100, yet holds MAL popularity rank #953 and 734 AniList favourites.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: Actually, I am... is adapted from work by Eiji Masuda, credited here as the original creator, so the TV version is a curated single-cour take on existing shounen rom-com material rather than an anime-original concept.
Fun fact 2: Takashi Yamada wrote scripts for episodes 4, 6, and 10, while Kenichi Yamashita handled overall series composition, separating individual episode gag construction from the broader season framework.
Fun fact 3: Mariko Itou served as chief animation director on episodes 10 and 12 and also contributed key animation to the opening, ending, and episode 9, giving her influence over both broadcast episodes and the show's recurring visual identity.
Fun fact 4: Episode 8 lists key animation work from Hideki Itou and Tomomi Shimazaki, a useful production note for viewers who track individual animator contributions across mid-season episodes.
Fun fact 5: The show is frequently described in reviews as 'criminally short' and 'feel-good,' which matches its reception profile: liked for humor and heart, but criticized for not pushing its supernatural premise into heavier territory.