Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You.

どうせ、恋してしまうんだ。 (Douse, Koishite Shimaunda.)

6.1(13,564)

MAL Score

Ranked #10342

Popularity #3885

Drama
Romance
Reverse Harem
School

Episodes: 12
Duration: 24 min per ep
Aired: Jan 10, 2025 to Mar 28, 2025
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Aspiring manga artist Mizuho Nishino has spent years growing up with her four childhood friends—Kizuki Hazawa, Shuugo Hoshikawa, Shin Kashiwagi, and Airu Izumi. Everything shifts on her 17th birthday when Kizuki abruptly asks her to go out with him. With no real experience in romance, Mizuho tries to laugh it off, but Kizuki’s feelings are sincere, and he’s determined to prove it.

As Kizuki becomes more open about his affection, Mizuho finds herself torn between curiosity and anxiety, fearing what dating could do to the friendship that has always anchored them. Matters only get more complicated when it becomes clear the other boys may be developing feelings for her too, leaving Mizuho to untangle her emotions without breaking the bond the five of them share.

Otaku Consensus

Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You. lands as a modest but sincere contemporary shoujo: Junichi Yamamoto's direction is praised most when the premiere's pacing, pandemic-era framing, and adaptation of Haruka Mitsui's manga make teenage change feel immediate rather than decorative. Its defenders value that it offers a reverse-harem setup with actual romantic movement and character development, while the recurring criticism is that the opening does not build a strong enough reason to invest in Kizuki's pursuit before the emotional stakes escalate. The result is a divisive comfort-watch rather than a consensus hit, reflected in its middle-of-the-pack reception across MAL, AniList, and IMDb.

Why You Should Watch

Watch it if you want modern shoujo romance that trades parody and fantasy wish-fulfillment for anxious, pandemic-era adolescence. It scratches some of the same itch as Ao Haru Ride or Kimi ni Todoke in its attention to small emotional shifts, but its reverse-harem angle gives it a more openly competitive romantic charge. The appeal is not in a twisty plot; it is in seeing a coastal school setting, swimming-club energy, and Mizuho's drawing ambitions give the romance a lived-in texture. Viewers tired of harem shows that dodge commitment may appreciate how quickly the series puts feelings on the table. Go in for earnest teen uncertainty, not sharp comedy or prestige drama, and its gentle persistence makes more sense than its low aggregate scores suggest.

Key Characters

M
Mizuho Nishino
Mizuho's manga-artist ambition makes the show unusually self-aware for a shoujo adaptation, because she is trying to understand romantic emotion both as a participant and as someone who wants to put feelings onto a page.
K
Kizuki Hazawa
Kizuki is the series' most divisive romantic driver, admired by fans who like direct sincerity and criticized by reviewers who felt the first episode did not fully earn his early emotional momentum.
S
Shuugo Hoshikawa
Shuugo stands out in fan chatter as one of the visual favorites of the group, bringing the polished childhood-friend appeal that reverse-harem viewers often latch onto immediately.
S
Shin Kashiwagi
Shin is frequently grouped with Shuugo by viewers as one of the more striking male designs, reinforcing the show's emphasis on a primarily male ensemble rather than a single-rival romance.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
The anime was produced by Typhoon Graphics and adapts Haruka Mitsui's manga with a relatively realistic shoujo look, a point singled out positively in fan impressions rather than the exaggerated comedy style often associated with older reverse-harem titles.
2
Its setting is explicitly tied to teenage life during the pandemic, which critics noted as part of why the first episode feels like a shoujo story reflecting its own time instead of a timeless school-romance bubble.
3
The series foregrounds creative expression through Mizuho's drawing, a major enough element to register as an AniList tag, giving the romance a manga-inside-manga texture rather than relying only on dates, jealousy, and school events.
4
Coastal atmosphere and swimming are not background trivia: AniList tags both Coastal and Swimming prominently, which helps distinguish the show's mood from classroom-bound shoujo dramas.
5
Its 12-episode run aired in a tight winter 2025 window from January 10 to March 28, making it a compact seasonal adaptation rather than a long-running slow burn.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: The original creator is Haruka Mitsui, and early coverage from Black Nerd Problems specifically praised the anime for preserving the manga's distinctive contemporary shoujo feel in its premiere.
Fun fact 2: The main production leadership pairs director Junichi Yamamoto with series composer Yuu Murai, while Katsuzou Hirata and Rena Okuyama are credited with sub character design and Yoshihiro Ujiie and Daiki Ueda with prop design.
Fun fact 3: Its reception is strikingly consistent across major databases: 6.12 on MyAnimeList from 11,711 votes, 59/100 on AniList with 199 favourites, and 5.9/10 on IMDb.
Fun fact 4: The Contending's first-episode review identified the central weakness many skeptical viewers shared: the premiere raised questions but did not create enough immediate investment in Kizuki as a romantic choice.
Fun fact 5: Despite the mixed scores, the anime worked as a manga gateway for some viewers; a Reddit shoujo discussion around episode 3 included a viewer saying they were hooked enough to start reading the source.