Bloom Into You - Reviews

Story  6/10

A girl wants to become her deceased sister but falls in love. Another desperately seeks affection. It's not bad, but not great either. The main issue I have about the story is the overall theme "just stay as you are, never change or I will stop loving you" - and this is very angering.

It is a slice of life, and therefore obviously no real plot or anything ever happens - apart from the cliched (and so, so overused) school festival - another reason to deduct points.

Animation  8/10

Nothing stands out, although the style is decent and pleasant to watch. The character design is well done.

Sound  5/10

Forgettable... 

Characters  9/10

Refleshing lack of fanservise, relatable realistic behaviour, well portrayed presence of adult characters.

Overall - The story feels incomplete, perhaps they plan the next season but this story could have been concluded in the given 13 eps. Nevertheless, it's one of the better shoujo-ai that came out in recent years. (cough-bullshit-citrus)

Recommend to watch: Yeah, just count that it will be a forgettable evening and you wont get any real conclusion.

Like a delicate flower, Bloom Into You acts upon its namesake, as the seed of the slept-on dark horse blossoms into one of the most charming shows to blindside me this year. I’m glad, for had I not stumbled upon the glowing reception for this treat, it may have never swept me off my feet. From its mostly charming depictions of lesbian love to its authentic showcasing of friendship, each interaction is filled to the brim with charm and care. Said charm and care also show in a majority of the revelations which make this surprisingly relatable and whimsical cast come to life even more than one could imagine. The revelation for Maki and subplot for Koyomi might be my personal favorites of the show, each bolstering integral portions of the show’s three overarching plotlines. Seeing them intertwine, how each colorful character bounces off them, and how Yuu evolves from them, is simply heartwarming. This show may be repetitive and melodramatic in places, but the monologues and forced wind blowing aren’t enough to smear the beauty on display here.

Speaking of display, Makoto Katou’s directing is a major selling point. While it occasionally feels forced like with the focus on scenery in emotional moments, we more often get the most luscious visualizations of each characters’ headspace, along with some mesmerizing and communicative shots that can be hung on a wall. These are the scenes where Makoto and his team at TROYCA shine. 

Adding onto the visual splendor of this show, the lovely art style and facial expressions translated from the manga do well to accentuate the tender yet lively nature of the characters and their interactions. The fashionable school uniforms and other equally elegant wardrobes only compliment this even further, and the female uniforms look particularly wonderful. While there are certainly flat moments and sparse bits of unsightly CGI, the show rarely fails to remain as pretty as its females.

To add to this beauty one last time, there’s the delicate OST Michiru Oshima composed. Several of the emotional tracks do well to complement each scene, adding to the heartfelt and loving nature of the show. My personal favorite example of this is the insert track from episode 9: “Rise” by Riko Azuna, as it is one of my favorite insert tracks of the year. Nothing embodies the pleasant nature of the show more than this one track, not even the fun ending theme by the main leads’ VAs, or the opening theme by the same artist. "Hectopascal” and "Kimi ni Furete” respectively make for good songs in their own right despite the questionable techno in the former and the questionable vocals in the latter, so there’s nary an issue to be had, even here.

If there’s a word that encapsulates this delicate beauty, it would be “endearing”. The banter and interactions feel so authentic and lifelike that amidst the lampooning and exhibition of shoujo tropes lies a surprisingly wholesome and equally elegant tale of lesbian romance. For every moment of repetitious interactions and monologue, there’s an impactful revelation, beautiful interaction, or heartwarming moment to counterbalance. There may be lulls and missteps, but this beauty has enough elegance and charm for me to brush that all aside. She’s wonderful, ain’t she?

Written and Edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine

GUYS. WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE ENDING OF THIS ANIME!! from episode one to episode 13, the story, music, yuri scenes and characters are amazing. I absolutely loved this anime. a story about two girls who find it hard to love and then all of a sudden. one of them falls in love with the other. But with a consequence. You're just left to see the realtionship is blooming but the ending leaves you SO UNSATISFIED.

I would give them my wage to make a sequel to "Bloom Into You". Amazing soundtrack, and i really mean great soundtrack. The ending will defintely get to you so i suggest reading the anime to fulfil What you're looking for. Although it doesn't quite quench your thirst as much as you would probably want it to. Overall, 9/10. But because of the ending, i would defintely not watch again, as amazing as it was almost to the very end.

Bloom Into You surprised me quite a bit, for it is an emotional journey for the characters, within themselves and in their relationships.

These characters feel real, with their own struggles that they must overcome. For this anime isn't just about the relationship between Yuu and Touko, but about them growing as people along with the people around them. I think this was done very well.

Touko struggles with her self-identity. She feels as if she must be perfect, the reason being that she wishes to live up to her deceased sister who she believed to be perfect. This is something that is focused on thoughout the anime. She's constantly trying to be seen as great and accomplished, because she wants to have a perfect and strong image. However, when she's with Yuuu, the person she loves, she doesn't keep up this persona. Therefore leading to a conflict in questioning who she really is and who she wants to be.

Then there's Yuu, the person who's able to see Touko's flawed side, because she is the one Touko loves. But in Yuu's case, she doesn't feel love towards Touko. For she believes she can't feel love. Despite this, she wants the best for Touko. She wants Touko to show her flawed side. She believes everyone should see the real Touko, because she wants Touko to be happy.

This is the foundations of their journey. Through each other they learn. Touko wants to learn who she really is, while Yuu is discovering what love really means, what it is and how it feels. Through all of this, they are always there for each other. No matter whether they love each other or not, they both care for the other.

I believe Bloom Into You was able to capture their journey by using emotion. This anime isn't about the cute or exciting momenets, it's about the characters growing as people. Despite the anime being rather slow, it's the perfect pace for the emotions the characters' are feeling. Emotions aren't perfect, and they take time to understand if even possible at all. Therefore I think the story was well done along with the characters.

There was something about the color scheme  that I think was really able to capture the feel of the anime well. Even with the character design, especially with the hair and uniform color. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but everything feels lighthearted yet deep at the same time, with these colors that are mostly somewhat related to a beige or washed out pink. Even if the colors were completely different, they matched the feel quite well. The animation was good, especially for a slice of life. It was able to showcase the emotions within the story well and that's what I find important.

With everything combined together, it leads to an exceptional anime. Bloom Into You is an emotional journey for the characters. Learning about themselves, others and the world around them. I highly reccommend it.

In the beginning I was pretty invested in the anime, I enjoyed the art and the characters. That exciment only grew when we found out Nanami's backstory and Sayaka's past relationships. However this curiostity began to fade as the story continued, it seemed like we were going in small circles, the same things kept getting repeated and I found Yuu to be very hard to relate to or to like. This anime does have times where it's enjoyable however I wouldn't watch it again personally.