JustInCaseD

I'm not sure why a fair number of people have really hyped up this show as much as I've been hearing lately. It got me to watch it, and I did stick through the whole thing, but I'm left very underwhelmed by what I've seen. Because starting from the 2nd episode onward I couldn't help but keep thinking that... this is just Nisekoi re-skinned. Switch around Chitoge and Onodera's starting positions - keeping their personalities - and swap gangs with actors guilds; you get Osamake.

The only things unique and interesting about this anime is the self-awareness, but unlike how it's advertised they hardly dip into this theme. For the things they did do, the title is obviously a joke at the trope that the childhood friend never wins in a romance or harem anime. Problem here is: every single girl in our MC's harem just so happens to be... a childhood friend. It's definitely a clever plot conception, just wish they did more with it.

The furtherest they went with the self awareness was one particular scene where the girls were all driving in a car ride together. I will spoil this one particular scene - but don't worry, it's not important to the overall plot so if you're trying to avoid full spoilers in a review before possibly going in. Anyways, Momo (basically Marika 2.0 for Nisekoi fans) explaining to her friend how she was in "last place" and how the best way to avoid losing her love interest (the MC) was to ensure that their situation kept resulting in a harem until she can find a way to surpass her competition. This and the hidden agenda of the male best friend was by far the most interesting and noteworthy events that happened - and was far more interesting than the main storyline plot.

These events were the only things that saved this show from being lower than a 4/10. Because besides that: the show is horribly bland and boring. Other than the few stated examples: they don't really expand upon the self-awareness theme advertised in the title. It's as generic as it gets and really doesn't stand out in the slightest from the plethora of other high school-based harems out there. The side plot was more interesting than following the MC and his entourage of Nisekoi knock-offs.

No other special qualities about this either. Animation was average, OP and ED were completely generic/unnotable, and while there were a couple of genuninely interesting/standout characters (The male best friend and Momo) the majority of the core cast was just so bland and uninteresting it hurts. Osamake could've been something fun and refreshing, but instead it embodies the thing it was supposed to be making a joke of: being another completely generic and forgettable harem anime. 

I think Obi-Wan can describe my disappointment well in one sentance:

At best this show is a budget Nisekoi you can watch if you really happen to crave something that comes loosely close to matching it's sort of "false/fake love" theme. Much like how Asterisk War is considered the step down version of Chivalry of a Failed Knight which fans of that show go to for the feeling of similar content; Osamake is pretty much that equivalent for Nisekoi. Unless you have a desire to see another, dollar store knock-off of Nisekoi - it's not worth it. I could very easily give this a 3, but there were at least some things it well and I did manage to make it to the end. The highest and most generous grade I could give this is a 4/10. It had a good premise and if it kept to that premise it could've been genuinely interesting, but after the first episode it completely deviated from it and fell off hard.