Regaleo

plot: 6/10
Definitely its weakest point. The show's a harem twist on the classic Romeo&Juliet story, where it's yakuza vs gangsters vs cops vs mafia. A say twist because instead of Raku (romeo) & Chitoge (juliet) liking each other they absolutely hated each other at first sight. With both families fighting for territory, both Raku and Chitoge must act out their "fake love" to stop the gang wars. Now although there were many times the drama escalated really well, it fell flat on its face with a weak solution. The show practically pulls out every cliche from the book but fails to give it any depth.

animation: 7/10
It should be a given now that any anime shaft touches turns into gold. Shows like madoka magica, bakemonogatari, and even arakawa under the bridge practically flooded with amazing animations but sadly nisekoi doesnt cut it like the rest. I have to say this was one of shaft's laziest work so far. There were times were they'd simply cut out scenes from the manga itself without even coloring or animating it. At times they would simply do sketches of their cell-shaded mono-colored chibi faces to show they're talking. Though some scenes were colored really well, they lacked the consistency to keep it.

sound: 7/10
Like the Shaft theory above, Claris also turns show opening themes instantly to gold. Shows like oreimo and madoka magica are such examples but sadly this time around they didn't bring their A-game. Despite matching the mood just fine, the background music was quite repetitive. The only thing I enjoyed from the music were the 4 unique endings which acted as a theme song for each harem-mate.

characters: 8.8
Perhaps the saving grace of this show would be its characters. I'd be lying if I said they didn't have any character development but it was quite rushed. I loved how the show allowed you to listen to their inner thoughts which gave them more depth. There were times they would pull in so much drama and emotion but the plot would simply push it aside like it was nothing. Despite that I ended up liking most of the cast with all their quirks and personalities which I didn't think would be possible for a harem anime. On most harems I would just simply pick one of the harem-mates to like and root for her as the story goes on. Nisekoi just makes them all so lovable that you can't help but support them all.

Verdict: 7.2/10
While I did really enjoy Nisekoi, I felt that it was quite lackluster on a lot of departments. It tried so hard to be dramatic but the comedy aspect of the show just wouldn't take it seriously enough for me to be moved by it. Anyway, I'll be eagerly be awaiting for season 2 when it comes out.