The thing that caught my eye about citrus was the genre, not to mention the fact I have love the art style presented and have currently been on a gyaru kick (you can blame Please Tell Me! Galko-Chan and My First Girlfriend is a Gal for my current mod).
Immediately when I looked at this anime, I had already figured it was going to be shoujo-ai simply from the description that crunchyroll gave it; not to mention the opening cinematic made it very apparent that we were going to be getting some girl-on-girl romance! Ever since I was introduced to Sakura Trick, a profound love for yuri seems to have swept over me.
New Environment
Fresh-faced and full of vigor, Yuzu Aihara (affectionately called “Yuzucchi” by her friends), is ready to begin life at her new school. Gyaru by nature, she is very outspoken and adorns herself with make-up, fashion accessories, and a gal-like swagger. Though, she immediately begins to curse her new life as a high school freshman simply because she now has to attend an all-girls academy without any boys whatsoever! This is because she has never had true love or a kiss, despite the fact she has had boyfriends previously (who she dumped for one reason or another), and she figured she might be able to snatch a guy up easily at her new school before realizing that is going to be impossible.
The premise of this is actually pretty decent. You have someone who seems to constantly lie about her relationships and social interactions for the sole purpose of appealing to her friends. Those around her seem to be making much more progress than she is, and that is not because she could not get a boyfriend, it was more of the simple reason she was not interested in any of the boys she happened to court. Obviously looking for that love, as she wants “first kisses like she reads in manga”, it is apparent that her worriment is over not being able to experience that over the course of her new high school life.
The Opposition
On her first day at the all-girls academy, Yuzu has a run-in with the first year student council president, Mei Aihara. When confronted in an argument about the school rules, what you should be aiming for in high school as the life of a student, and her ignorance of the rules, Mei simply groped the girl in front of everyone and told her “Please follow all rules starting tomorrow”. The ordeal left Yuzu shook, as well as Mei’s icy glare in their homeroom when she tried to introduce herself to the rest of the class by drawing her name on the whiteboard. Unable to really get the girl’s smell out of her mind, she seemed completely befuddled by the events that had just transpired. Not only that, she learned of Mei’s background after meeting a new friend (Harumi Taniguchi “Harumin”), who explains everything about her.
The setup between the two girls is actually pretty decent to go along with the initial plot. There always seems to be someone who is higher-up in these sort of anime, a student council president or discipline committee chairman. Having to deal with the representation of the student body seems to always happen at some point or another, and the people who don that spot are always perceived as flawless, beautiful, and intelligent; par for the course. Surprisingly, the girl groped the other outright and did not make it seem as though she was searching for other items or possessions that may be out of code; Mei seemed as though she felt her up simply because she could…the fact she was expressionless during the entire thing makes the action a bit obscure yet alluring, it certainly set the stage.
Twists of Fate
Guess who managed to get a new little sister when their mother remarried? You guessed it, Yuzucchi did! Seems as though a new school and a new stepfather was not the only thing our protagonist had given to her when Ume, her mother, decided to marry into the Aihara family. Mei became her new little sister, though she did not at all seem to thrilled to have the strict, teacher-kissing, student council president as her imouto-chan. Though, this is not the biggest surprise throughout the first episode, it happened to be what happened after she confronted Mei about kissing their homeroom teacher, Amamiya-sensei, at the back of the school when all classes were dismissed.
Things really heated up when she forced herself onto Yuzu, Mei placing her lips to her new big sister’s and used her body weight to pin her in place. The whole exchange seemed to take Yuzucchi by surprise and make her kick over things, knocking her makeup all over the floor and squirm against the futon laid out on her side of the room. Coming up for air for only a brief moment, they exchange another heated moment before Mei mockingly told Yuzu, in that same “matter-of-fact” tone, “That’s what kisses are like”.
Honestly, I was expecting this plot twist from a mile away, but the predictability of its simplicity did not stop me from enjoying it (kind of like the ending of Dragon Ball Super). Living together is going to make things a lot more awkward when things begin to progress, even more so because Yuzu and Mei happen to be stepsisters now (with Mei affectionately calling Ume, “Oka-san” or “Mother”).
Final Thoughts
This opening episode was definitely something I enjoyed, much more than the initial start of Sakura Trick, which is also shoujo-ai with an artstyle I enjoy but could not bring myself to finish. This on the other hand, I could very well see myself knocking out the rest of the shows in due time to give a proper review. Though, that really depends on how this anime chooses to progress itself. Multiple sources have told me that it happens to be good, but I really need to watch it for myself to determine whether-or-not it is something I would recommend.
The thing I am most interested about is how they will become a couple, or rather, how will they go about expressing their feelings to one another? It makes me wonder if Yuzu will have feelings for Mei simply because this is her first time experiencing bodily contact with an intent on being sexual, or because she stole away her first kiss…romantic interactions like this can sit in the back of your mind because of how pleasuring they can be. Not to mention how aloof Mei is about everything; her school life, her feelings on her new lifestyle, not to mention groping and kissing her new older stepsister. Did Mei really have her heart into it, or was it done on a whim to satisfy some pervasive needs or underlying motives? Hm? Only time will tell.
UGH! Look forward to the full review!
Screenshots
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