TLDR: It's good. Uniquely generic. Comfy show. Do recommend.
Aharen-san wa Hakarenai is perhaps the most uniquely cliché anime you will ever see, so much so that I chose it to be the subject of my very first review.
There are two very common tropes when it comes to the female rom-com anime protagonist: overly expressive clingy tsundere and overly introverted dandere. Somehow, Aharen-san, our main girl, manages to be both and neither at once. Basically, she was once the clingy type but then people stayed away from her because she didn't understand personal boundaries, leading her to be the quiet introvert in the corner of the room (literally; she sits on the leftmost seat at the last row) so that people don't start hating her again...
Until Raidou-kun comes in.
Raidou, our main boi, is desperate to make friends in high school because his intimidating, stoic demeanor drove people away during middle school. Luckily, his seatmate is just as unapproachable.
As they say, opposites attract, and we can clearly see it in this anime. People disliked Raidou-kun because he looks hostile and unapproachable, while people disliked Aharen-san because she gets too chummy and close. When these two seemingly boring personalities are seated beside each other, they suddenly become one of the most interestingly weird duos you've ever seen. Raidou doesn't care about her clinginess and Aharen doesn't care about his unemotional appearance (because that's how she looks, too).
With more chemistry than the periodic table, Raidou-kun tries his best to understand Aharen-san, comes up with ludicrous theories along the way, and tries to solve her problems with the most bizarre solutions, while Aharen just nonchalantly puts up with his absurdity. Despite their very unexpressive faces, you just know that they have fun with all the weird stuff they do. Not a single awkward moment is shared between these two, they're just so close like they've known each other for decades, which is a breath of fresh air when it comes to rom-coms.
She's exactly what he needed: a friend that is not afraid to approach him and hang out with him. He's exactly what she needed: a friend that doesn't mind her clinginess and instead helps her with her social problems. It can't get more perfect than this.
The nature of the main characters make this anime's comedy quite unique. They don't depend on the usual anime gags that involve excessive screaming and borderline physical abuse.
I just hoped the side characters were more interesting, but they're really not too important because they just enhance the story-telling of Raidou and Aharen's shenanigans.
It's a good show to watch if you're bored and just want some wholesomeness.
This series is far from being the best, but it will most certainly go down as one of my favorites. It's definitely underappreciated.
(mostly copied from my MAL review)
