So, let's talk Citrus. Currently watching this anime series alongside Yuru Camp. In short, Citrus originally began as a manga series written by Saburouta, and premiered earlier in January. The show concerns a young girl named Yuzu Aihara. She is your typical flashy girly girl who'd rather concentrate on boys than her schoolwork. Eventually, Yuzu's mother gets remarried, and they both move to a new neighborhood. Yuzu discovers that the high school she had been transferred to is an overly conservative, with even the use of her cell phone being prohibited. This gets her into conflict with the student council, but especially with its president: Mei. As if that's not enough, Yuzu discovers that Mei is her new "younger sister" by law. The two come off as pretty reluctant of each other, but gradually, Yuzu begins to realize that she was developing feelings for her young sister.
Now, this is a yuri series, and I'm pretty much an unapologetic lover of this genre. However, I do understand if the idea of two stepsisters forming romantic feelings towards each other could be seen as wrong in your eyes, but I really don't have a major problem with it. The opening and ending are also especially good. I always love seeing the illustrated ending credits for the anime. The animation is also beautiful, though what makes some decisions for is whenever Mei has her emotional breakdown and thrashes out at Yuzu. For some reason, her face is always obscured by the shadows. I guess it's to emphasis that the scene is taking a darker turn, but it does come off as unsettling. With that being said, the characters.
So far, I haven't really found myself hating any of the characters. Yuzu for instance is pretty likable. Yeah, she can sometimes go into decisions without really thinking them through, but for the most part, her heart was in the right place. Really, I especially liked when Yuzu takes it upon herself to expose their homeroom teacher of having a relationship with Mei solely for the money. Really, despite the fact that she hardly knew Mei, she chose to save her from getting hurt, even though Mei already knew what the homeroom teacher's intentions were. There's also her rebellious spirit. When she was told to wear clothes fitting to the school's standards, she does call out the utter nonsense of this. Overall, I find her pretty good.
Mei starts off as the cold Student Council President of the school. She's ruthless, beautiful, and smart among other things. For the most part, Mei's a mixed bag for me. I like certain aspects of her character, but ultimately, she just feels awful. I get that she has her issues with her father basically going around the world and how she was depicted as an object, but she just comes off as unlikable. When she first moves in with Yuzu and her mother, she doesn't bother trying to strike up any ounce of a conversation with Yuzu, and in the third episode, she coldly tells her that it was ultimately her choice to return home after her grandfather had an accident and was rendered bedridden. Worse, she has moments where she can get a little...rapey. For one, in the first episode, when Yuzu was being reprimanded for using her phone, Mei proceeds to hug her, and literally gropes her butt in order to retrieve the cell phone. She didn't have to remove the phone in that way, but she did. Or when Yuzu and Mei were bathing together (long story), Mei pins Yuzu against the wall of the bathtub, and forcefully kisses her. When asked why she did that, Mei states that she felt that she wanted to be touched. Or when she showed Yuzu how bad the kiss was between her and the homeroom teacher by pinning her to the bed and kisses her even when Yuzu was clearly squirming underneath her weight. The worst one however, is when Yuzu goes to see Mei after their grandfather decided to keep her at home. Mei gets overly emotional, she thrashes out at Yuzu before pushing her onto the bed, and she then rips Yuzu's shirt (with a button popping off), revealing her bra, and very well could've molested Yuzu here and there if it wasn't for Yuzu insisting that she would always be by her side. Now, while I do have the feeling that the manga explains this in full, based on the anime alone, it comes off as really, really creepy. It honestly would scare off any potential viewers of the anime because of how sudden and violent they would be.
Then there's Harumi Taniguchi, a young girl who befriends Yuzu on her first day to the school. I love this character. She's funny, loves some of the same things Yuzu does, and overall comes off as a good friend who is supportive of her when it comes to issues with the student council and Mei. And her packing items into her cleavage is also hilarious.
As for the other characters, Mei's grandfather comes off as an intolerable, and even expels Yuzu after her stunt regarding that one homeroom teacher. However, after her accident, the grandfather opens up more, being appreciative of Yuzu for alerting the ambulance, and actually gives Mei the choice to do whatever she wants. He comes off as stern, but he does truly love his granddaughter. The mother's fine, not really too interesting. The homeroom teacher I thought would be a major antagonist of the series, but he left due to the events in the second episode. Sort of a wasted potential IMO.
To sum up the show, I am so far really enjoying it, and I would recommend checking it out regardless if yuri is your favorite genre or not. If the incest subtext disturbs you, by all means, skip.
Now, this is a yuri series, and I'm pretty much an unapologetic lover of this genre. However, I do understand if the idea of two stepsisters forming romantic feelings towards each other could be seen as wrong in your eyes, but I really don't have a major problem with it. The opening and ending are also especially good. I always love seeing the illustrated ending credits for the anime. The animation is also beautiful, though what makes some decisions for is whenever Mei has her emotional breakdown and thrashes out at Yuzu. For some reason, her face is always obscured by the shadows. I guess it's to emphasis that the scene is taking a darker turn, but it does come off as unsettling. With that being said, the characters.
So far, I haven't really found myself hating any of the characters. Yuzu for instance is pretty likable. Yeah, she can sometimes go into decisions without really thinking them through, but for the most part, her heart was in the right place. Really, I especially liked when Yuzu takes it upon herself to expose their homeroom teacher of having a relationship with Mei solely for the money. Really, despite the fact that she hardly knew Mei, she chose to save her from getting hurt, even though Mei already knew what the homeroom teacher's intentions were. There's also her rebellious spirit. When she was told to wear clothes fitting to the school's standards, she does call out the utter nonsense of this. Overall, I find her pretty good.
Mei starts off as the cold Student Council President of the school. She's ruthless, beautiful, and smart among other things. For the most part, Mei's a mixed bag for me. I like certain aspects of her character, but ultimately, she just feels awful. I get that she has her issues with her father basically going around the world and how she was depicted as an object, but she just comes off as unlikable. When she first moves in with Yuzu and her mother, she doesn't bother trying to strike up any ounce of a conversation with Yuzu, and in the third episode, she coldly tells her that it was ultimately her choice to return home after her grandfather had an accident and was rendered bedridden. Worse, she has moments where she can get a little...rapey. For one, in the first episode, when Yuzu was being reprimanded for using her phone, Mei proceeds to hug her, and literally gropes her butt in order to retrieve the cell phone. She didn't have to remove the phone in that way, but she did. Or when Yuzu and Mei were bathing together (long story), Mei pins Yuzu against the wall of the bathtub, and forcefully kisses her. When asked why she did that, Mei states that she felt that she wanted to be touched. Or when she showed Yuzu how bad the kiss was between her and the homeroom teacher by pinning her to the bed and kisses her even when Yuzu was clearly squirming underneath her weight. The worst one however, is when Yuzu goes to see Mei after their grandfather decided to keep her at home. Mei gets overly emotional, she thrashes out at Yuzu before pushing her onto the bed, and she then rips Yuzu's shirt (with a button popping off), revealing her bra, and very well could've molested Yuzu here and there if it wasn't for Yuzu insisting that she would always be by her side. Now, while I do have the feeling that the manga explains this in full, based on the anime alone, it comes off as really, really creepy. It honestly would scare off any potential viewers of the anime because of how sudden and violent they would be.
Then there's Harumi Taniguchi, a young girl who befriends Yuzu on her first day to the school. I love this character. She's funny, loves some of the same things Yuzu does, and overall comes off as a good friend who is supportive of her when it comes to issues with the student council and Mei. And her packing items into her cleavage is also hilarious.
As for the other characters, Mei's grandfather comes off as an intolerable, and even expels Yuzu after her stunt regarding that one homeroom teacher. However, after her accident, the grandfather opens up more, being appreciative of Yuzu for alerting the ambulance, and actually gives Mei the choice to do whatever she wants. He comes off as stern, but he does truly love his granddaughter. The mother's fine, not really too interesting. The homeroom teacher I thought would be a major antagonist of the series, but he left due to the events in the second episode. Sort of a wasted potential IMO.
To sum up the show, I am so far really enjoying it, and I would recommend checking it out regardless if yuri is your favorite genre or not. If the incest subtext disturbs you, by all means, skip.
