| Manga By | Saitou Yuu |
| Studio | Nomad |
| Genre | Comedy, Romance |
Pseudo Harem Episode 1 Review: The very first episode of Pseudo Harem is here, which promises a great experience for rom-com lovers with its unique concept. Let us find out how the first episode was in detail below.
Pseudo Harem Overview
Pseudo Harem, also known as, Giji Harem, is a Japanese manga series by Yū Saitō. Originally a webcomic shared on Saitō’s Twitter from June 2018 to March 2021, it quickly gained a following and was serialized in Shogakukan’s Monthly Shōnen Sunday from January 2019 until its conclusion in March 2021. The series has been collected into six tankōbon volumes.
On April 10, 2023, an anime adaptation of Pseudo Harem was announced. The anime is produced by Nomad, with Toshihiro Kikuchi directing and Yūko Kakihara handling the scriptwriting. Yoshihisa Sato is responsible for the character designs, and the music is produced by Pony Canyon, with Takeshi Watanabe composing the soundtrack.
The opening theme song, titled “Blouse” (ブラウス), is performed by Gohobi, while the ending theme song, “Ad-lib” (アドリブ), is sung by Saori Hayami, who voices the character Rin Nanakura. Crunchyroll has acquired the streaming rights, ensuring that the series will be available to a worldwide audience.
Pseudo Harem Episode 1 Review And Recap
This cute little anime really puts a smile on your face with the antics of its characters. The episode begins with Rin, a first-year student, wanting to join the theatre club at her school. On her way to finding the club, she comes across Eiji, a second-year student who poses as the president of the club. He even claims that the club has no members at all, and if she wants to, she can join him and start everything from scratch. However, that was a bare-faced lie which he uses to make fun of the very apparent anime trope where it feels like it is the beginning of a grand story.
Thus starts a very sweet rom-com tale between these two characters who serve one of the best romantic chemistries ever. You see, Rin is an exceptionally talented actress who can act as any character in an instant without skipping a beat. On the other hand, Eiji is a hopeless senpai who dreams of being famous and having his own harem one day. However, before he can achieve that dream, in reality, he does receive the experience of a pseudo harem from Rin. She uses her talent and acts out the typical harem girls that any man would instantly fall in love with.
From the dubious little devil girl to the shy tsundere to the cool beauty type, you can get the feel of all with the help of Rin. But we cannot forget that at the end of the day, it is Rin herself who is acting like this and showing her genuine affection towards Eiji. Sadly, Eiji is too dense to understand that, and he just plays along and enjoys the opportunity of having a pseudo-harem.
This anime is pretty sweet, with a very simple storyline. It also does not continue on as one single story but rather gives you the feel of a 4-koma manga panel with multiple plots put into one episode. Some might not like it, but I have no problem with this kind of narration. On top of that, the animation, though not extraordinary, has a fresh feel to it, and it does well to convey all the emotions with Rin’s varied expressions.
Verdict
I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would, and I am pretty impressed with how they managed to make such a simple storyline so entertaining. If you are into cute rom-coms this should definitely be on your list this season.
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