The Anime and the Movie

Soundtrack

Season 1's opening is very timeless. The qualities of the song just aren't something that would be replicated in 2026. On top of that, it's a pretty good and melancholic song. I especially like the trumpets that really elevate the classic Japanese melody of the song. Also, there's even a half-decent guitar solo, which I find to be pretty rare. I will definitely think of how good the anime was every time I listen to this song. Though, I will say the animation of the opening song is pretty boring.

Surprisingly, I also liked the ending song. Again, just like the opening song, it's timeless. Music like this doesn't grow on trees anymore. Maybe that influences the way I think about this song, but nevertheless the ending song's pretty good. I especially like the "merry go round" part. The animation also goes pretty well with it.

If anything, somehow the opening to Saekano's second season is more Oregairu-coded than the first season's. The song is definitely brighter and more melodic compared to the first season's, which relates to how much more mellow the characters are in the second season. Anyway, the song is pretty good, by the very least not boring. That sounds like I'm insulting it, but I really am not. I enjoyed watching the opening every single time. Combined with the incredible art direction of the opening, it feels like a really good work of art that really compliments the story of the show.

Honestly, I'd be lying if I said I preferred either season's ending song. They're both really good. The second season's in particular, though, feels really TQQ-esque, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, it feels like the character's VAs are singing the song. Combined with the lyrics and general melody of the song, everything really builds up to elevate how much you feel the love between all of the characters after watching every episode.

I also really really liked Episode 11's ending song. The song felt like a very emotional farewell, which only amplified the emotions I felt after finishing the two seasons. Again, this song feels very TQQ-esque, too. Maybe it's just the melody, I don't know, but it's like the heroines are thanking Tomo in both the ending songs. Really good.

"glory days" by Luna Haruna is a perfect fit song to end Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. It's the right amount of emotional, orchestral, and visceral. The type of song that would keep you seated during the credits when the lights turn on in the theater. Superb work from the same artist that made all of Saekano's openings. Just by listening to it, I think about how good this anime is. Farewell, Saekano!

Then, the fakeout (spoilers!) song from the epilogue. Not much to say. Thank God it was a fakeout. BTW, the same song (different cover) also appears in ReLIFE!

Thoughts

I don't ever rate seasons separately. I always rate pieces of work progressively holistically. That is, taking consideration of previous entries of said piece. This is the same approach most people should take when experiencing Saekano. Maybe it means it's slow or fast paced, but I really do feel like Saekano should be experienced holistically. Like, by around the fifth episode I was getting tired of the truly excessive amounts of mild ecchi fan service. It's only thanks to the incredibly charming story of Saekano that I stuck around. Boy, am I glad I did.

Honestly, I could go on and on about how sloppy the plot is, but in the end I really enjoyed the entire thing. There wasn't a single moment where I felt "out of it". It was all very immersive and flowed well into one another. Once you watch enough episodes, it really doesn't feel sloppy at all, even if it's supposed to be. Basically, the story of Saekano is a bunch of arcs about how it is to create a passionate piece of art. In each arc, you get to discover the "why" of the characters. On top of that, it's done in such a charming "rom-com" way that never gets old to me. The amount of exposition, action, romance, and slice-of-life is just right. There was no other way to portray a story like this, and that's exactly what makes it so good.

You'd expect a high school romance to have a childhood friend love interest, and Saekano combines that trope with the tsundere archetype to create a surprisingly deep character. The first episode, Eriri is introduced as an extroverted and popular childhood friend of Tomoya (the main character) who makes doujinshi. Then, they basically abandon the concept of Eriri being popular as fast as possible. It genuinely felt effortless. From then on, you don't see Eriri the rich popular girl; you see the childhood friend of Tomoya, who regretfully pushed him away. It's clear as day during the production of the VN she really cares about Tomoya's project and is incredibly passionate about her own artwork. On top of that, she has really great dynamics with the other characters, especially Utaha and Megumi. Yeah, the back and forth between her and Utaha all the time is so fun to watch. Honestly, her arcs were really great and emotionally powerful, which makes it that much more heartbreaking when she loses the war Tomoya's love. Simply an incredible tsundere.

The "yandere senpai" is apparently a fairly popular trope that I had the opportunity to first experience when watching this anime. Honestly, Utaha is an incredibly problematic fan service character that will take any casual opportunity to sexually harass Tomoya and also the viewers with her slightly exaggerated body. Aside from that, though, when she's thinking rationally you really get to see the gears turn in her head. One of my favorite moments of that is when her script gets rejected in the second season by Tomoya. Obviously, rejection is but one part of the harrowing reality as a writer, and she moves on from it, but you really see the passion in her working with Tomoya on the script of the VN. I also loved the final arc of the second season, where she's only seen as a tool by an incredibly talented artist to enable Eriri's art capabilities. For the first time, she's seen as inferior to someone else, and you really feel her tainted anger through the screen, even if her face looks plain. What a lovely character, except for the fan service scenes. They really held her up on a pedestal to be the main source of fan service in this anime. I especially hated the the scene of the second season where she forcefully kissed Tomoya.

Obviously, the one who wins Tomoya's love in the end is the "boring" girlfriend, Megumi Kato. She's one of the best developed characters in any anime I've ever watched. At the start of the anime, she's introduced as an "invisible" cute background character who is thrusted by the others to becoming a model for the main heroine of the VN they're developing. Why, you may ask? Of course, it's because Tomoya and her had a really cute meet-cute at the start of the anime. How incredibly cheesy, I love it. From then on, she grows a lot as a character. She becomes more interested in the otaku side of things from Tomoya and Eriri, she hangs out with Tomoya, she helps Tomoya program, and so much more that helps Tomoya develop his VN. I think she's the most dedicated member of the team. Of course, the story doesn't forget about her "background character" origins. Up to a certain point, she's basically been a pawn to the team. Then, during the second half of Season 2, Tomoya forgets to include her when he rescued Eriri after she collapsed. That was the true turning point of the character. After that, she distanced herself from the team out of resentment. Man, did I love the scene where she let the bottled feelings of loneliness out. It's during that scene that Tomoya and the audience genuinely realizes how hard of a worker she was and how much she enjoyed working with the people she loved. What an incredibly endearing character. Oh, and that scene only reinforced her personality, too. During the movie, I especially enjoyed the part where Tomoya temporarily left the team to help Eriri and Utaha with their work. I think that was the part of the story where Megumi realized how deep her love for Tomoya was. I mean, from the start to finish, they were basically running the entire operation together. Superb. And can I just say how much I loved the confession scene? Holy shit, that's literally right out of a visual novel. She waits for Tomoya to come back from Osaka, only to distance herself, then pumpfakes a confession only for Tomoya to confess first. Then, probably the most endearingly clumsy kiss scene in all of anime. Fucking kill me. Scenes like that is exactly why I watch romance. Overall, Megumi Kato is an incredibly cute and endearing character that is just the perfect main heroine. Just because this paragraph alone, you should watch the anime.

Tomoya, the main character, is somehow not a self-insert. It genuinely feels like if Futaro from TQQ was actually interesting. It's clear from the start that Tomoya has so much passion for otaku culture. What makes him so interesting is how much he grows over the course of the story. He becomes much more sensitive to the people around him. He realizes more and more how much they mean to him and how much he means to them. On top of that, I really enjoyed how he has a history with all of the heroines, save for Megumi of course. That aspect just makes the world of Saekano that much more lived in. To top it all off, I want to say that Tomoya is what I'd call a man of integrity. He cares for the people around him, and you really feel how much he hurts when he gets hurt or hurts someone he actually loves. I think that's the difference between a captivating MC and a boring one. Incredible!

My ultimate criticism of Saekano? That the other characters, which were genuinely pretty intriguing, like Michiru and Iori, weren't developed and explored more. But what can you even criticize about that? There was no room in the story for them, and that's fine. They were good enough.

Other than the main story, there's also an epilogue after the credits of the movie. It's not every day that you see an epilogue, so I was pleasantly surprised by the bleak setting it started off with. Thankfully, it was just a weird rambling from the mind of Utaha. I think it's epilogues like this, especially one from Saekano, that makes the story stick with you for a really long time. I loved seeing the older, more mature versions of the characters. It was also really heartwarming to see Tomoya and Megumi's household life. To be melancholic for a second, I think it's stuff like this (i.e. epilogues) that give you hope that everything will work out. That despite everything the characters have gone through, whether it's their wins or losses, that in the end it's about the people that mean the most to you. I think that's the message Saekano has, especially for otakus all around the world.

For the penultimate paragraph, I'll sing my praises for the art direction of Saekano. It's surprisingly good. The worst part are the overly explicit scenes, of course. Then, there's also the first season's problem of too many dutch angles of the heroines' legs. Other than that, I really did enjoy the artwork of Saekano. It's consistently good throughout the entire piece of work. As I said before, I loved seeing the unique art direction of the childhood scenes between Tomoya and Eriri. I will also add, though, that I enjoyed the scenes where papers float around the room, which I think are supposed to represent inspiration. Then, finally, I will also compliment the duotone(?) random moments which occured sporadically during the story. I don't know what they're supposed to represent other than a shift in the conversation. Though, seeing them every so often kept me watching for some reason.

You might say it's slop. You might say there's too much fan service. You might say it's boring. I disagree with all of those things. Saekano is an incredibly consistently good piece of art that definitely deserves its praise. The movie, which finishes the storylines of all of the characters, is an incredible movie that gracefully ends the story of Saekano. On top of that, I even enjoyed the epilogue, too. Finally, let me just say that Saekano is a pretty funny anime. I especially enjoyed the "meta" moments of dialogue where the characters were basically talking about themselves as if they were in a visual novel. Overall, if you don't judge (and you shouldn't) based on fan service, Saekano is an incredible anime for both first-time and long-time watchers of romance. I can't recommend this Slop-Gem 10/10 enough.