Jacob Champ

As a fan of rom-com slice of life anime, this was rather lackluster. I recommend the manga over the anime, as the manga is funnier with much better pacing, and gives the reader more opportunities to enjoy the cast. The voice acting in the anime is sub-par, and the anime puts too much emphasis on the usual cliches/tropes of the genre (including those that are often disliked by the anime community) while rushing through the overall plot. Characters are mostly reduced to archetypes with only one or two remaining likable, but just barely. The only reason I gave this 2 stars, is because the art style and color palette stands out from most other anime of the genre. Although it is just using the what the manga artists already created... If you watch anime to take up time or act as white noise without using any brain cells then maybe you can get something out of this. But if you want something to actually watch and enjoy, stay far away from this. The manga is far more worthwhile.

My main issues are with the characters. Kudos for not making copy and paste remakes of the originals, but the new assortment feels rather lackluster. Valentina is just... not likable. In fact she does not work as a best friend character. And Ellen is a waste. LGBTQ representation is great but... she only exists to make annoyingly mindless statements and remind us she has an ex. Charlie is interesting in that hes pretty much British Barney with no money, but he lacks personality. Hopefully he can develop with time. The other three are ok but nothing standout. Jesse is pretty Jim from The Office but just slightly less charming, Sid is just s mashup of Ted and Marshall, and Sophie... I dont know I just have trouble taking Hilary's acting seriously. She seems too happy, even when shes crying. I honestly dont feel a spinoff/soft reboot of How I Met Your Mother was necessary, all while this series thinks beings based on another is enough reason to exist, despite poor jokes and non-existent chemistry. Maybe all this gets better farther down the line but after 6 episode and no improvement I stopped watching and do not plan on returning.

I liked the concept. The acting was a little better than an average b-movie horror but not great, although some characters were somewhat believable at times and at other times not so much. Most of the time the cast was not completely unbearable, the most problem being with the guy with bipolar (he was ok one minute and suddenly out of wack with little provocation, should have been a buildup) and McKenzie (the main character is a little too obsessed (like the unhealthy kind) with finding her sister and willing brings her friends and brother into harm's way to do so. Even the "annoying friend" is more likable than her). The worst part is the monsters: not much imagination put into them (either that or the budget ran out). Again though, I like the concept and reveal at the end. Just poor execution. Could be an interesting series to expand on.