Alternative title(s): Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
Manga Adaptation by Signal.MD
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Mizuki Ashiya is your seemingly cheerful, scrappy young girl living in the United States. However, after becoming enamored with a boy named Izumi Sano who she sees on TV – an up-and-coming pro high-jump athlete – she decides to move to Japan and attend the same all-boys high school, disguising herself as a boy too in order to enroll. Shockingly, however, Sano tells her he has quit the sport and never intends to compete again.

Artemis’ verdict: Every Breath You Take

This one just ain’t my speed. Happy as I am to get more shoujo representation, and completely overlooking the somewhat awkward CG and generic, fairly cheap-looking character designs and background art, the elephant in the room is the story itself.

I’d heard of Hana-Kimi before and knew it had done very well for itself both domestically and overseas over the years, and I’m definitely not averse to older manga titles (this one started in 1996) receiving modern anime adaptations. To say it hasn’t aged well though would be a bit of an understatement.

Call it a romance if you want, and I won’t shame anyone for enjoying the manga or the show, but pretty sure the main character is the very definition of a stalker. It doesn’t really matter that she’s portrayed as a cute and benevolent one; she lived in the U.S., developed an idol-like crush on a high-jump competitor after seeing him on TV, and transferred to the same private all-boys high school in Japan in order to be close to him – all while disguising herself as a boy (the latter seemingly without the knowledge of her parents or the school staff).

Again, if you don’t mind the sound of any of that, or if you have fond memories of Hana-Kimi from days gone by and want something nostalgic, by all means, go for it. For me personally though, it’s a hard pass.