TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You is one of the very few romance anime currently airing this season. The first collected manga volume was released last month in English, and due to the manga’s wide success, the anime started airing on Crunchyroll shortly after. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise as it offers viewers a unique take on the romance genre, as well as incredibly wholesome entertainment.
A Bizzare First Meeting
The anime follows our unfortunately named protagonist Yuzaki Nasa. As a child, he is constantly reminded of how silly his name is. To counter this and prove he can surpass his famous Space exploration namesake, he studies and improves himself to the best of his abilities and becomes one of the brightest students around. As he prepares for his high school entrance exams one snowy night, he spots a beautiful girl on the other side of the road. She immediately piques his interests so he chases after her, only to be hit by a truck.
The episode starts with him on the floor, bleeding out after getting hit. He barely makes it out thanks to his savior, the same unknown girl with scarlet hair and eyes. He quickly becomes enamored with her, and through sheer stupidity and will, he ignores his wounds to chase after her, much to her surprise. Shortly after, he declares his love for her and asks her out. She agrees only to the simple condition of him marrying her first, a proposal he enthusiastically accepts before his body hits the snow as he passes out.
Upon waking up in a hospital, she is nowhere to be found, and a few years later, Yuzaki is 18. He drops out of school due to apathy and keeps busy at his part-time job, believing they’ll be reunited again someday. One day while lamenting his current state, someone knocks at his door, and it turns out to be the very same girl he’s been searching for all these years. Along with a marriage form, she introduces herself as Tsukasa, and their life together as man and wife begins.
Getting Married
I can only describe the first episode as both bizarre and charming as we see a young man virtually throw his life away for a girl he knows nothing about. After introducing the plot, the episode quickly explores the dynamic between the two characters as two people who are seemingly in love. After Yuzaki signs the marriage form, they both head out to submit the forms the same night, which shows how scarily easy it is to get married in Japan if the anime is proven accurate.
However, the episode doesn’t show much of the characters’ backgrounds. While we at least see a bit of Yuzaki’s past, we know almost nothing about Tsukasa, why she asked a stranger to marry her, who her parents are, and what her living situation is for her to leave home and marry a random person she met at the age of 16, which all hints that she might be runaway. Aside from all that, I found it odd how she can easily brush off being hit by a truck. All these elements pose a lot of questions to the viewer, and while absurd, may also hint at some supernatural elements. Though I’m sure these questions will be answered in due time…Hopefully.
First Night
While the first episode shows how the newlyweds met, the second episode explores the couple’s dynamic and new living situation as Nasa tries to make his small living space comfortable for his new bride. To do so, they both head out to famous Japanese megastore Don Quijote to buy Tsukasa some new bedding, while shopping, Nasa shows a bit of his brilliance by explaining all the varieties of a mattress to her. The episode shows how cute they are together while also including some of the usual anime tropes.
The Bathhouse
As already established in the second episode, the Yuzaki living space is quite limited, and as such does not have a bathroom, so the couple heads out to a local bathhouse Nasa frequently visits where they meet the daughters of the family that runs the bathhouse, Kaname, a young mischievous borderline pervert and Aya, the older, weirder, but kinder sister. We are then shown a flashback to how Nasa helped the siblings save the bathhouse from being bankrupt, and the episode also notably displays more emotion on Tsukasa’s side with her Jealousy of Aya.
Regarding production quality, I’d say the animation is pretty standard with cutesy character designs that are faithful to the manga. However, an underrated part of the anime that I highly appreciate is its excellent sound design that implements various dynamic sound effects to emphasize the comedic scenes. Other than that, is the anime’s fast-paced certified banger of an opening that really takes you by surprise when you first hear it and is probably my favorite anime opening this year.
Final Thoughts
Overall, TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You is a funny, cutesy anime that also includes some mystery elements. It is also a romance anime I can genuinely recommend as unlike many others; it doesn’t stick to the general played-out constructs of the genre.
If you haven’t seen TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You, it’s available to stream right now on Crunchyroll.
Have you seen TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You? Are you a fan of romance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
