Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
LilCheese23
An absolute 10/10 romance masterpiece that gives you butterflies from start to finish.
I have so much to say about this anime that it joins Fruits Basket and To Your Eternity in giving me that exact same speechless feeling. The story is completely unique and beautifully unpredictable; it takes the time to actually explore the emotional depth and psychology behind what it means to care for someone. The soft, expressive art style is absolutely gorgeous and perfectly fitting for the tender, romantic atmosphere of the series.
In almost my two decades of watching anime, I’ve learned that most animation styles may not be for everyone. Personally, I can always get past poor animation (just not completely horrible animation) if there is a riveting plot to carry the show. Luckily, this series del…
Read at the sourceendless_8
A solid 7/10
Slightly generic, but nice! I would recommend it to someone who really just wants to kill time with something enjoyable and doesn't want to stress a lot over it. It has a very abrupt beginning, but the characters mature at their own pace, doesn't feel either dragged or rushed. You really get to understand them outside of first impressions, but the show requires you to drop the 3 episode rule in order for you to get into it. This is an extremely digestible anime.
I was afraid they would stick to the formula of the first episodes. They really confused me at the beginning, but not only does their behavior change as their bond grows, we also get to understand why they were like this in the first place. It can be seen as boring if you really put a lot of expectations on it.
Now,…
Read at the sourcereveriehina
'A Condition Called Love' is an anime movie with a touching storyline that highlights the intricacies involved with first love. Right from the get-go, I could sense the emotional layers contained in the movie's slow-paced plot. This movie has really managed to portray emotions with great ease.
I like the approach that is taken to develop characters, where love isn’t rushed and where there’s a lot more emphasis on personal development and relationships. The characters are believable when it comes to expressing emotions like love, doubt, and vulnerability.
The drawing style is very delicate and soft, and it fits perfectly with the theme of the fairy tale. It brings about an aura of intimacy which helps to make ordinary actions appear important. It also gives room for one to savor the feeli…
Read at the sourceelumizu
Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai (also known as A Condition Called Love) approaches romance from a more complicated starting point. Instead of celebrating romance as an immediately comforting experience, the series tries to examine love as something complicated, messy, and sometimes emotionally overwhelming, especially when people enter a relationship before they fully understand what love actually means. The story follows Hotaru Hinase, a high school girl who has never shown much interest in romance. While many of her classmates get excited about dating and confessions, Hotaru tends to view relationships from a distance. She is kind and empathetic, but romantic feelings themselves are something she struggles to fully grasp. Her perspective shifts when she meets Saki Hananoi, a boy whose approa…
Read at the sourceLeesverse
I finished this series feeling surprisingly fond of it, and I think a lot of the backlash comes from people expecting it to be something it never claimed to be. It’s about attachment, insecurity, and learning through a bit of emotional friction, which honestly felt refreshing.
Hananoi is intense and gets attached deeply, and the story doesn’t try to turn him into a perfectly safe, idealised male lead. He’s not written as toxic, just as someone who feels a lot and doesn’t fully know how to handle that yet. The anime treats this as something to be understood and worked through, not condemned or romanticised, and watching his growth was genuinely satisfying.
What makes the relationship work is that Hotaru isn’t passive. She’s thoughtful, observant, and constantly reflecting on how she feels.…
Read at the sourceCTMB_Emotionless
Alright, I’m going to be honest, I never liked the premise of this series simply because I can’t take it seriously. The story just doesn’t make sense to me in that Hatori’s “I never thought someone could love me” mindset is just goofy considering she’s a high schooler. I couldn’t help but laugh when she said “I’ve never been in love before” when she at the start of the series is 15. I think for what the premise is about, it’s just impossible for me to understand. Now if they were older and she was 25, I could buy into it, but it’s hard to suspend disbelief in this context since they keep repeating this early on. Now speaking of Hatori, I do like her character and she’s really level-headed and reasonable, but because of this, there’s never really any conflict in the series despite there bei…
Read at the sourceTonystark4-Otaku
Sometimes beautifully crafted stories don't need drama or twists and aren't visually extravagant at all.Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai is a prime example of this. Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai exemplifies this notion quite aptly.
🌸 Plot & Themes:
The story follows Hotaru Hinase, a girl who has never really experienced romantic love, and Hananoi-kun, a boy who falls hard and fast. Underneath its deceptive simplicity lies a profoundly heartfelt journey of two young souls figuring out what it means to be loved genuinely. Hananoi-kun falls deeply in love quite rapidly while Hotaru Hinase remains clueless about romantic love having never really experienced tender affection. Hananoi's confession sparks their relationship into existence pretty quickly after a serendipitous meeting in a rather unort…
Read at the sourcepsyched_ew
Do you like a promising concept? Do you like clean animation? A good OST? Do you like a fun, well-rounded main character? What about an annoying second protagonist? Do you like said second protagonist having a really interesting backstory that gets cut short and feels rushed? Do you enjoy 12-episode animes that should be 25 episodes?
If your answer to the questions above was YES, then you may have found your new favorite anime!
This is Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai: a series that could’ve been really good, but fumbles most of what it sets up.
It’s the anime version of a great recipe cooked in a microwave.
And that’s the real shame. Because this show has the ingredients—it just never gives them the time or space to shine.
But let's start with the good parts.
I really enjoyed the OST. It f…
Read at the sourceJeruKs
The encounter between a girl who lacks confidence and has difficulty expressing her feelings with a boy who has a high obsession to find a special person to him. As the title says, this anime depicts a condition called love, specifically school romance. The anime really shows the romance that happens when someone is still a student, what and how it all starts to the process of their romance and the development of each of them.
If audiences are looking for captivating animation, this anime might not be the best, but the story might be different. Throughout the story, the audience will be told the reasons why the girl lacks confidence in herself and why the boy is so obsessed with someone. It all makes sense and is very relatable to real life. The story of this anime seems to tell the expe…
Read at the sourceScarletlotus1
There are some cute instances in this anime. The general idea of the plot that he immediately falls in with her right after she shows him some kindness has become a very common plot device recently in both shojou and josei so I think because of this the anime can be quite endearing if you like that.
However, I have noticed another trend that just bugs me, and that is also true for Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai, is that the jealous boyfriend trope is too intense. I just started watching it after Koikimo where there was (in my opinion) some concerning behaviour, disregarding the controversial age gap between the MCs. It becomes overbearing to the point it makes me question the ethics of shows like this. It just takes it one step too far.
Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai also commit the mortal si…
Read at the sourcesuzuki_lilicat
I enjoyed this as philosophical discourse more than a love story. Both the protagonist and the male lead seem to have misunderstandings about love, and so the show explores the different views on love and how people come together in relationships.
Their relationship is sweet, but it’s always teetering on concerning. Hananoi has a bit of a manipulative side to him that, in real life, I’d comfortably call toxic. The show doesn’t treat his toxic behavior as such, so I’d worry young viewers might not realize just how creepy he’s being.
Hananoi is a super interesting CHARACTER, but a bit of a toxic person. Just be prepared for some obsessiveness.
I think the characters work best as embodiments of different understandings of love more than as real people.
If you’ve ever had questions about…
Read at the sourceBiettka
This is a super sweet slice of lice shoujo. I don't understand why the general score is so low, it does not deserve it at all.
The story (and the male mc) may appear as somehow toxic in the beginning but it is not. Both main characters have some issues in the way they are because of their background and life experiences. Together, each episode, they learn new things, grow as individuals and teach each other new things in life that may seem normal for everyone but not for them.
I found it cute and sweet and will read the manga to keep up with their story. I totally recommend to watch it if you love slice of life shoujo.
Read at the sourceRainy_Rabbit
The premise sounded cute on the surface, but A Condition Called Love is utterly forgettable in the face of dozens of other stories. Also, Hananoi needs therapy, not a girlfriend.
I went into this knowing that he was a problematic lead male who pushes himself at the girl, and kind of hoped that the story would take the time to have him grow past this. It doesn't. The only change is Hinase growing to love him. That's not healthy. Relationships work when people grow and change together, not when one does all the adapting while the other just stagnates.
Beyond the growing toxic relationship, everything else was completely bland. The supporting cast has the potential to develop into their own interesting people but they don't. The traumatic backstory of Hinase and why she's afraid to fall in l…
Read at the sourceValentine07
(Spanish review below).
It was cute, I guess.
The idea of a girl who doesn't fall in love from the start and prefers to learn what love is seemed very interesting to me, after so many stories where the characters fall in love with each other in the first chapter. That part of the anime was good. I loved seeing how Hotaru learns about love and the different types of love, and that, although not all relationships are the same and the feelings the same, these are valid anyway.
The rest of the anime was... okay. If I like how Hotaru falls in love chapter by chapter, I don't like Hananoi's instant and dependent love. It was a bit annoying most of the time. On one hand, I like that the anime and Hananoi himself don't romanticize his behavior, but at the same time, it doesn't go beyond that.…
Read at the sourceBenx2019
The problem with this anime it how good it could have been. A great soundtrack, great op and ed. The love interest is a fairly deep and interesting character. The premise is decent too! However, the animation is weak. Any significant movement is animated very poorly, cg background characters everywhere, and even the backgrounds themselves are cg at times. The voice acting is really underwhelming, lack luster to the point of it being distracting. Things don't come off as genuine, and the delivery is pretty poor overall, especially with the main character. Speaking of which the love interest is the only character with meaningful depth. The main character is slightly interesting due to being a good foil, but otherwise not incredibly deep or thought provoking. While the overall premise is good…
Read at the sourceChibiDumplings
Not your typical Shoujo, but definitely worth the watch!
"A Condition Called Love" beautifully illustrates the idea that “sometimes, we need someone to accept us and love us first before we learn to love ourselves.”
Hotaru Hinase, the female lead, is a kind-hearted and straightforward girl who isn’t afraid to express her feelings. The male lead, Hananoi, is depicted as pessimistic, needy, and anxious, with a deep-seated fear of abandonment stemming from his family background.
What sets this show apart is its lack of traditional conflict. Instead, it presents a gentle, 12-episode journey where the two leads gradually fall in love. While it may seem like just another story about first love, it delves deeper than that! Despite some criticism, I encourage you to view it from a different per…
Read at the sourceRaiusu
So this show is really weird not in a bad way, but it’s not your stereotypical high school romance anime It does have some key features of that, but it does also get a bit weird and boring. I did get to a point where I was hoping that the episode would finish sooner so I can finish the season quicker.
MINOR SPOILER
skip to the next paragraph to miss it.
The main male character did Throw me off little bit Because of the way he is, it made me feel like he was going to do something bad to the female character And give me a bad feeling about him which very very slowly faded throughout the show. Spoiler He didn’t do anything just makes you feel like he would when he does do a few Questionable things
END OF MINOR SPOILER
The characters are okay nothing standing out just your generic protago…
Read at the sourceJustykanna
Story & Characters: A Condition Called Love is another school-romance, the genre that I love so much that finding weak points is often difficult in my biased brain. That being said, there are some weaknesses that show up early on, even if the back half is actually a lot better. We start out with Hotaru, whose personality is actually showing up in a lot of anime lately - one of those happy-go-lucky girls who don't really know what true romance is. She clearly doesn't have a problem with that and goes about her school life like any other teenager. She eventually witnesses a breakup. It's between an unnamed girl, and one of her schoolmates, Saki Hananoi. She doesn't know much about him, and he doesn't know much about him. That is, at least she thinks so. Until he walks up to her one day and a…
Read at the sourcemrtheliger
It's a chilly Autumn morning. Natsu Kimura, a middle aged mom of three, goes out jogging in the morning and trips into a ditch. She gasps in pain, but it's nothing compared to the shock as she gazes upon the peaceful body of one Hotaru Hinase. Multiple stab wounds, strangulation around the neck, a fracture in the skull thanks to a blunt object. She died before she knew what was going on. It had to be the work of someone she knew, someone she trusted. There's absolutely no signs of a struggle. We'll get to the bottom of it. Says here both parents are alive, along with two siblings, but she moved out right after high school to live with some boyfriend. "Saki Hananoi," apparently. Should probably start there. He's got a shady history. Parents haven't lived in the country for most of his life,…
Read at the sourceRiceFoot
This is a wholesome watch. 12 episodes, no drugs, no violence, no nudity; just actual awkward highschoolers learning about love, dating, and boundaries while inspiring each other to become better people. Once you learn the entire story it is SO worth the rough start, so would recommend watching to the end even if the first few episodes are unenjoyable.
The male lead Hananoi is creepy in the beginning but it is well explored plot-wise and develops as the two learn more about love. He is called out for being obsessive. It is not glorified by all means, however it can be triggering for some so please take care.
Here are some negative comments!
It was definitely rough around the edges. Mid animation (1), cringeworthy couple scenes (2), and the whole world seems to revolve around Hotaru, the…
Read at the source
