Haruto Kiishima has recently experienced some major changes. In order to find his girlfriend who had broken up with him via text, he moved from Hiroshima’s countryside to Tokyo. It’s not as easy as moving to another city in order to get your beloved back. Haruto has to navigate the trials of his youth and make a decision about what to do when friendships become something more. He must decide whether to pursue his ex-girlfriend, or move onto other life paths.

It’s not a harem show, despite the fact that the first sequence features girls in topless swimsuits. If you’re looking for an episode crammed with beach scenes and raunchy humor, look elsewhere. A Town Where You live is a departure from the self-insert fantasy. Instead of the whole female cast being smitten with the generic hero, just four girls have a crush on Haruto. The high-school hijinks that are usually paired with teenage polygons have been replaced by a more serious plotline that involves camera panning shots and panty shots.

This series uses the upward camera pan more than other cinematic effects. The upward camera pan is used so often that it appears as an attempt to compensate for the lack of interesting animation or composition. Once it is clear that women are the main subject of the film, this becomes nauseating.

This show’s fan service is a disgrace. The panty shots are all played straight. There’s not a hint of humor when the main character falls in a woman’s boobs. It’s absurd how often butts are the focus of a frame, even for a show that is trying to be taken seriously.

Haruto is unable to accept “no”. This core idea underlies A Town Where You live. By episode 3, he could have easily accepted his single status and learned a valuable lesson, but he continues to pursue Yuzuki, his former girlfriend, without any regard for what she feels. Other characters refer to him as a stalker. To get his way, he lies and sneaks about. The constant bad decisions he makes to get Yuzuki is destroying any romance or chemistry between them, and any other character for that matter. Yuzuki is from a difficult family, so I felt bad for her to have to seek refuge with this creepy teenager.

A Town Where You live is not a typical shoujo, or josei animation. Yuzuki, Haruto and the other men who pursue her aren’t the main characters of the story. Nor are they heroes in their own rights. Haruto’s character is designed to be interesting and relatable, as the story unfolds through his eyes. But as the series continues, Haruto’s choices become increasingly unjustifiable. Haruto’s character becomes increasingly unlikable.

The series is characterized by a clear lack of motivation that goes beyond simple selfishness or a general decency. Characters are often pitiful but not empathetic. This, as one might expect, makes it impossible for the show give any reason for viewers to want Haruto to be with Yuzuki, apart from the fact that the ending is convenient.

The viewer should want to watch a romance show where the couple gets together. But I wanted to just see Haruto getting hit by a car.

A scene like this would help at the very least to change up composition. The camera will not pan up towards someone’s head, but instead sit still over their face. This face is very close. This series does not understand personal space and wants all conversation to be as cramped as possible. The camera does not zoom in on the eyes of people, but on other random objects. It’s not as interesting to watch characters speak while staring at a soda can.

Maybe a story about death, abuse and visits to hot springs would be more compelling than the bland visuals or lame protagonist of this series. A Town Where You live does not examine the hardships of everyday life, despite having these three things. This is a soap opera with a lot of tears and no real lessons.

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