I just got myself caught up to the romance that everyone is talking about this season: Too Many Losing Heroines. I didn't pick this up at first because the description made it sound like the most generic cast of chumps ever constructed came together to star in a shitty anime about another dude who's pulling in all the chicks and he can't decide which one he should smash. In reality though, this series is actually intended to parody and reference common romance tropes and I'm really appreciating the spin on played-out personality types in the genre. Plus the gorgeous animation and lighthearted comedy adds to the charm.

What exactly do I mean by that? We've got the familiar girls here and reporting for duty that you'd typically expect from a harem: the childhood best friend "bro" type girl, the tomboy girl, the socially reclusive girl, the smart and studious one, etc. However, unlike most of these anime where the trope encompasses the character's entire existence in the production, here the trope merely acts as a starting point to introduce an archetype and build upon it. In some cases like the student council president, the trope is almost immediately shattered and defies expectations (that girl is a creepy freak, I don't know how the hell she acquired a student government position). In other cases it takes some time for a character to break out of their shell like our short, shy cutie Komari, but that variety keeps things interesting and provides some pacing rather than breaking out of every trope immediately in a predictable format. So far I haven't been let down by the writing in this one at all. My main fear is whether or not it can reach a strong conclusion by the end of the season without leaving a ton of things up in the air (as even quality romance anime tend to do).

And a little bonus fanservice never hurt.

This series has multiple entries for waifu of the season in my book (as long as we don't count season two of other anime since that's kind of unfair). These days it's hard for me to go back and pick up an anime I didn't start watching initially, but thanks to some recap from Kinky I'm ready to stick with this one for the long haul. Are you watching Too Many Losing Heroines? Do you think it's a cool concept to expand upon and reimagine harem tropes? Which girl is your type? Don't trip on your shoelaces, grab some tissues so your nose doesn't bleed, and avoid other common harem tropes in the comments below!