それでも歩は寄せてくる

SOREDEMO AYUMU WA YOSETEKURU

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
September 23, 2022
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

Ayumu Tanaka just fell in love at first sight with Urushi Yaotome, the head of the illegitimate Shogi Club, and joined the Shogi Club! But Ayumu has vowed not to confess his feelings until he can best Urushi, and he has a long way to go before he can stand up to her strategic brilliance. As Ayumu strives to beat his crush and confess, love becomes a battlefield both on and off the shogi board while audiences wonder, “When will Ayumu make his move!?”

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

CAST

Urushi Yaotome
Kanna Nakamura
Ayumu Tanaka
Youhei Azakami
Sakurako Mikage
Hina Youmiya
Maki
Kana Hanazawa
Rin Kagawa
Haruna Mikawa
Takeru Kakuryuu
Tsubasa Gouden
Urushi no Chichi
Fumihiko Tachiki
Urushi no Haha
Sayaka Oohara
Miku
Eri Suzuki
Hinano
Yuki Kudo
Urushi no Sofu
Masaaki Ihara
Tenchou
Masaki Terasoma

EPISODES

Dubbed

| | |

Not available on crunchyroll

RELATED TO SOREDEMO AYUMU WA YOSETEKURU

Cover Art for Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

MANGA ComedySoredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

REVIEWS

Mcsuper
70/100
Takagi, But Kind Of Reversed?
Ah, those fleeting youthful days where romance was always on our minds, and falling in love was one of the best feelings one can imagine. This show really does warm my heart, and gave me some of those memories, though I will be honest, I didn’t really enjoy this show at the start, but little by little, I started liking it more.

The show is quite simple really, a middle school kendo champion, Ayumu Tanaka, begins his first year of high school, but didn’t join the kendo club, instead, he fell in love with Urushi Yaotome, the president and only member of the unofficial shogi club. Ayumu is a rather expressionless person, which kind of reminded me of Raido from “Aharen-san wa Hakarenai”, but bolder, and Urushi is your typical cute girl that blushes a lot when teased. In a way, it’s kind of the reversal of “Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san”, where Takagi would constantly tease Nishikata and make him blush. This resemblance is no fluke though, because they were written by the same author.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

STORY: 15.2/25

The story is quite simple and relaxing, inoffensive and fun. It’s a whole bunch of teasing, a whole bunch of shogi playing, and a bit of slow progress in Ayumu and Urushi’s relationship. The teasing is rather uncreative and repetitive though compared to something like Takagi-san, as it’s mostly just Ayumu giving Urushi compliments, and making fun of her small size. I do wish there were more unique scenarios for the teasing and romantic moments, but I enjoyed what we got. The side characters were interesting at times with their relationships, but they weren’t extremely involved all the time. I also wish we would get a small, basic lesson about shogi in this show as well, as that could make viewers a bit more engaged.

ART: 7.4/10

There isn’t a whole lot of movement in the show, but for the most part, the designs were alright and the colours were good. Nothing too special here.

MUSIC: 8.2/10

The music compliments the show well, and gives off a nice slice of life vibe. The opening and ending were also pretty solid, and quite catchy.

CHARACTERS: 13.5/20

The main leads are good characters, especially Ayumu, because he’s completely willing to compliment Urushi all the time, and I wouldn’t imagine he’d be too afraid to confess his feelings. Urushi isn’t all too special, but she’s very adorable, and fun to watch. The side characters are also fun to watch, especially Takeru and Sakurako, who have an interesting dynamic. Another character I’d like to highlight would be Rin, who was also part of the middle school kendo team, and her interactions with Ayumu and Takeru are a joy to watch, and there’s some substance there. There are some backstories that were a tad bit emotional too, which is always a welcome thing.

ENJOYMENT: 11.5/15

Cute and wholesome, pretty satisfying.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 14/20

The one thing I’d say this show lacks is creativity in comedy. Sure, it’s good, but it’s quite repetitive. There aren’t a whole lot of unique scenarios and settings. The thing this show does well is romance, because there seems to be genuine progress in the relationship, and it also feels very relatable to the vibe of high school romance, and I’m glad to see it.

OVERALL: 69.8/100

For a romance anime, it delivers decently. In terms of works from this author, I’d still have to go with Takagi-san over this show, but nonetheless, this show is good in its own way, and features a good high school relationship, but it just doesn’t have that extra kick or uniqueness to it. That said, if there’s ever a sequel, I’d be happy to watch it. After all, who would say no to cute romcoms?
Continue on AniList
HidamariSeashore
79/100
When, exactly, WILL Ayumu make his move?
Have you ever decided that you weren't going to accomplish a goal until you accomplished another one first? Like, you might have decided that you weren't going to ask someone out until you had done something else that might impress them. For example, beating them at chess....or really, Japanese chess, also known as shogi. Look, I'm no expert at shogi or chess - the one time I can recall playing chess, I tried to play it with the checkers ruleset - but I have seen my fair share of romantic comedy anime. As of the time of me writing this review, the well-liked "Teasing Master Takagi-san" may not be among them, but a certain other anime from the same manga artist as Takagi-san is. No, it's not "In The Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki".

Now, dear readers, I must ask, "When Will Ayumu Make His Move?"

When Will Ayumu Make His Move, known in Japanese as "Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru", follows a certain shogi club at a certain high school. Its two members, club president Urushi Yaotome and first-year Ayumu Tanaka, play shogi together at pretty much every club meeting, with the former usually beating the latter. Ayumu never gives up on trying to beat Urushi, though, his main motivation being his crush on her; he has decided that he won't confess his feelings for her until he has beaten her fair and square at a shogi game. Meanwhile, Urushi suspects that Ayumu likes her and, although she's not aware of it, begins to develop her own feelings for him. From there, we get to see the rom-com and shogi shenanigans that these two get up to.

As I said at the beginning of this review, I'm no expert at shogi, and as such, I'm not sure if the moves that are made in the shogi games played in this anime are good moves or not. It might be better to ask someone who is actually good at shogi about things like that. However, it is the game of shogi that connects these two and allows us to see how cute they are as a couple. Their interactions can be a little frustrating as much as they are cute, however. Ayumu has a tendency to tease Urushi in a way that is obviously flirty, and Urushi's reactions make it clear that she feels the same way that he does, even if she doesn't realize it until the end. On multiple occasions, I have thought, "Come on, Ayumu! You might as well just confess now!" I guess I do have to respect him for sticking to his guns when it comes to when he's going to confess, though.

Surrounding Ayumu and Urushi is a cast of likable supporting characters. My favorite is probably Maki, Urushi's best friend; not only are her teasing antics quite fun to watch, but the way she's so supportive of her friend is very wholesome to see. Rin is another character that sticks out in my mind; although she doesn't appear until later in the series, she adds to the group dynamic of the shogi club in a fun way. The supporting characters I especially want to highlight, however, are Takeru and Sakurako, Ayumu's childhood friends and the anime's resident side couple. My feelings for their relationship are pretty much the same as my feelings for Ayumu and Urushi's relationship, as in I think they're cute and fun together and I really felt like they might as well just confess to each other already.

The animation studio behind When Will Ayumu Make His Move is Silver Link, who has had an extensive track record prior to when they released this anime in 2022. Unfortunately, I can't exactly say it's their best work; while the character and color designs were solid, the animation was a bit on the limited side, and even when there was movement, it sometimes felt a little stiff. Maybe "stiff" isn't the right word to describe it, but it just felt like the animation wasn't flowing as well as it could have been. At the very least, though, the voice acting and music make up for the limited animation. The voice acting is all very good with every character being well-cast, especially with Kana Hanazawa voicing Maki. Speaking of Kana Hanazawa, she sings the opening theme, "Kakehiki wa Poker Face", which is a cute song that fits the anime well. The same thing can be said about "50 cm", the ending theme that is sung by Urushi's voice actress, Kanna Nakamura. Even the background music is very cute!

Overall, When Will Ayumu Make His Move is a cute romantic comedy anime. If you want an anime that has at least a bit of a focus on shogi or want more from the manga artist behind Takagi-san, go ahead and give this a try. It will get you wondering exactly when Ayumu will make his move, too!
Continue on AniList