REVIEW: ‘A Condition Called Love’ Season 1 Needed More Time

Based on the manga written and illustrated by Megumi Morino, A Condition Called Love Season 1 has elements of what makes for a good shojo adaptation. There’s the free-falling love story between Hotaru Hinase (Kana Hanazawa) and Hananoi (Chiaki Kobayashi) and their opposing attributes. The sparkling, romantic score by Yamazo and sorbet lighting dazzle in their grand declaration and intimacy moments. It’s a story about what it means to love and then grow with said love as a relationship develops through personal hardships and triumphs. It’s a shame that the anime didn’t get to the most interesting parts of the manga, nor did it capitalize on its existing greatest strengths.

Considering how few romance anime we get in a given season, especially compared to Shonen titles, it’s a shame that this season’s pick is such a dud. While Winter had A Sign of Affection, the spring title is less engaging both with the audience and its subject matter. The synopsis is simple enough. Hotaru doesn’t believe she’s capable of love and is content enough with her friendships and interests. Hananoi is obsessed with the idea of finding his soulmate, and after a small act of kindness from Hotaru, he professes his love for her and asks her out. The two begin dating on a trial period before developing their romance into something with a sturdier foundation.

Of course, it doesn’t take long to realize that there’s more to their dynamic than meets the eye at first glance. Hotaru doesn’t simply not believe in love. Instead, she’s been let down by it in the past, haunted by a traumatic childhood moment where a friend aggressively turned on her due to rumors about a boy liking her.

She doesn’t see the worth in love when it tends to drive people to selfishness and hurt. Hananoi’s love is abrasive, something that’s called out early in Episode 1, though it takes time for him to start to shake his worst habits. But as the story progresses, we learn that he’s doing this in part due to being abandoned as a kid by his parents. He wants to be someone’s number one.

A Condition Called Love Season 1 has the blueprint of a solid if not fresh, romance, but it fails to meet the quality of the source material. The visual presentation is simply too lackluster, lacking in depth and shading that would help invigorate these character designs. There’s a flatness to Hotaru and Hananoi that makes them hard to root for, especially with writing that sometimes boils them down to their most basic attributes. Hotaru, in particular, suffers as a passive character. Fans of the manga know she grows more assertive, and while she’s hardly a doormat in the adaptation, her light is dimmed next to Hananoi, a fully realized character.

The pacing suffers due to an overreliance on smaller, insignificant story arcs, such as one that introduces a childhood friend of Hotaru’s. These moments could’ve been trimmed to allow for more time to strengthen the core relationship, especially in the back half of the season as Hotaru and Hananoi grow closer and more comfortable in their relationship.

It isn’t fair necessarily to thoroughly compare the manga to the anime since the manga has so much more time to delve into these characters and the interiorities of their worlds. But it’s also hard not to, especially when we’ve seen plenty of solid adaptations that understand the strengths of the stories they’re telling. There’s a charm to A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai) that is nonexistent in the anime. There are fleeting moments of it, from details such as Hananoi’s frostbitten ears in Episode 1 to Hotaru’s impulsive need to reach out and touch him, but none of these moments, big or small, make much of a ripple.

The best episodes are the ones fully dedicated to their growth as a couple, from Valentine’s Day to birthdays. At this point, the ensemble is relatively weak, with only a few supporting characters making fleeting appearances. And still, all of this could’ve been improved with livelier animation. Instead, it’s oppressively flat, and there’s more movement in the manga than in the anime.

We want to like A Condition Called Love Season 1, and, again, some attributes do work, such as the score, the backgrounds, and Hananoi’s character arc. It just could’ve been so much more with fine-tuning and more significant elevation of the character designs and movement. It’s not a bad adaptation, but a lifeless one. If it is to get a second season, it will already be a leg up from season 1 due to its approaching more dynamic and engaging material. I hope it gets the second season because while there’s room for improvement, those changes are viable. These characters deserve a continued adaptation that follows their journey toward understanding love and its messy ways.

A Condition Called Love Season 1 adequately sets the stage for what ultimately becomes a better story. However, with a lack of distinctive visuals or fluidity in motion, it loses steam often and only sometimes manages to live up to the source material. It’s fine, really, but you’ll get more out of simply reading the manga instead. At least for now.

A Condition Called Love Season 1 is out now on Crunchyroll.