REVIEW: ‘Captivated By You’ Episode 1 — “Someone Adorable”

What a silly little series. Captivated By You Episode 1 charms with a direct yet off-kilter approach to its storytelling. Based on the manga from writer and illustrator Yama Wayama (Let’s Go Karaoke!) Produced by studio Doga Koba (of Oshi No Ko fame) with Asami Nakatani serving as the director, this slice-of-life, aloof style of storytelling proves to be winsome even if it’s visually barren. But while it’s undeniably offbeat and catches you off guard with its humor, it remains to be seen if the series can elevate the material or make for engaging storytelling. 

Because, as of now, it’s a punchline-heavy anime. There’s a slight narrative, but it’s pushed aside in favor of jokes and hijinks that need greater direction and frenzied animation to match the tone they’re trying to build. Mainly, it’s a lot of jokes about how gross teen boys can be, much to the chagrin yet muted amusement of our first protagonist, Jōji Ema (Koki Uchiyama). 

Most of Captivated By You Episode 1 revolves around the social pickle Ema has found himself in following a sports day at school. Since it’s an all-boys school, Ema claims that none of the participants in the games and races are taking the competition seriously, as there’s no one to show off to. The sequence allows for a lot of little sight gags and absurdism as we take in the understated chaos of the event. 

The dynamic between Ema and Hayashi gives the series from Yama Wayama some promise. 

But all of it leads to the inciting incident where, prompted in a scavenger hunt to find something adorable, Ema picks fellow classmate, Miyoshi Hayashi (Kensho Ono). The reason? Hayashi was inexplicably found caught in a net. 

It’s both an innocuous start to their dynamic as well as one that spells out how weird each of their interactions will be going forward. Hayashi finds it hilarious that Ema would pick him and teases him relentlessly whenever their eyes meet at school. None of it feels mean-spirited, however, and it’s clear as “Someone Adorable” progresses that their relationship will be one of the central points of the anecdotal series. 

That said, there’s a surprising lack of energy to Captivated By You Episode 1 despite the jokes and strong punchlines. There’s nothing wrong with subdued anime—just look at recent critical favorites such as Kowloon Generic Romance or The Summer Hikaru Died. All things considered, we could do with more of this style of anime, where it’s less about overstimulation and more about studying the art form and using the medium to give space to unlikely stories. 

Captivated By You Episode 1 struggles to gain speed. 

But in the case of Captivated By You Episode 1, it feels like a mismatch. While it could easily fall into the vein of Cherry Magic or My New Boss is Goofy territory, that tone worked with the former because the stories were about adults. Captivated By You could easily imbue itself with a Skip and Loafer-like energy(grounded yet playful), and yet the adaptation is, by all accounts, flat. 

Some of this works. The character designs are deceptively plain, aside from the dated pompadour on Ema, eschewing recent trends in favor of more realistic designs. To Ema’s point at the start, there’s no overtly cutesy style. The plainness in the art by Yama Wayama is the point. Despite Ema’s frustration over being surrounded by a bunch of other guys and how men can’t be adorable, Hayashi still sticks out and forces Ema to question why. 

Captivated By You Episode 1 does little to stand out against its contemporaries despite a few standout and genuinely hilarious jokes. Everything is too muted, lacking the energy the writing promises. That said, as the ensemble expands and we better dive into the dynamic between Ema and Hayashi, here’s hoping the series will find a necessary spark. 

Captivated By You Episode 1 is out now on Crunchyroll.