Kashiwada and Ota are middleschool classmates. Kashiwada is a girl who never shows emotions on her face, while Ota is always thinking of pranks to surprise Kashiwada with, but he always fails. They appear to be opposite types of people, but deep down, they genuinely care for each other.

Okay, I honestly find this kind of hilarious: The name of the show is Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Ota. The synopsis for this show spells out for those who missed the title that yes, Kashiwada is inexpressive and Ota is very expressive. The episode title for the premiere is "Those Who Are Completely Inexpressive and Those Who Are Super Expressive". For an incredibly low-stakes romcom that lives and dies on the back of the most obvious joke in the world, this show sure does seem worried that we still might not get the schtick. So in case anyone is still lost, allow me to break it down for you. See, Kashiwada is a girl who most would probably describe as "inexpressive". Ota, on the other hand, is the kind of fellow that you could easily apply the "expressive" descriptor to, as a general summation of his personality. The two are opposites. Opposites...who are attracted to one another. Do you understand now? Do I need to say it louder and slower for the small infants in the back?

Yeah, if there's any fatal flaw to this anime's whole setup, it's the fact that it's very literally a one-joke premise, and the joke ain't exactly a fresh one.

Pairing two characters that are at such opposite extremes of each other can definitely be fun, and it's a story setup that has been done plenty of times with varying results. I can enjoy those shows on some level as long as the comedic timing hits or it brings just one fresh element to the table. Without that, you risk having a show that drags out the same joke over and over again without much opportunity for creativity. Unfortunately, the latter is precisely what this show does in its premiere.

Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Ota only has one joke, which is in the title. You have a girl who's not that good at expressing herself and a boy who's expressive to fault. The two are curious about each other but show their feelings in extremely different ways. I do like the fact that Kashiwada isn't just an emotionless brick--she does express herself, just in very subtle ways that the rest of the cast can't pick up on. That's kind of fun in its own way, and she's actually quite forward when you just ask her direct questions, like how she basically confessed to Ota right in this first episode. However, I don't like Ota as a character because I think the show went too far in the opposite direction with him. He's loud, abrasive and annoying, and his actions really do border on bullying when you sit down and think about it. He's basically invading Kashiwada's personal space, constantly throwing things in her face, and if it wasn't for the fact that she likes him, I feel like this would be a very different type of show.

So I'm just watching a really misguided boy bully his obvious crush, which isn't an interesting premise, and it's made even less interesting by the presentation. Was I the only one who thought all the background characters looked deranged too? Something about the way many of them have their eyes drawn makes them feel unsettled, and once again, we have another show that's so aggressively washed out that everyone looks like ghosts. The music was the only thing that made me laugh during this premiere, thanks to its aggressively cartoonish quality, even making like DK and whipping out bongos at points. Outside of that, I don't think there's really much here that warrants a full 22-minute runtime. Maybe if this were a short series, it'd be easier to digest, but in its current form, I feel like a lot more needs to be done to keep me engaged.

Does the second episode do any better? Well, on the one hand, I feel like it was a bit funnier, but on the other, I still feel like the show isn't really addressing the fact that Ota is still kind of a bully to Kashiwada. He's at least taking more direct accountability for his actions and showing more openly that he does actually care about her even if he'll deny it. That is better, but I still REALLY don't like the idea of them as a couple, nor do I think I like him that much as a main character.

Episode two also introduces a third main character, the rigid class rep Tabuchi, the class rep. When she calls out Ota's bullying of Kashiwada, it's ostensibly to defend Kashiwada's feelings, but in truth, she's just as obsessed with Kashiwada as Ota is and worries that she'll stop coming to school. There's some actual potential to Tabuchi's relationship with Kashiwada--she initially describes herself as a "fan" and watches Kashiwada from afar, like an onlooker watching an animal at a zoo. She projected her own perception of events onto Kashiwada's feelings, claiming that she can understand Kashiwada better when really she's guessing just as much as anyone else. So basically the only reason why she's so uptight is because she's Kashiwada's fan, not because she had a legitimate point, and she's arguably just replacing one form of harassment with another. Eventually Kashiwada confronts Tabuchi and says she doesn't want a fan, she wants a friend. It was an unusually perceptive depiction of how people often treat others who are regarded as strange, as an observer and a defender while keeping their distance in a way that's ultimately dehumanizing. Tabuchi resolves to act as a friend to Kashiwada, but it's might not be so easy to make that kind of connection. Perhaps the series will do something with this, but it's likely too heavy a subject for this kind of show.

I think the part of the episode that got me to react the most was probably the beginning scene revolving around the swimming lessons. I liked the cutaway between how everyone else was seeing Kashiwada and how she was actually swimming. Or rather, borderline drowning. That was probably the best use of the cutaway reaction gags the show really wants to lean on. If we could get more exaggerated situations like that, I think I could find a lot more humor in this show. However, I think it also worked because we actually went to a slightly different setting than just the classroom. Maybe if we get to see these characters outside of school, there'd be a lot more to play around with. But for now, even at its best, things are just sort of...okay, I guess.