Anime Hajime Review: Citrus

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Citrus. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Yuzu (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu) has recently become Yuzu Aihara. After her mother’s remarriage, Yuzu prepares to start her life with her new family. That also means she will be attending a new school. The problem is, the school is a little more conservative than Yuzu is used to.

Almost immediately, Yuzu gets on the wrong side of the strict student council president, Mei (voiced by Minami Tsuda). Yuzu can’t stand the bossiness of the president and is glad she doesn't have to deal with her often. Or that was what she thought. It turns out Mei’s full name is Mei Aihara, and she is Yuzu’s new sister.

Though unhappy about the situation, Yuzu tries to get along with Mei. Except Mei has a confusing way of interacting with Yuzu. After a brief argument, Mei ends up kissing Yuzu and nothing is ever the same afterward.

Feelings of contempt transform into affection within Yuzu. Getting the chance to spend more time with her once rival, Yuzu realizes there is more to Mei behind her coldness. Before she has a chance to react, Yuzu realizes she has fallen in love with her new step-sister.

Series Positives

Before getting into the positives and negatives of this show, there is something I can’t avoid.

Citrus is a yuri series. For those who don’t know, a yuri story tells of a romantic or sexual relationship between two women. I wanted to get through this review without bringing this up because I went into this series hoping the focus would be more on the relationship between the two main characters, Yuzu and Mei. I didn’t want the show to merely be an excuse to have two cute girls kiss each other.

To Citrus’ credit, it did lean more towards the relationship side of things. But since I felt the need to talk about this, there were moments in this series that had, let’s call them questionable motivations.

There were two scenes from this show that illustrated this disconnect.

The first came when Yuzu and Mei found themselves in an intimate situation. Mei, who up to then had been nothing except cold and distant, was being much more forceful. Yuzu, who had made it clear this was something she had thought about, was very much taken aback by Mei’s sudden change of heart.

Both girls were in a state of undress, and Mei, in particular, was being overtly seductive. There was no denying the appeal of this scene. Nevertheless, this was a crucial moment for both characters. Nothing ended up happening because it was Yuzu who put a stop to this. She felt her and Mei were about to do something for the wrong reasons and thus, didn’t think they should continue.

Yuzu’s rejection of Mei established the major dilemma for the rest of Citrus.

Although there was a sexual overtone to this scene, that wasn’t the only thing going on. The driving elements at this moment were the character’s thoughts and feelings. The fact the two people involved were women had little bearing on anything. Had the show replaced either Yuzu or Mei with a male character, nothing would have changed.

This route was the thing I had hoped Citrus would do. Too bad this show also had moments like the one that existed in the first episode.

To set the stage, it was Yuzu’s first day at school. Her hair, her clothes, and her general attitude were "unacceptable." Naturally, this put her at odds with the student council and Mei. With no intention of letting herself be intimidated, Yuzu brought up a valid point by saying she was new and didn’t know the violations. Therefore why would it be fair for her to be punished? Mei conceded to that argument and responded by only confiscating Yuzu’s cellphone.

Except had Mei only taken the phone and nothing more, there would have been no issue.

Mei made sure to search every inch of Yuzu’s body to locate the device. How this moment was shot and the detail we got to see made it clear that Mei was purposefully feeling Yuzu up. Okay Citrus, what was you’re reasoning behind this?

This instance was when Yuzu and Mei first saw each other. There was no history behind them. There was nothing to fall back on like in the previous scene I mentioned. The only motivation left was fanservice. And on multiple other occasions, that was the only thing this show could have been trying to accomplish.

Most of the time when Yuzu and Mei kissed, they were engaging in full-on make-out sessions. The only other romance series I can think of that was this explicit, and I couldn’t come up with a positive example, was School Days.

Even with that being the case, I have no problem saying that for the most part, Citrus was a romance story first and foremost. And when that romance story took precedence, it made the series much more enjoyable.

But Odyssey, what about Yuzu and Mei being sisters?

God damn it, I’m about to shoot myself in the foot with this, aren’t I?

To start, I have seen several series, and me realizing there has been more than one gives me a headache, where actual blood siblings formed a romantic relationship. Shows that do this are never any good because this type of pairing goes beyond creepy and hits flat out wrong.

The path Citrus went down though, didn’t even register with me because this was such a specific circumstance.

Yuzu and Mei had no idea the other existed before the start of their story. And for some reason, Yuzu’s mother forgot to tell her daughter she was going to be getting a new sister. Yeah, because that’s a thing that slips people’s minds. Without warning, Yuzu and Mei came into each other’s lives, and it was the law, not biology that made them siblings.

The show tried to harp on the sister aspect hard. This was more so the issue then Yuzu and Mei being girls. To Citrus’ detriment, this detail felt forced in, and it made the whole series more complicated than it needed to be. Granted there were one or two moments that tied themselves to Yuzu and Mei’s familial link. That notwithstanding, our leads being siblings could have been removed, and not much would have been different.

So no, Yuzu and Mei being sisters was not a big issue with me. If anything, I found it annoying how often the series kept bringing it up. This was an unnecessary distraction that added nothing to the show.

ALL THAT ASIDE, what of Citrus itself? Amongst everything I have brought up, I haven’t even said whether I liked the series or not.

To the show’s credit, even with the amount of baggage it had, this was your average, paint-by-numbers romance story. Too bad the series’ biggest problem was it being an average, paint-by-numbers romance story.

Citrus was bland.

This show was nothing special. To be fair though Citrus was by no means a difficult sit, not by a long shot. I can’t say I was ever bored while watching. But that boredom never hit because I was too busy poking holes in this story. Or more to the point, it was amazing how easy it was to predict everything that happened in this series.

If I didn’t care for Citrus that much, why would I bother with the long intro?

For one, let’s not pretend this show’s yuri elements aren’t a draw. Without them, there would be nothing to this series, and as a result, it would otherwise fall into obscurity alongside other subpar romance stories.

And from a writing point of view, I didn’t want a giant white elephant looming over my shoulder the entire time. Thus, I got it out of the way as soon as I could.

To give a taste of the Series Negatives, Citrus was a nitpickers paradise. Alongside some rather large faults, there were plenty of small things to call into question. However, this show wasn’t garbage. There were things to like and enjoy.

For instance, there was a segment near the halfway mark that, no joke, impressed me. It was well-told, the setup to it was smart, and the payoff helped round out the characters, and it gave insight into their way of looking at the world.

Given how meh Citrus was, this would usually be the type of show that I wouldn’t have any problems discussing details. However, I expect there are a fair amount of people who plan to give this series a look for specific reasons. While I can’t agree with those reasons, I do want to respect any example of solid storytelling when and where I see it.

With confidence, I can claim this was the only thing about the show that surprised me in a positive way. But it wasn’t the only thing I liked about Citrus.

The Characters – Yuzu and the Tachibana Twins

Citrus’s story was so standard it makes it hard to talk about it. The element that pushed this show in any direction, positive or negative, were the characters. Even then, there were only a handful of people worth mentioning.

As a pure numbers game, there were more decent characters then there were problematic ones. Too bad the problematic ones did the most damage. That and the series misused some of its best cast members. Of these strong characters, there were Yuzu and the Tachibana twin sisters, Sera and Nina (voiced by Hisako Kanemoto and Rei Matsuzaki).

For how by the book Citrus was, Yuzu was actually a pretty good lead. It was thanks to her this show was not a chore to get through. It wouldn’t be a stretch to consider her to be the series’ saving grace.

While the story made it a point to call Yuzu reckless, I would say she was proactive. Some people believed Yuzu acted without thinking and that wasn’t the case at all.

When it came to her and Mei’s relationship, Yuzu was the one who took the time to consider what was going on. She accounted for both her feelings as well as Mei’s. The reason Yuzu had such an unruly reputation was utterly unfair.

Yuzu tended to be quite showy in how she approached problems. But she was at her flashiest when there was only one clear solution.

For example, thanks to Yuzu’s actions, Mei was able to take the steps necessary to rebuild the strained relationship she had with her father. While you could argue Yuzu didn’t need to be as loud as she was, she did more in one move than Mei ever did in her entire life.

It was also thanks to Yuzu this show had one of its most satisfying moments.

Yuzu came to learn that Mei was already in agreement to marry one of the teachers of the academy. Given the series’ originality, the teacher turned out to be a massive prick. Upon learning of this, Yuzu was quick to realize this entire situation was troubling for Mei. Risking her future at the school, Yuzu made a very public revelation on how much of a scumbag the teacher was.

Not to allow Citrus too much credit, the way Yuzu went about doing this required every person at the school to be blind. That is the only way I can explain how Yuzu got as far as she did.

Besides her straightforward attitude, Yuzu played the role of the love-struck protagonist well. Her feelings towards Mei felt real. Plus, it wasn’t as if Yuzu fell for Mei in an instant. Several key instances led her to feel the way she did. Considering the show’s length, the time Yuzu came to that conclusion made sense. After that, it was Yuzu and only Yuzu who was trying to figure out what the relationship between her and Mei was.

There came a point in the story where Yuzu felt she was only thinking about herself and what she wanted. She believed her not accommodating Mei’s perspective was what was preventing them from getting closer. I’m calling shenanigans to that. If anything, Yuzu could have afforded to be a little more selfish when it came to dealing with Mei. The show tried to set up to appear as though both girls were failing to understand each other. That couldn’t have been any less true.

I’ll just come right out and say it. Yuzu was too good for Mei.

Yuzu was Citrus’ constant. Her actions and her character managed to keep this series afloat. Then with the help of the Tachibana sisters, that was the only time I saw some potential in this show.

Sera Tachibana was one of the few characters that didn’t try to screw over Yuzu. She was also the only person who knew of Yuzu’s feelings towards Mei and was supportive towards her.

Unbeknownst to Sera though, this created a huge conflict of interest.

Sera and Yuzu bonded over their encouragement in each other’s love life. With Sera’s help, Yuzu realized what she needed to do to finally get through to Mei. And with Yuzu’s backing, Sera found the drive to confess to the person she had a crush on. I will give you a second to imagine who Sera’s crush was.

This small part of the show should have been the entire show. Please keep in mind, neither Sera or Yuzu knew the full details of the other’s situation. They were unaware of how they were connected. As such this made their support for one another genuine. But this also added some well-needed, non-vile conflict to the story. And to make things even better, Sera’s sister, Nina, also managed to play a pivotal role in this scenario.

Nina was the only force against Yuzu and Mei’s relationship that wasn’t bitter or meanspirited. Nina’s motivations were understandable and came from a good place.

Nina cared for Sera a lot. Nina felt her sister’s caring personality was preventing Sera from following through with her own happiness. So when Sera found someone she wanted to be with, Nina did everything she could to ensure no one got in the way.

With this mindset, Nina was not against Yuzu. Yuzu just happened to be the person in direct conflict with Sera’s happiness. Replace Yuzu with anyone else and Nina would have responded the same way. If anything, Nina held back because she also respected Yuzu and Sera’s friendship.

When the Tachibana twins got introduced in this show, Citrus started to become decent. Had these two been around more, I may have even come to enjoy this series. There were two problems though.

Sera and Nina didn’t come into Citrus until episode ten. This series was guilty of one of my pet peeves when it comes to anime. You would be surprised how much you can learn from the opening title sequence of a show, especially when you can see characters that have yet to make an appearance.

I don’t think Citrus will generate enough excitement to warrant a sequel. I know I can’t say I’m eagerly waiting for one. But should something come, I will have some interest since this will give the twins a chance to play a more prominent role, as well as make up for the second problem.

Although Sera and Nina were terrific additions, they were unnecessary additions. Much like Yuzu and Mei being siblings was an unneeded detail, the Tachibana’s were another pair of siblings that had almost zero effect on the story. In fact, it would have required less effort to write these two out then it would have been to make Yuzu and Mei not family.

Series Negatives

Over the course of the review, I have been bringing up many of Citrus' faults. The main one being how average the show was. That averageness turned otherwise small mistakes into enormous problems.

This show was not subtle with how it illustrated the personality differences between its two main characters. In their room, there was an actual divide between their things. On Yuzu’s side, there were a lot of colors, mostly pink, and everything about it screamed fashionable girl. On Mei’s side, there was grey, nothing but gray. If this were a comedy series, then I would expect this kind of heavy-handedness and pass it off as a joke.

Another thing and I might be wrong about this, but why did Yuzu and Mei sleep in the same bed? They didn’t do this for one night. This was their regular sleeping arrangement. If these two were elementary schoolers, then I could let this go.

But I get the feeling most high schoolers with the option would choose to have a room of their own. Based on the size of the apartment the girls lived in as well as some other factors, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the Aihara family wasn’t struggling for cash. I think they could have afforded an extra mattress.

Details like these went a long way into making it hard to take Citrus seriously. And this happened damn near immediately. From episode one, I knew it was going to be a challenge to get into this story. The show would need to offer something redeeming. It sort of did that in the form of Yuzu, and it would have succeeded with the Tachibana's.

Too bad Yuzu wasn’t enough to hold up this series’ biggest problems, and by the time we got to the twins, it was too late.

The Characters – Matsuri and Mei

I could throw Himeko Momokino (voiced by Yurika Kubo) into this mix too, but there were times I forgot she was part of the show. And that was despite Citrus dedicating a decent segment to her. Besides, what there was to Himeko was nowhere near as bad as what there was to Matsuri Mizusawa (voiced by Shiori Izawa).

This was a mean little girl. Matsuri was rude, manipulative, and all around nasty. If there were a villain to this show, she would have been it.

To illustrate the kind of character we were dealing with, Matsuri’s side business was selling masturbation videos on the internet. The videos weren’t of her, but instead, she found random ones online, and she claimed they were of her. That took things up a notch.

Matsuri had known Yuzu for years. To Yuzu, Matsuri was like a little sister. That was why Matsuri became extremely hostile towards Mei when she became Yuzu’s actual family. And yeah, hostile is a pretty accurate way to describe Matsuri’s attitude towards Mei.

I need to say this now, I did not like Mei. But that doesn’t mean I think she deserved what Matsuri tried to do to her.

Matsuri managed to get some dirt on Mei. She then used that as a means to blackmail Mei into doing something very dangerous. Matsuri threatened to tell Yuzu the information she had if Mei didn’t meet with someone. That someone was one of Matsuri’s “online friends.”

Okay, Citrus, you got a little intense for no reason, you better follow this up with something. The show didn’t. The only repercussion Matsuri faced was a slight slap on the wrist from Yuzu. The lack of a satisfying payoff for such an act did not do Matsuri any favors. What the series was saying, “We are going to ignore what Matsuri did and treat her as though she as a redeemed character.” No, that is not what happened.

To make matters worse, the show screwed up the chance to make Mei, not a terrible character.

This was where Citrus’ blandness was at its most devastating. The show tried to portray Mei as this lonely girl who was trying to take on more than she could. It was her reluctance to rely on others that turned her cold. But since this type of character is nothing special, there needed to be something to set Mei apart. What that something was, was not flattering.

Mei was not a good person. Throughout the show, Mei was aware of Yuzu’s feelings. Instead of accepting or rejecting Yuzu, Mei preferred to toy with her new sister’s emotions. And these were emotions that Mei set off. This entire story was Mei’s doing.

In the beginning, Yuzu did not like Mei; the two did not get along. Despite that, it was Yuzu who offered the olive branch. It was Yuzu who tried to befriend Mei who was having none of it. As a result, Yuzu said something she knew would get a reaction out of Mei. Except the reaction Yuzu got was not what she expected.

The thing Yuzu said was no doubt biting. Had Mei argued with Yuzu or even smacked her, that would have been warranted. No, what Mei did was kiss Yuzu. After that, Mei would do this several more times. And this threw Yuzu entirely out of whack because every time Mei did this, it was clear something was bothering her.

This prompted Yuzu to want to get to know Mei better. In the process, she developed feelings for her. And every time Mei made an advance it pushed Yuzu in a direction. Then with Mei being the person she was, she told Yuzu why she did what she did. Mei said it was the most effective way of shutting Yuzu up.

As you might expect, that did not go over well. Seeing how hurt Yuzu was after hearing this, it appeared as though Mei realized she was in the wrong. That didn’t last. Mei kept doing contradictory actions. Poor Yuzu didn’t know what to think. And it wasn't like Mei ever gave Yuzu a chance to discuss what was going on.

I said it earlier. Yuzu was too good for Mei. And Mei was the primary reason why this show didn’t work.

Final Thoughts

If you want a strong yuri series with a good story and a decent romance, I suggest Aoi Hana. But if you only want to see two girls kissing and care about absolutely nothing else, then fine, you can check this series out.

That’s me being harsh since this show did try to have a story. The romance was more the focus than anything else. The fanservice that was here was awkward, but you can tone it out. Or at least I would say that if this story was better than it was.

This series wasted many decent characters. And these would have been characters who could have saved the show. It was a shame this amount of nonsense suffocated these otherwise positive elements.

If it weren’t for the yuri aspects to this story, this show would have failed to leave any sort of impact. Citrus is a series I can’t recommend.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Citrus? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

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I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.

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