Life has been hard for 17-year-old high school student Uryu Kamihate. Having grown up in an orphanage after losing his mother to illness, Uryu is determined to make it into the top medical school in Japan, and as such decides to live at a shrine in Kyoto to focus on his studies, even though he no longer believes in gods and miracles. Upon arriving at Amagami Shrine, Uryu accidentally walks in on the three shrine maidens, undressed of course, and it goes about as expected—they call him a pervert and kick him out. Creativity? What is that? After resolving the misunderstanding, we are formally introduced to the titular Amagami sisters: big sister Yae, little sister Asahi, and middle child and typical tsundere Yuna. Of course, Yuna and Uryu get along like oil and water in the beginning—the two clashing over stereotypical perverted moments and their various beliefs (or non-beliefs in Uryu’s case), but after a few shenanigans involving a missing hair tie, the two reach an understanding and make nice. Of course, it’s revealed at the end of the episode in a post-credits scene that the priest in charge of the shrine intends to have Uryu marry one of his granddaughters and take over the temple. Cue the shenanagins…I guess.
So let’s not beat around the bush here guys; this is about as stereotypical a harem series as you could possibly get. How bad is it? This show makes The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You look like Tenchi Muyo—a classic harem series—by comparison. All the tropes are here: the older sister trope, the tsundere, the bratty little sister, the hapless male loser at the center of the harem, the customary scene where our guy walks in on the girls changing their clothes…you name it, this show does it, and not in extraordinary ways. It’s as though the characters were plucked straight out of the anime character pool and copied-pasted here with very few changes. The overall story of our guy going to live with several girls, one of whom he will no doubt develop feelings for, is something we’ve seen COUNTLESS times before, and if we’re being real, it’s been done better elsewhere. This show, at least from this initial outset, does NOTHING to break the mold. I mean, at least last season’s hit Pseudo Harem featured the great novelty of having the entire harem be one girl playing the different roles. This time, it’s as though the creators said, “Well, we can’t have any of that creativity stuff in this show. Let’s just make a typical harem.” And that’s what this is. There is literally nothing special about it. If I can find any redeeming factor with this show, it’s that there is a great message in here about how God hears all prayers, even when there are times when we’re questioning our faith. Heaven knows there have been times when I’ve questioned my own faith and beliefs, but thank God, He still hears our prayers and loves us all. It’s a great message, but it’s unfortunately buried in a trope-filled show with no other redeeming value.
So where does that leave us with Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister? I’m sorry guys, but even with the trace hint of a good spiritual word, I can’t in any good conscience recommend this one. Even if you are a harem anime fan, you’ve seen this show before, and you’ve seen better. I can’t even say with a straight face that you should just turn your brain off and enjoy it as a “junk food” anime because that would be an insult to some of the better junk food series out there! Heck, I would recommend 100 Girlfriends…or even Girlfriend, Girlfriend, over this one! At least those shows are self-aware and have some semblance of charm. Please don’t waste your time, my friends.
Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
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Gonna have to read more of your stuff….looks like it’s a spot on opinion…just in reverse. Should look for more shows you reviewed negatively since looks like it would be good.
One thing you’ll find with a lot of my reviews, I tend to advise that while a show might not work for me, it might work for someone else. Sadly this one didn’t hit the mark! That’s what makes anime an amazing medium—something for everybody! Thanks for leaving a comment and thanks for checking out my other works!