(Episode staff credits not included with screener)
Note: Contains minor spoilers
You and I Are Polar Opposites wasn’t originally on my radar. While I don’t dislike romance, I’m a picky eater, and this anime adaptation’s premise — a lively and sociable girl who goes with the flow instead of being true to herself, likes a boy who’s quiet and more direct — wasn’t what I was looking for.
Things changed when I watched the anime’s third trailer and saw its visuals — vivid colors, a variety of catchy image BGs (background images that depict mental states rather than locations through various imagery), and funny facial expressions, with some charming cuts of energetic movements. It seemed like a fun teen rom-com that I could enjoy regardless of my interest in the overarching plot. After watching Episode 1, that opinion remains intact.
©Kocha Agasawa/SHUEISHA, You and I Are Polar Opposites Committee
Had I not spoiled myself by checking out the first chapter of the source manga, I’d have assumed that the overall narrative would involve female protagonist Suzuki gradually learning to be more honest and “selfish” before confessing to love interest Tani. In that scenario, the first episode of the anime would probably end with Suzuki, who gets flustered when talking to Tani, making a small but meaningful step forward. Instead, You and I Are Polar Opposites speedruns things and has the two revealing their mutual attraction to one another at the end of the premiere.
From a pacing perspective, it feels fine, especially given Episode 1’s narrative simplicity. Being honest with yourself and playing a part are very much highlighted themes, but the plot doesn’t ask you to think deeply about them; it just needs to get Suzuki to confess. However, this focus means there’s not enough to make me invested in the main romantic pairing yet. There are many cute moments of Suzuki being madly in love, yes, and Sayumi Suzushiro’s performance gives her likeable energy without sounding grating or overdone. However, the interactions between Suzuki and Tani don’t stand out, and the latter is a bit dull right now.
©Kocha Agasawa/SHUEISHA, You and I Are Polar Opposites Committee
Fortunately, the visuals provide some zest. You and I Are Polar Opposites is bright and colorful, but not unduly garish. The approach goes well with the various funny facial expressions and image BGs — celestial bodies and blobs in ominous colors, purple spirals of mental torment — that make the episode all the more lively. The animation isn’t particularly strong in general, but there are multiple moments where it catches the eye for good reasons.
In the opening scene, we see Suzuki go through her morning makeup routine, with nice close-up drawings and sufficiently precise movements that grab your attention. Then there are the cuts that are about more exaggerated gestures, like the arcs of Suzuki’s limbs as she runs as a hopelessly slow blob creature, or the enthusiastically bouncy body language of supporting character Watanabe (probably the second-liveliest character after Suzuki, and one of the best parts of the cast so far by being the “fun creature”) as she invites Suzuki out.
©Kocha Agasawa/SHUEISHA, You and I Are Polar Opposites Committee
All these visual elements complement the cute-leaning character designs, and together they make for a nice presentation. It’s just a bit unfortunate for me that many of those shots were shown in the anime’s third trailer — this might be the first time that a trailer affected my enjoyment of an anime episode. And while I generally liked the look of the show and wasn’t bothered by its baseline drawing/animation quality not being particularly solid, I found that some of the background art’s stylized, abstract trees looked distractingly out of place due to their shades of green overloading the senses.
The music, contributed by music producer tofubeats, didn’t stand out to me on first viewing. But upon another listen, I found myself taking note of the peppiness and vitality of some of the more pop or electronic-flavored tracks, while the piano and strings of the confession scene were heart-meltingly sweet. They felt like they’d be at home in a romance visual novel, too.
With You and I Are Polar Opposites, I came for the visuals and, as of this first episode, stayed for the visuals. Since this is just the starting point, there’ll be time for the story’s main romance to appeal to me, and there may be other relationships and narrative threads to hook me later on. Even if that doesn’t pan out, I think the show might still end up being a soothing, light snack of a teenage rom-com that I’ll consume every week.
Anime Tending received an early screener of the episode from Crunchyroll. The anime premieres on the platform on January 11, 2026.
Adaptation or original: Based on the Shueisha-published manga by Kocha Agasawa
Series staff
• Director: Takayoshi Nagatomo (SHOSHIMIN Episode 3 and 8 storyboarder and director et al.)
• Series composer and animation producer: Teruko Utsumi (Sarazanmai co-series composer and co-scriptwriter, model producer)
• Character designer: Miyakomako
• Sub-character designer and co-chief animation director: Naho Kozono (Undead Murder Farce)
• Chief animation supervisor: Sayuri Sakimoto
• Chief animation supervisor: Kazuko Hayakawa
• Main animator: Rie Maehara
• Main animator: Tamami Izawa
• Color designer: Yuki Akimoto (SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary, Takopi’s Original Sin)
• Compositing director: Tomoyuki Shiokawa (SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary)
• Music composer: tofubeats
• Animation production: Lapin Track
Cast
• Sayumi Suzushiro as Suzuki
• Shogo Sakata as Tani
• Yuna Taniguchi as Watanabe
• Konatsu Hirabayashi as Sato
• Anji Iwata as Yamada
• Miyuri Shimabukuro as Azuma
• Wataru Kato as Taira
• Cocoro Omori as Nishi
• Tomori Kusunoki as Honda
