Citrus (Season One)

Yuzu’s new step-sister is the student council president at the strict all-girl high school that she now attends. To make matters worse, they don’t seem to be getting along. Well, that was until Mei kissed Yuzu!

What did you watch?

I’ve been reading a lot more manga of late and when I was looking for a new series to binge-read, I stumbled upon Citrus. I was able to get all ten volumes of the first season in one go and promptly devoured them. As such, I decided that I would also need to watch the anime. So, here we are. Over the last twelve weeks, I have been reviewing the manga and the anime simultaneously. Anyhow, you’ve probably heard of Citrus, even if you haven’t seen it as it seems to be fairly polarising. I’ve read the manga and watched the anime, so you can probably guess which side of things I sit on. Now, it’s time to explain why!

What happened?

Yuzu’s mother remarried and moved them to her new husband’s home. That meant that Yuzu would be attending a different school. It wasn’t just different, it was an all-girl school. A strict all-girl school. Yuzu found out the hard way when she was pulled up on a number of dress code violations and had her cell phone confiscated on her first day. She even had a run-in with the ice-cold student council president Mei. Then, she saw Mei kissing a teacher. What a crazy day! She was glad to be back at the apartment where he mother greeted her home.

But then, the door opened and the student council president walked in. Yuzu’s jaw practically hit the floor. What was she doing here? Well, it turns out that Mei is now Yuzu’s step-sister. Despite their ill-fated first meeting, Yuzu attempted to make amends, but Mei blanked her. Frustrated, Yuzu teased Mei about her kissing the teacher. She got so into it that she didn’t notice Mei walk across the room until she had pushed her onto the bed and was kissing her. What just happened?

What did you think?

I loved this series. Admittedly, I read the manga first and completely bought into Yuzu and Mei’s romance, so making the transition to the anime was as smooth as you’d imagine. There was a lot of forced drama which was one of my main issues with the series in both anime and manga, but it helped us to get to the end which made everything worthwhile. Of course, the manga goes way beyond the anime, but it does end at a great point so you can just watch the anime if you want and not feel cheated. The manga takes things further and has an even better ending. Just in case, you were interested.

Citrus Episode 12 Yuzu wants a real kiss from Mei

What was your favourite moment?

This is hard because my favourite thing about the entire story is the last volume of the manga, which wasn’t covered in the anime. However, I will say that the scene where Yuzu tracked down Mei and raced her to the train station to say goodbye to her father was great. It did a lot to help both girls move forward and resulted in the first genuine kiss between the two. That was such a powerful and heartwarming moment.

Of course, the end is great too, especially when Yuzu basically rugby tackled Mei to the ground before confessing her feelings for her. That resulted in them actually taking the next step and agreeing to date. Both were great moments that made the drama that much more important. Without the fights and misunderstandings, these wouldn’t have happened.

Citrus Episode 6 Mei and Yuzu really kiss

What was your least favourite moment?

I think the most stressful moment in the season was when Matsuri forced Mei to see an online client of hers. The whole thing was quite dark and when we follow Yuzu running to see if Mei was all right, it left my heart in my mouth. I knew how it would end, but it was still one of those moments where you can’t look away. Surprisingly, as dark as this was it worked in the context of the story and pushed the characters along. Of course, there were more setbacks along the way, but that’s to be expected of a romantic drama.

Citrus Episode 8 Matsuri meets Mei after school

Who was your favourite character?

Yuzu! It has to be Yuzu. The story is told primarily from Yuzu’s point of view. We do occasionally see how others are thinking and feeling about things, but Yuzu is the main focus. In fact, her presence made everyone’s lives that much more interesting, which was something Harumi noted in the final episode. She was a fascinating character because of how forgiving she was. She never took someone’s actions to be an indication of how they truly felt, often looking for the meaning behind it. Unfortunately, that caused some friction between her and Mei, who struggled to show any sort of emotion, making her impossible to read.

Who was your least favourite character?

That would have to be Matsuri. She was a pain in the manga, but the anime made it that much more obvious. I could have said Momokino or Nina for a similar reason, but I don’t think their intentions were as messed up as Matsuri’s. Momokino didn’t want to lose her childhood friend who has depended on her for ages. Nina was desperate to ensure her sister was happy. Matsuri just wanted something she couldn’t have – Yuzu’s affection. She got jealous of how Yuzu saw Mei and that drove her to do some pretty horrific things. I’m still amazed that Yuzu was able to forgive her at all.

Citrus Episode 8 Matsuri clinging to Yuzu

Would you like some more?

I’d love to see the rest of the manga adapted into another season or two, although that’s probably quite unlikely at this point. At least, there is the manga, not to mention Citrus+ which has another five volumes. So, there’s more when I’m ready for it. I can honestly say that I loved this series and couldn’t believe how much I was invested in their relationship.

Citrus Episode 6 Yuzus reaction to the kiss

What have you learnt?

One thing I noticed when watching this series was how certain characters came off differently in the anime than in the manga. A lot of their actions and motivations were the same, but the way they were presented made them seem far more sinister and threatening. I think that comes down to the cinematographic choices such as focusing on an image for a little longer or zooming in on someone’s expression. It’s interesting to see how that can impact the way the characters are perceived.

That’s something I would certainly like to play with in my fiction. Would it work the same if the narrative focused on a reaction for longer or took more time to describe what was going on at that moment? I think you could create some interesting scenarios and change the tone of a scene by varying the time spent on certain things. It’s definitely something I intend to explore.

Citrus (Season One)