©小麦りん / Suiseisha Inc.
“The Awakening of the Lovemeter”
What They Say:
Lacking the courage to confess to my childhood friend, Marika, I make a strong wish upon a shooting star. And now, I can see the lovemeters over the girls in my class. Confused by this surreal sight, I look over at Marika, only to find that her meter’s had a total meltdown to rotten depths…?! Marika, why is it that you were always so kind to me, then…? What is the real meaning behind the lovemeter…?
Review: (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga by Rin Komugi, the spring 2026 anime adaptation is the latest short through the AnimeFesta program and service in Japan. The anime adaptation brought on Sumito Sasaki to direct it from the series composition by Masamitsu Otake. Rena Nasu handled the character designs, and Studio Leo, which has worked on numerous Animefesta projects, handled this at the time as well. The original manga is known as Marika-chan wa Kōkando wa Bukkowareteiru and began in 2024 and has seventeen digital volumes out so far, with it ongoing. It’s released through MangaPlaza in English.
While Kanata hasn’t figured out the problem with Marika yet, he’s definitely getting a better handle on the love meter overall since it became a part of his life. While at the park with his dog, he ends up seeing a girl from clast there and just his saying hello has her meter going up significantly. He’s all nice and pleasant with her, but all of it just sends her over the top with it as he complements her and the dog, leading to some cute dreams on her part that sends the meter to the top. Kanata, for his part, does try to keep his focus on Marika since he loves her so much, and that’s just a series of unfortunate events for him as he tries to keep his distance.
The up and down nature of the meter with Mikasa is comical, since he does help her out when her dog starts dragging her away – and into his arms – but it’s just something that makes him panic all the more. And, from the eyes of others, it looks really bad as we see Marika stumbling across them in the park. Seeing how she just runs through a lot of people training there is definitely worth of a chuckle since it’s just so blunt. Naturally, the show has to shift to its dirtier side by the end, with him and Mikasa by a roaring fireplace and getting all handsy, but it’s just another bit of fun of Marika’s imagination running awy with her. And that’s only going to make life worse for Kanata since he’s not actually doing anything wrong but is certainly going to pay the price.
©小麦りん / Suiseisha Inc.
In Summary:
Miscommunication is certainly the name of the game here and it continues to be a base-level kind of silly stuff. It’s not bad or anything, but it’s just fairly standard with silly moments and the sexytimes element of it. But it’s also a kind of perfect short in that way where it’s still mostly harmless and just goofy as it works with its concept. Kanata does his best to live right so he can figure out how to win over Marika, but everything conspires against him as it does in these kinds of shows. It’s not going to be memorable in the long run, but it’s worth those couple of chuckles.
Grade: C+
©小麦りん / Suiseisha Inc.
Chris Beveridge
http://www.fandompost.com
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
