Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms Anime Adaptation Feels Adept

The Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms manga really does a good job of showing how funny it is for a “beloved” girl to not get what she wants and have someone not fall all over her, and it only takes one episode of the anime to confirm this carries over to the full show. The SynergySP adaptation now running on Crunchyroll really drives home the lengths Mona Kawai will go to in order to get Medaka Koroiwa’s attention as we see every action in the adaptation. Not to mention Yu Serizawa’s performance as Mona and the depiction of her actual personality and response to being ignored and not adored comes across even stronger when animated than when appearing in a manga.

Editor’s Note: There will be some minor spoilers for the first episode of the Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms anime below.

Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms has an absolutely hilarious start. Our first introduction to Mona Kawai is seeing every baby and visiting person in the newborn ward at the hospital focused on her, smiling, because she’s so adorable. She can’t even hold up her head yet, but everyone is smitten. A flash forward to her as a small child at an amusement park shows that even when she went to town on an ice cream cone and became a mess, her reaction to that and cleaning it up stole hearts from everyone around her. It absolutely sets the stage for a heroine who is supposed to be it. Cute, irresistible, outgoing, and yes, completely conniving. 

So once we see Mona again in high school, SynergySP perfectly established who she is, why people are so devoted to her, and sets her up as a solid heroine in the Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms anime without making it seem too contrived or like she’s completely a “bad guy” for it. She just happened to be naturally lucky and blessed, which she ends up taking for granted and using to her advantage. 

This means early on, the Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms anime established the comedic element. Mona knows she’s blessed. She is set up as the queen bee due to circumstances, so the idea that Medaka Kuroiwa isn’t falling into line or behaving as expected makes the premise feel even stronger. Her reaction to it and need to not show that it isn’t getting to her makes it all even better. Especially since her internal voice sounds so different both in terms of tone and accent. Her meeting her match in a good and respectful guy who has a dream and maintains healthy boundaries is satisfying to watch.

That also means the Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms anime challenges and overarching problems are well established too. Throughout the majority of the first episode, we see the ordeals Mona goes through because one person doesn’t react the way she expected them after all experiences throughout her life. It also means we, as viewers, get to see that she isn’t just this charming from birth girl who is naturally gifted and good. She has a side to her! She’s got narcissistic tendencies! She’ll ignore boundaries if it means she gets what she wants! She can be a real brat! Him rebuffing her then leads to new challenges. So even though the first episode is focused on seeing what her ordeals in the series will be. However, I do hope that in later episodes we’ll see less boundary pushing and forced fanservice from Medaka however, and that her own developing feelings will result in her being more considerate to him.

The first episode of the Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms anime adaptation faithfully depicts the series’ story. Mona’s over-the-top actions and true mindsets and behavior are perfectly depicted in the series. Its direction really prioritizes the comedic elements of the situation. Plus, it sets up exactly what to expect as both Mona and Medaka deal with their own challenges going forward.

Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms is airing in Japan and streaming on Crunchyroll worldwide. The manga is handled by Kodansha worldwide.