Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It ⬢ An Unexpectedly Fun Watch

Original Release Date: January 11, 2020
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Based on the Series Created By: Alfred Yamamoto

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

At the acclaimed scientific laboratory at Saitama University, Shinya Yukimura and Ayame Himuro (voiced respectively by Yuuma Uchida and Sora Amamiya) believe you can back up everything with numbers and figures. Thus, when Ayame announces she might be in love with Shinya, the two get to work to prove the case.

What is the ideal setting for a first kiss; what makes for the perfect present; what is the appropriate heart rate to indicate the existence of romance? These are the types of questions Shinya and Ayame seek to answer.

For these two, it all comes down to what the data says, and, oddly, the information they are seeing correlates with what they are feeling.

Series Positives

If you haven’t, I highly suggest checking out Recovery of an MMO Junkie and Wotakoi – Love is Difficult for Otaku. Both shows are delightful and quite hilarious romantic comedies that I cannot recommend more highly. If you have seen and enjoyed the two series, then Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It (Science Fell in Love) is a no-brainer.

Although Recovery of an MMO Junkie and Wotakoi were a lot more fun overall, Science Fell in Love produced the same surprise factor that made an all-around pleasant viewing experience.

If, after the first episode, you start to wonder how this show’s premise can fill eleven more episodes, don’t worry; I felt the same thing. As a one-off idea, having two unwavering logic-based researchers try to scientifically prove they loved each other was amusing. However, the full extent of that concept’s longevity appeared spent, and let me tell you, that had me worried. I feared Science Fell in Love would spend its run beating its central joke into the ground.

Fortunately, this series armed itself with a stockpile of personality. Two pillars supported this groundwork.

First, Science Fell in Love may have built itself around Shinya Yukimura and Ayame Himuro’s relationship, but its real charm came from the entire lab staff. For the moment, let’s put Shinya and Ayame aside and focus on their three colleagues: Kotonoha Kanade, Ena Ibarada, and Kosuke Inukai (voiced respectively by Natsuko Hara, Nichika Oomori, and Jun Fukashima).

Kotonoha was this series’ straight man, and I cannot stress enough how important her role. In many ways, she was the reason Science Fell in Love never became stale. Although she was every bit as sciencey as the two leads, Kotonoha saw the absurdity of what Shinya and Ayame were trying to do. She didn’t need to quantify feelings of love with numbers and figures. Kotonoha would also call out many of the cliché setups her two upperclassmen failed to piece together.

Ena and Kosuke were a slapstick duo in their own right. These two were childhood friends, and it was great to see how much they got along. Although the romance between Shinya and Ayame dominated Science Fell in Love, a spark would flicker between Ena and Kosuke. From what I can tell, this series appears poised to receive a second season. I suspect any follow-up will continue what this installment already was doing. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be against seeing more development in Ena and Kosuke’s relationship.

The second of the two mentioned pillars concerned our main couple – Shinya and Ayame.

The way these two went about determining their feelings towards one another was roundabout and unnecessarily convoluted. This show’s silliness came from them trying to optimize what it meant to be in love and craft the most ideal romantic setting based on their findings. But while their methods were absurdly thorough, there was one aspect this series never lost sight of.

Science Fell in Love was Shinya and Ayame’s story. They were both total science fanatics who saw one another as their intellectual equals. This series worked because Shinya and Ayame went all-in with this endeavor.

Neither dragged the other along nor was more invested. These two operated at the same level. Both parties could get flustered; there was a mutual attraction between them. Shinya could be every bit as doe-eyed as Ayame and vice-versa.

Shinya and Ayame’s methods might not have worked for most, but the important thing was, it worked for them.

I expected this series to be a one-trick pony. To my very appreciative surprise, it turned out to be much, much more.

Series Negatives

As I mentioned earlier, it would appear Science Fell in Love is slated to receive a second season. Although I am looking forward to such a prospect, I have to ask, “What the hell is this show going to do?”

This season had a definitive ending. This installment’s finale didn’t make it impossible for a continuation to happen, but it was thoroughly satisfying. Therefore, my original fear of this series getting old hasn’t entirely gone away.

But that’s a worry for another time.

As for this iteration of Science Fell in Love, there was one thing I do think failed to land.

Unsurprisingly, seeing how this was a show with a cast filled with scientists, there were quite a number of technical phrases used. If this is not your field of interest, the likelihood of you being familiar with these terms probably isn’t high. Never fear, Science Fell in Love defined its more complicated terminology through the use of some wisecracking teddy bear.

This was an example of classic anime humor – overly explaining something in nauseating detail. For my preference, I hate this. To me, it’s the same problem when a show tries to explain why a joke is funny. If I need to be told a reason, my time is being wasted. That’s what these bits in Science Fell in Love felt like.

Fortunately, these moments weren’t long, and they weren’t the primary tools this show used for its comedy. Still, they did break up an episode’s flow, and the information conveyed was not necessary. Plus, it was a tad annoying to have this grumpy doll get ticked off that it had to explain these super technical terms like it was the audience’s fault.

Is this a nitpick? Absolutely. Don’t go thinking this was a game-breaker. Science Fell in Love was a solid series that just happened to one joke style that didn’t work.

Final Thoughts

I liked this one. I liked this one a lot.

To put it simply, don’t let this show fly under your radar. It knew how to funny, charming, and enjoyable, making this one of the easiest series to get through from 2020. The characters were fun, and the atmosphere they built turned their story into something worth checking out.

Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It has earned a recommendation.