IMHO. 'Itazura na kiss' ~ forget what I said, the perfect textbook on shoujo romance is this!

I wonder when it started... Which anime can be named as a divide? Which can be considered as a trendsetter? I haven't watched enough to be able to judge about that, but this is a fact: long before shoujo anime and manga began to center on timid, fragile girls with no resolve to confess to someone they like or to tell someone they dislike to fuck off, helpless at the mercy of any guy who would want to use them, the usual type of heroine was just like Kotoko, and the typical shoujo romance was like 'Itazura'.
An ideal family of the 90s. He is a successful representative of a respected profession - a high-ranking manager, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a king of a small country in a fantasy world, or something else requiring good brains, good education and good amount of time to spend at the workplace every day. She is a devoted wife, waiting for him to come home, tired. She can be a full-time housewife, or an 'office lady', or work part-time. It doesn't really matter since his income would be sufficient in any case. She is the first one to fall in love. He lets her love him. She is the one to confess, in some cases - multiple times. He mutters something like 'I will only say it once, so listen closely. I love you', or says it only in extreme circumstances, preferably out of the blue to enhance the impression.

She is the Huxley type, he is the Gabin type, or an ENFp and an ISTp, speaking in Myers-Briggs terms.
'She will be running around him, fluttering her eyelashes, smiling at him and giving him every possible sign of ethical attentions. Still, she will see no reaction. Which, in its turn, will make her even more excited'.
That's not my description, that's a part of a popular article (in Russian) on these two types.

'He doesn't know how to put into words what he feels, not that he doesn't want to, he just doesn't understand his own feelings very well. But Huxley (ENFp) doesn't need that. Her intuition helps her to understand everything, she can even understand his feelings before he does'.
Again, these are not my words.

Unfortunately, here comes the problem. While the mentioned traits are common for most Huxley-girl-Gabin-guy couples, it does make a difference how exactly these two live their life. The archetype itself is not bad, but a character can be. I am not an anime fan who can only like a character he/she can relate to. I can name several heroines of the same type who earned my respect, being brave, selfless, educated and professional, or striving to be so. Kotoko, unfortunately, doesn't belong to this list. I can name a few Gabin characters I found attractive, but I couldn't care less about Naoki. The attempts to show that she can be cool at times, too, were so rare and unimpressive that  they didn't influence the story much. The attempts to show that he can be tender and loving were so short that... Huh?

Such stories are called 'heart-warming' and earn high rates. Meanwhile, able women with good grades at school or university, firm goals for their futures and successful careers, are branded as one-dimensional tsundere and scored out.
While the beginning was tolerable and even funny, the more into the series, the more I got pissed off with the heroine and the story progress. Or maybe I should say - the absence of it.
The story starts and ends in nothing. As if we didn't suspect that she'd get married and have a baby.
She is clumsy in the beginning - well, okay, we saw it coming.

And after many years she is still the same.

And everybody around her kinda understands that.

Her only ability is to 'try hard', and that's what she does, motivated by only one thing.

Studying for the sake of being a reliable professional, improving oneself, achieving new horizons... Not really.

I wonder, does her practice change the fact that she wanted to become a nurse only because she wanted to be together with her husband, and not because she was interested in medicine or wanted to help people?
Well, I may admit there was one thing the Heroine was good at - finding possibilities and offering them to other people, such as prompting her boyfriend to become a doctor, but again, it wasn't very much stressed on, so it didn't pass as a big advantage.
Her main quality is that she is pretty confident that she will succeed.

According to this series, the main qualifications for becoming happy are:

The problem is that everything goes smoothly for her simply because she tries hard. But people don't see it as a problem.

And that's enough, right?
My god, she didn't only fail to learn English and understand what a Hawaiian policeman asked her, she didn't understand anything...

Have you ever heard of pregnancy tests? I checked Wikipedia, they had been available in the market  for almost 20 years when this manga was published! And more importantly, why do you ever pose it as a question?!
Of course she gathers a nice reverse harem around her. Moreover, the other guys are ready to give her their everything. One is always near her and ready to help, even if it means to dig up her father buried under the ruins of their collapsed house.

 And guess just what he will say to her. Surprise-surprise.

The other is so nice that even the Hero's mother admits he is good.

But she prefers her harsh-spoken first crush.

He insults her, ignores her, mocks her, no matter how much time passes, but she's okay.

So she starts doubting him, he says something that is supposed to be romantic, like 'don't cause me much trouble', and she is again head over heels in love with him. Many problems and worries of the characters were solved by an effective method known to the science from ancient times - a slap in the face.

By the end, the story was so full of sweet scenes of happy families that I was really longing for a salty marinated cucumber. But nobody actually changed or made any noticeable progress. That's exactly why the same actors can play in a live-action movie even though the story spans more than 10 years.

And try to guess what kind of relationship they have with their daughter...

You know, I thought it strange when Chibiusa came to the present Earth and stated that Mamoru would be hers and not Usagi's, but I guess this is a usual thing in Japan and a trend in shoujo...

In fact, much more than the Heroine, I was happy to see supporting characters happy in the end. At least they have been really funny throughout the series...

but still, I regret these 4 days spend with this story. After a serious, sometimes heartbreaking stories I always want something light and with a taste of happiness, but this I will say: such stories make me even more depressed than serious ones. They always have that side to them that makes me want to run away and pretend I didn't see anything. They promote the idea of the earthly, simple happiness of everyday life with your family and nothing special happening, just 'trying hard' at a work you don't particularly like, keeping the house, raising children... and if it's all the future holds for a human, I refuse.
I might as well add something about art, music and voice acting, but there isn't anything I could particularly praise. Hirakawa was trying so hard to make his character cool that I was afraid he would start reading one of his audio-doramas for adult girls the next moment.
Oh, maybe just one thing I made sure! It seems that one needs to be raised in Osaka to speak realistic Osaka-ben. Shuuhei Sakaguchi was a nice one.

IMHO. 'kokuhaku jikkou iinkai' series ~ let's learn more Japanese language and important concepts of Japanese culture

If you haven't ever seen a school romance anime and want something short to get acquainted with the genre, this could be the right thing. Several couples, maybe it's better to call them couples-to-be, illustrate several patterns found in the Japanese cinema and anime and manga industry from ancient times (let me leave it like that, ancient times, yes).

I don't know, maybe the shortness of each story was the key problem in fact? But the way it is, I can only see it as an educational movie for people wanting to learn more about Japanese standards in school romance.

Two students obviously like each other, but when some doubts appear in the mind of them, they get...

だめ, or ダメ, or 駄目

'dame' - no good

No time to explain, she's just no good.

Though not for long. Being 'no good' lasts until the first talk among them girls.

Finally we have the explanation! She doesn't want him to hate her - for just any possible problem in the world, including imaginary ones.

嫌われる

'kirawareru' - to be disliked

 3 lines later

She was down for a while, yes, but we have no time to show how she grew to accept herself and their relationship.

After successfully solving both her and his problem in a rather short talk, the relationship seems to be properly established, oops, it's not. He's gone to America, and taking into account it's a fresh anime of 2017 we can be misled into thinking that planes, satellites and wired and wireless internet will make connection between lovers easier, but nope, this is not the case.

WHAT?

ずっと

'zutto' - always, forever, can be used to describe both past and future depending on the verb past or present form

I guess perception of time is a bit different in Japan...

Well obviously you'd have lost your virginity much earlier a tangible boyfriend all these years instead of DVDs.

So, when they finally meet...

You see? This is the core problem, Japan. You won't get your birthrate any higher while your young folk think that before 'taking thee as my wedded wife' they should accomplish something really big on their own. Not only marriage, even keeping in contact was out of question until success under the pretext of 'I won't be able to let you go if I hold your hand now'! Oh come on...
But I know, I know. Lonely girls, waiting for their beloved ones to show up, make the economics of Japan rotate faster by investing their money in the industries of printing - posters with handsome actors and josei manga, recording - romantic audio dramas, to say nothing of anime and you know, one more industry we won't mention.

By the way, this is what a proper romance heroine should be like - shy, but cute and clever. Yes, who could guess that watercolour depends on water? Certainly not members of art club 15 years old.

 And! she has to cry a lot. And blame herself for it, and cry more.

As you can see, I didn't like this heroine very much. Not the type I can admire or at least sympathise with. I cheered more for her friend, a loud, sparkling girl, which at least can count as a compensation for her possible weak points. Though I must confess I cheered for her primarily because she looked like a mix of Kaoru and Norie from 'Tamayura'. At least she wasn't so passive and depressed, like Mio. Her story also had at least an attempt to create some comedy, which I consider essential.

 But then, after a funny start, the characters start to spill mediocrities one by one.

僕は…させません
'boku wa ... sasemasen' - I wouldn't ... you (make you sad, hurt you like this, let you make such a face, etc.), a phrase which shows just how good the second guy is and how tragic it is that she won't choose him over the first guy even now
The deepness of human's soul is revealed to us viewers through small details, like they usually do in Japan. Hear a night owl calling for homesickness, or raindrops falling, reminding you of your last meeting with a dear friend... See tension of love in a pencil lead.

And by the way, this trick could go pretty well if the rest of the story were not so primitive.
Then! When the crucial moment comes, her message doesn't come across.

Well maybe because you didn't tell him it isn't???
Moreover, she starts to list her shortcomings too. This is a good moment, you've just confessed, how about not ruining the atmosphere right now? As if he ever blamed you for anything...

Now what's this? You waited to ascertain this girl's feelings for so long and this is all you can spill out?

よろしくお願いします
'yoroshiku onegai shimasu' - please treat me well, an extremely emotional phrase used exclusively by couples to express their unique love and personal feelings for each other
Just kidding. I wanted to say that after all these anguishes of unspoken love that were supposed to have happened (remember the tragic pencil lead), it would be great if characters showed a bit more personalised reaction in the end.
Well, the third friend of this company was not in the focus very much so as to let me establish a firm opinion about her, except for one important fact: she can cook.

手作り弁当
'tezukuri bentou' - hand-made lunch, an object of desire of every healthy Japanese schoolboy. Apparently, a woman's charm still lies in her cooking, no matter what they say about emancipation.
By the way,
健全な男子高校生
'kenzen na danshi koukousei' - a healthy high school boy, a phrase important when explaining a sudden manifestation of earthly desires
As for the last girl, I couldn't care less for her, until the very end I couldn't find a single interesting trait in her to follow. One important thing to learn from her story is that though you can chase and threat your fellow classmate, you cannot do it to a senior student, even if you are only 2 years apart.

先輩
'sempai' - not simply an upperclassman, but a person who is much wiser and has a much bigger life experience than you, and who is therefore to be respected and addressed politely, even in case he saw your panties
By the way, this is not the first time I am amazed by the speed of change in a girl's feelings. They think a lot, cry a lot, get depressed a lot before they decide to confess and start a relationship or to end it, doesn't matter. But they don't cry or get depressed after. Just wipe their tears and move on.
順番間違ってない？
'jumban machigatte nai?' - are you sure this is the right order?
Just a rhetorical question from me.
As for the boys - well, there was an attempt to make them individuals with personalities rather than cardboard figures, but in case of Haruki it was on the way to success, in case of Yuu it was attempted, in case of other boys it slipped because no time for explanation we have the schedule!
But don't misunderstand me, they are attractive. See?

I'm not sure if they are cool, though...
Well at least there is one person who is seriously cool.

The 'background' division made its work in time, though. No need to worry about schedule in this case.

I wondered if this was exactly what Yasuo Otsuka spoke about? 'They would draw handsome faces with big eyes and long lashes' he said 'but I'd make them rough, just enough for creating an image'. And yes, they did. I myself prefer this kind of smooth design with rounded lines more than simplistic one of Mr. Otsuka, but what to do when this design gets in the way of a-ni-ma-tion, and makes the characters make jerky movements instead of realistic walking, running, waving hands or getting surprised...
And this beautiful town scenery doesn't heal me at all when the story is so boring I end up reading articles in Wikipedia on overtones in music.
大塚康生
'Ootsuka Yasuo' - a prominent Japanese animator
The seiyuus did their job well too, I guess. I can merely guess because I didn't find much 'job' there. In fact, I shall now confess, I came to listen to Suzumura, and as for him, I can say it was something between the overly-confident-and-positive Tora from 'Maid-sama' and his usual manner of speaking. This is the only conclusion I could draw.
The same goes for music in this anime. I guess there was some, and it might as well be good and highlight every scene of this series, if there were something to highlight. OPEDs and theme songs are just one nightmare of pink and sugar, so I'll just forget them.
Now this sounds almost as if 'Kokuhaku jikkou' is the worst anime I have ever seen, but it's actually not. It's just that I'm rather tired after watching it, just like a simple sweet cake makes you unwilling to eat more sweets, even though it wasn't that very dessert you wanted.