# Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (2015)

> A socially awkward otaku recruits his anime-obsessed friends to help build a visual novel around a background classmate who unexpectedly becomes its heroine.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60766

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 23
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, comedy, romance
- Network: Fuji TV
- Cast: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Kiyono Yasuno, Saori Onishi, Ai Kayano, Sayuri Yahagi, Chinatsu Akasaki, Tetsuya Kakihara, Keiko Nemoto
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3612626/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, self aware, playful, warm, lighthearted

## What critics say

Audiences find it a lighthearted, fan-service-heavy anime comedy about game development that is charming in its early episodes but uneven in its second season.

## Synopsis

Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (2015-2017) is a Japanese animated romantic comedy series produced by A-1 Pictures and broadcast on Fuji TV, adapted from a light novel. Tomoya Aki, a high school otaku with dreams of making the best visual novel ever, watches an overlooked classmate, Megumi Kato, start to shine in his eyes and chooses her as the heroine of his game. To finish on schedule he must recruit his anime-loving friends, who are far less convinced by his choice. Voice actors Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Tomoya and Kiyono Yasuno as Megumi anchor the cast, joined by Saori Onishi as the eccentric Eriri Spencer Sawamura and Ai Kayano as Utaha Kasumigaoka. The show spans two seasons and twenty-three episodes, each built from scheduling pressure, rough drafts, arguments over character design, and the small frictions of a school club working toward a deadline. Its tone is breezy and self-aware, with a comedic lens on fandom while keeping a gentle undercurrent of affection. Fans of Oreimo, Bakemonogatari and Nichijou will find the same blend of otaku satire, awkward romance and ensemble banter that defines the genre.

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