Here at Honey’s Anime HQ, when we first began to watch Koi wa Ameagari no You ni we noticed quite a lot about various elements of the show. We noticed the beautiful animation, art and amazing music that made every moment stand out, and that still is the case seeing as how Koi wa Ameagari no You ni is currently airing. When Akira Tachibana came onto the scene however, we were taken aback by how down right adorable she was. Everything from Akira’s mannerisms to her facial reactions—especially in episode 4 when Kondou finally sets a date up with her—just scream how cute and adorable she is. Whether at work or just casually laying around at home, Akira Tachibana kills it with some of the most adorable looks we’ve seen in a long while here at Honey’s Anime. With a few episodes left, we could only imagine how much cuter Akira can get and that both excites us and scares us equally as we can’t imagine falling for her any harder than we already have.

In most romance anime, there’s a calmness to both male protagonists and female ones. The theme of romance is to ease into the motions of it without ever causing too much of a fuss and its rare for it to ever deviate from that formula. Typically, when a romance anime does do that, it’s because of an aggressive guy who puts the moves on the female to win her heart. However, Koi wa Ameagari no You ni doesn’t follow this usual formula. Kondou being a middle-aged man with a kid isn’t thinking of romancing Akira, but instead, Akira is actually the one to put the moves on him first!

This change in pace for romance anime comes to fruition in episode 3 of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni. In the beginning, Akira is rather upset and downtrodden. Last episode, Akira tried to spill the beans on her desires for Kondou when they were together in a café after her injury but it came off less like a romantic confession and more akin to a person admitting they just liked you in a friendly manner. Though Akira doesn’t let this slide and once more approaches Kondou to flat out confess to him how much she likes him. Then Akira even aggressively asks Kondou in a later scene how he feels about her while at work! Needless to say, it’s quite clear who is going to make the moves in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni and we love see Akira Tachibana do it as it’s a breath of fresh air for a romance anime.

Now this might seem strange for a girl who comes out cleanly about her desires—in this case her clear infatuation with Kondou—but Akira Tachibana is also a bit of a mystery to us here at Honey’s Anime. This wasn’t always the case upon the beginning of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni but by episode 3, we began to wonder somethings about our main girl Akira. Why does she—as Kondou says—work so far from her home to work at Café Restaurant Garden? Equally, why doesn’t Akira let her friends and former track mates come to the restaurant where she works? We don’t have those answers yet but we’re pretty sure in future episodes of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni we will begin to see the mysteries behind Akira Tachibana. Until then though, we will say there’s a bit of cuteness in Akira having those slight mysteries behind her stoic face.

As we mentioned before, Akira Tachibana is extremely adorable and oh so cute. Okay, maybe we didn’t say it in that exact phrasing but it’s how we feel about her nonetheless. That’s why as we stare at Akira Tachibana longingly—we swear its for research purposes and nothing more—we can’t help but notice Akira is quite awkward and sort of clumsy. These traits can be seen all throughout the several episodes of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni that have aired so far but it’s quite noticeable when Kondou arrives on screen. Akira will occasionally drop a plate—or two—and will stumble with her normal reactions and moods. For example, when Akira first learned Kondou had a child she immediately thought that he was actually married—and not divorced as we later learn—which made her not only drop a plate she was carrying but also made her glare at Kondou despite her original fondness for him. These mood sings Akira has make her at times awkward but we find it understandable as she’s only a young 17-year-old girl who is trying to win the heart of the 45-year-old man she likes. That might sound weird but we promise it’s cute in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni.

Very early on in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni, we learn that Akira Tachibana was injured during a practice run and was forced to give up her dreams of becoming a runner. For many, this type of injury and loss of such an ambitious dream would cause them to fall to depression and lazy actions. That isn’t the case with Akira Tachibana though. Instead of being sad and falling victim to bad thoughts, Akira gets a part time job at Cafe Restaurant Garden and becomes a waitress. While you might think very little of this temporary career change let us explain why this shows Akira in such an adorable and also strong light.

We don’t know how many of you out there have been waiters or waitresses but let us say it is far from an easy job even if the day is calm. Waitresses like Akira need to be constantly on their feet for a greater majority of their shifts and equally need to move around to serve the patrons of the establishment they work in. That means despite Akira’s injury, she must move around, stand and hustle around all day while working at Café Restaurant Garden. It might not be a job where running is used—unless you could episode 3 where Akira ran to give a customer his phone after he left it behind—but it still requires a lot of energy and use of the legs. That means Akira is toughing it out and probably staying quiet about it as many at the restaurant only recently learned she even had an injury in the first place. Now we’re positive this shows you just how amazing Akira Tachibana is and why she stole our heart so easily here at Honey’s Anime HQ.