Jitsu wa Watashi wa 13 left me with burning question: did Youko’s dad really get his memories erased by the flying hammer of forgetfulness? I like to think he didn’t; that would show a genuine change of heart rather than then just a silly plot device. The series had plenty of those already, really too many for my taste. It’s not like Nisekoi, where you could tell the cheap tricks (walking in on an innocent but suggestive scene, etc) were being used deliberately and with cruel glee by the winking creators. Jitsu wa is just an average show. As for the finale, they made the important points clear: that Asahi would do anything to keep Youko’s secret, and Youko doesn’t want Asahi to sacrifice his own happiness to do so. All the rest was cheap tricks and fru-fru and some nice seiyuu performances livening up something otherwise completely forgettable. That’s all I need to say about this show.
Last of all, it’s the end of Sore ga Seiyuu!. After the big convert last week you might have thought that the series was finished, but the characters made an impassioned plea on the webcomic to watch the final episode, even if there was no more story to tell. Turns out there was, and it’s quite a big one. We never got around to Futaba’s yearly assessment. Now, you’d think that not only the roles but the Earphones radio show and concert would make this a formality, but it’s drilled into Futaba’s head that Aozora has let go such seiyuu before. And you know how Futaba deals with pressure.
The assessment scene is interesting in that Futaba is crushed down by questions about her future and her motivations, and yet she doesn’t manage to say what the episode had set her up to do: she’s good at playing small boys and she’s come a long way. Instead she spouts a few banalities about her wanting to be a seiyuu for a long time. And in the end, her assessment is “postponed,” i.e., she’s sort of on probation, meaning she has another year before she can feel secure, but at least she hasn’t been fired. Given her character it’s a reasonable outcome. This show might be happy and cute, but at least it never gets unrealistic about its subject matter.
So all the girls pass little milestones and are happy for now, and the series actually ends. Will there be another season? I’d like to see one but I was a fan of the webcomic already, so I’m a little biased. I didn’t like the drippy “try harder” speeches, and I thought the celebrity seiyuus, though welcome, were pretty much wasted since they did little more than say words of advice, well, apart from Yui Horie and Hiroshi Kamiya. They could have had more fun with the celebs. In fact, the webcomic is sillier and more fun, with more anecdotes about daily life and strange work events, and I wish the show had done more of that. If they DO make another season maybe Futaba and her friends will be a little more comfortable and the show can relax a little.
Too Old for Anime 
>It’s not like Nisekoi, where you could tell the cheap tricks (walking in on an innocent but suggestive scene, etc) were being used deliberately and with cruel glee by the winking creators
Sure they did. What makes you think otherwise? Both were “average” harem anime dressed up with a little goofball comedy to make them more special. It sounds like you just didn’t want to think Jitsu was winking at the audience as much, as I’m not sure how anyone could miss that, except in order to intentionally be harsh on it.
I beliee there’s a difference. In Nisekoi at its best (and I admit it wasn’t always at its best) the creators played with the misunderstandings and gags to an extent that they were part of the show as much as the story itself was. “How is Onodera’s latest attempt at a confession going to get screwed up THIS time? Ah, a baseball through the window!” Such playfulness lifted the show out of the “average” category, in my opinion. Jitsu used the gags and misunderstandings the way most shows do, and it had its moments, but not enough for me to consider it more than average, or mediocre.