I went in expecting nothing above good and wasnt disappointed. It isnt bad per se, but, of course, it isn`t to the same standards to the anime. It is sillier and focuses more on the comedy to deliver an excuse for a cliched drama, missing the point of the character development and the philosophical aspects of the original work. There is a feeling of wonder and reflection watching the anime, while here that feeling is lost. Small differences in the original characters come together to deliver a lesser story.
While the Spike from the anime was funny, he wasn`t exactly silly, at least not silly in such western-way. There was a certain serenity and a need to put himself into danger that made Spike stand a good-to-great MC. That scene at the beginning of the anime was THE PERFECT introduction of the character and they took that and shitted all over. Him playing the gunman trying to use the old lady as a hostage was to show that Spike plays with his cards but he cares at least more than this live-action version, well, at least based on what is shown comparing that first scene.
I was ready to give this a 7 and call it a good job. But then at the last minute they bring Ed and make her the worst character of the just even with just a sec left to end the last episode. One can say it is not enough to determine if the character is bad with just a first impression, well, it depends entirely, but in this case I think you can.
Now, what I liked about the live-action:
Good TV show that doesn't shy from heavy subject even if some approaches are superficial at worse. All characters are flawed but likable. The series is not very light but also not very heavy. It has a certain balance between comedy vs seriousness.
Overall, people wanting to watch something interesting and slightly funny will have a good time. I can think of only two reasons of why someone would drop or not watch it: a) It has been cancelled and S01 ends in a cliffhanger b) It is based on a Comic Book, depending of how much of a fan the person is, and how it compares with the show, the person may not like it. (I haven't read the comic yet).
Smulders is great in here as she usually is. It usually doesn't feel like Robin from HIMYM, with some key moments I had flashbacks of Robin when she says "Awwww" or some other thing connecting to the older show. But I'm glad that for me, she didn't became typecast.
Jake Johnson was also a pleasant surprise here, since the last place I watched him was from New Girl. It is nice to see him working a "bad boy" type of character.
All the other characters are also likable as stated. Hoffman is a little stiff at first but gets more interesting the more the series goes. Ansel is a nice character that lightens the show quite a lot when he is in scene. Tookie is also great and funny, Cosgrove's actress pick is also good. And having a Indigenous Community in the show was interesting.
Oh, yeah, the soundtrack is also great. Made me sing along many of the songs. Kudos for specially playing a Tegan and Sara song.
This show, to me, is terrible. The characters are mostly extremely unlikable and in its third season, kills off its most likable one, which isn`t that much likable either. Of course, not all entertainment needs to have a likable character, but the unlikable character usually comes with a message, they are used to convey a message or they use that unlikability to further develop in latter seasons. But in HGAWM, if there is a message, in buried deep in its need to keep escalating the drama in mostly annoying ways.
Season 1 starts with a somewhat understandable drama. A girl is dead, she used to sleep with her college teacher, which coincidentally is the MC s husband, the big shot professor-lawyer that has her favorites based on the hand full of students that compete hard enough. The competitiveness is incredibly annoying to say the least, while It does show some characteristics of each character, it serves to send a message "Look, to be a big shot lawyer you need to be a backstabber" which is, as far as I know, far from the truth, at least in Brazil. Only in Murica, the idea of extreme competitiveness is that appealing, not to say it is just Murica.
Wes Gibbins, one of the MC s fave students start a "friendship" with his neighbor, a girl that was the dealer of the dead girl. She goes to the MC s home to accuse the MC s husband of murdering the dead girl because she was pregnant, he they starts to get hostile, Wes and the rest of the students get their and see him getting violent. What happens? Wes kills the MC s husband, she finds out and… covers for them because he was a cheating bastard. I mean, ok, but seriously, this is the plot here. The second and third season is awful too, they turn the drama way to the top, but what should I expect of Shonda Rhimes style of story telling if not one big pile of drama that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Not drama enough? How about a gunmen get into the hospital and shoot the MC s husband (Im talking about Greys Anatomy). Not drama enough? Let`s make a bunch of doctors crash in a helicopter and have some of them die or extremely hurt. But the difference here is: the characters of Grey's Anatomy are mostly all likable. I mean, George O'Malley, so likable, even the bully gets a redemption story, he starts studying to be a pediatrician, that is a nice twist to the cliched alpha child. But I can state without guilt that HGAWM accomplishes the opposite of Grey's Anatomy.
This may be a Sherlock Holmes story, but at the same time, it would be fine if they just changed the name of the characters and change it for a different series entirely. This, however, doesn't make the show bad, there are boring episodes and some great ones (looking at you S03E24 "A Controlled Descent") and Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu makes a decent job, Miller does feel like an "addicted to mystery detective and ex-addict" and Lucy Liu does look like an "ex-surgeon, now wants to be a detective (and becomes one later)". There are also plenty of nice scenes and talks about addicting, crime etc. It is entertaining, but it doesn't force you to "believe" that Sherlock Holmes is a genius, it actually kind of depicts him as more of an obsessive character than a "genius" detective (while I do agree there are some things that don't make sense), it is at least better at showing how Sherlock Holmes got to a conclusion than the TV Series "Sherlock" since they just throw the word "he is a genius" and be done with it without giving the viewers the chance to realize the conclusion (sometimes Elementary sins on this too).
Happily being one of the very few (I actually can`t think of another TV Series exploring the same theme) polyamorous romances out there, "You Me Her" manages to captivate your attention and your heart with its loving characters and cute situations. This TV Series is without a doubt a favorite of the "Romance" genre to me, together with "Love" from Judd Apatow.
The Plot
Don't get me wrong, I know nothing of polyamorous relationships (nor monogamous relationships either), but for me, this TV Series manages to explore the doubts and insecurities that people in a polyamorous relationship goes through. They explore the insecurities of being just a third wheel ( like Jack in the second Season and Izzy in the third ), the insecurities and fears to face society (not that they explicitly show any strong prejudice) and some other details like friends judging you because of your relationship decisions etc.
It is wildly interesting plot, while it does rely on cliches its cuteness and its pleasant ambiance makes up for it.
The Characters, or why the cuteness extreme
I can't say why, but every single character in this TV Series are loving and caring, they may have their quirkiness and their weaknesses but they overall care for each other. It is a nice change from the base overgrowing post-modern cynical TV Series appearing all over the place like everything on Adult Swim (which I do like, but sometimes its tiresome to always question if things have meaning or not).
Even if I stated that I can say that during the first season I actually didn't like the protagonists Jack and Emma's judgmental friends, but they grow up and stuff doing it.
The Soundtrack
There is very few TV Series that manages to catch my attention with its soundtrack, this is, unfortunately, not one.
Final Thoughts
While I regard this as one of my favorite "light romcom" TV Series, I still see some minor flaws, but its positive message and its interesting subject, while cliched, make up for it. It is a nice romance that everyone should watch.
