We have apparently been blessed by the Goddess of the Lillies to be gifted not just one, but two yuri anime with interesting concepts in 2025. Yesterday, we covered initial impressions of Bad Girl, a comedy-romance with an emphasis on comedy. But today, we’re taking a look at There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless…, shortened in both Japanese and English to Watanare from the original Japanese *Watashi ga Koibito ni Nareru Wakenaijan, Muri Muri! (Muri Janakatta!?), to avoid its long and cumbersome title, where romance takes center stage.
So, how does this show compare with its competitor, released mere days after Bad Girl? And how does it set itself apart? Read on, and let’s find out why you’ll probably like this show. Unless…
Premise
As mentioned, this show has something of a twist to it, compared to many standard rom-coms. Based on the light novel series of the same name by Teren Mikami, with illustrations by Eku Takeshima, the show follows high schooler Renako Amaori, who, having spent her time in middle school as a friendless shut-in, decides: new school, new me! She befriends the most beautiful and popular girl in school, Mai Oduka, and joins her friend group. So far, so good!
But she quickly discovers that being social takes a lot out of her, as a natural introvert. One day, as she relaxes on the school roof, a misunderstanding and an accident lead her to bearing her soul to Mai, who reciprocates. Elated to have her first best friend, Renako is stunned when, the next day, Mai confesses her deep love.
After going back and forth on what they want their relationship to be, they decide on a compromise: on days when Mai wears her hair up, they are just friends. On the days her hair is down, they are a couple. They will decide how their relationship should go forward based on how they feel after comparing and contrasting. So what do we think? Is this anime our friend, or something more?
Like, or Like-Like?
One thing that is interesting about this anime is that our main character, Renako, never explicitly states her sexuality one way or the other. Her main complaint to Mai after her confession and insistent prodding for them to develop and expand on their relationship is not that she doesn’t like girls, but that Mai is moving far too quickly. And,I mean, that’s fair. But Mai won’t back down: her forcefulness can be a little funny, but it can sometimes go too far (which we will discuss later).
Mai herself seems to be somewhat surprised (though not shocked) that her first love is a woman, but as far as she’s concerned, it’s love at first sight, she wants Renako, and as someone blessed with brains, beauty, and luck, she always gets what she wants. For the most part, however, our leading ladies are comfortable with the concept of same sex attraction, aside from occasionally mentioning the social implications.
Indeed, Renako muses to herself while talking to one a mutual friend of theirs, Ajisai Sena, that had Ajisai confessed her love instead of Mai, her angelic charms, more than Mai’s confident beauty, might have swayed her to agree to date her.
There is no coyness to be found in the show, which is a great charm and a great strength, as it can sometimes be of love interest Mai. However, this can become a weakness in both the character and, depending on your view, the show.
Rens With Benefits
You may have noticed that the switching between friends and lovers, which depends on Mai’s hair styling, means that the nature of the relationship is entirely up to Mai, creating something of an imbalance in their relationship — which Renako notices and complains about when she points out that, shortly after their agreement, Mai has worn her hair down three says in a row.
Mai says she is making up for lost time over the two months when they were just friends, and that she will heed Renako if she commands her to put her hair up. But Mai can sometimes let her feelings get the best of her.
Mai begins the series positively love-bombing Renako, including whisking her away to a private VIP hotel swimming pool, just to get some tea and show off her swimsuit. But it’s not just in dazzling her crush with lavishness that she never asked for that pushes boundaries: she is also physically forceful, kissing Renako on the nose when she’s told that a first kiss is too soon, and insisting that they bathe together after being caught in the rain on a friend day. On this occasion, she also pushes Renako to kiss her: Renako rationalizes the kiss as a “friend kiss,” so it doesn’t count, while Mai takes it “not counting” to mean she can keep doing it.
Renako does not seem to be totally opposed to what happened to her, but one wonders how much she is rationalizing things when she sees Mai modeling on television and thinks, “wow, I kissed her? What an amazing life I live,” and misses Mai when she is absent.
But after she spends time with Ajisai, who visits her at home, plays games with her, and also teases Renako about possible feelings, Mai becomes jealous and, with her hair down, attempts to seduce Renako, stopped only by the intervention of Renako’s sister. She realizes that she’s pushed things too far, but Renako slaps her and is genuinely upset that her sister saw her ina compromising position, screaming at Mai to leave, which is where we end the third episode.
Mai Oh Mai
On the one hand, Mai’s behavior in these early episodes is more than a little problematic. We know through Renako’s narration that while Mai is definitely moving far too quickly for her comfort. There’s also the fact that, absent explicit instructions from Renako, she can decide on her own whether they are in friend or girlfriend mode, which gives her significant control over their relationship, not to mention taking advantage of Renako’s “friend kisses don’t count” decision to continue kissing her.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t a part of Renako that wants what Mai wants. After their first kiss, she reveals in narration that she is consumed with thoughts of Mai and their time in the bath, and even muses, after throwing her out of her home, that perhaps surrendering to her advances might not have been so bad.
But we must reckon with the fact that Mai’s behavior, were it coming from a hypothetical man version of Mai, would (rightly) be considered deeply poor, at best. This has made some viewers uncomfortable, which is completely understandable, and though it is satisfying to see Renako assert herself and give Mai a big telling off for going way too far, she does still seem to be endgame, and it might be difficult viewing for those who have been through similar experiences, so do beware.
Sound and Animation
The animation is clean and vibrant. The use of colors is very good, and the opening animation in particular is reminiscent of the Toradora! anime, while the ending animation has more of a unique pastel animation vibe that is more than a little charming. The show puts tried-and-true anime animation tropes — like using drawn words rather than voice acting for inner thoughts or shock, or chibi versions of the characters interacting with their “real” versions — into practice with enthusiasm.
The music is pretty solid: a good opening and ending that fit their animations, and a score that, while perhaps not especially inventive, fits the mood very well. This is the kind of music that you don’t notice not because it is bad, but because it blends with the scenes in such a way that you remain enrapt by the characters. The voice acting is good, with Mai’s confidence very well embodied in Azusa Tadokoro’s performance, with Ayaka Ohashi doing a bang-up job portraying Renako’s nervous energy coupled with curiosity.
Conclusion
Despite some problematic elements, I enjoyed my time with the first few episodes of the Watanare anime. Your mileage may vary, and for anyone who has been in a controlling relationship, I would urge caution before viewing. But overall, I liked the premise well enough, and thought that the way the show demonstrated feelings of being unsure how to feel when you are the pursued, rather than the pursuer. If you can overcome Mai’s problematic behavior, I’d recommend this as a show to take a look at.
