⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This review contains major spoilers for Season 1 of There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero’s Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her, including Youki and Cecilia's relationship, Raven and Happiness, Soleil, and the ending. I recommend finishing the anime first if you want to experience all thirteen episodes without knowing what happens.

I don't even know how to properly explain my relationship with this anime. If someone asked me whether the story is actually good, my answer would probably be: not really. The story has very little depth, most of the conflicts are simple, some episodes are incredibly stupid, and there are moments so cringe that I genuinely wondered what the hell I was watching.

But if that same person asked me whether I wanted to stop watching?

Absolutely not.

Somehow There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero’s Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her trapped me inside its strange little world of romance, demons, idiots, misunderstandings and maximum chuunibyou energy. Even when I was calling an episode mid or laughing at how lame a scene was, I was still interested in seeing what these idiots would do next.

That is the strangest thing about this anime.

The story might be a 6/10 for me, but my pure urge to keep watching it was closer to a 9/10.

The Story Is Basically as Simple as the Title

The beginning tells you almost everything you need to know. Youki was originally a human, reincarnated as a demon and ended up working under the Demon King. He is ridiculously powerful, enough that the Hero Party struggles against him even though they are supposed to be the people saving the world.

Then Youki sees Cecilia.

And this powerful demon immediately loses every functioning brain cell in his body.

He falls for her, lets his emotions take over and eventually confesses. Cecilia rejects him, but instead of turning into some evil demon lord or starting a revenge arc, Youki basically decides that he is going to live among humans, become an adventurer and somehow make himself worthy enough to confess properly again.

That is pretty much the foundation of the entire anime.

There isn't some incredibly complicated fantasy world hiding underneath it. There aren't deep political systems, massive mysteries or emotional themes waiting to destroy you. It is mainly a fantasy rom-com about an overpowered idiot desperately trying to make the girl he likes fall in love with him.

And you know what?

For what this anime wants to be, that somehow works.

Youki Carries This Anime on His Back

If I had to choose one reason why I kept watching this anime, it would easily be Youki.

This man is such a strange combination of completely overpowered and completely useless.

When there is an actual fight, Youki can become terrifying. We see that especially when he gets serious against Miller. Miller has a sword capable of absorbing magic, acts like a complete psychopath and thinks he has everything under control. Then Youki basically overwhelms the situation with raw power and reminds us that this idiot is genuinely strong.

But put Cecilia in front of him?

Finished.

His brain shuts down.

He overthinks everything, gets jealous, panics when she gets too close, creates ridiculous romantic strategies and sometimes behaves like a teenager who has never spoken to a woman before.

That contrast became one of my favorite parts of the show. Youki can stand against the Hero Party without much fear, but Cecilia smiling at him can deal more emotional damage than any sword.

He is also genuinely trying to become a better person. He could easily abuse his strength, but most of the time he chooses not to. Even when he gets angry, he remembers the people around him and tries to control himself.

I just wish the anime had given us more moments where he completely stopped holding back, because every time Youki entered serious demon mode I wanted to see more.

Youki and Cecilia Are Cute… and Painfully Cringe

The romance between Youki and Cecilia is exactly what you would expect from these two.

Awkward.

Very awkward.

Youki spends most of the season trying to get closer to Cecilia while constantly destroying his own chances through panic, bad timing or his own ridiculous personality. Their dates get interrupted. Other people appear at the worst possible moment. Youki gets jealous. Cecilia sometimes has no idea what is happening inside his head.

Yet their relationship slowly becomes sweeter.

Cecilia starts becoming comfortable around him. She trusts him, spends time with him and clearly enjoys having him around even before she fully understands her own feelings.

There isn't one massive dramatic moment that suddenly changes everything. They simply spend more and more time together until Youki becomes someone important in her everyday life.

And then the marriage-meeting arc happens.

Watching Youki learn that Cecilia might marry Soleil was probably the closest this anime came to giving him genuine emotional pain. Raven tries to tell him that Cecilia is happiest when she is with him, but Youki remembers seeing Cecilia smiling beside Soleil and immediately starts doubting himself.

For someone who normally acts like an idiot, that moment was actually kind of sad.

He wasn't thinking, “Cecilia belongs to me.”

He was thinking that maybe she could genuinely be happier with someone else.

Poor 🍩.

Raven and Happiness Somehow Became One of the Best Couples

I did not expect to care this much about Raven and Happiness.

First of all, Raven's voice completely destroyed me.

This man looks like a quiet swordsman and then opens his mouth sounding so feminine that people inside the story literally make fun of him for it. His puberty apparently got lost somewhere on the journey to defeat the Demon King.

Then this poor guy falls for Happiness.

Their relationship starts quietly, but it becomes surprisingly wholesome. Raven asks Youki for romantic advice, which is already hilarious because asking Youki for dating advice is like asking a fish how to climb a tree.

Then we get the mermaid arc.

A mermaid kisses Raven as thanks.

Happiness sees it.

And suddenly our normally emotionless harpy discovers jealousy.

That was the moment their ship officially launched for me.

Later Happiness finally reveals that she is actually a harpy and had been hurting herself by removing her feathers so she could disguise herself among humans. Raven doesn't reject her. Instead, he becomes angry because she was hurting herself.

That was probably one of the sweetest moments in the anime.

By the time both of them finally admit their feelings, I was genuinely happy for them.

Some of These Episodes Are So Stupid

This anime has some genuinely ridiculous arcs.

The Valentine's episode might be one of the best examples.

Youki is waiting for chocolate from Cecilia while a group called Phantom Thieves Envy is basically causing trouble because they are jealous about Valentine's Day.

Yes.

That is a real conflict.

Then chocolates get stolen, a giant monster gets involved and Youki becomes genuinely furious because Cecilia's chocolate is in danger.

I should have hated this episode.

Instead I was laughing.

Then we have Youki secretly following Cecilia because he realizes he doesn't actually know enough about the girl he is obsessed with. He creates something called the “Now I Can Be the Protagonist Operation,” hoping Cecilia will get scared during a haunted-house quest so he can save her like the protagonist of a romance story.

Of course, Cecilia turns out to be extremely competent at purifying undead and destroys his entire fantasy.

There are mermaids.

There is a gargoyle trying to get a job because a little girl keeps spending her wages on him.

There are random romantic interruptions.

There is Youki getting thrown into jail because of a misunderstanding.

Almost every episode contains something that makes me ask:

“What the hell is this?”

And then I immediately continue watching.

Black Lightning Magic Swordsman Is Peak Chuunibyou

Then we reach one of the greatest stupid ideas in this entire anime.

Black Lightning Magic Swordsman.

Youki goes shopping, finds the most ridiculous chuunibyou outfit imaginable and thinks it looks unbelievably cool.

Black clothes.

Dramatic helmet.

Ridiculous sword.

Maximum edge.

And instead of simply buying it and wearing it privately like a normal person, Youki creates an entire identity.

He becomes the Black Lightning Magic Swordsman and starts running around completing adventurer quests in costume.

The funniest part is that after his excitement finally dies down, he looks at himself properly and realizes how embarrassing the whole thing is.

Too late, brother.

The chuunibyou has already escaped.

But somehow this stupid joke doesn't disappear.

It actually becomes important later.

Batman vs Fake Batman Might Be the Perfect Final Arc for This Anime

The final arc introduces Soleil, another Hero and the person chosen for Cecilia's marriage meeting.

Youki is already emotionally destroyed because he thinks Cecilia might choose Soleil.

Then another problem appears.

A mysterious guy called Blue Flame starts running around the city helping people while somehow causing even more trouble. Worse, his entire superhero style looks suspiciously similar to Black Lightning Magic Swordsman.

So Youki puts the costume back on and goes after him.

Then we get the rooftop battle.

Black Lightning Magic Swordsman versus Blue Flame.

Batman versus fake Batman.

And then we learn why Blue Flame became like this.

This idiot admires Black Lightning.

Soleil basically saw this mysterious masked hero getting attention and helping people and decided that he wanted to become someone like him. He wants recognition, wants people to notice him and eventually decides he needs to surpass Black Lightning.

Meanwhile Youki's reason for becoming Black Lightning Magic Swordsman is basically:

“It looked cool and I was having fun.”

That destroyed me.

Soleil is standing there having an emotional crisis about recognition and purpose while Youki is basically saying:

“Bro, I'm just naturally cringe.”

You can copy the clothes.

You can copy the dramatic superhero identity.

But you cannot copy the chuunibyou that comes directly from the soul.

Then Cecilia arrives and these two powerful heroes who were just having a dramatic rooftop duel end up sitting there like children who got caught fighting by their mother.

Peak cinema.

The Finale Reached Maximum Cringe

The ending might perfectly represent everything I feel about this anime.

Youki resolves the Blue Flame situation and then basically tells everyone that if they suffered property damage, they can report it and the guild will compensate them.

Poor Kramen basically gets handed the administrative nightmare.

Then immediately after dealing with public property damage, Youki switches into romance mode.

Fireworks appear.

Youki and Cecilia fly through the air together.

They move through the night sky with fireworks exploding behind them like this is supposed to be the most beautiful romantic scene imaginable.

And I was sitting there laughing.

It was so 🍩 cringe.

I genuinely could not take it seriously.

But at the same time?

I was still enjoying it.

That is this anime in one scene.

Then Youki finally stops running away from what he wants and asks Cecilia to be with him. After the marriage-meeting situation is resolved, the two meet again and finally say that they love each other.

After thirteen episodes of Youki desperately chasing this woman, panicking, getting jealous, becoming Batman, fighting fake Batman and flying through fireworks…

He finally got the girl.

And despite everything I had been saying about this anime, I was happy for the idiot.

Why the Hell Did I Enjoy This So Much?

This is the part I struggled to explain after finishing Season 1.

Because if I judge the anime purely by story quality, there really isn't anything incredible here.

The world isn't especially deep.

The villains aren't memorable.

The drama isn't particularly powerful.

The romance isn't groundbreaking.

Some of the comedy is incredibly stupid.

Some scenes are painfully cringe.

There were multiple moments where I literally called this anime trash while watching it.

But I never became bored enough to stop.

That matters.

There are anime with technically better stories that I have struggled to continue because eventually I just stop caring. With this one, even when I knew the story was mid, I still wanted another episode.

I wanted to see what stupid thing Youki would do next.

I wanted to see whether Cecilia would finally understand her feelings.

I wanted Raven and Happiness to succeed.

I wanted Youki to finally show more of that ridiculous demon power.

I wanted to see who would interrupt the next date.

And somehow the anime kept giving me just enough comedy, romance and stupidity to remain entertaining.

That is why giving this anime one normal rating feels almost impossible.

Final Thoughts – This Anime Is Trash. I Love It.

When I finished There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero’s Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her, my first thought wasn't that I had just watched an amazing story.

I hadn't.

Season 1 has very little depth. It is simple, predictable and extremely mid in a lot of places.

But damn, I had fun.

There is something strangely addictive about watching Youki and these other idiots run around doing stupid things every episode. The anime never became something I would call incredible, but it created this weird feeling where I was locked in and wanted to keep watching no matter how much I roasted it.

Maybe that is its biggest strength.

It doesn't need to be some masterpiece.

Sometimes you just need an overpowered demon with one brain cell falling in love with a priestess, a swordsman with the most feminine voice imaginable dating a harpy, Valentine's chocolate terrorists, a psychotic Hero, mermaids, Batman, fake Batman and two idiots flying through fireworks.

And somehow that is enough.

My story rating: 6/10 — extremely simple, shallow and definitely mid.

My pure urge to keep watching: 9/10 — because somehow I was always interested in seeing the next episode.

Would I call this one of the best anime I've watched?

Absolutely not.

Would I happily watch another season?

Absolutely yes.

Sometimes an anime can be cringe, stupid and mid…

and still be a damn fun ride.