Mashiro-Iro Symphony: Love is Pure White

aka Mashiro-Iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers

Number of Episodes: 12

What Wikipedia Anime News Network says: "The traditional girls-only Yuihime Private Academy is considering the possibility of starting to accept both genders and has thus made an agreement with a neighboring school to receive some of its students as an experiment to see the reaction to this adaptation. Shingo Iryu is one of the many students transferred for a ten month experimental phase at Yuihime Academy. He, his sister, and his fellow relocated colleagues are impressed by the sophisticated campus, but even more by the resistance of many students who don't want the boys over there."

tTPO says: The synopsis admittedly did not fill me with hope. What happened when I started watching though was unexpected. It opened brilliantly with a sense of mystery and it made me wonder hopefully, could this be the next Clannad??? Disappointingly it then sunk (along with my hopes) into cliche for an episode or two. After this though it found its own way, and it was a good way. 

For a harem series the characters were distinct, and by and large were not discarded after their moment in the spotlight. I've said it before but the emotional resonance of a romance series relies upon the consequences of the characters decisions and in that respect this series follows through. The design of the characters is moe and beautiful, and indeed the whole series is pretty easy on the eye. 

While not setting any records for originality, there are a few things that make this series stand out - a main character who is more than competant and actually pretty good at communication, the friend of the main character who is also more than competant, and a general lack of fan service and jokes about porn.

If I had a complaint it would be about the slightly erratic pacing. Clearly they had a few character arcs from the game on which it is based to get through and you get the feeling maybe another episode or two could have made some of the transitions a bit smoother. But I'm not complaining that much.

How About the Music?: The music is a standout. The OP, "Authentic Symphony" by Choucho is an epic, catchy tune. The ED ("Suisai Candy (水彩キャンディ; Watercolor Candy)" by marble) is more J-pop but still very catchy. Even the incidental music (generally orchestral) kicks ass. It all just works to crank up the emotional impact.

So how does it end? (Spoiler Free): There are winners and losers and that is how it should be. And I gave a crap about both.

Overall Grade: This is no Clannad, and if Clannad never existed this may have scored higher. But for a well worn genre this show put very few steps wrong.  Grade A-. Not forgetting my personal bias.