The problem with formulas is that, sooner or later, you are going to have to try ALL permutations, even if on the surface it sounds rather hard to accept or take in. With the harem high-school comedy “Jitsu wa Watashi wa” (“Actually, I am…”), we see a caliber of weird science.

This is a hard show to review, as you don’t want to tip things. I can safely say that all the ladies up there have a secret, but it works best if you left the show reveal it to you, rather than have me tell you that, like Kevin Spacey is Kaiser Sose (you haven’t seen “The Usual Suspects”? Ooops.)

We start off with Asahi Kuromine, a normal high school student who supposedly cannot keep a secret. His nickname is the Leaky Sieve. He finds his demeanor quickly challenged when he spots his classmate, Yōko Shiragami (green hair), in a classroom when school is over and done with. Ahh, but she has a secret (I have to tell this one, but I’ll leave the others intact, OK?) She unfurls her wings to show that she is a vampire, and a day-walker at that. Well, Asahi does not know what to do. She can only attend school if no one knows her secret; otherwise, Dad brings her back into the fold for home education. But Asahi cannot keep a secret of any caliber, so the show presents all the problems they have keeping things under wraps.

It doesn’t help that Yōko is a bit of a ditz and when she gets excited or scared, the wings come out, or that she is getting pressured by Nagisa Aizawa (far right) whom turned down Asahi’s romantic intentions. They also get pushed around by Mikan Akemi, a childhood friend of Asahi and a caliber of bully. She runs the Newspaper Club and wants all the dirt on everyone she can find. Then we have Shiho Shishido, a childhood friend of Yōko’s. Now, all of these folks have a secret, but it works best to let the show spool them out for you. This show is strictly for laughs, so even the fear of discovery that Yōko must endure is not a problem at all.

We see a lot of hoop jumping, as we try to protect one secret while learning of another. I would not really call this a harem comedy, but it certainly points in that direction, especially with the rather lascivious nature of Shiho. The ending arc, when Yōko‘s Dad makes his arrival, is pure farce in every sense and extent of the word. Are Asahi’s troubles at an end when the show ends? You can bet your second season it’s not.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           6 (The eyes are really bothersome)
Plot                  8 (Taken to another level)
Pacing              7 (Sometimes a bit too over the top)
Effectiveness   7 (Things could be explained a tad better)
Conclusion       7 (It reaches a ‘coupler’, but doesn’t really end)
Fan Service      2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)
Overall            8 (A positive earnestness)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Can’t you keep a secret?