Kuroiwa Medaka Opening Slammed for Poor Animation

The complaints mainly revolve around the dance performed by the girls in the opening. Hello! With the new season currently airing, we have fresh anime like the romcom Kuroiwa Medaka. While the manga is beloved and popular, the same cannot be said for its anime adaptation.

The Kuroiwa Medaka anime has been receiving criticism and currently holds a lower score than its manga on MAL (MyAnimeList). However, it’s not just MAL users expressing dissatisfaction—the Japanese audience is also heavily criticizing the opening.

Kuroiwa Medaka Opening Slammed for Poor Animation

The opening features a dance—a common element in many anime openings—but fans are calling out its poor animation quality.

Check out the dance sequence from Kuroiwa Medaka’s opening below:

As you can see, it’s not the most impressive dance, and Kuroiwa Medaka, currently airing, is being compared to Lucky Star, a 2007 anime with a dance sequence in its opening as well.

The comparison is striking, as Lucky Star’s dance is more energetic and better animated than this modern anime. Fans even pointed out the short but well-done dance from Rent-a-Girlfriend (Kanojo, Okarishimasu):

View post on imgur.com

Here’s what some viewers are saying about the opening of Kuroiwa Medaka:

• “The movements look like those of a 2D VTuber.”
• “I don’t understand the purpose of this weird dance.”
• “It’s like uniform rectilinear motion.”
• “Will all five girls fall for the protagonist in the end?”
• “At least it’s getting people talking. Meanwhile, the new Pokémon ending is trying to go viral on TikTok, but no one’s mentioning it.”
• “Anime from 2025 is weak. Go watch Lucky Star from 2007—so much energy!”
• “It feels like a deep insult to life…”
• “The opening is like a gateway, and with this animation, you can already tell the main story will be a disaster.”
• “They’re trying to mask animation issues, but the movements make it obvious they’re cutting costs and being lazy.”
• “Lucky☆Star is a classic, seriously.”
• “It’s ridiculously bad. Doesn’t anyone qualified give instructions?”
• “Looks like an upside-down insect.”
• “The movements are so awkward it’s uncomfortable to watch.”
• “After 20 years, shouldn’t there be some evolution? Instead of stagnation, it feels like regression. It’s symbolic of today’s Japan, which is interesting.”
• “Go watch Macross Plus and Gundam 0083. They’ll amaze you.”
• “This looks like a paper puppet show.”
• “They should use AI for this.”
• “Not enough budget, clearly.”
• “It feels like this could have been made with AI.”
• “This is the progress of the Japanese animation industry.”

While I’ve always heard great things about the Kuroiwa Medaka manga (it’s popular enough to get an anime, after all), the opening makes me think the anime’s quality might not be very “interesting.” This only motivates me to pick up the manga instead of watching the anime.

via Você Sabia Anime