Koori no Jouheki

On the surface, high school student Koyuki "Koyun" Hikawa seems unapproachable and terrifying to most other students. In reality, Koyun is just insecure and prone to overthinking due to her uncomfortable experiences in middle school. However, her chance encounter with two boys in school—Minato Amamiya and Youta Hino—sparks a change in her. Like her friend Miki Azumi, the boys are never afraid to approach Koyun and see her for who she really is.

Although Koyun starts spending more time with Miki, Minato, and Youta, she finds herself torn between her newfound bliss and her fear of getting too attached to others. Meanwhile, each of her friends quietly struggles with their own challenges. But as the new friend group continues to navigate high school together, Koyun and the others start to break out of their shells and enjoy their adolescence to the fullest.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hikawa, Koyuki Main

Nagase, Anna Japanese

Amamiya, Minato Main

Chiba, Shouya Japanese

Hino, Youta Main

Inomata, Satoshi Japanese

Azumi, Miki Main

Izumi, Fuuka Japanese

Shimojima, Tsukiko Supporting

Shinfuku, Sakura Japanese

Atagawa, Akine Supporting

Kawaida, Natsumi Japanese

Kuriki, Momoka Supporting

Kitou, Akari Japanese

Azumi, Yuuki Supporting

Hatano, Kakeru Japanese

Igarashi, Tsubasa Supporting

Kobayashi, Chiaki Japanese

Akahoshi, Hayato Supporting

Yasuda, Rikuya Japanese

Ishihara, Shinya Producer

Nakazawa, Nobuya Producer

Shiraishi, Youko Producer

Itou, Taiki Producer, Episode Director

Reviews

Jul 2, 2026

Marinate1016

Recommended

I don’t know if anyone’s had a better year than Agasawa Kocha with two of her series airing for 6 months straight and it looks like both of them will get full adaptations, congratulations to her and thank you for making both Ramparts of Ice and Polar Opposites, two series that have really resonated with me and been some of my favorite romances in recent memory. Ramparts of Ice is actually my favorite out of the two and I couldn’t believe it because Polar Opposites was so good, I didn’t think anything could top that, but Ramparts being a shoujo and frankly feeling like a ... much more realistic and relatable story just pushed it ahead for me. I LOVE ample yearning, angst and drama in my shoujo romances and I got that here in addition to very well written character development, friendships and one of the cutest, most lovable leads of the year in Koyuki. This show was everything to me and I can’t wait for part two because I’m going to miss it a lot!

There’s a lot I really like about Ramparts, but I think my favorite part is just how genuine all the characters and their problems feel. It’s not anything over the top or overly dramatic, it’s real life stuff that young people have to grapple with. Depression, bullying, insecurity, social anxiety, this stuff’s all real and it’s nice to see an author accurately represent such delicate topics in a responsible manner. Koyuki’s initial hesitation to open up to people makes total sense given everything she’s been through and the sort of bullying she endured in middle school is very much the sort of things young girls do to other girls irl. Bullying is a huge problem in Japanese and Korean schools, so I think the way Asagawa-sensei handled Koyuki coming out of her shell and opening up to people can be an encouraging thing to people in that situation. Being vulnerable with other people is very scary, but it’s an essential part of the human experience and we shouldn’t let previous trauma preclude us from living life to the fullest as we see Koyuki learn! The other characters in the story face realistic challenges as well like separation anxiety and abandonment issues after a parent gets remarried, being a tomboy and feeling pressured into conforming to societal “norms” as a girl, overstepping boundaries and being too pushy with people you just met, etc. The kids all feel authentic and that’s already 70 percent of the battle to making a good romance/coming of age story in my opinion.

Speaking of romance, I obviously love a well executed slow burn romance with some angst and drama and this is the perfect blend of it for me! I love how there’s not a straight line with Koyuki and Minato’s relationship and he isn’t even the guy you think she’ll end with until some well executed twists and misunderstandings get explained, but it’s very satisfying. At first, I didn’t care for Minato. I thought he overstepped his boundaries too much and was too pushy, but as time went on, I started falling for him the same way Koyuki did, almost in real time. That’s the mark of a well written romance. You can see the prototype of the relationship from Polar opposites in this story because the two leads are definitely different people, but they end up having a lot in common and have met each other at the perfect time. The side ship in this is actually just as good too! Huge fan of both Yota and Miki’s situation and most importantly, I love how well written the friendship that they all share is. Miki and Koyuki are such great friends, but Koyuki can also lean on Yota when she needs advice too, same with Miki and Minato. It’s cool to see male-female friendships depicted in anime because a lot of people, for whatever reason, have this idea that boys and girls can’t be friends without there being some sort of ulterior motive and that couldn’t be further from the truth. All the kids help each other through their problems and it’s such a wholesome well written dynamic that makes you jealous because damn, I need a group of friends like this! Their bond, especially in those final few episodes when the antagonist shows up is just great. Agasawa-sensei is so good at writing these as we see in polar opposites as well!

Man, Studio Kai are on a crazy run this year too with this and Sentenced to be a hero. Obviously, there’s not as much sakuga here as that show, but the direction and storyboarding are just as good. I really like how they were able to convey Koyuki’s titular “ramparts of ice” which is a metaphor for her being afraid to let her guard down via the animation and there’s a lot of cool show not tell moments in the story that just give you some insight into what a character’s feeling, there’s also some nice misdirects, particularly with Miki and Minato that I liked as well, and that’s all thanks to the great direction in this story. All the voice acting is solid as well, especially in the final few episodes when we got to the big bad of the series thus far. Well put together show overall.

It really takes a special sort of author to write two generational romances back to back, but Agasawa-sensei, I gotta give you credit, you did it. This was amazing from start to finish and Koyuki and this cast rocked my world. I cannot wait for part 2.

Ramparts of Ice gets 9 out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 8, 2026

BodiaK

Mixed Feelings

The anime tells an amazing story, but it is unfinished. Each story should have exposition, an inciting incident, rising action, a climax, and a resolution. This is basic stuff. However, this title lacks the last two elements in the main characters’ storyline. I do understand that the anime is really slow, and this is not a con, especially considering how well it is implemented and written in this case.

However, when I finished watching the show, I did not feel satisfied at all because everything was leading to the climax, but they just decided to finish the season. There is also not much material for a ... continuation. The anime badly needs one or two episodes just to resolve the conflict between the main characters, and it is a shame that they did not make them.

The anime itself is really good, though. If you have nothing to do and want to relax, this one is for you. It is just unfinished, unfortunately.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 3, 2026

Acronymum

Not Recommended

The anime has a compelling narrative pattern whereas characters' traumas are only portrayed and dissected throughout the series as events trigger emotional responses in them. This brings to the audience the feeling of actually slowly getting to know them as if they were real people caught in dynamics they themselves aren't always fully aware of (or not rarely misunderstand) from the beginning and hence develop organically throughout the story (together with their relationships).

The issue though is how unbelievablely self-aware its entire cast is. In real life, most people — even with therapy — take many years in order to even basically connect past events ... to how they behave (and/or self-sabotage) today. In this show every major boundary or emotional issue is solved with a conversation; in reality it's rare to find someone who knows well enough their feelings to even communicate them like any character here does. If someone steps on a defense mechanism of theirs, what realistically would trigger a colossal discussion/retreat to reestablish the "status quo" (a.k.a. their alleged homeostasis) is worked-through in a way that would even baffle Freud himself if he were still alive. Most unfortunately must to go through a lot more (and hurt a lot of others in the process) in order to even consider help, let alone support others despite their own insecurities.

Another issue which I often refer to "Sono Bisque Doll" as a good example is this: "the problem's with'e past" fallacy. "A character has traumas, they heal 'em, they be happy". Not at all! If anything, navigating one's own self-imposed hurdles makes one all the more sad most of the time; far away from being joyful about (or in the way to) it. Besides, every new day imposes new obstacles (and potential traumas) anew. Professional clinical work for one rarely makes the subject gleeful; more often than not (s)he just learns how to cope better with sadness (despite not necessarily getting less depressed about stuff anymore).

Paradigmatically, Hikawa Koyuki's emotional difficulties are quite unconvincing sometimes: "all talk and no show". She's super well-articulated socially, makes/maintains friendships quite easily, hardly shows any insecurities which genuinely affect her behavior in any meaningful way (without being dismissed by her herself as utter nonsense in a matter of a few minutes within each episode), etc. etc. It's true "ice" melts easily and naturally, but it's quite "low-risk; low stakes" how the drama's handled in this narrative, what contributes to a rather poor delivary in terms of actual, truthful tension plot-wise.

Perhaps the most surprising thing isn't that this show would be utopic or anything of that sort though. Because in this aspect life is actually fine as it is. If eveyone were a resounding processing machine of inputs and outputs "as per script" in regards with (emotional) information, would the subject still be responsible for his/her actions in the way we think (s)he is (with all flaws, mistakes, blind spots included), or would there be just a so-thought programm running on their heads simulating perfection — following the instructions — without room for being sometimes just downright imperfect (if not messy) without help to an extent (and therefore needing as much help and company as anyone really; always does)?

"The Ramparts of Ice" characters could be real — but they wouldn't be deliberate.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Koori no Jouheki Episode 14 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Marinate1016 - Jul 2	174 replies	by HikariLuxxx »» Nov 3, 3:06 PM
	Poll: Koori no Jouheki Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) HerHotnessZee - Apr 30	161 replies	by pikakashi »» Nov 2, 2:54 AM
	Poll: Koori no Jouheki Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Aversa - Apr 16	140 replies	by Gust_sama »» Oct 24, 5:02 AM
	Poll: Koori no Jouheki Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Aversa - Apr 9	121 replies	by Gust_sama »» Oct 24, 5:01 AM
	Poll: Koori no Jouheki Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) godzilla9637 - Jun 4	98 replies	by Gust_sama »» Oct 24, 4:58 AM