When something is called a "mixed bag," the image conjured up is one of the numerous good and bad aspects, all combined at random. While that phrase could technically be used to describe The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses with its various highs and lows, how and when these highs and lows appear makes this anime so hard to review.

Simply put, the first half of this anime is terrible. It's so painfully cliché that it feels like it was written back in the '90s. We have a guy living in a dorm-style situation with five beautiful women while he serves as both their landlord and boss. The accidental pervert trope is on full display as we constantly see the girls in various states of undress—only for him to get a kick to the face or something similar as a karmic punishment.

Each character is one-note. We have the tsundere, the kuudere, the dandere, and the sporty girl. The early episodes are little more than a checklist, paring Hayato off with one of the girls to better introduce who they are and hint that there may be a bit more to each than their simple cookie-cutter personalities. Each time he gets in over his head while running the cafe, the girl of the week helps him out, and they reach a healthier living/working relationship. Rinse and repeat. It's tedious to the extreme. If I hadn't been paid to watch the series, I would have dropped the show three or four episodes in.

But then, around halfway through the show, something changes. Until that point, the anime is mostly focused on showing off the women and their assets—using tropes and fanservice to make us fall in love with them superficially. However, the storytelling then pulls a 180. Instead of showing us why we should be attracted to these women, it becomes about how and why each of them becomes attracted to him.

Hayato is not an audience proxy. He's not just some "normal" dude who finds himself in an abnormal situation. Rather, he's an arrogant asshole. He's smart and knows it—and he has the stubbornness and ego to match his intelligence. However, at the same time, he's goal-oriented and cares about the truth more than anything—which means when he is proven objectively wrong, he will admit it and do better. All this makes him an incredibly annoying person to butt heads with. However, this also means that he's exactly the kind of person you want on your side in your worst moments.

The back half of the show uses the deeper problems facing each of the women in the house to showcase this—and, to be clear, each of them has massive personal issues to be confronted. After all, not only are they living apart from their families for various reasons, but they have also gone out of their way to make a newfound family with each other, Hayato's grandmother and, later, Hayato himself.

Seeing each issue come to a head serves to flesh out their characters—to move them far beyond the stereotypes they start as. While some of these issues seem resolved a bit too cleanly, it's also important to note that Hayato doesn't come in and magically solve their problems—rather, he nudges them in just the right way to help them resolve their problems themselves. Because of this, it feels completely natural that, by the end of the season, some of the women would come to love Hayato—to not only admit their feelings to themselves but to others as well.

As for the presentation, the show focuses on making the five female leads look as attractive as possible in every scene. This becomes doubly true whenever numerous fanservice scenes come into question. There's no doubt they are designed to be the selling point of the anime—though, that's not to say the backgrounds (especially the cafe and the house) aren't expertly realized either. Beyond the visuals, the anime also comes with a surprise concert scene accompanied by a rocking tune—a clear shout-out to author Koji Seo's previous big hit, Fuuka.

Ultimately, The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses has left me conflicted. The first few episodes are so boring and uninspired that I can't, in good conscience, recommend the anime. However, at the same time, the back half is good enough that I am honestly looking forward to the second season. So, if you're jonesing for an above-par harem romance anime with relationships that feel as if they are progressing, it could be worth it to wade through the first few episodes. But otherwise, feel free to skip this one.