It's time for the seasonal romcom roundup! Chris and Sylvia separate the wheat from the chaff so you don't have to.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network. Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.
Chris
Well, Sylvia, the other two just covered the actual worst stuff of this summer season. I don't know that we need to go straight into the quarter-annual isekai roundup and let that degree of double-dipping dunking set the tone. So instead let's talk something more lighthearted. More likeable. More lovable.
Sylvia
Romantic comedies (or romcoms, as the youth like to call them) can, unfortunately, be just as prone to that aforementioned dunking, so even these shores are not a guaranteed refuge from the summer storms. But thankfully, Chris, this heatwave is light on true stinkers and heavy on the doki-doki-goodness. In fact, while we don't really cover sequels in these seasonal samplers, I think it's worth noting right off the bat that we have two follow-ups to past favorites: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You and You and I Are Polar Opposites.
Hey, I led with 100 Girlfriends here because it's the one I've been following and am thrilled to have back! Apparently, the team behind the show was excited too; they're showing off new girlfriends before they've even been properly introduced.
And what a smorgasbord of soulmates it is. Talls and smols. Americans. Rentaro's actual cousin...honestly, I'm surprised it took him this long to date a blood relative.
If he's going to hit his target, that feels like a barrier that would need to be crossed sooner or later. They're not just growing girlfriends on trees. Yet.
One other escalation I've noted this season for 100 GFs is that it seems even more marinated in metahumor and fourth-wall-breaking than before. Perhaps that's a natural consequence of its escalations. It needs to strive for more unreality if it has any hope of hitting that mythical number of 100.
And it also means its outlandish standards will be able to keep all other harem romance anime honest. Another reason we need 100 Girlfriends (the show, I do not need one hundred actual girlfriends).
I think we can leave the Pokedex-caliber number of romantic partners to the experts (i.e. Rentaro). For the rest of the Earth's population, the more grounded fantasies of You and I Are Polar Opposites may be more appropriate.
Truly, Suzuki dreams big. I'll be real, You and I Are Polar Opposites is one I haven't made time for before, to the point that I kinda didn't realize it had been off for a season. Now I realize I was probably getting confused by the anime adaptation of Agasawa Tea's other series, Ramparts of Ice, filling in for it last season. That one was, depending on who you ask, less of a "comedy" than Polar Opposites.
All's to say I'm very happy for the vocal fans of Polar Opposites that their GOAT is back, and reminds me I should properly check this one out sooner rather than later.
It is very cute! Good pink hair representation. And I suppose for completion's sake, we should also mention that Hana-Kimi's second season is also airing, although that is one romcom I haven't been keeping up with either.
Hana-Kimi, however, is not the only series dealing with issues of mistaken gender identity this summer. Kicking off our slate of newcomers, we have the cleverly localized Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her.
From zero to "Oh, that's what's up with the title" in only a few seconds flat.
This was one that Coop and Lucas mentioned in their roughly reviewed roundup, and it's not hard to see how it wound up down there. The whole time I watched this first episode, I felt like I was poking the show with a stick, urging it to do something.
Basically! I mean, the premise is that this dude used to be best friends with a tomboy who he thought was a guy. And now they've reunited in high school, and she looks and acts traditionally feminine! What a fresh concept!! Haven't seen that before!!!
Granted, I did extract some amusement from it, taking a whopping 10 whole minutes (I counted) before Hayato realized who Haruki was. Not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer here.
Honestly, the most original element Boy Was I Wrong brings to this worn-out premise is how hard Hayato undersells it when he does learn the truth. No wild takes, no protracted shouting back-and-forths. Nought but a shrug.
It's sort of like...well honestly, it's more like the sort of polite, understanding reaction you might give in real life upon finding out one of your guy friends grew up to be a girl. That might work if Oh Boy could engage with that premise. Or any premise. But it doesn't! It just lies there!
I do have to say that I would find this show a thousand times more interesting if Haruki were trans. It's literally all I could think about while watching the premiere. Like, keep everything else: the romcom aspect, Haruki letting her proverbial hair down around Hayato, whatever is going on in Hayato's family, Haruki being a gamer, etc. But center the story around the realities of transition and the myriad ways in which it brings the specters of Gender and Society into focus—you could do so much with that!
Haven't we all been in such a hurry to get to the gameplay that we just mash through the character-creation screen, leaving all the default settings on?
Yeah, this one looks bad too. Not a surprise it got dragged the way it did. On that note, I guess we can get the other dishonorable mention out of the way too.
I will act as channeler for our editor Rebecca's spirit and comment that Duke's Son is less a true romcom and more of a spin on the "marriage of convenience" subgenre of classic romance. You know, that old chestnut. Except this is an ancient chestnut and the show's spin on it barely rotates a full degree.
As you say, this brings up the uncertainty with collating things under the "romcom" label for this column. I threw The Duke's Son on since it seemed like it might fit the bill at description, but in practice there's no "comedy" to it (or any feelings, really, for that matter)! Similarly, there are a bunch of other anime that are nominally "romance" airing this season that don't really seem to click in the comedy category either. Things like Sparks of Tomorrow, Though I Am an Inept Villainess, and I Want to Love You Til Your Dying Day (the last one meaning we miss a yuri entry this season, dang).
And here I thought the isekai roundup was the one that tested genre definitions.
So it goes. Channeling Rebecca again, I'll say that Duke's Son could be somewhat of a genre curiosity for the ways in which it resembles Western romances, as opposed to the tropes usually found in anime and manga. But it's not a curiosity I'm personally interested in following up on.
Marriage, however, is at the heart of many romances. Sometimes it's done out of convenience. Sometimes it's the "happily ever after" following a long and emotionally perilous journey. And sometimes, your mom remarries and neglects to mention that you have up to four younger brothers now.
Even apart from that classically taboo subject matter, Please Excuse My Younger Brothers is sauced up by just being more expressive than the last couple of shows we looked at. Ito is a font of fun reactions to this otome-game premise she's been drafted into.
And despite the otome-looking exterior, I like how the premiere focuses mainly on Ito and Gen learning how to get along and communicate. Gen is reeling from a perceived loss of authority (due to being exactly one day younger than Ito), and Ito overcompensates for the awkwardness of the situation by overworking herself. Both of these impulses feel very human, and they make for light-but-grounded drama. When Ito isn't ogling Gen's shirtlessness, that is.
And yeah, Please Excuse My Younger Brothers gets the step-sibling romance fundamentals right (I can't believe I get to type that sentence) by showing how a functional familial connection works as a baseline. Like Ito, I spent all episode trying to figure out what Gen's deal was before his genuine sweetness was made clear.
It's basic, but it's a well-executed basic, and it plays off the point that the two of them are more alike than they realized. You know, in a way that could facilitate a romantic connection?
Exactly! Set the ridiculousness of the inciting incident aside, and there's both believable friction and believable attraction between our two leads. That's what it's all about. Although given the post-credits stinger, it looks like Please Excuse My Younger Brothers hasn't completely exorcised itself of silly narrative twists.
Look, you have to get the parents out somehow so the step-siblings can get to know each other unsupervised. Maybe this is why they stopped Ito from doing all the chores early. Less chance she'd get stuck in the dryer.
Want to talk about Boy Was I Wrong's stock character designs? I'm not convinced that Rich Girl Caretaker didn't start as someone's Kirito/Asuna AU fic.
Literally the same thought I had, lmao. Thankfully, there is a dearth of VR headsets in this premiere, so I don't think we need to worry about any surprise isekai shenanigans. Then again, no two worlds are further removed than that of the rich and that of the poor, so maybe this still counts.
It did take me a while to parse exactly what kind of tone they were going for here. Because Itsuki's parents abscond with his life's savings like a pair of cartoon robbers. But then Itsuki's plight feels very tragic and grounded in the reality of stuff like not being able to afford food, let alone school. And then Hinako gets nabbed by the Wet Bandits.
Ironically, this show's humor seems quite dry. That's largely embodied in Hinako's listless delivery, her sweepy routine being the reason Itsuki ends up having to look after her.
She feels less like a person and more like a gremlin with an inheritance. Which is fine, but perhaps not enough if you want the rom side of the romcom to land.
Kinda difficult for me to focus too much on that, though, when there is a tactical maid afoot.
One more on the list of "shows that could've picked a more interesting direction" this season. I'd be way more into these proceedings if Itsuki was in a maid outfit during them.
Also, I'm reasonably sure that Hinako doesn't need a caretaker; she just has depression and needs therapy. You could probably buy a lot of that with a trillion-yen company.
A bit too late for this question to be relevant to me, but I wonder what kind of premium you need to pay to have a maid perform your orchiectomy. Maybe some of our readers can look into this.
Overall, I found Rich Girl Caretaker to be more goofy than outright funny, but it's fine. Meanwhile, Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life is louder than funny, and I find that balance less fine.
Oh, now that's funny, because I pretty much had the opposite reaction when I watched Rich Girl Caretaker and Hanaori-san back-to-back. I kinda got a kick out of this one!
Also, unlike the Kirito/Asuna knockoff, Hanaori-san actually is an isekai (of the "reverse" variety, specifically), making it the irregular crossover title in our seasonal roundups.
Comedy is highly subjective! I don't think you need to be ashamed of your words and deeds if you got some chuckles out of this one.
I'm glad color-coded hair highlights have continued to be a signature stylization of 2020s anime. And yeah, while the humor is definitely of that "loud" variety, the particular way the leads bounce off of each other works for me. There's something inherently entertaining about the Demon Lord (who used to be a Skeletor) being the one who now just wants to grill, for God's sake, while the hero keeps asserting that she can take him.
I do have to say I respect the decision to make them a teacher-student pair. I was so sure he was going to quit the NEET life to join her class, and in a way, he did. But in the far more problematic sense.
You know, aside from the delivery of the jokes, I did like quite a bit about this episode now that I think about it. Even the subs are good, matching not only the style but the placement of all the onscreen text. Every anime deserves this treatment.
I do not, under any circumstances, want to hand it to Crunchyroll at this point, but it is appreciable that they went back to their old stylized subs (and started crediting their translators again, hey!). They're havin' fun here.
I abstained until the full-length premiere dropped, so I can be the new one in for Smoking Behind the Supermarket to holler "Okay, yeah, I absolutely get it!"
One of those where I wasn't quite sure how the premise would sustain a full series (and I can absolutely see where they were able to chop it up into smoke-break-sized mini-episodes), but yeah, this is a show with legs.
It's really good! People sold me on the manga as soon as it got translated, and its charm translates to animation just as well. For me, it echoes the early bits of Call of the Night, where it's about low-key and late-night escapes from the responsibilities of daytime. Except, in this comparison, Nazuna is a chain-smoking cashier and Ko is an exhausted middle-aged salaryman. And hey, it still works!
I think one particular thing that works for me is that the wish-fulfillment fantasy is a two-way street. Like yeah, plenty of us would flip for an alt-style baddie to invite us over for a puff. But I also know there are plenty of folks who will see this scrungly, easily flustered, older dude to tease as the hottest man alive.
I could get on Sasaki for not being able to tell they're the same person, but hey, maybe he's got face blindness. I can relate. At least he didn't get her entire gender wrong, like some people in this column.
Look, his being a little bit stupid is just another charm point. There's a scary amount of precision put into both characters' appeal.
Sometimes romance as a genre is a calculated emotional roller-coaster that speaks to our most profound human experiences, and sometimes it's just watching two really hot people play will-they-won't-they.
But sadly, we're nearing the end of our sampler, so it's about time we crowned a winner of this romcom battle royale. That's right, it's been a competition this entire time! And despite how much I love Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, I think it's only appropriate we award the series with the biggest heart.
Plus the biggest everything else it takes to win this Destroy All Romcoms Melee. I mean, we already alluded to the extra-large appeal of Kaiju Girl Caramelize in our Dunkin' Bucket-sized column a couple of weeks ago. What other big deal could it have to make it an oxygen-destroying missile fired directly at our tastes?
Ah, Yuniko Ayana, yuri veteran and evil genius behind It's MyGO!!!!! and Ave Mujica. I owe her my life. And so far, I'd say she's done a stellar job of using her penchant for writing messy teenage girl feelings to adapt this story all about messy teenage girl feelings. In kaiju form!
Just the sound of Hikari Senga's evocative anime-girl wail alongside the kaiju roar when she transforms is a brilliant touch that sells the appeal of this monster-girl angst.
Speaking of seiyuu credits, casting Kotono Mitsuishi as Kuroe's gyaru archeologist mom is a stroke of genius. I'd trust no other voice when it comes to wrangling a moody teenager in control of a building-sized monster that's going berserk.
And I definitely trust Kaiju Girl Caramelize's handling of itself as of its first crater-inducing steps. One thing that sticks out for me is that, despite earlier teases, Kuroe's kaiju-fication isn't some condition she has—she really is some sort of actual monstery creature! She hatched from an egg and everything!
It immediately commits itself to the thesis of the story: how everyone, even an "actual monster," still deserves the opportunity to be loved for who they are.
And I love that on the path to that point, it sticks an unvarnished eye into the miasma of ways that people perceive/police the appearances of others and themselves, especially during the delicate years of puberty.
I've loved body horror for as long as I can remember, and I think these body horror moments outside of the full kaijufication speak to the kinds of dysmorphia and dysphoria many people feel.
And to be sure, I think that's a great thing. It's a valuable point that's heartening to hear for a lot of people. And I love how it lets Kuroe and Minami bond over their shared appreciation of each other for who they are.
Like part of me thought it might be kind of trite, but by the end of the first date, I really was positively squeeing over these two. Or whatever it is the kids do these days.
Same! I felt as fuwa-fuwa as those pancakes looked.
Also, I'll be handling the episode reviews, so I won't go into detail here, but I just want to say that Kuroe's whole metaphorical situation feels transgender as heck.
Part of this show's point is absolutely going to be introducing people who are Into It. Provided Minami himself doesn't also turn out to be a man of taste.
But this is why I trust Yuniko Ayana to handle the adaptational writing of some freaks (complimentary). Also, just the general pacing of the first episode. This is a writer who we know understands the time to spend on setting an emotional baseline before all the shoe-dropping hits.
And the variety of funny Kuroe faces tells me the rest of the production is up to snuff as well.
I'm not trying to say that funny faces are an essential element of a good romcom, but they have been a component of all the premieres I've liked out of this batch, sooo...
They're almost as essential as 4th wall breaks that I can co-opt to close out a column! And given that I'm walking away with a couple of new series I loved and none that I outright abhorred, I'm going to agree with this lady.
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