Let me get this out of way. Yes, I like this show. And no, I’m NOT biased toward it, even with Hibino and her big (and yes, holy and wonderful ) bosom going around mesmerizing me. Or the moe little sister Utaou doing a little tsundere and totally stuck on Kyohei, our nearly totally flat and pretty bland protagonist. Even with all that, I’m not biased toward it.
It’s a decent show with decent plots and OK drama until episode 7. There, the drama picks up. We get to know why Kyohei hates Aki, the gray-haired (BL bait) bishonen. We learn about their past in the village where they came from. And, we the Otaku get our dreams of pure virgins, in this case, an upbeat and positive-minded young woman teacher, who receives false accusations while being totally innocent of all wrongs, smashed.
(Side note: Kill Miyuki character, PLEASE KILL this FUCKING annoying and worthless sack of shit.)
There was so much delicious drama and character development / interaction that went on that the rest of the show just seem so…forced.
For the rest of show, every moment, every character seems to try so hard to be cool but ultimately likable in one way or another. Even Aki, who supposedly is blood-thirsty, has reasons why he is that way. And what bothers me is that the show tries so hard to make that known to us. It’s like the show is saying: “Hey, he’s a bad boy. But yes, he’s got a great reason to be bad and yes, you fujoshi can totally put him in your doujinshi and not feel guilty about it.” Oh and,
Never mind that he was supposed to be a Freddy Kruger-like character who loved torture and kill animals as a kid; he was influenced by the young teacher (the subject of school BOY’s fantasy) and he almost turned good. Now that’s not bad. I honestly felt bad that some fucking bully in the village tried to hurt her, and one thing led to another, the teacher died, and Aki finally went totally over the edge. I just wish the show doesn’t make Aki so bad-ass likable in every way and being so obvious about it. And that’s not the only gripe. It’s like the show tries to make everyone likable, so much so that even when they try to act like real people and nearly baring their unlikable moments, the show stops them dead in their tracks and say “hey, that’s enough for now.”
It’s a great escape B+ anime. But it’s inhibitions, not to mention the lack of conviction to firmly establish itself into drama/action territory prevents it from venturing into A territory. And that’s a shame, because Ishikawa Chiaki’s songs do deserve something a little bit more firmly serious and moving. In the end, her songs serves to add the flavor of sadness, but doesn’t lift it up into prime time category.
Bottomline: yes, it’s a good light drama for anyone that doesn’t want the too-heavy stuff, but it may possibly leave you wanting just a little more.
Watch it at Crunchyroll.