I’m glancing nervously around for thunderclouds as I say it, but the first ep of Domestic na Kanojo was actually kind of OK. I ended up watching it as a national holiday, time to kill kind of thing, with no intention of doing a write-up. But given that elements of it were actually quite well done and it seems to be a much-discussed property, it probably merits a few words of discussion at least.
Here’s the thing, though. Even as I sort of enjoyed the premiere and could objectively point to things about it that were clever or even a little sophisticated, the idea of continuing with it calls to mind the old song lyric “Get yourself a powder charge, and seal that silver mine”. No good can come of this, surely – “minefield” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Maybe I take a little encouragement in the fact that the mangaka is a woman, even if her earlier manga GE: Good Ending was hardly a paragon of restraint – at least it’s less likely this is going to devolve into a misogynistic exploitation piece.
Is Domestic Girlfriend trashy? For sure, but I have no problem with trashy in and of itself, though it does shorten the leash quite a bit. It’s almost refreshing to see an anime acknowledge the reality of teen sex in the first few minutes rather than embrace a fantasy of innocent purity for months. And the way the moment came about for Fujii Natsuo and Tachibana Rui was realistically bleak and hollow – the two of them were hangers-on at a mixer, the most socially awkward by far, and Rui suggests they bail. The sex is clinical, meaningless – she only wants to do it for the experience and chose him as he seemed harmlessly inexperienced himself, and like 90% of teenage boys would actually do in the real as opposed to anime world, he agrees.
I also liked the fact that Natsuo was low-grade anxious and depressed about this afterwards, as he confesses to his best friend (who looks and sounds about 40 – sorry, Eguchi-san) – realizing he’s squandered what could have been a spiritual moment in the most mundane way possible. Natsuo is actually in love with his teacher Hina-sensei, who I’m assuming is a rookie because she looks and acts like a college student (with a dash of Misato from Evangelion thrown in). Natsuo’s pal keeps trying to gently steer him towards the safe port where he realizes this is an impossible dream, but it’s clear that Natsuo (an aspiring writer) is a dreamer to the core and prefers to be adrift in a sea of his own fantasy.
That’s where things get dodgy, however, because the premise takes a ludicrous anime turn that reminds you what sort of series Domestic na Kanojo is likely to be. Natsuo’s dad announces that he’s about to get re-married – naturally he’s kept this from his son – and it turns out his fiancee’s daughters are none other than Hina and Rui (who are – of course – sisters). This all starts out well enough – in fact I quite liked the fact that both Rui and Natsuo were self-aware enough to realize that depriving their parent of a chance at happiness in a fit of pique would be an act of supremely juvenile selfishness. But it seems inevitable that this setup can only lead to situations that thoroughly degrade the human condition.
I did like this episode much more than I expected – director Ibata Shouta has real talent, as he displayed in Gi(a)rlish Number – and the writing in the premiere reflects that the author is smart, whether her eventual story will be or not. But the odds of this series not turning into something in the range of mildly uncomfortable to truly awful seem slim indeed. But when an episode does its job well, I acknowledge it and give it the line of credit it’s earned – I’ll give Domestic na Kanojo a shot to prove me wrong.
ehshouldi
January 14, 2019 at 2:38 pmI can see the trainwreck from afar…..
will be waiting for what will you write for subsequent episodes, Enz.
Guardian Enzo
January 14, 2019 at 2:59 pmSwitch-man sleepin’, train hundred and two
Is on the wrong track and headed for you
Haraga
January 14, 2019 at 3:47 pmThe first half of the episode made me think it was going to be a less trashy Kuzu no Honkai, something I’d appreciate, but the second half reminded me that Kuzu no Honkai started out more or less humanistic as well before it degraded a lot.
leongsh
January 14, 2019 at 9:20 pmAs long as it does not go the route of School Days, I think I should be fine. That was so trashy it earned its meme, “Nice Boat”. (-‸ლ)***
The premise is all about a slowly-but-surely-happening trainwreck. I plan to follow to see what type of trainwreck it would be. Will it turn inwards and self-loathing like Kuzu no Honkai (Scum’s Wish) or go the opposite direction to make it become the usual tropey anime harem triangle (or more).
Guardian Enzo
January 14, 2019 at 9:30 pmI’ve seen the nice boat thing dropped about this show, but it’s definitely the Kuzu no Honkai route that scares me (and that show sucked me in at first too, even as I knew it was likely going to bite me later). I think the best hope of avoiding that disaster is if Domestic goes the screwball comedy route as much as possible and checks the angst at the door.
Collectr
January 15, 2019 at 12:52 amTrouble with you is the trouble with me
Got two good eyes but you still don’t see
Come round the bend, you know it’s the end
The fireman screams and the engine just gleams
Yeah, train wreck ahead. Don’t see any comedy prospects here: too much anime do-rama and not enough “Stacy’s Mom.”
Simone
January 15, 2019 at 5:08 pmWell, I may not have found good anime in this post, but at least I found good music. Also, now I understand why the current JoJo arc that has a stand called Grateful Dead is set on a runaway train.
Guardian Enzo
January 15, 2019 at 5:39 pmHeh. Don’t forget the song from the post itself, too.
Simone
January 16, 2019 at 4:34 pmI meant that too, though the connection with Jojo is only for the second.
Guardian Enzo
January 16, 2019 at 4:59 pmHalfstep Mississippi is one of my all-time faves.
zeroyuki92
January 15, 2019 at 12:53 amEven without prior knowledge of the show, I don’t even think there’s a possible route for this show to be NOT a trainwreck lol. Theoretically speaking, the ‘best’ scenario is to simply turn this premiere into a relatively short story-oriented artsy porn. But of course with that not being possible there is no destination other than a mind-bogglingly stupid drama.
Kara
January 15, 2019 at 4:00 pmI’m actually kind of surprised that the first episode wasn’t terrible.. It’s definitely one series that I wasn’t planning on trying out, but sometimes watching a bad anime can be kind of therapeutic, so I might actually watch past the first episode, lol. I would definitely love to see you react to future episodes, especially if it’s going to be as bad as everyone’s predicting. I’m not sure if you’re open to manga series, but if you wanted to try out a good romance manga, a new series called 10 Years in the Friend Zone just came out. I’ve been keeping up with it recently, and I think the comedy in the series is a nice change of pace from the other kind of romance series that have been coming out recently.
Guardian Enzo
January 15, 2019 at 4:08 pmThanks for the tip – that’s a web manga, right? Anyone translating it?