This was definitely the best episode of Kawaii Dake ja Nai Shikimori-san for me, though I continue to find it more interesting conceptually than as entertainment. Basically I feel like this is either a gender-flipped shoujo from 30 years ago or a BL series with a female seme, and I’m not sure which. It’s also another entry in the “giant robot series with the girl as the giant robot” lexicon, as Nazo no Kanojo X mangaka Ueshiba Riichi called it. That’s definitely one of the boom genres in anime now, though none of them are as good as MGX was. Aharen-san wa Hakarenai is the best of the current bunch, because – like MGX – it makes both the female and male lead interesting and quirky characters.
Where Kawaii Dake does get sort of interesting in that context is that in his own way, Izumi fills a kind of giant robot role too. His bad luck is a force of nature, a narrative crutch that the premise relies on to get around. I noted this last week but it’s more inescapable than ever – Izumi is objectified to a massive degree, to the point where if he was a girl I think the series would get a lot of flak for it. His kawaii features, frail build, long eyelashes – extended, adoring shots of him sleeping… It’s pretty over-the-top. He’s literally an object more than a character – something to be handled with great care and protected (and adored). It can be a lot to take, quite honestly.
The reason this works to the extent it does is that it’s not mean-spirited in its approach. If anything Kawaii Dake is too nice – characters smiling non-stop is kind of a pet peeve for me, and Kawaii Dake suffers from that to be sure. The way Izumi is portrayed is certainly condescending but at least everyone comes off as a nice person. I’m not sure what the larger point of this premise is, or indeed if there is a larger point to it. Maybe it’s just fanservice targeting a couple different demographics (and seemingly quite successfully), and there’s nothing wrong with that if so. Since I’m not part of those groups, however, it’s just a matter of whether it’s entertaining enough to watch.
In that way this was a relatively encouraging week, the best so far as I’ve said. The movie date was charmingly innocent, with some good comic moments. Izumi-kun overstuffing his backpack and trying to disaster-proof himself was amusing, though obviously doomed to fail. And the whole “It” parody was played with considerable wit (nothing in the movies is scarier than clowns). Izumi being terrified and Shikimori being into it was pretty on the nose, but with this show everything is on the nose and that’s sort of the point.
Where this episode separated itself was the involvement of Izumi’s parents. You don’t always get the parents portrayed as fully-realized (more or less) individuals, so that was nice. Mom being the Izumi in their relationship and Dad the Shikimori was a nice twist, and her visit to their house was sweet – though again, spectacularly condescending where Izumi is concerned. It must be said, though, that Tonikaku Cawaii (sorry to keep comparing, but it fits) did this basic interaction with far more emotional impact in its Episode 8.
There’s some good stuff going on here. The lack of relationship BS is refreshing – Shikimori and Izumi don’t play tsundere games or try and hide their adoration of each other. There are worse things than following the lives of nice people being nice to each other, though in the end you do need more than that for a premise to have staying power. At this point Kawaii Dake ja Nai Shikimori-san is about as classic a bubble series as it could be, and the next episode or two is going to tell the tale of whether it pops or not.
sonicsenryaku
April 25, 2022 at 5:35 amI actually agree with your general criticisms of this series so far……except for the hang up you seem to have about Izumi and how audiences would respond to his portrayal if he was a female. It feels as if you’re reading too much into the metatext of these genre’s and tropes to be honest, a metatext that doesn’t really inform how Izumi’s character is being handled. With all that being said, I don’t think there’s much going on that would be offensive if he was the opposite sex. Izumi is your typical anime moe character is all and the show codifies him as such without necessarily insulting him or the tropes he embodies. He’s the frail, gentle boy with a heart of gold: honest about his feelings, and has enough courage to take chances, a trait of his that most likely developed due to having to live with all his misfortune. He’s insecure because he thinks he’s not “manly enough,” but the idea is that his strength of character is supposed to be what makes him attractive. I would like that point i just mentioned to be communicated in a more compelling way mind you, but it’s presentation is functionable enough to make the saccharine romance wok here. I don’t know man, I just don’t think there’s not enough in the general text or subtext of the show to say that the way it presents Izumi’s moeness is condescending; no one in the show sees him in such a negative way as you yourself already mentioned. You’re right in that the series goes out of its way to emphasize just how moe Izumi is, but how is that any different from the plenty of times other anime/manga have done this with female characters and the majority of audiences have been fine with it? I really don’t think Izumi’s gender is somehow absolving him of the scrutiny the archetype he is would get if he was a girl. Anyway, I think episode 3 made a better case for why Izumi and Shikimori’s relationship has a level of charm to it than the previous 2 eps, which is good because I think getting onboard with their interactions becomes a bit more palatable as a result.
P.S. Izumi’s long eyelashes?? I don’t see it. They’re no longer than any of the other male characters in this show. Even with the two really quick shots of Izumi sleeping on the sofa this episode, the animation makes no attempt in trying to distinguish his eyelash features from any of the other designs in the series. I’m not so sure about that particular observation