I’m not sure what the record is for me going from picking up a series to dropping it is, but I’m pretty sure it’s never happened in consecutive weeks. I’m not certain whether it has with Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi o Suru, but it’s on the table. I’m not sure that episode is one I can get past. I suppose it depends on what happens next week, but the way I feel right now, I can’t say I’m in a very forgiving mood (unlike Akane). That was just wrong on so many levels – basically, all of them.
To recap, this is how I closed last week’s (somewhat prescient) post:
I’m not that worried for Akane – if anything I think this could blow up spectacularly in Runa’s face, and the others (certainly Akito) will have Akane’s back. But how the series handles the aftermath is actually sort of critical – I think this is a bit of a banana peel, and it may tell us a lot about what sort of series Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi o Suru is.
This essentially cuts to the problem. For all the ways this episode was a disaster, the most unsettling is what it says about the kind of show this is. As it turns out of course I should have been worried for Akane, because Runa pulled a little stunt that could have wound up with her getting assaulted (or worse). That’s terrible, but the biggest problem is – and I more or less knew we were headed in this direction – the writing made light of it. Even the post-credits scene made light of it. Akane herself made light of it. And any writer who makes light of this sort of thing – whether because of the commercial importance of loli-baiting (though this is shoujo) or simply perspective – has some serious issues.
In point of fact Akane was assaulted. She hurt herself because the nutjob (Ono Daisuke at his most creepy) Runa set on her stalked her into the ladies room. It’s very hard for me to get past the way the aftermath was dealt with, with Akane in full forgive-and-forget mode and Runa basically getting off scot-free. This is some Shigatsu-level fucked-uppery right here. If I knew Runa was more or less going to fade into the background I could probably let the scab flake off and move on. But if she’s a fixture now (which would be a problem anyway since she’s annoying as hell and a psycho) and there’s basically no consequences, well… Sayonara.
That would be a shame, because I like most of the cast here and Morio Asaka’s direction is chef’s kiss (that finger shot). I can deal with a show having one really annoying character I hate, depending on the specifics. But a show having a fatally screwed-up worldview is another matter. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of good shows to keep one busy this season, even romcoms specifically. But having ones with potential jump the shark always sucks. I hope that’s not what just happened but at this moment I sure don’t like the odds.
Otcho_Shogun
April 30, 2023 at 8:46 pmI feel like this was handled with a bit more seriousness in the manga (ch. 14 and 15 I think). It is clearly stated, that she was wrong and gets a scolding from her brother. And while Akane is kind to her, she also mentions that she’ll leave the scolding part to her brother. So she doesn’t just ignore it altogether.
Guardian Enzo
April 30, 2023 at 10:00 pmThat post-credits scene – making light of the crazy stalker – was the puke on top of the shit sundae.
The thing is, even if Runa disappeared (which of course she won’t) you have to ask yourself – do I really want to spend time with a series that thinks this way? I get that this is a shoujo trope but so what? It’s still just utterly ghastly.
Otcho_Shogun
April 30, 2023 at 10:25 pmI think I missed the post-credit scene! Will have to check that out later. I have not read further into the manga, so I cant say for sure whether stuff like this is a recurring thing, but sadly it’s undeniable, that a lot of shoujo manga have some of these weird aspects that hold them back. It’s not even that messed up things happen, but it’s the way these things dont often have appropriate consequences.
I’ll give Yamada a few more episodes, but with so many great rom-coms this season the level a show must hit for me to finish it is way higher than normal. We’ll see….
Guardian Enzo
April 30, 2023 at 10:45 pmThat’s where I am. The lack of consequences is the bigger problem, and with so many good romcoms out there the bar is pretty high.
Snowball
May 1, 2023 at 3:14 amYeah, totally agree with Enzo. That whole episode was unacceptable. I was terrified for Akane in the toilet while the creep was knocking on the door, and to pass this off as humour is definitely appalling.
Nicc
May 1, 2023 at 7:21 amWhew, there’s a lot to unpack here. It was interesting to see all the different reactions ranging from, “All’s well that ends well.” to, “That was stupid.”. I was on the latter side. I was considering posting once I saw your post last night, but I decided to sleep on it to see if I might change my mind in the morning. I did not and got me thinking that it was even more messed up than I previously thought, but it did get me to pull my punches and probably for the better.
While this whole thing wasn’t played for laughs, it seemed to get pretty close at times. So, it’s already been established that Akane is a hot mess, but I still thought she would have more presence of mind. to actually try to contact somebody about her predicament. But, she didn’t try to reach out to anybody. The only reason they knew she was in trouble was because Runa eventually fessed up. It seemed like she didn’t want to inconvenience anybody, including her guild-mates, her roommate, the 110 operator or the creep in front of her. The kicker for me was when she was still interacting with the creep when they eventually found her. Law enforcement was somehow not involved and Akane gets through this by pure luck. I’ll watch next week, but I already have one foot out of the door.
Christine
May 1, 2023 at 7:54 amI read the manga, all 90-some chapters in a day. I suggest the manga to everyone. It just goes at a better pace since you can set it yourself.
Cocopuffcereal
May 2, 2023 at 7:23 amDon’t usually comment but absolutely agreed, this episode left such a bad impression on me that I’m likely dropping it as well if this is how they handle scenarios.
Guardian Enzo
May 2, 2023 at 7:51 amThanks for jumping in. I honestly have no idea how I’ll feel watching the next episode, and I guess I won’t know until I’m watching it. And that’s assuming it puts this nightmare behind and moves on, which is no sure bet.
Joshua
May 4, 2023 at 11:25 pmAstonishing how much of an L Crunchyroll got when HiDive grabbed both Insomnia and BokuYaba. They have Skip and Loafer, but then they have this…
Simone
May 10, 2023 at 12:16 amYeah, that was bad. Is it me or is this a common shojo trend, that the heroine has to be a perfect forgiving saint that never holds a grudge or even puts a healthy “ok, I definitely am never trusting you” amount of distance between her and people who pull shit like Runa did?
Guardian Enzo
May 10, 2023 at 6:31 amIt’s not just you.