Another pleasantly low-key outing for Toumei Otoko to Ningen Onna. Though Kikira-san dropped a decidedly high-key bombshell there at the end. I’m still not sure where I stand with this show for coverage purposes, but I do like it. Most seasons seem to have one or two of these – candidates for “that niche”, pleasant and relaxing diversions that don’t ask too much from you and don’t blow you away either. This one does deal with some fairly substantive stuff, but does it in such an unassuming way that the impact is sort of cushioned.
The mechanics of being invisible are certainly interesting. Like, it takes two seconds for food to become invisible after entering your body so you have to let it sit there before chewing. And even though you can turn on “full” invisibility at will, it’s illegal – and dangerous – to do so in public (unless you have a special license like Tounome-san). But when it comes to romance, the issues are the same as for everybody else. Like whether to tell your co-workers, or calling each other by your first names (and whether to do so in public).
For Yakou-san, there are special considerations too. Like, she has to get someone to confirm that her apartment is sufficiently clean (or at least she’s insecure enough to believe she does). And sometimes she doesn’t realize she’s dropped something – like the pair of panties in the middle of the floor when she finally invites Akira (since we’re going first-name basis) up for tea. Akira-san is appropriately aghast at this – what’s an invisible man to do? He chooses to pretend he hasn’t seen anything until she notices herself, and then he pretends he thinks it’s a handkerchief. Does Shizuka believe him? It kind of doesn’t matter, since they’re going to act like it either way.
For purposes of the series, invisibility – or being a cat person, or an elf – is just another diversity factor. I think that’s emerging as the raison d’être of Toumei Otoko – diversity is something that should be celebrated and met with empathy, not railed against. A more timely message one could hardly imagine given the direction Japanese politics and society seem to be trending at the moment. As such it doesn’t come as a big shock when the attorney client, Madaraito-san, turns out to be Kikira’s partner. Kikira has kept it from the gang at the agency, but seemingly just because he’s a private person (and not for any other implied reason).
As such, the reaction after Madaraito shames Kikira into spilling the beans fits perfectly. No one cares that Kikira is gay or bats an eye at that side of the news – the real shock was last week when they found out the dour Kikira had a partner in the first place. It’s taken perfectly in stride – which is a refreshing change (though certainly not unique) for anime. The same might be said of Shizuka’s mother and the way she handled the discovery that her daughter had a bae. One might imagine freaking out – especially if, stereotypically, a parent was overprotective of a blind daughter. That sense of normalcy in the unusual is something anime often does quite well, and a good way to covertly cast insight on the human condition.
