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medea10 · 2 years

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My Review of Koikimo

(short for: Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui)

(translation: It's Too Sick to Call this Love)

...

Oh goodie, this is only going to go south from here.

How did I get into this anime? Seeing as I didn’t have many slots open for Winter 2021 animes, I wanted to pick up as many random animes for the spring season. That’s all. Wow, I’m late as fuck with putting this one out. Apologies for the lateness of this review…I’m being lazy.

Meet Ryo Amakusa! He’s a businessman in his mid 20’s. And because he’s very handsome, he’s a constant target for loose women. One morning on his way to work, he felt a little dizzy and almost fell down a flight of stairs at the train station. He was saved by a high school girl named Ichika Arima who proceeded to give Ryo her handmade lunch to make sure he’ll be okay. That night, he heads back to his parent’s home to find Ichika there. Turns out Ichika is friends with Ryo’s little sister, Rio.

Ryo didn’t fall down those flight of stairs, but he certainly fell head over heals in love with Ichika. And this girl is not feeling the same way Ryo is! In fact, she finds him creepy. Ryo ends up smothering her with compliments, flowers, chocolates, and all this unwanted attention. This is the story of a businessman falling in love with a normal high school girl.

…

Oh God, this is getting too Matt Gaetz for my liking!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Not a Crunchyroll original, but one that is being streamed on the site. It’s been a full year and still no dub. Although, a dub could happen. In the last few months, Crunchyroll has been going back through their old catalog and giving dubs here and there. I mean, if Natsume’s Book of Friends and Given were NOW able to get a dub after all these years, Koikimo could get one in the future as well. Aside from the notable male seiyuus, this is actually my first time hearing Yurie Kozakai. She seems relatively new but I think she carries the role of Ichika very well. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Ryo is played by Toshiyuki Toyonaga (known for Yuri on Yuri on Ice, Mikado on Durarara, Hideyoshi on Tokyo Ghoul, Asahi on Free!, and Shun on Kimi to Boku)

*Ichika is played by Yurie Kozakai

SHIPPING: Oh geez…

Let me look over my notes of what I was screaming during the first episode.

“How old are you? Dude, you’re a businessman and you’re coming onto a high school girl. Weren’t you just fucking some random skank the night before meeting Ichika? This ain’t one of those sick hentais that snuck onto Japan’s primetime slot, right?! How the fuck old are you? Remind me what the age of consent is in Japan! Are you some sick masochist that gets off of girls making a disgusted face while insulting you? WHAT IS YOUR AGE?! 27?! Da fuck, man!

Ah-ha, yeah this is not good! Ryo, bring it in. Sit boy! When a girl says “no” or she feels uncomfortable around you, that’s not a sign that she wants to see more of you. I feel like a restraining order video featuring Gary Busey should play when talking about the start of this ship. As you can tell, I’m not digging the Ryo x Ichika ship all that much. But like it or not, this relationship is developing throughout the series. I guess I should be happy that Ryo doesn’t treat Ichika like all of his other girlfriends/one-night stands. He actually treasures her! So yeah, dude gets a point there.

Then in episode 3, we’re introduced to Tamaru. He’s a space cadet, but there’s some potential for a ship with him and Ichika. So expect some jealousy moments from Ryo. We do get some cute moments between Ichika and Tamaru, especially during the field trip episode. I thought it was cute because Ryo wasn’t there to make things weird or ewwie. Things do come to a climax between those two in episodes 8-9 when Tamaru confesses his feelings to Ichika. It went as well as one would expect in this situation.

Dude is friend-zoned!

On the other side of this, Ryo has been with a plethora of women throughout his youth and into his 20s. Not only that, he’s pretty popular at his work. The girls in the office find him pretty. And one co-worker (nicknamed Arrietty) has a crush on him. Problem for her is that Ryo is in deep love for Ichika and only talks to Arrietty for anime advice to get on Ichika’s good side. Arrietty ends up finding out that Ryo’s in love with a high school girl and she worries about Ichika’s well-being having to deal with the stress of a May-December relationship. And at the same time, tell Ryo she loves him!

So yeah, Ryo x Ichika is inching closer and closer. Let’s see how the ending sizes up for this ship.

ENDING: After the events of Christmas, Valentine’s, and White Day, Ryo and Ichika are starting to feel something with this relationship. Ichika ends up rejecting and friend-zoning her classmate Tamaru some time after Valentine’s. It’s a weird new feeling for her, but it really seems like Ichika is really falling for Ryo. I mean, she turned down the sweet classmate to be with the same guy she called creepy not too long ago. Now what do you suppose would happen if Ryo x Ichika’s love is out in the public and around people not in the loop?

We got our answer when Ichika lied to several female co-workers of Ryo’s. The two were in public and were asked if they were going out. Ichika lied and told them that she was just friends with Ryo’s little sister and nothing more. Oof. Yeah, Ichika recognizes the stigma and pressure in this situation. If you’re 16 years old and out on a date with a 26-year-old businessman…yeah, it doesn’t sound too pleasant. And what do you suppose is gonna happen when Ryo’s father learns about this little relationship? He literally blew up at his son. But I’m going to be real here and kinda take Ryo’s side on this one.

Ryo’s father only learned about Ryo and Ichika through second-hand talk from Rio and her mother. The father started putting pieces together and jumped down his son’s throat without knowing the full story of any of this. Yes, it is kinda creepy that a mid-20’s businessman is taking an interest in a high school student. It’s generally frowned upon. But Ryo’s father is jumping to all kinds of conclusions that stray from the truth. Ryo’s father would always get angry at him for his promiscuous lifestyle and he immediately jumped to the thought that Ryo corrupted Rio’s best friend Ichika. I can’t say I blame the father for that. After episode one, I was calling for this mother fucker to get an AIDS test. But I grew to…lack of a better term, tolerate things for what they are in this series.

It was well established at the beginning of the series that Ryo and his father don’t get along at all. And the endless fighting from those two mentally scarred Rio when she was younger and potentially ruining Ryo and Rio’s sibling relationship for years to come. I just can’t help but get angry with the father right now. Dude is away for months at a time and doesn’t take the time to talk to his kids. Then again, if there’s distance between father and son, no chance of either one opening up about this sort of subject. Life is difficult!

In the final episode, Ryo decides to be cruel and intentionally puts distance between him and Ichika. Ryo sees how this relationship or lack-there-of is stressful. Arrietty had some good points and I don’t blame Ichika for lying in front of Ryo’s workmates. This distance was really bugging Ichika and worrying her to death. Even Rio was suspicious as her brother never uses “busy at work” as an excuse. Rio ends up laying it down for Ichika that she really needs to step up her game in telling Ryo her true feelings. Rio isn’t fond of anyone hurting her brother in any way. Rio’s very grateful for both Ichika and Ryo and hates to see them suffer.

Ichika ends up running into Ryo at the train station, the place of their first meeting. Ichika yells at him for ignoring her. They say they love each other. They kiss. They embrace. And they came to consensual agreement that they would wait until Ichika was an adult. And it’s not that long, I mean it’s only until Ichika graduates from high school and that’s like in another year, maybe nine months.

I didn’t expect to like this anime as much as I did. And before anybody asks, I didn’t watch Higehiro. I know both of those were similar in the premise, but I think I picked this anime for convenience sake, like the anime aired on a light day in my schedule. I can go either way when it comes to May-December relationships, especially when it comes to one of the characters being high school age. But I’m still hypocritical as I nod in agreement with some of animes cutest ships that were also May-December. Whatever, the case! Yeah, at first it felt creepy. It felt VERY creepy watching a mid 20’s male fall in love with a 16-year-old girl. Especially the way Ryo was acting in the first few episodes.

Now I’m not sure how this story ends for real. The manga ended around the time of the anime’s airing and I haven’t gotten word of what happens between Ryo and Ichika or if there’s enough material to constitute a second season or special in the future. But I suppose it’s satisfactory to leave us with their decision and imagine that things got better once Ichika becomes an adult. If you’re not like me and have no problems with May-December romance…

I can’t finish that sentence.

Anyways, Crunchyroll has all 12 episodes available.

#anime review #koikimo #koi to yobu ni wa kimochi warui #ichika arima #ryo amakusa #rio amakusa #kai tamaru #arie matsushima

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bakasaiga · 3 years

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My Analysis on Koikimo & Higehiro

Read the full article here: The Age of Differences: Koikimo and Higehiro by bakasaiga

Both Higehiro and Koikimo depict content that can be rather controversial and unpalatable to viewers. That being said, I just want to acknowledge the difference between fiction and reality. Depiction doesn't necessarily equate to an endorsement. Anime Youtuber Digibro once said: "If you watch something and you're disgusted by it, that's you contextualizing the medium. And if you're excited by it, then you're holding yourself accountable to draw the line between fantasy and reality."

Self-Esteem and Lowering Standards

I think Koikimo and Higehiro depict feelings that almost all teenage girls feel and lessons that they ought to ask themselves, address with themselves, and see normalized on screen. No, those lessons aren't that your 'soul mate' is a salaryman that's 10 years older than you. Rather, that your standards don't need to be automatically lowered because that's the supply of potential partners around you. You shouldn't be shocked and appreciative when someone treats you decently as a stark comparison to how others have previously treated you like shit. You shouldn't have to attribute all your value to your sexuality - just because that has the highest capital in superficiality, doesn't mean that it's sustainable nor acceptable for your developing mind. Double D cup breasts on a 16-year old shouldn't be impressive, your report card should; your activities at school; your cooking skills; your athletic skills; your kindness to others; your ability to make others feel noticed; you get the point. Your multidimensionality as a person and companion. If someone looks at you and doesn't feel the urge, interest, or desire to fuck you, that not only shouldn't make you upset, it shouldn't matter.

Higehiro's first most explicit lesson for not only young women, but the audience, in general, is to have standards for themselves. Don't lower your expectations no matter how shitty they are in your immediate environment. Never settle. Know your worth.

Similar sentiments are mirrored in Koikimo when Ichika starts contemplating if she's "good enough" for Ryo.

She starts doing what all women do - compare herself to other women.

But that's when Rio, her best friend chimes in and brings her back to reality to actually confront these doubts that she's having. There will always be somebody prettier, smarter, faster, anything-er than you. But nobody will be YOU. And that's the person that your lover falls for. Rio daringly asks Ichika, "Did my brother ever say he liked someone like that?" referring to the mature, fashionable imaginary dream woman that Ichika has conjured in her head. Thus, forcing Ichika to re-think her insecurity.

Uncertainty and questioning oneself like that is often-times onesided and a product of overthinking. Throughout the anime, it's obvious that Ryo has never made Ichika feel this way - he's never compared her to his older female colleagues, he's never commented on her youthful naivety, nor made her seem childish. These are conclusions that she comes to herself as a result of adolescent self-esteem issues, native to anyone who's ever been a teenager.

Read the full article here: The Age of Differences: Koikimo and Higehiro by bakasaiga

#koikimo #higehiro #ryo amakusa #ichika arima #sayu ogiwara

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