So. Huh. I'm always looking for anime that little dude and I can watch together. It's hard. There's so many that have the right kind of premise and humour but then add in unnecessary fan service or ecchi stuff that's just inappropriate (shoot, I don't wanna see it either). SO MANY. Then there's a bunch that are too young and don't capture him (or me).
We recently finished Flying Witch and are both wishing & hoping for more episodes. So happy when there's an anime where everyone acts their age. It's a slice of life one about a teenage girl who is a witch and has been sent to live with some distant relatives. There are cats with attitudes. Strange magical creatures. Friendly ghosts who run cafes. Everyone is nice. There's no particular angst or anything inappropriate at all (except, perhaps, for the older sister who really, really likes to drink -- what's up with that Japanese trope anyway? There's one in Wagnaria too and tons of other shows/manga). There's no romance to speak of either, though you get the feeling that if there were any, it would be sweet. It's not even really about the young witch learning magic--she barely does any. It's more about the relationships between the group of family and friends. So, yeah, lovely. Absolutely lovely. And it's got nice touches of humour that both of us love. Little dude really loves this one and I do too. Please make more, O gods of Anime!
So...I was looking on Crunchyroll for what we might watch after we finish with Wagnaria since we are fast approaching the end of those. I'd seen Sanrio Boys pop up on the home page a few times and had seen an article on it somewhere about how kawaii it was...cute anime boys crushing on Sanrio stuff. And even though it sounded like it was probably a half hour long pitch for Sanrio products (which, I must admit, are not particularly my jam), I thought I'd give it a shot. I am not, nor have I ever been, a fluffy pink person.
Anyway, I first checked out some reviews and it sounded like things might get a bit fan service-y in it so I thought I'd watch some before telling little dude about it.
So...yeah...I've watched three of them now and I'm not sure what to do. It's a lot deeper than I thought it would be. In fact, I wouldn't call it very kawaii at all...the main-ish character used to love this dog-looking Sanrio character because his grandmother had given it to him and he carried it everywhere. Then, once he started growing up (and was, I'm guessing, possibly around little dude's age), some other kids were teasing him about it and calling him a girl and he's all conflicted and miserable. So, yeah, believable. There's totally kids like that and I can see that stuff happening. There's a reason little dude always made sure to hide away his My Little Pony before friends came over (though he seems to be over My Little Pony now and I doubt if he even remembers he has a Rainbow Sparkle or Spackle or whatever the heck that pony's name was). Anyway, this character basically breaks down and tells his grandmother he hates her and the plushy dog thing. And then feels immense guilt over it...and then...she dies. Before he can make up with her.
Jesus. That was a little deeper than I thought a show like this would get!
Now the guy is in his second year of high school and is feeling very non-sparkly and boring. He happens to meet two guys who also like Sanrio stuff (a bunny? the kitty? I dunno.) and unlike him, they are open about it. One of them immediately tries to absorb him into their circle but it takes his mother accidentally throwing his old stuffed toy out for him to break down and admit that he loves his gran and his cute dog-thing. In the rain. Because, of course. His two new friends help him recover it.
Then the third episode is focused on the most kawaii of the boys with purple hair and barrettes who is also a bit of a ladies' man (maybe?) and is taking care of his younger sister in the absence of his parents. All while wearing a My Melody (whichever character that is) pink apron. Shopping, dishes, cleaning, cooking, etc. Meanwhile, his little sister is ashamed of his Sanrio fascination and is, quite frankly, an utter bitch to him and completely unappreciative of all the things he does for her. Which is, like, everything. They sort of make up at the end of the episode, but not really, because she's still a class A beeyotch to him and keeps telling him he's gross. Girl, he's not gross. He's adorable and super caring and if you had a boyfriend like him one day, you'd be hella lucky. He's way better than you deserve.
Of course, he might be gay and maybe that's her underlying disquiet. I know it's a cultural thing in Japan and it's a BIG DEAL. They might all be gay, even. Two of them at least give off a bit of that vibe. It's kind of hard to tell at this point in the show. Though I rather hope that they aren't **all** gay as it'd be nice if they show that, hey, boys of any kind can still like cute stuff if they want to. You don't have to be gay to like it. Maybe split it down the middle and have half of them gay and half not? I dunno.
Anyway. I get why there were some fan service-y warnings in the reviews, though it's actually not nearly as bad as most anime that features more "boob-forward" fan service. Basically, at least once in each episode there seems to be a gratuitous shower/bath scene with one of the boys where you see their naked (and nipple-less) chests. Very unnecessary. And it makes me wonder exactly who the target audience they are pandering to is -- girls? Gay guys? I'm not sure. It's not too long though, a few seconds of each episode. I don't know that little dude would even particularly note it as he was watching, if I let him watch it.
And it's obviously trying to point out issues with that buzzword of the times: toxic masculinity. And little dude loves his kawaii stuff as much as he loves guns/zombies/blowing things up. I don't think he's remotely gay or even leaning that way (though it's fine if he is; he's my little dude and I love him no matter what) and we've talked about this kind of stuff before when it has come up. But I dunno if he's ready for a show like this. It might be too heavy. But maybe it isn't. He's turning ten and some days he feels like a teenager already. We're not yet at the stage where he hates me on principle or anything, though some of his friends seem like they are already headed that way. I think Sanrio Boys has some good messages in it, but it's also really, really heavy. I mean, this is only three episodes in. And there's a couple more characters that have only been seen in passing. What horrible back stories do they have??
Still, I think I'll watch it myself because I'm finding it quite surprising. I really didn't think it would be this deep. I mean, it's not Oscar worthy or anything, but for a show that I thought was going to basically be one long commercial for Sanrio, it has real depth.
Will update this as I go. Curious to see if it will have a resolution at all or if it will wind up like many anime and end on an unfinished note. Maybe by the end I'll figure out if it is one I can watch with the little dude or not.
Edit 1: Watched the fourth episode wherein the taciturn one (the dude with the white hair and yellow eyes) proves that you can be into cute stuff and still be kind of a dick to people. In his case, he's not a team player until he gets an intervention from his football captain and some help from his friends. The back story behind it is a childhood girl friend who disappeared (she was the one who first gave him a Hello Kitty charm). Didn't feel like it made a whole lot of sense, to be fair, that his big soul-crushing worry is that people will disappear on him if he gets close to them...meanwhile, Yuu (the purple haired domestic goddess) has been his best friend since forever and has never left his side. If they were new friends, it would have made more sense. On the plus side, this episode had a cat.
Also realised that the character designs reminded me of some things in some BL animes...body-type-wise, it really does seem to be setting some of them up as that whole seme/uke thing. Maybe not, but it sure feels like it. Not entirely sure how I feel about that. At any rate, I thought the 4th episode was a little weaker than the rest. We'll see. Next one seems like it will introduce the other two main characters.
Edit 2: Watched episodes 5 and 6 and they introduce the other two Sanrio boys: one is the school student council president who's this studly guy that's all manly and good at archery and the other is this more effeminate younger blonde boy who's having more or less the same crisis as the original character (can't admit to himself that he likes cute stuff). He has the added thing of having a pushy mom and sisters (?) who keep calling him cute. And boys who mistake him for a girl. Though, to be fair, dude, having long dangling pretty blonde hair probably doesn't help that. If he's so extremely self-conscious and prickly about it, why doesn't he cut his hair? Not that he should, but just saying. He's not a logical character. He's got this constant vibe of "I hate you! I love you! I hate you!"
Anyway, these two episodes hash out that dilemma. They were okay. It felt a bit redundant though as it's so similar to the first guy's issue. But maybe they were running out of reasons for a guy to want to have previously hidden his Sanrio fixation? I dunno. On the plus side, the more episodes in you get, the less fan service-y things seem to happen. There haven't been any shower scenes or anything in the last few.
I'm reserving judgement on the show as a whole though until I watch the next bit. Basically, the first 6 episodes were just to bring the characters together. Now that they are...what'll happen?
Edit 3: What happens? What else...all five of them go to Sanrio Land (whatever the name of the place is). They spend the day bonding and buying merchandise and gushing over the character parade, all while wearing ridiculous hats. And at the end, the ostensible MC dude has an epiphany moment that he wants to be sparkly like the Sanrio characters. Which I suspect will tie into the opening scene where they were all acting in a play.
Eh, I dunno. This episode definitely played like what I'd feared the show would be originally -- one big long commercial. I guess on the plus side it wasn't a downer but it also feels kind of silly. Maybe I'm conflicted because I'm not even sure where I want this show to go. We'll see.
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