Domestic na Kanojo

In their teenage years, few things can hurt people more than the heartaches that come with unrequited love. Such is the case for Natsuo Fujii, who has found himself entranced by his school's ever-cheerful teacher Hina. Deflated by this unreachable desire, Natsuo humors his friends and attends a mixer. There he meets Rui, a girl whose lack of excitement rivals that of himself. After bonding over their mutual awkwardness, Rui takes Natsuo to her house and asks him to have sex with her, hoping that the experience will stop her friends from treating her like a clueless child. With his hopeless feelings towards Hina still on his mind, Natsuo hesitantly agrees.

Equally unfulfilled by their "first times," the two decide to part ways as strangers. However, before he even has a chance to process this experience, Natsuo's father drops a major bombshell: he is getting remarried, and his new wife Tsukiko Tachibana is coming over now to meet Natsuo. As if that was not enough of a shock, her daughters—and, in turn, Natsuo's new sisters—are Hina and Rui Tachibana, the woman he's in love with and the girl with whom he shared his first night. Now, Natsuo must come to terms with the feelings he has for his step-siblings as his eyes open to a darker side of love.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tachibana, Rui Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Tachibana, Hina Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Fujii, Natsuo Main

Yashiro, Taku Japanese

Kashiwabara, Momo Supporting

Yoshimura, Haruka Japanese

Kobayashi, Masaki Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Kurimoto, Fumiya Supporting

Eguchi, Takuya Japanese

Ashihara, Miu Supporting

Kohara, Konomi Japanese

Kiriya, Reiji Supporting

Midorikawa, Hikaru Japanese

J. Matsukawa, Alex Supporting

Hatanaka, Tasuku Japanese

Tachibana, Tsukiko Supporting

Hino, Yurika Japanese

Maeda, Toshihiro Producer

WEST GROUND Producer

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Itou, Youhei Producer

Reviews

Mar 29, 2019

Krunchyman

Recommended

Hmm, how should I sum up Domestic Girlfriend?

Natsuo gets in between his two sisters…..nailed it!

But Domestic Girlfriend is not your typical bludgeoning of the flaps for the purposes of stimulating that intense surge of dopamine. Instead, its primary focus is on the emotional aspects of an awkward circumstance of which the “fated” lovers — Natsuo and Rui — have no say over. It’s certainly not the type of anime that will appeal to the action-oriented crowd or the numerous romcom enthusiasts (although, there are a handful of comedic moments). No. This is the type of anime that offers a ... semblance of realism to a medium that all too often strays away from level-headed, unromantic situations, in exchange for chuckles and anticipated endings. “Happy-endings” certainly have their place among the droves of escapist-consumers, but the flooding of the market in recent years has made its appeal less desirable; hence, why Domestic Girlfriend is a welcomed change of pace.

So what exactly separates Domestic Girlfriend from the throng of predetermined, quixotic shows that perpetuate fanciful illusions which rarely come to fruition? Well, rather than slowly building the eventual relationship between the two “destined” lovers, Domestic Girlfriend showcases a scene in which Natsuo and Rui are seen in a bedroom, after experiencing sex for the first time; yet, their jubilation is noticeably absent. What is normally considered the pinnacle of consensual relationships, was merely a simple task to be “checked-off” to avoid the embarrassment of being a virgin.

But copulation done in haste is never so satisfying, nor is it a substitute for a passion-filled, endearing relationship. A reality that Natsuo and Rui discover in a most unpleasant manner, as their first kiss is done tentatively, without mutual attraction (as Rui’s affections are not reciprocated by Natsuo). This is not to say that Natsuo does not enjoy their tender encounters — he is a hormone-driven male, after all — but the connection is never fully established. Fostering an interesting dynamic in which Rui seeks the endearment of Natsuo, while he has his sights set on Hina.

While branching away from the conventions of cookie-cutter plots and defined character archetypes, Domestic Girlfriend does have a myriad of blemishes that prevent if from being a truly great show. It seems the staff made a concerted effort to blitz the viewer with a multitude of plot twists and jaw-dropping moments when the bungling missteps of Natsuo, Rui, and Hina would have provided sufficient entertainment in its own right. Episode 8, with the underwear thief, was just one example of stretching the limits of storytelling too far to “conveniently” pose a new conundrum for the two to deal with (i.e. Alex being attracted to Rui — causing Rui to feel neglected by Natsuo). Literally every episode has one or two moments that resemble the high level drama of a daytime soap opera. It’s not quite as egregious as the machinations of Days of Our Lives, but there is a certain superficiality about it that cannot be ignored.

Furthermore, Domestic Girlfriend suffers from an excess of exposition heavy dialogue. Upon discovering Natsuo’s secret relationship, Rui provides an elaborate explanation as to why she will harbor ill-feeling towards her step-brother. Ordinarily, though, when a woman is unhappy with a man, she is not as forthcoming with this sort of sensitive information. Due to a variety of reasons, women can be rather enigmatic, necessitating the man to figure out the cause of the strife without much guidance. In this viewer’s opinion, if Rui remained silent with her feelings, it would have placed Natsuo in a difficult, realistic dilemma as to if/when he would attempt to mend fences with his step-sister.

In terms of the characters, the main three — Natsuo, Rui, and Hina — are thoroughly fleshed, with a preponderance of unique tendencies that enable the viewer to truly understand/empathize with them. The rest of the cast, regrettably, are relatively weak. Masaki Kobayashi, in particular, is generally irksome with an abundance of foolish moments that make the viewer want to slap their face or cover their eyes (dude needs to hit the gym to tighten those flabby butt cheeks). In fact, many of the secondary and tertiary characters were relegated to the sidelines for the mere purpose of comedic relief from the depressing atmosphere of Natsuo’s relationship troubles. Yet their various absurdities did not meld well with the intended tone of the series. Ice cream and steak are both delicious, but they are not the type of foods one mixes together. Neither should one mix erratic comedy with serious relationship issues.

All in all, Domestic Girlfriend is a flawed series that attempts to take itself seriously, but far too often does not commit one-hundred percent of the time (or even ninety percent). Despite its flaws, however, it has a mesmerizing effect on the viewer, propelling him/her to tune into the next episode to see what happens next. It’s akin to sipping on a cup of tea. The taste is somewhat complex, albeit acquired. The experience is pleasant, but nothing special. And the character is unique, yet nothing revelatory.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 26, 2020

synkonn

Mixed Feelings

Funny

i hate this show

dont watch this show

whenever things in the show start to go well and there's hope that it might get better, that's when this show likes to shatter your dreams and just bring everything back down to ruin.

it's still a 6/10 because it looked nice and had good music and i can understand how someone could potentially enjoy such a dumb story. it also wasn't that bad 100% of the time. i might just be being a bit generous but surprisingly i did find a couple redeeming qualities. that still doesn't mean this show is worth watching unless you enjoy hurting yourself mentally.

that's ... all, that's the tea sis

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 29, 2023

AlucardNoYuuutsu

Not Recommended

SPOILERS INCLUDED.
(I didn't read the manga so I can't compare manga and anime side-by-side).

Will you do it with me, here? - random passing girl, age 16.

After this awful experience, I have to confirm my theory: don't follow friends' recommendations. I didn't want to watch Domestic na Kanojo, but some guys were saying Wow! It was E-P-I-C, watch it! - and I had time to waste - so in the end I decided to watch it and... what can I say? It was horrible.

- Plot

The premise is quite dumb, because Domestic Girlfriend talks about a random girl called Rui who asks a TOTALLY RANDOM boy she ... meets, called Natsuo, to have sex... well... okay? He accepts. And Natsuo is in love with his teacher, Hina. Okay. Then, we get to know that Natsuo's father is remarrying. Natsuo's new stepmother is Hina and Rui's mother. Wow! What a coincidence! You may think: "This is just the original premise. It'll probably get better later, don't worry!". But you're wrong. Domestic na Kanojo's plot is ENTIRELY BUILT on coincidences. Let's talk about coincidences in anime.
There are cute coincidences, like "boy accidentally meets girl" and they don't take themselves too seriously. There can be Deus Ex Machina in an event. But this anime is a constant succession of coincidences and Deus Ex Machina! There were points in which Domestic Girlfriends could end! No. The plot forcedly goes forward, episode after episode.

Examples during the series
- Natsuo's new stepsisters are Hina and Rui.
- Hina sees Natsuo and Rui while kissing.
- Rui sees Natsuo and Hina while doing things.
- Natsuo sees Hina while mast-

Got it? This series should be taken itself seriously. But it's not, because it's not believable. It has more fantasy scenes than an isekai anime. And that's bad. But HEY! BD/DVDs will have explicit scenes! More actual PLOT!

- Art/Sound

The art is actually alright. Not the best ever, but it's okay, not bad like some shows this season (mmmmh... Date a Live III is that you?) - so we can say art is one of the best aspects this show has got. The OP is really good. The greatest this season for sure. Too bad it's wasted on a series like Domestic na Kanojo... The ED is quite good too.
I don't get why a sad music was played when Hina was mast----

- Characters

I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM ALL! Except Rui, maybe
Thinking: "A character who does bad things is not automatically a bad character" is right. But Domestic Girlfriend's characters are awful.

Natsuo is a dumbass. He accepts to have sex with Rui while he's in love with Hina-sensei. Then he tries to kiss Hina while she's sleeping the same day he gets to know that Hina and Rui will be his stepsisters. Seems right, yeah! Then he's sad for Kashiwabara Momo's story so he hangs out and does things with her, too. He says romantic sentences to Hina and then he kisses Rui. Then he constantly lies to Rui because he wants to go to Hina's house. Then he does explicit things with Hina, too! WHAT. THE HECK. IS. THIS. Are you joking? His characterisation? Mmh... let me think... I don't know, he's just an unfaithful boy. He likes to write books and tales about his love for Hina-sensei... okay.
Another thing pisses me off: when a girl sees him while cheating, he asks the girl who saw him betraying her: "why r u saddd, why are u angryyyy" - WHAT THE HECK.

Then we have HINA SENSEI. The woman Natsuo fell in love with. She has a relationship with a married man. Some days after she left him, she's interested to Natsuo again. Wow! It's right! When she sees Natsuo and Rui while kissing she is immediately HEARTBROKEN and she decides to move to a new house. BUT... she wants to f- with Natsuo, still! Hey! You've seen YOUR SISTER kissing him last day and then you betray her! What's wrong with you! You heartless monster! I hate her and Natsuo a lot.
In episode 11 she says: "Natsuo our relationship should end-", then, in like T-W-O seconds, she completely CHANGES idea. WHAAAAAA-

We have Rui. The only girl on the right side, probably Sure, asking a stranger to have sex for knowledge isn't normal, but at least she is kinda faithful to Natsuo and she doesn't betray him/go with other guys. She didn't know Natsuo was in love with Hina-sensei, so she didn't betray her sister's confidence while kissing Natsuo by purpose. Natsuo did.

We have Momo, a girl who hung out with billions of guys and she's infamous for it. Ok. Natsuo was sad so he decided to have sex with her lol. EVERYTHING IS FINE.

Minor characters Natsuo, Hina and Rui's parents! Wow! They don't know their children are constantly cheating!
Fumiya! Natsuo's friend he doesn't care about because Natsuo is too busy on CHEATING.
Masaki Kobayashi! A dude who works of a caffé.
Ashihara Miu! The president of the Literature Club! We don't know much about her, but Natsuo will probably cheat another time, I guess.
Other useless characters.

- Overall

Domestic na Kanojo was painful to watch. It's one of the worst anime I've watched so far. I don't know if I'll read the manga, but this 12 episode-based series was enough for me... I continued it just because I wanted to laugh.
Damn.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Domestic na Kanojo Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 1, 2019	151 replies	by _ajiro_ »» Dec 8, 3:10 AM
	Poll: Domestic na Kanojo Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Jan 11, 2019	209 replies	by _ajiro_ »» Dec 7, 1:47 AM
	Poll: Domestic na Kanojo Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Mar 29, 2019	272 replies	by The69King420 »» Sep 10, 3:47 PM
	Poll: Domestic na Kanojo Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 25, 2019	137 replies	by SShayea »» Jul 11, 8:20 PM
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