Back to Cjorrs's Profile Cjorrs's Profile

I'm shocked by the absolutely mediocre score on here. On HiDive where I watch it it's currently sitting at 4.54/5 so just above a 9.

This story is a bit like ReZero x Plastic Memories. If that sounds awesome to you, watch it.

In my career I am very familiar with death. People that I know, that I care for die. I help them stay comfortable through the process and ensure that their families know they are well cared for. Sometimes it's hard.

I consider Plastic Memories as a masterpiece, it's about a team professionally giving care to both people who are going to die and the people ... they will leave behind. And it's also about bravely facing death with a full heart and no regrets.

ReZero of course is likely more well known and is enjoyed for different reasons. The protagonist is going to try, die and repeat as many times as it takes to reach their happy ending. It also has this interesting fantasy world with some magic, some monsters, and some unbelievably powerful entities.

So again, this is a very interesting mix of the two. The OP is awesome, it suggests the themes of the show. The music, sound effects and action are cool. The basics of the magic system are sort of explained for Akari's benefit but most of it is currently mysterious. The information about the lost ones, the power structures of the world and past events are explained well. There aren't long exposition dumps because Menou lives in this world and she is the main character, she already knows this stuff. While we are an outsider looking in, Menou kind of wants the other outsider, Akari to stay mostly in the dark.

Menou's purpose is to kill Akari, not because she wants to, not because Akari deserves it, but because Akari and people like her are inherently dangerous. It's like having a disease that turns a person into a ticking time bomb. This is a world that has prospered because of people like Akari, but has also nearly been entirely wiped out by them multiple times. Not in something simple and evil like a war, but because these people could in any moment metaphorically (or literally) explode.

She's a professional. It's a difficult, dangerous, physically and psychologically challenging and vastly underappreciated job and she has dedicated her life to doing it well so that others don't have to.

Menou takes great care in her work, she always keeps in mind these dual truths. She is a priestess, pure, just and strong and that she is a villain. That the lost ones as they are called, are monsters that cannot live but are also innocent and more normal than she could ever hope to be.

She is not cruel, she does not enjoy killing. She needs to kill Akari but she does not want her to suffer, she does not want her to feel pain, fear or betrayal. Other characters may suggest ways to do the deed. But she wants Akari to die with dignity. And she genuinely wants to keep Akari out of harm's way until she chooses a method to try. I can understand why Akari could truly fall in love with Menou given Akari's unique perspective of the events.

I'm not going to spoil the interesting things going on with Akari so far. But this is set up to be a cool adventure that I expect and hope will be cathartic for me like Plastic Memories is.

On the surface she is an executioner but her way of life shows that she is a caring, gentle soul and that she wants to help someone to die comfortably, with dignity and with love.

I didn't put thought into the number ratings, I wrote what I think. But I think my score is fair at least from the value I see in this work.

Enjoyment:

I've been reading manga for 16 years; more than half my life. I have never been more invested in a story. 12 weeks after binging the series in 2 days, I finally joined the subreddit yesterday, a first for me. There are more than 9500 other subscribers who want to talk about it. I've never before cared that others experience the same art as me. Domestic na Kanojo is exactly that, it's an experience that you share with the characters.

Binging it seems pretty common, many threads say they read the now 226 chapters in 2 or 3 days.

Art:

The visual art is beautiful but a picture ... speaks a thousand words. See for yourself.

Character:

The characters grow and change over the years of the manga. They become more mature over time and strive to achieve their changing goals. They grow because of each other and they grow at different rates and in different directions relative to each other. Life is messy and they try to make the best of it.

Story:

The use of time is masterful. Sometimes big changes happen. They can take you by surprise. Grief, denial, frustration and hope turn to acceptance as time takes it's toll. I found myself experiencing the same feelings as the characters at the same time that they did.

The love in the manga shows the importance of both selfishness and selflessness in relationships. Where too much of either in partners causes unhealthy relationships or ends them entirely.

Some characters are more independent by nature and others more dependent. Codependent relationships and interdependent relationships happen, sometimes within the same couple at different stages of the relationship.

While everyone will have their favorite characters I think most agree that we want all of them to be happy in the end.

Anyway I don't want to oversell it by setting high expectations for people that it may not live up to. But this was my experience.

Check out Gigguk's Domestic Girlfriend: A Dumpster Fire I Can't Stop Watching on YouTube for a fun review on both the anime and the manga. It will probably give you a better headspace and more realistic expectations before actually reading the story.