Jan 20, 2022
I'm about to pop my review cherry just like the main characters after the credit roll.
I have just noticed something important. Anime and manga that take place in certain time periods often include the period as the first word in the title, especially when it's relevant to the story. That had gone over my head until now. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Hence it is unfortunate that the synopsis fails to mention that the 'Taishō' in the title refers to a time period because most of us wouldn't know what or when that is. Otherwise the default expectation is modernity. Under that presumption
...
I expected this anime to fulfill my seasonal degenerate trash quota, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I looked forward to cozying up in an anime equivalent of a warm dumpster but the container I dove into turned out to be full of salted caramel wholesomeness. I welcomed this diversion. While I do like my coffee black, my pastry savoury and my wine with smelly French cheese, I wouldn't turn my nose up to the odd happy meal with a milkshake. Sorry, are these food analogies overstaying their welcome?
Salted caramel is a good comparison here. Not only am I referencing the plot a little, but let's be honest - this is the series you watch for that sweetness. That warm and fuzzy feeling. The bits of salt here and there are to keep us interested, and there was quite a bit of salt by the end but I knew this story didn't have the balls to go full Grave of the Fireflies. Anyway my point is that we're not talking about a gourmet and healthy meal here, although it was a nice little dessert to indulge in. As is custom in anime, the audience isn't subjected to a deeper exploration of heavy existential themes, love, obligation, getting the short end of the stick from Fate but persevering anyway - all of which could've been explored here. But this isn't classical literature. This is anime and we're just a bunch of weeaboos. Still, my main criticism of this anime lies in the improbable character of the female lead and I will resort to comparison with classical literature anyway. For our best girl Yuzu, to me, is the gender flipped anime version of Alyosha Karamazov. "Preposterous!", you may think. "Literally who?", you may ask. Worry not, we've got time. I may be verbose but not as obscenely longwinded as my boy Dostoyevski.
Alyosha, like Yuzu, doesn't get to make many choices in his youth. He does not hesitate to propose a betrothal when his wheelchair bound childhood friend confesses her love to him, partly because he feels responsible for her happiness and well being. Unlike Yuzu he did have the freedom to say no, but perhaps his conscience and sense of responsibility made it an obligation. Regardless, both characters are prepared to love and be bound to someone with a disability. They are both saintly - seemingly impossibly so. But what makes Alyosha much more believable is what we are shown and told about him - thanks to the author's afore mentioned longwindedness - Alyosha's upbringing, his deep spirituality, worldliness and love of humanity inspite of its ugliness. Alyosha literally has the sheer weight of the idea and ideal of Jesus Christ and the cross to back up the unbelievable weight of his character. Yuzu, meanwhile, seemed to have a normal (healthy) childhood and that's about it. There's very little to make us believe in her saintly perfection and pure childlike innocence. There is little hint of the internal psychological upkeep necessary to maintain such a Loving disposition (and I mean cosmic unconditional love) and little exploration of her temperament. She is not quite a Mary Sue but more like Mary the Blessed Virgin with a serving of uwu. She's a woman so perfect you'd expect her children to come out of her womb already as boddhisatvas.
Despite all that, I don't find her impossible - just improbable. I can still relate temperamentally to Alyosha and Yuzu and I can identify well enough with Tamahiko because I was also an edgy depressed teen right up until a girl fell in love with me for some reason. There's little criticism to be made of the male lead's character because he is sufficiently imperfect to be believable. Of course he's a 'pessimist' - it'd be impossible not to be one in his circumstances.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
