In some ways it’s good to be a yuri fanboy right now. Exemplified by shows like Saki, Strike Witches and Railgun it seems almost all the popular shows to have surface dover the last year are coated in a thick residue of yuri subtext. It’s hard to find a series nowadays that doesn’t deal with yuri themes or connotations in some way. With all the overtones being thrown around, combined with the increasing selection of anime that, following in the large footprints of Strawberry Panic and Kannaduki no Miko, are overtly marketed as yuri series, featuring unsubtle and unapologetic relationships between girls. It’s like the entire anime industry has suddenly come out of the closet collectively. But, as a long time yuri enthusiast, I think this has become over-saturation and over-simplification of what was once a sub-sub-genre of anime. Being a yuri fanboy used to be a frontier lifestyle. To get to that rare gem of yuri would entail much sifting, searching and usually a bit of imagination. I’m starting to crave that less obvious era once more, when yuri romance was a thing of hidden beauty, epitomised by symbolism, subtlety and romanticism rather than upfront fanboy appeal. Almost ironically, the innocence of yuri that used to make my heart waver has been stripped away as it loses its place as ‘forbidden romance’ in a modern society and an anime industry increasingly marked by fanboy fetishism rather than genuine emotionality.
So where does Sasameki Koto fit into all of this? Well, interestingly, I don’t think it fits at all. Despite being a series that essentially opens with the line “Why can’t girls love each other?”, it’s certainly no Strawberry Panic. It’s in no way trying to hide the fact that it’s a yuri series, but at the same time it’s not making a blatant fanboy appeal; the girls aren’t all super-cute moe fantasies and it’s not caught up in some implausible alternate universe without men (ala Strawberry Panic). And there is no fanservice to be found. I can’t say it feels like a realistic portrayal of lesbianism (and frankly, who wants that?), but it is grounded in reality and hence manages to evoke emotion. Episode 1 misleadingly got the show off to a shaky start in terms of characterisation, but since then the characters have become relatively believable and easy to sympathise with.
This is most true of the main character, the ordinary-looking and slightly masculine Sumika, whose yuri crush on her cute best friend and flagrantly lesbian, Kazama, is crushingly nonreciprocal. The dynamic between these two is the core of the show, and the fact that it is so unusual and fraught with angst gives the show a strong emotional pull over more straight-forward yuri of this type, like Aoi Hana. Sumika’s trouble stems from the fact that her love interest happens to be infatuated with cute and pretty girls, a catergory from which she is explicitly excluded. So despite Sumika being in a good position to confess in terms of the fact that Kazama is interested in girls, she is doomed to the role of jealous and frustrated onlooker as Kazama chases beautiful girls. The secrecy of her crush doesn’t derive angst from the morality or strangeness of her attraction but rather from her fear of being rejected. In that sense you could almost say that its strengths are its romantic storytelling ability, regardless of the yuri aspect. Take out the yuri twist and you’d probably still have a gripping story.
In being an atypical yuri series and not following the usual path of the S-class relationship, and not really chasing a theme uniquely found in the yuri genre, it doesn’t really feel like a yuri series, despite the fact that it clearly deals with girl-girl relationships. I have to say, I prefer yuri series that derive angst or excitement from the “forbidden love” aspect. Being set in a co-ed school rather than the standard all-girl’s-school setting does mean that occasionally allow the show to give the sense that the yuri predispositions isn’t entirely normal, but there’s certainly no antagonism. The only truly straight girl with any kind of role is completely unperturbed by Kazama’s interest, which is nice and all, but I guess I just don’t swallow the lack of prejudice found at this school. This series would have you believe Japanese high schools are havens of political correctness and acceptance while series like Shigofumi portray them as rampant with bullying. But this lack of true believability is forgivable because it isn’t what the show is really about, I just think it’s easy to get fired up and root for a pairing when they face external adversity.
In this case the struggle that defines this relationship is very much internal. Which, as I said before, is quite affecting as a romance story, but feels like it could have been to applied to any couple. While I consistently sympathise for Sumika, the main problem with the series is that it’s set up such that you can’t help but hate the object of her desires, Kazama. Kazama’s obsession with good-looking girls just feels unforgivably shallow coming from the perspective of the audience who knows how hurtful it is to the more sincerely in love, Sumika. The more I feel sorry for Sumika, the more I become frustrated with Kazama, which makes the show fun to watch but which doesn’t really make for a great pairing. I certainly don’t care for Kazama/Sumika, I just want to see Sumika happy. I think this is a flaw in the show, because I’m sure they could have made Kazama more likeable while still playing the obliviously dismissive card. Maybe that would have had the spark to set alight my yuri fanboy side.
As it is though, this is a strangely compelling tale of love, even if it skims over its girl-love angle a little too cleanly and simplistically. If you’re looking for a romance with a dash of angst and a bit of an unusual twist (yuri AND crossdressing), then this could well be worth watching. I’m enjoying the series in that respect, but wanted to try and articulate where it belongs in the exponentially growing mosaic of yuri anime. As yuri creeps into more and more anime, it becomes more important for its fanboys to remember where it came from and what its appeal really is.
Recent Comments