(L+CR) Demi-chan wa Kataritai (Interviews with Monster Girls)

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by Newprimus

Spoiler for regarding people dropping this show over harem aspects (doesn't spoil story):

People who are dropping this show because of harem aspects do not actually understand why harem shows often suck. Dropping this show just because more than one female character has a romantic interest in the main male character is pathetically shallow.

It's not just the multiple romantic interests or the clueless male protagonist. It's the INDECISIVE male protagonist. Who is also intentionally bland AF so that he can be a substitute for the male audience. The arbitrary reasons why the girls fall in love with the male MC, such as he saved her from bullies or from a tree or something, which results in a shallow crush that is based on a single event, regardless of the hero's character, which the story tries to pass off as deep and meaningful. It's the forced situations for fanservice that do not advance plot or reveal more about the characters. The repeated teasing of actual plot and romantic development only to be cockblocked by some arbitrarily random interruption. The plot device object from childhood, like a diary or a locket, that if the characters just opened or examined would solve all their confusions about who's the real childhood promise partner, etc and yet they NEVER think about doing this one simple act because doing so would erase 99% of the manga/anime's content. The arbitrary and utterly rage-inducing plot events or character turns forced by the author in order to keep the best girl from winning too much and keep the playing field level for all heroines in order to milk the story.... not to mention the best girl NEVER WINS. Also no one ever TALKS FIRST with one another. They always have to misunderstand and misjudge, and no one ever thinks to just ask what's really going on. There always has to be a long chapter or even arc all based on some silly misunderstanding that could've been resolved with a simple conversation.

How many of these does demi-chan have? Multiple romantic interests, and maybe romantic crushes borne from singular events. The rest don't really apply.

I think by only focusing on the multiple partners aspect of the harem trope show, people are over-simplifying it and at the same time doing injustice by slapping that convenient and simplified label on anything that seems remotely harem-y.

I'd say people who drop this show because of its harem aspects evidently dislike stuff other than the indecisive male character, or they wouldn't dislike this show, don't you think? What you mention is a common technique of harem-focused shows, where the male MC gets the so-called Idiot Ball so the plot can be artificially prolonged ad infinity. Here there's no need for that because three of the girls aren't viable option in any realistic way and the fourth one will probably become a romantic love interest in the long run, with believably slow pace because that's not a main focus of the story anyway.

It doesn't change the fact that some people might feel that there are harem-like elements in this show and feel that they are incongruous. I'm watching this with my girlfriend and we both came to this conclusion separately (she didn't even use the term "harem" because she's not much into anime jargon, she simply said something like "it's really nice but I think it would be better if it didn't focus so much on all the girls looking up to or crushing onto the teacher"), as well as a lot of other people did, so we can't be imagining things. I'll add that both her parents are middle/high school teachers, so obviously she tends to have more of a critical eye when looking into issues like the teacher-student relationship as portrayed here. Whether you manage or not to suspend your disbelief concerning those moments IMHO makes a big difference in how much you appreciate the show.

Genres aren't some clear-cut thing, a show can be 60% of one thing, 10% of another, and so on. Obviously this is not mainly a harem. This is its own thing, which is mostly slice of life, it just borrows some tropes from the harem genre. The MC isn't indecisive because there's nothing he has to decide on, but he IS a bit of an hollow shell compared to the more well-characterised girls. He's just a generic good guy, while being sufficiently air-headed that he doesn't notice the girls pining for him. His only defining trait - his scientific interest in demis - isn't really explored that much, isn't used for conflict, comedy, or giving him flaws to complement his merits, it's just a pretext to get the story moving.

Anyway, I don't automatically dislike shows with harem elements either. I liked Accel World where there was a (rather unbelievable) love triangle. I liked No Game No Life. I liked Overlord, where Momonga's female minions LITERALLY discuss creating a harem for him. All these shows have in common that they're first and foremost action shows and the harem elements are, again, secondary. The point is, I don't watch harem rom-coms (which is what you're describing here) like, say, Nisekoi, because I'm not interested in most rom-coms. But the trend to surround a male MC the viewer is supposed to identify with with a lot of hot girls covering various types (the loli, the big boobed one, the tsundere, the meganekko, etc.) is hardly restricted to rom-coms.

Oh, by the way, I also loved The World God Only Knows, which is both a straight play and a subversion on a lot of harem tropes. What I mean is that it's not a problem with harem itself. It's more about how in this specific show it tends IMHO to limit the potential of how much could be told and shown about this very interesting world that it has crafted. For example, being so focused on the teacher all the time, the show disregards the much more interesting possibility of exploring romantic interaction of the demi girls with other boys their age, either demi or not, which would be more likely to move forward and to highlight other problems or consequences of their nature.

[grecefar]

This is getting to be one of my favorites in this season, I'm boarding the teachers ship is most likely the most difficult one but it's my favorite.

[Stark700]

Episode 5:

Really glad to see Kusakabe's confidence growing this episode. It shows that friends like Hikari can make a difference.

We got a glimpse of her ability too (related to freezing). I think the teacher is trying to help her adapt with her Demi nature. Kusakabe has a fear of freezing others so he's trying to help her control that. Hikari is still adorable as ever.

The hugs!

[Random Wanderer]

Whoa. That pre-OP scene was very evocative. A powerful representation of Yuki's fears.

At last we get a Yuki-centered episode, and it's very good.

[blakstealth]

Hikari's nom nom is the funniest shit I've seen all day! holy mother of god. And her interactions with sensei are always fun to watch.

[Requiem-x]

Another nice episode; Sensei (it does fit him) got to reminds us he's a teacher while helping Yukki with her issues, which turned out to be pretty down to earth in the end. I suppose it works as a lesson to not lose heart until you've actually stopped and thought the situation through, or just to ask for help instead of curling up in a ball, isolated from everyone. Regardless, Yukki will be fine, and she already seems to be a nice level headed middlepoint between Hikari and Machi.

Oh, and Hikari continues being awesome, but that should be a given by now.

Originally Posted by Gan_HOPE326

Oh, by the way, I also loved The World God Only Knows, which is both a straight play and a subversion on a lot of harem tropes. What I mean is that it's not a problem with harem itself. It's more about how in this specific show it tends IMHO to limit the potential of how much could be told and shown about this very interesting world that it has crafted. For example, being so focused on the teacher all the time, the show disregards the much more interesting possibility of exploring romantic interaction of the demi girls with other boys their age, either demi or not, which would be more likely to move forward and to highlight other problems or consequences of their nature.

Glad to see someone else remembers and loves it And I agree on the whole issue of shows with harem elements: they don't have to ruin the fun, or the story by default, in fact, like TWGoK proved, they can be used to great results.

Originally Posted by Stark700

Episode 5:The hugs!

But what about the noms?

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Requiem-x

But what about the noms?

Images

itadakimasu!

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[Draco Spirit]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

Images

itadakimasu!

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So.. incoming Yuri fanfiction in 5..4..3..2..1?

[BBOvenGuy]

Originally Posted by Draco Spirit

So.. incoming Yuri fanfiction in 5..4..3..2..1?

I said from Episode 1 that I wasn't entirely convinced Hikari is straight. And that she might not even know herself. A moot point, though, as I don't expect the subject to come up during the run of the series.

[SeijiSensei]

Why can't Hikari have a preference for biting other ladies but having sex with gentlemen? Must the two go hand-in-hand?

This isn't a comment on Hikari's sexual preferences which, I agree, could go either way or both. I've read little of the vampire genre. I think we read the Legend of Sleepy Hollow in elementary school, and my acquaintance with snow queens largely derives from Frozen. So I don't know what's canon for Hikari as a vampire.

[grecefar]

If you didn't smile with them becoming friends while eating ice cream, you don't have a heart. Best chapter, I'm really happy for yuki.

[Nachtwandler]

Hikari just likes cool girls.

I am waiting for twins' father to appear and for the chapter aboout Hikari's biting preferences.

[Master_Yoma]

So all about Yuki and Tetsuo helping her with some warm water and storys

Hikari acting like a hamster it was so cute

[Yamada II]

Episode 5

Liked this episode. Kusakabe was avoiding everyone because she didn't want to hurt anyone. She supposedly turned some hot water into ice while taking bath so she was super scared. But Takahashi helped prove that it was only her sweat. Lol when Takahashi was taking her frozen sweat for research purposes. Kusakabe becoming friends with everyone afterwards was nice. Lol when she invited that guy to hang out and he thought it was a date. Poor guy.

Now we'll be getting some more much needed Hikari time. The previous episode hinted towards her having some family problems and her having done something she regrets. Should be good.

[Flower]

Ep 05

Hmm ... kinda odd reaction to this episode. The content itself was more than fine, but somehow the presentation of the material felt ... hurried to me somehow?

Could be because Yuuki is my fave of the Demi's and I was hoping to savor this material more, I guess.

In any event I also thought it was interesting how they chose to portray Hikari's nibbling. Somehow when I read the source manga I did not think of it with such ... squirrel-like associations?

[SamCurt]

By the way, the lyric of the OP is listed to be written by Mari Okada. Do they mean that Mari Okada?

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Why can't Hikari have a preference for biting other ladies but having sex with gentlemen? Must the two go hand-in-hand?

Hard to say, and this author's canon is his to establish, but traditionally there often is something sexual about vampires' eating habits. It's in general considered a metaphor for sex. And yeah, usually the biting involves someone of the opposite sex. They even said as much in episode 1. So it's not completely out of the picture that Hikari might have some lesbian tendencies.

[chaos_animagic]

ep 5 was serious and relaxing at same time.

Also, that end of ep 5... all I could say is... RIIIIP poor boy.

[BWTraveller]

Is Hikari really a vampire? She seems more like a squirrel-person to me... somehow just adorable.

As for the harem, I'd say one could argue both for and against said label. The girls all admire and look up to him, and depend on him to some extent, and with adolescent girls this level of emotional attachment is quite likely to trigger some twinges of romantic desire. That doesn't mean they're all out to be his girlfriend, or even that any (besides Machi and sensei) would really react favorably if he acted like he was romantically interested in them. It just means that they recognize him as having some positive qualities and most certainly not being undesirable.

Admiration and appreciation of positive qualities that would be desirable in a romantic or sexual partner does not always mean an actual romantic intent. For example, look at Taichi and Yui from Kokoro Connect. There's no real suggestion that there's anything more than a slight attraction between them, and both clearly have other people that they're truly interested in. That doesn't stop Yui from having some close scenes with Taichi, and apparently it didn't stop him from "using" fantasies of her on occasion.

Thus, I would say that this series is deliberately hovering on the edge. There are enough signs to suggest that the girls could all be starting to crush on him, and there's also plenty reason to doubt and suspect that some of them have little beyond a minor attraction, minor enough to leave their relationship purely platonic and far from harem levels. Basically, for now it's more that it LOOKS like a harem because the demis are all girls. (BTW this fact made me wonder if there were any boy demis out there, hope we're eventually given one just to prove that they exist).

[HandofFate]

Originally Posted by Gan_HOPE326

Hard to say, and this author's canon is his to establish, but traditionally there often is something sexual about vampires' eating habits. It's in general considered a metaphor for sex. And yeah, usually the biting involves someone of the opposite sex. They even said as much in episode 1. So it's not completely out of the picture that Hikari might have some lesbian tendencies.

Since its an anime thing.
Instead of defaulting to the whole yuri thing.
I saw it as Hikari being fine with biting/nibbling on the ice girl or her sister as just female skinship. Girls in anime are fine with skinship in hotsprings and that stuff, but no way would they do that with guys.

So to her, nibbling on other girls is a form of skinshp, but doing it to guys would be more sexual because they're different genders