(CR) Watashi ga Motete Dousunda (Kiss Him, Not Me)

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by GDiddy

so is this a parody of fujioshi or something? I started reading the manga but the only tolerable character so far is the dude that's still friendly with her after she loses the weight.

It's an affectionate parody, much in the vein of Ouran Host Club (which is why it would have been so good to have the people behind the Ouran anime /broken record). The author has a BL background and she clearly understands the shows/manga/games, the fandom, the fangirls, the tropes, etc. It's not saying "lol lookit the stupid fangirl", its target demographics is people who've "been there" and can laugh along instead of pointing fingers and mocking.

Kobayashi's acting is bad because she's doing a mean-spirited parody and she makes Kae sound like she's mentally challenged or something. The way she plays Kae as she's fangirling makes it look like she has zero idea of how to fangirl so she goes for the "hurr durr imma otaku" stereotype. It's not funny (IMO but looking at reactions I'm not alone with this opinion - really, they're basically insulting their own target audience), and if this is the creators' idea of funny I'm really not sure the show is in good hands at all. Also, just for the record, fat girls don't have a "fat girl voice". Seriously we don't even do this with fat guys anymore, did they really have to do it with a girl?

[Aling11]

Wow was anyone else absolutely disgusted by how everyone changed their treatment of Serinuma just from losing weight? I swear, the worst were Nanashima and the health committee guy, I hope she doesn't develop any feelings for any of them except Mutsumi, maybe. He seems like the only decent/genuine guy around and he was the only one to recognize Serinuma.

[Flower]

Ep 01

I must admit I was kinda turned off by the180 turn most of them took ... at least Mutsumi's actions and responses were consistent and even respectful and normal. Yeesh.

Ah yes, unfortunately also count me in also not liking the VA work of the character before she thinned down. It did indeed sound like a mean-spirited parody. Kinda sad, actually....

Not my kinda thing; to be honest I could not even finish the episode.

Dropped.

[Stark700]

I thought it was quite amusing although I'll have to get use to Kae's character. Animation quality looks sub-par so far but otherwise, I kinda like comedy of it. Expecting the other guys to get their own characterization or more screen-time soon.

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by Aling11

Wow was anyone else absolutely disgusted by how everyone changed their treatment of Serinuma just from losing weight? I swear, the worst were Nanashima and the health committee guy, I hope she doesn't develop any feelings for any of them except Mutsumi, maybe. He seems like the only decent/genuine guy around and he was the only one to recognize Serinuma.

Well, to be fair, besides Nanashima, none of the others was outright terrible to her before; they simply didn't see her with romantic interest. Which... makes sense, I guess, it's not like exterior appearance does not factor in that. Though of course it doesn't make them look like interesting matches. But it seems to me like the only true love interest that is being set up here is Mutsumi anyway; he's the one who not only recognised her but seems to be the most in sync with her (see the final scene where he's the only one who doesn't seem to be intimidated by the idea of doing otaku things with her). Maybe he's an otaku himself and they're going to match on their passions.

What WOULD be fun is if Kae-chan actually managed to get two of the other guys to find out their unsuspected bisexuality and get together . Likely not going to happen, though, anime is usually too vanilla for that kind of stuff .

[Benigmatica]

Episode 1:
Damn, that escalated quickly as Kae Serinuma became a hottie after watching her favorite character died. It surely is a blessing in disguise but her fujoshi habits never change!

Gotta say that Yu Kobayashi did a great job on voicing Kae Serinuma. Can't wait for the next episode!

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by Flower

Ep 01

I must admit I was kinda turned off by the180 turn most of them took ... at least Mutsumi's actions and responses were consistent and even respectful and normal. Yeesh.

Ah yes, unfortunately also count me in also not liking the VA work of the character before she thinned down. It did indeed sound like a mean-spirited parody. Kinda sad, actually....

Not my kinda thing; to be honest I could not even finish the episode.

Dropped.

Yeah, this's messed up. I particularly hated Shinomiya, with the way he went from "if you're awake quit taking infirmary beds" to "oh no! You scraped your knee, let me treat you!" I mean, seriously, what sort of girl would accept the affections of a guy who she knows would treat her like dirt if she got ugly?

For that matter, I really didn't like the way they had her voiced when she was fat. Have voice actresses never met a fat person before? Being overweight, even morbidly obese, doesn't make you talk like you've got a bunch of mashed potato in your mouth, and it doesn't lower your voice. Her voice should've been the same as it was later.

Yeah, I too rather doubt I'll give this any real chance.

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Yeah, this's messed up. I particularly hated Shinomiya, with the way he went from "if you're awake quit taking infirmary beds" to "oh no! You scraped your knee, let me treat you!" I mean, seriously, what sort of girl would accept the affections of a guy who she knows would treat her like dirt if she got ugly?

For that matter, I really didn't like the way they had her voiced when she was fat. Have voice actresses never met a fat person before? Being overweight, even morbidly obese, doesn't make you talk like you've got a bunch of mashed potato in your mouth, and it doesn't lower your voice. Her voice should've been the same as it was later.

Yeah, I too rather doubt I'll give this any real chance.

I think the voice ought to change a bit in some cases but it's probably hard to tell without some kind of "before & after" recording. Anyway yeah, that aspect was pretty ridiculous.

For the rest I think "Kae understands she can't force herself to be another person and she should learn to tell who's actually a genuinely good match for her" may as well be what we're supposed to take away from the story, so I don't see the problem. Most teens if they became popular overnight would probably not say "no" outright just out of feeling that they shouldn't refuse any "occasion". It's stupid and we know it doesn't lead to anything good on the long term, but we DO know that mostly because we've been through enough (direct or indirect) experiences to have learned it. I'll consider it a problem if I'm ever going to feel like the show thinks we should root for anything other than KaeXMutsumi, namely the only one who actually looks like a realistic love interest.

[PreSage]

I'm pretty much like most here in thinking how all the guys, except Matsumi, are all totally disgusting in their personalities. The green haired guy is reasonable, since he did treat her nicely before but his sudden attachment to her because she is now pretty (like the other 2) is a big turn off. But sadly that is mostly the case in reality.

I really hope she ends up with Matsumi. If she doesn't then I really question Japanese morality.

I do find Japanese society, from what I understand, to more openly disdain (and accepting this attitude as the norm) to these social issues than Western nations. Sort of like their stereotype of anyone with tattoo or colouring their hair.

[Ulin]

That's the main reason I dropped the manga early on. I really couldn't understand the appeal of a story which presents the MCs with such horrible personalities. So it's fine while the girl is hot... and the girl doesn't mind that the boy was a total arse first when she was ugly...

[HandofFate]

I think the only one that I disliked with the 180 was the health committee guy. The rest were more or less indifferent, which isn't surprising.
With her obesity and stereotypical dirty fujo otaku personality, that combo does make her pretty undesirable. And she acts like a doormat toward everything else anyone on top of that. It's not like even she was shown as a heart of gold angel but everyone bullys and picks on her. All her classmates just treat her whatever. And she just attends her days happily fantasizing about the ikeman around her in BL scenarios.

Think of the male version of the overly fat otaku that spazs out every minute singing along and spazing about his fandom with poor attention to hygiene and attire thinking about oppai everyday, how many girls would act indifferent to him. Or even comment on him behind his back as he passes by.
Serinuma has it pretty easy as a girl compared to the male equivalent. The guys just treat her indifferently.

I do recognize that all these male character types, even the cold health committee guy and guy that just speaks whatever's on his mind blondie are all standard archetypes in those otome games.
And in plenty other shoujos anime, where the girl is regular looking or even pretty, the guys around her act like that with her at first too before some fateful encounter and warm up to her.

Only here, her thing is her losing all her weight.

Found it weird though that when she was fat she had a different voice than before, but her friend didn't recognize a difference and was just like "that voice..your" so I guess that's a va/directing flaw there.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Ulin

That's the main reason I dropped the manga early on. I really couldn't understand the appeal of a story which presents the MCs with such horrible personalities. So it's fine while the girl is hot... and the girl doesn't mind that the boy was a total arse first when she was ugly...

The "do I only like her because she's hot" thing does in fact get addressed in the manga. Fairly early on, too. I'm not saying it's an in-depth, serious examination of the issue or that it reaches a conclusion that would be satisfying to everyone, but it does get addressed.

Also, it's not like they were going out of their way to be horrible to her in particular, they were just being their harem staple selves. Here's the thing, they're not supposed to be awesome people. Igarashi is a sneaky player. Nanashima is brash and doesn't use his brain all that much. Shinomiya is Tsun Supreme. Mutsumi is a pushover. In a way for them their feelings for Kae are more about becoming better people (for a given value of "better"). And I mean really, "love interest is an asshole to the MC at first, then falls in love with the MC and becomes nice to them" is such a harem staple...)

And well, it's a fact of life that people will treat someone they're interested in differently than someone they don't care about all that much.

Originally Posted by HandofFate

Found it weird though that when she was fat she had a different voice than before, but her friend didn't recognize a difference and was just like "that voice..your" so I guess that's a va/directing flaw there.

I don't know why they left that line in, that made zero sense. What half-assed direction.

[DragoonKain3]

MUTSUMI! <3

Like sure, even the manga it's real obvious of the wish-fullfilment about Kae, but Mutsumi was the light at the end of the tunnel that made me follow for so long (now if only CR manga updated it more frequently XD). The rest of the guys can go DIAF or something, but the laid back, 'I'm only here because everyone else is' attitude of senpai really goes well with Kae's spirited fujoshi attitude. Much like Teruhashi/Saiki (of Saiki Kusuo fame), their personalities on top of their interactions just mesh so well together that I can't help but ship them DESPITE not being osananajimi.

Originally Posted by DmonHiro

This.... has no right to be this amusing. It was fun...

Kobayashi Yuu can do so many funny voices. I love it. The fat girl voice was hillarious.

I'm with you. After hearing HanaKana's rendition of Kae, Kobayashi is like 100x better than her. Sorry HanaKana, you're still my #1, but fangirl fujoshi doesn't suit you in the least. XD

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by PreSage

I'm pretty much like most here in thinking how all the guys, except Matsumi, are all totally disgusting in their personalities. The green haired guy is reasonable, since he did treat her nicely before but his sudden attachment to her because she is now pretty (like the other 2) is a big turn off. But sadly that is mostly the case in reality.

Is it that different from "hot transfer student girl appears, immediately gets asked out"? Yeah, of course they're attracted by her looks, but that's not exactly abnormal. I understand if they were mean to her before (Nanashima kind of was but I suspect it's more supposed to pass as if he's a brash/socially insensitive guy who simply says out loud whatever passes through his mind), but they mostly were generically polite and just didn't know much about her. Like it or not, looks ARE a catalyst that gets people interested in each other. Of course no relationship can ride on looks alone, but "let's go and watch a movie together" isn't exactly some big challenging step.

(as a note: I talk as someone who's basically never gone on a date with a girl until I was, like, 25, even though not necessarily for my looks which are fairly average. I just don't think it's a good reason to be bitter about the fact that people find attractive people that are attractive. Like it or not, romantic love IS mostly a sexual thing to begin with)

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by Gan_HOPE326

Is it that different from "hot transfer student girl appears, immediately gets asked out"? Yeah, of course they're attracted by her looks, but that's not exactly abnormal. I understand if they were mean to her before (Nanashima kind of was but I suspect it's more supposed to pass as if he's a brash/socially insensitive guy who simply says out loud whatever passes through his mind), but they mostly were generically polite and just didn't know much about her. Like it or not, looks ARE a catalyst that gets people interested in each other. Of course no relationship can ride on looks alone, but "let's go and watch a movie together" isn't exactly some big challenging step.

(as a note: I talk as someone who's basically never gone on a date with a girl until I was, like, 25, even though not necessarily for my looks which are fairly average. I just don't think it's a good reason to be bitter about the fact that people find attractive people that are attractive. Like it or not, romantic love IS mostly a sexual thing to begin with)

I guess the turn off is probably the fast pace at which the anime portrayed it, and also the fact that Kae didn't question their change in attitude. However, it all comes down to her decision at the end, whether she will realize who is more honest than who.

It is not the fact that people find attractive people attractive as a bad thing - we all admit a good-looking person is good-looking when we see one - but some of us wouldn't exactly fall for them if they have a smitty attitude either.

But looking back, the guys, on a whole, aren't that bad. I mean, they didn't bully her because of her looks/hobby before but seemed to care for her as another classmate (aside from that health committee guy). I guess it's the fast pace of throwing them at her later on that was a bit...too fast for my liking. Meh, but that's the producer/mangaka's doing.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

MUTSUMI! <3

Like sure, even the manga it's real obvious of the wish-fullfilment about Kae, but Mutsumi was the light at the end of the tunnel that made me follow for so long (now if only CR manga updated it more frequently XD). The rest of the guys can go DIAF or something, but the laid back, 'I'm only here because everyone else is' attitude of senpai really goes well with Kae's spirited fujoshi attitude.

I thought Igarashi was relatively nice. Though that's more an effect of standing next to Nanarashi and being decently polite than being really nice like Mutsumi, but I don't think he deserves opprobrium.

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

But Kae is not falling for the guys either? If anything in this episode she's bothered by the sudden attention. Also...

Spoiler for manga spoilers:

it's been 9 volumes and no romantic feelings from Kae. Sure she'll get dokidoki every now and then, but that aside she's not all that interested in them romantically.

It would be sad if she was suddenly interested in them romantically by simply having them chase after her merely for her looks, especially when it's only ep 1. (I don't read the manga.) It's who she will decide later (if anyone) that really determines her character, I think. Although I don't think we'll have any conclusions in the anime.

But this reminds me of a real life test that was done by a show where a model pretended to drop things from her grocery bag and all these guys would come help her (not many women though). Then when she disguised herself as overweight, raggedy hair, and glasses, only women helped her and one single guy.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by PreSage

But this reminds me of a real life test that was done by a show where a model pretended to drop things from her grocery bag and all these guys would come help her (not many women though). Then when she disguised herself as overweight, raggedy hair, and glasses, only women helped her and one single guy.

Hah, story of my life. Not the model thing, of course, or the overweight thing, but normally I dress fairly casually and don't do much make-up. Just the other day I took my bike to the shop for some repair, wearing comfy old jeans and a T-shirt and a baseball cap... the guy barely wanted to give me the time of day. When I went back for the bike after work, wearing make-up, a skirt, sleeveless top, cute shoes, no hat? The same guy was so eager to help. Alas! 'Tis the world we live in. (And he doesn't even know about my BL habits...! )

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by PreSage

It would be sad if she was suddenly interested in them romantically by simply having them chase after her merely for her looks, especially when it's only ep 1. (I don't read the manga.) It's who she will decide later (if anyone) that really determines her character, I think. Although I don't think we'll have any conclusions in the anime.

But this reminds me of a real life test that was done by a show where a model pretended to drop things from her grocery bag and all these guys would come help her (not many women though). Then when she disguised herself as overweight, raggedy hair, and glasses, only women helped her and one single guy.

That sounds like something the show "What would you do?" would have done.

[Dop]

Okay.... NOW I understand what people are saying about the voice.
That was like fingernails on a blackboard!

I tried the manga and that didn't grab me, so I'm out.