(L) Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu (The Dangers in My Heart)

[Kanon]

I'm guessing the MC being a murderous psychopath will be dropped pretty quickly, if it hasn't already been already. He's clearly just an edgy kid deluding himself into thinking he's more special than he is. He's a normal as they come.

The girl on the other hand is genuinely weird, but not in a bad way. Dork is appropriate.

[Guardian Enzo]

I actually wondered if they might soften up the intro to try and rope in impatient new viewers, but they stuck to the script very closely.

[Frontier]

Honestly I think both of our leads are super dorks that try to project differently, but they're the only ones who see it in each other .

[FlareKnight]

Oh man. That had some moments. Best might have been Yamada's hand gesture for
Ichikawa to give another meow to keep the act going .

Honestly, Ichikawa seems pretty ok to me. I don't think it's too far out there for someone to let their imagination run a bit wild. All the more so since he doesn't seem to have many (if any) friends. That gap between him and those around him probably built up to letting his mind run a bit.

The most I'll say is that he is willing to do some dramatic things. Whether it's messing up his own presentation poster or chucking his bike. Hardly completely normal in his own right. But obviously not as messed up as he thinks he is either.

Impressive job though making him seem far more normal. Wow that girl is a hilarious dork. Gotta to respect her confidence though. She's definitely odd. But that should make this ship extremely satisfying to watch. Both have very clear quirks.

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I'm guessing the MC being a murderous psychopath will be dropped pretty quickly

Seems like it already was before halfway into this first ep .

[Guardian Enzo]

Kyoutarou is maybe the best male MC in the last decade in manga. Certainly romcom manga. Those who stick around long enough will come to realize that.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep1:

So the pull of this series is that everyone is gross? The protagonist is edgy, the heroine is pigging out in the library, some other fat girl, and the other guys talking about dicks

WataMote works because the protagonist is a girl

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Spoiler for ep1:

So the pull of this series is that everyone is gross? The protagonist is edgy, the heroine is pigging out in the library, some other fat girl, and the other guys talking about dicks

WataMote works because the protagonist is a girl

No, it works because everyone is WEIRD and plays well off each other. The guy is a chuuni who tries to deal with how invisible he is by convincing himself that he's some dangerous serial killer just waiting for the perfect opportunity to start his reign of terror and cut the smirks off the morons around him, but deep down is just a shy guy with a good heart trying to feel cooler than he is. The girl is a model and actress who loves her work but doesn't really care that much about appearances, eating what she wants when she wants, saying whatever she wants, doing whatever she wants. That buzzcut guy acts like a pervert but he really cares about the chubby girl, and not just because he like them fat; could even speculate that his love of fat came about because of his crush. The chubby girl just wanted to slim down because there's someone on her mind and she thinks she needs to slim down to get that someone's attention. The other guys are just goofing around and talking nonsense. Junior high school "nonsense" is very stupid, and often very crude. Heck, I remember in JH and HS I'd heard guys saying worse on a regular basis, and not the weird outcasts either.

Try keeping an open mind rather than trying to find flaws to hate, and you might actually enjoy it.

On a different note, I'm glad the animators decided to wait until the end to show the opening for the first week. Becoming more and more common these days, but it's really appropriate here. It'd be just really weird to jump straight from "I'm a serial killer and I want to kill that particular weirdo" to a sweet, romantic opening sequence.

[grecefar]

yeah... both are pretty weird but I guess is the main point and it was fun.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Honestly I think both of our leads are super dorks that try to project differently, but they're the only ones who see it in each other .

Yeah, that pretty much seems to be what the series is going for.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Wandering Soul

Yeah, that pretty much seems to be what the series is going for.

I think that’s part of it but the whole goes much deeper than that. I shouldn’t say more but BokuYaba is a prime example of a series where you cannot make snap judgments of the characters based on early chaptersodes. You’re not watching a series that starts when the finished product rolls off the assembly line - you’re watching the assembly line.

[frubam]

Good start so far. There were some dips in the animation quality here and there, but otherwise solid. There wasn't much direct interaction between the main couple, and I wasn't as fond of "Ichikawa's Observation Diary" as much as I remember, but I read the manga, so know it gets better from here. I just hope that the anime can capture the same magic that the manga has. Its off to a good start so far.

[scififan]

The show is somewhat similar to Mitsudomoe, the work from the manga artist. Although the manga artist starts her career at 17, her serialized work are in shounen manga magazine. The story telling approach is more male oriented than female oriented.

Still, the anime story telling puzzled me. I was under the wrong impression the protagonist is a psycho who couldn't stand the girl he loved about to become the girlfriend of another guy After comparing the storytelling by reading manga chapters, I have better understanding to anime. Kyotaro seems to have social anxiety. He uses slashing fantasy when he is around others. He feels especially anxious when he sees Anna. However, he cannot help but helping Anna when she is in panic. When he sees Anna about to shares her LINE account with a guy, he realizes his jealousy feeling. To stop their budding relationship, Kyotaro sabotages his bike The process appears risky for people nearby. He is happy he does it. The act stopped the LINE exchange and Anna starts to notice Kyotaro's presence.

[stray]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

You’re not watching a series that starts when the finished product rolls off the assembly line - you’re watching the assembly line.

I dunno how I feel about that wording given that idiom about "how the sausage is made"

I wasn't sure what to expect from the series when it first came out; I guess I expected another gimmicky sort of sitcom romance like Takagi-san or what have you. Early on though the series establishes a feel of constant progression that I haven't felt from many other series. Its tough to really compare it to much else because of that.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by stray

I dunno how I feel about that wording given that idiom about "how the sausage is made"

I wasn't sure what to expect from the series when it first came out; I guess I expected another gimmicky sort of sitcom romance like Takagi-san or what have you. Early on though the series establishes a feel of constant progression that I haven't felt from many other series. Its tough to really compare it to much else because of that.

Funnily enough, I also recently used the sausage idiom about BokuYaba. It really is a romcom that shows you how the sausage is made. That means it shows you things that are messy and sometimes unsightly. But the point is, puberty is all those things. Middle school is a minefield, especially if you’re neurotic like Ichi (and Yamada, to an extent).

This is anything but a gimmicky romance, and certainly nothing like Takagi-san (which I like, especially in anime form). I find BokuYaba to be incredibly subtle and realistic, and Kyoutarou among the most interesting and relatable MCs in all of manga.

[Jaden]

None of the "skits" were that funny on their own, but I was laughing at the contrast of how this classroom could be considered a totally normal and realistic middle school setting, but the MC's perspective makes everything seem fucked up.

It's very carefully constructed...I can see why people think this manga is something special. I wonder if things are going to get more absurd from here, or more reserved.

[Frontier]

Ichikawa is getting his hardcore Chuuni on in the library, while Yamada is still being her adorably dorky self trying to eat what are basically kids sweets. And of course Ichikawa goes out of his way to try and help her, even if all he's left with is basically her trash...but it's trash well-intentioned and appreciated, coming from a beautiful girl .

I think that's the first time I've ever seen someone slap themselves while fanning themselves. Depth perception! Although the four-way girl fanning machine was a pretty nice sigh .

So Chihiro is Yamada's "boyfriend?" That actually explains a lot. She's basically Yamada's best friend as much as she seems frustrated with her, though I kind of wonder how she'd feel about Yamada having an actual boyfriend .

Ah yes, see-through shirts...the joy of school in Summer! Sorry Adachi (Nobuhiko Okamoto for the win), Ichikawa's the one who is going to get to see what Yamada is wearing under there, and it's a school swimsuit of all things! Pretty effective visual though .

Is there more to Yamada eating in the library than just not wanting to snack around Chihiro because she's allergic? It seems to be at least partially that though, which makes Yamada a surprisingly considerate and caring friend (though she does love getting praised) .

I take it Ichikawa unleashed a big one in that bathroom .

I love how Ichikawa imagines Yamada killing him while she's munching. Like he can't see Yamada any other way .

Culture festival within the second episode? Wow. Actually feel like it's been a while since I've seen a main characters' class do a haunted house for one since they usually do cafe's and such .

I think some cultured people (Kanzaki, I'm looking at you) would say Hara has meat in all the right areas, both in front and in back .

I thought the idea was that Hara was using the names of actual classmates because they were playing ghosts for the class, but I think Yamada noticed that Ichikawa was taking the heat for Hara after she saw her name (or was she apologizing because she thought for a second he did it to be mean to her?) .

Ugh, Hanyo. Though to his credit it seems like he was decent enough to fish Ichikawa's bike out of the river, and he wasn't too forceful with Yamada there, though that might be partially because her gal pals were protecting her like great friends .

First couple selfie! And it turns out they live close together! What luck .

The ED is a really sweet and pleasing theme, featuring the duality of Yamada...a hot and seductive model on one hand, and a dorky and goofy girl on the other, but she's still a cute and lovely lady either way !

[grecefar]

it was cool of him to cover for hara, to be honest I thought too that hara would get heat too but it was resolved quickly.

[Kanon]

Well, in case there were any lingering doubts, that intro should have made it clear Ichikawa is a massive chuuni, which is quite appropriate since he literally is in his second year of middle school

He's also a really cool guy. I can understand him helping Yamada since he has a massive crush on her, but he also went out of his way to protect Hara. We've yet to see if his kindness extends to people who don't have massive boobs though

I like that Hara cleared up the misunderstanding so easily. Being good at communicating sure comes in handy. Given how self-conscious she is about her weight and the fact she admires Yamada for having such a great figure, I wonder what she would think if she found out the girl is pigging out 24/7.

Still not sure what to make of Yamada, but I love how dorky she is.

Originally Posted by Frontier

I thought the idea was that Hara was using the names of actual classmates because they were playing ghosts for the class, but I think Yamada noticed that Ichikawa was taking the heat for Hara after she saw her name (or was she apologizing because she thought for a second he did it to be mean to her?) .

I thought that was it too. I mean, makes perfect sense to put the name of the girl playing the ghost on the grave...

[FlareKnight]

Honestly I thought it was surprising that everyone was so heated. Figured it was pretty normal to put the name of the person playing the ghost on the grave. But I guess people can be sensitive about things like that.

Credit to Hara for clearing things up quickly. Much as Ichikawa could try his best to...deal with that situation, he really was just not getting anywhere on his own. Some help was good.

I do kind of like that while that extrovert was a bit more than Yamada could handle, that he's not simply a bad guy. Be easy to make him that basic. But he did actually lead the charge to recover Ichikawa's bike.

But hey everything worked out great. Ichikawa got a selfie pic with that adorable goofball Yamada.