RogerBW's Blog

2016-2017 romance, seinen manga adaptation in 12 episodes: AniDB, vt "Scum's Wish". High-schoolers Hanabi and Mugi both have hopeless crushes on other people; they become a couple to tide them over until they get what they really want.

Yeah, so not quite your standard romance series. There's definitely no chance of happy endings here; one may, just about, reasonably hope that at least some of the people involved will get out without major heartbreak. And none of them is particularly pleasant, which is usually a thing that puts me off a series; but Hanabi in particular is drawn well enough that even when she decides to act badly one can get some feeling of why she's done it.

One might argue that the show's view of women is fairly negative, but given how badly the men come off too I'd call it misanthropic more than misogynist.

There is some nudity and a fair bit of implied sexual activity, but even so this felt to me like something aimed mostly at a young-adult group who might be of an age with its protagonists rather than an older viewership. Or maybe it's just that I'm old and tired and first love being the Most Important Thing In The World doesn't convince me the way it once might have.

Not always easy to get through, but remarkably well done.