Kuzu no Honkai - Not Your Typical Love Story
Thursday, April 06, 2017
I love watching anime that can stir my emotions up, Kuzu no Honkai did just that - within the first three minutes of the anime I had my eyes rolling to the back of my head. I haven't watched a romance anime in a minute and was surely expecting this anime to be another one of those cliché romance anime I can check off once I was done with it as completed in my anime repertoire. But boy was I wrong; Kuzu no Honkai was so God damn messy, however I was here for all of what Kuzu no Honkai gave me though.
I've titled this blogpost as "Kuzu no Honkai - Not Your Typical Love Story," so here in this post I'll list a few points noting how Kuzu no Honkai separates itself from the majority of romance anime out there and give my opinion on these said points. I'll also talk about a few other aspects I've noticed throughout my time watching the anime. Now please enjoy!
1. The Plot
Well I guess the first aspect that separates most romance anime from Kuzu no Honaki is the anime's plot. The typical storyline is usually: two main protagonists have some sort of inkling towards each other, which intensifies from episode to episode - then that relationship gets tested when you pile on the usual love rivals, love triangles, etc..
Kuzu no Honaki, also known as Scum's Wish, takes a different route from that recycled story. Instead the main protagonists, Mugi and Hanabi, set a pact that they'll be in a relationship to satisfy their unrequited love, emotionally and sexually, to fill that void that they can't be with the ones they actually love. Then you'll see the love rivals, love triangles and what not added on top of this storyline. In brief, most of the clichés you're used to witnessing, gets shattered in Kuzu no Honkai.
The first three minutes of the anime sets this precedence/ the setting of the anime. Honestly when I first realized that this was the angle the anime was going to take, I was like.... okay here we go with this foolishness. I was baffled and confused as to why would two individuals who don't have any desire for the other party want to do this? Talk about a hot mess. And that hot mess only gets messier, messier and messier.
2. Broken Characters
Some of these characters were just... again a hot mess. If anything, most of the characters showed that people will do anything for love, and tolerate just about anything as well. It was hard to find a character that was super likeable because each character had an endless amount of flaws, and personality traits that could drive anyone insane. Watching the array of characters in Kuzu no Honkai was like watching a soap opera.
Starting with Hanabi and Mugi, they were nothing but empty and broken individuals, they were taken advantage by others way too often. I mean do people really end up with each other just for the physical aspect, to fill their emptiness, but at the same time don't want the emotional side of a relationship? Child, I do not know. All of them were craving a relationship with someone that clearly wasn't into them. I guess the psychological/ mental side of the characters were interesting to see. Even with all of that, I will say that Mugi and Hanabi did have a "full circle" moment by the end of the anime, which was so satisfying to watch.
And let's talk about Akane Minagawa for a moment. She has to be the messiest person I've ever seen: very manipulating, seems to have no self worth, and very comes off as extremely devious. I remember watching a couple of episodes, watching her actions and thinking out loud, "oh my lord, you are not about to do that now are you?!"
3. Target Audience
Even though this anime is set in high school, Kuzu no Honkai had this "refreshing" air of maturity to it. This anime, I felt, was targeted to mature audiences; mainly because sex/ the implication of sex is in almost every episode. I would never recommend this anime to someone in their pre-adolescent years, innocence is bliss during those years (trust me).
The sex aspect of the anime reminded me of NaNa and Paradise Kiss, although nothing like NaNa or even Paradise Kiss, Kuzu no Honkai also showed a more "realistic" look at human connection. After watching countless amount of romance anime, it's somewhat refreshing to see an anime where "couples" go beyond first base. It seems like I'm painting the picture that Kuzu no Honkai is some sort of erotic film when it's not. A lot of the scenes are tastefully censored, haha.
4. A Sensible Ending
I feel a certain kind of way when watching anime that's extremely predicable and well calculated - it's not always fun to watch. Although the ending wasn't perfect, given what was presented from the first episode of Scum's Wish, it was a nice surprise to see that endings in anime aren't always what you'd expect. I don't want to give away the ending but, if you were a calculated person, the ending of this anime most likely go your way just based from the first episode. Kuzu no Honkai's finale made perfect sense for Mugi and Hanabi's "full circle" moment - if I had to put it into words.
And that's it for this review/ jot notes of my thoughts on Kuzu no Honkai. How did you feel about the anime? I really liked it, surprises were piled on with more surprises, which made it fun to watch. I've seen other reviewers compare this anime to School Days... eye roll. But leave in the comments below what your thoughts on Scum's Wish were!
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