My favorite show so far this season is hands down this one, Hourou Musuko ("Wandering Son"). The main element of the anime is dealing with gender issues at a young age, which off the bat, is quite an ambitious topic to take on, no matter what medium of entertainment. Since there's only been one episode, it's hard for me to judge how well it handles such a big problem, but I can say that so far, the show has a lot of promise.
Our main character is Nitori, a boy entering middle school who prefers to dress up as a girl.
And the other main character is his friend from middle school, Yoshino, who also prefers to cross-dress.
As you can see, the art style for this anime is quite different. It has that "not quite finished" sketchy look to it, but still has fluid, modern animation. It's a unique look that is very easy on the eyes, and I like it a lot. Except their hair seems to be exceptionally shiny, even by anime standards...
The main character, Nitori, obviously struggles most with his desire to dress like a girl, and only does it occasionally. So we do get to see him in a seifuku, and my GOD is he cute.
The pivotal scene in the episode is when his sister catches him trying on some of her clothes. She tries to get the clothes off of him, but he hits her and runs away. He happens to run into Yoshino, who walks him home and encourages him in a very sweet scene that has some of the best music in anime I've ever heard. (Although, I swear it's the same song that's at the end of Ocean's Eleven.)
But, personally, I find Yoshino to be a more interesting character. She meets a girl on her first day of class who is tall, cool, and spontaneous: everything Yoshino wants to be. Her name is Chizuru.
Yoshino asks her about why she wears a boy's uniform, and she tells her it's just because she felt like it that day. Yoshino is envious of her attitude, and later in the episode she cries out that she is going to try to be like her. I find that sub-plot most fascinating, and I love characters who are so awesome they inspire other characters.
While there are some somewhat heavy emotional things going on in the show, it doesn't over-do the crying or fights like many anime tend to do. It's all done in a subtle way that makes it an easy watch, despite the somewhat serious subject material.
The biggest challenge with this show is actually keeping every character straight-- many look the same, and they sometimes look like boys and sometimes look like girls, so it's hard to tell them apart at times. But other than that, I look forward to seeing how this show handles itself, and I'm sure they'll be some teary moments to fuck up my day in the future.
Grade: A-. Highly recommended.
Sorry for the short review ~
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