2025.8.29
Context: Sarazanmai
I don't know who planted the idea in me that everything Ikuhara Kunihiko has made is filled with metaphor. That might be the case for his other shows, but after watching Sarazanmai
in its entirety I can assure you that you won't get any true enjoyment if you analyze every single thing in it as one. Rather than metaphors, you should see them as merely supernatural occurences; and try not to think of the lessons it wants to teach you, since it's much better to simply assume such a lesson doesn't exist (and even if it exists - which I'd say it does, since this is pretty explicit in the show - it's at a much more shallow level than a lot of people's lives). With that mindset in place, one can still enjoy the story, even if it's cliché till the point of somehow giving me zero surprises. I was pretty uncomfortable the entire time due to the homoeroticism; this is not because it's about boys being gay, I just don't enjoy things being this explicit. Would I recommend it to other people? Probably not, fujoshis already have markets of good stuff made for them anyway.
Disclaimer: If you're the kind of people who would delegate thinking to ChatGPT, you'd probably think that what I've said is borderline homophobic. This is a misconception. I hold the old liberal view of "all love is love", and I see the so-called "queerness" as nothing different from other synthesis of common human nature - to me, the concept is simply existing things reframed for this label-heavy economy. People who follow my previous comments would know I have issues with hetero ecchi shows as well.