"Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko" anime review and analysis
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (電波女と青春男, literally Electric Wave Woman and Youthful Man) is a story which revolves around a highschool boy named Niwa Makoto. Makoto starts living with his aunt Touwa Meme while his parents are away on business. There, he meets his peer oddball cousin Touwa Erio who spends her days wrapped around in a futon eating pizza and being a self-proclaimed alien. Makoto later finds that Erio had been missing for 6 months and was found floating in the sea, with no memory of what had happened to her, and has now developed an obsession for space and the extra-terrestrial.
The two final episodes aired yesterday after a two week pause, bringing another one of the spring anime season titles to a bittersweet end. I have to admit, this series ended up being nothing like I expected/hoped it would be, but I quite liked it anyway. The Sci-Fi tag on MAL is very misguiding, however, and like I said, it gave me very different expectations of what the series actually ended up being.
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko is a light hearted, subtle yet sweet, coming-to-age tale, and while it wasn't among the best animes I've ever watched, it definitely didn't lack charm.
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MAL
my rating: 7/10
I'm still taking it all in. The focus throughout the 12 episodes was constantly changing so I found it quite hard to extract one main point or message of the whole series. Rather, I would say the petite thematic wholes along with their morality were scattered evenly throughout.
Let me start by quickly commenting the OP and ED. The opening theme is a lovely, playful and bubbly tune,Os-Uchuujin, performed adorably by seiyū Ogame Asuka, the voice behind Touwa Erio. The ending theme on the other hand, is very soothing and lullaby-like, it almost puts you to sleep.
If I had to choose one word to describe Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko that word would certainly be "motivational". It promotes being yourself (whoever that may be), through its unique and often goofy characters. It tells you it's okay to step out of your comfort zone, and perhaps most importantly, it teaches you not to give up on your dreams, something one simply cannot be told enough times.
These important life lessons of the series, brought to surface with strong optimism, all come together in the final two episodes, which in my opinion were the cherry on top of this anime, which was already lovely as it was. I would have loved seeing more of the magic of the ending in the other episodes as well. It's a bit of a shame, really, because once you see the finale, you see just how good it could have been with some minor improvements. However, the way everything is presented in moderation also contributes to its allure. Moreover, I thought the way so much was left to the viewer's imagination and personal interpretation was very fun and engaging. After all, that's what growing up ultimately is - taking baby steps and figuring things out for yourself.
One thing I must urgently compliment about this series are its absolutely stunning visuals, especially the scenery. The constant play of constrasts, shadow and light, the way Erio would glisten under the moonlight and sunlight during her frequent close-ups, it was all so detailed and aesthetically pleasing, surreal almost.
Secondly, the characters for the most part are very loveable, apart from Ryuushi who I thought was way too loud, dominant and overall, a nuisance. But in the end, she is just eccentric in her own way, just like all the other characters in the protagonist's newfound everyday life. Speaking of Makoto, I wasn't too fond of him in the beginning because he was so undetermined and boring, but as his character developed over the course of the series, things added up nicely and he grew on me. This is often the case in the coming-of-age genre and in that regard, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko is certainly a decent title.
My favourite character would have to be Maekawa. She is the perfect balance between level-headed and outlandish. I think she is very important because she promotes self-acceptance, posibbly the hardest issue to tackle when growing up.
To me her effortless aura of seemingly unfounded self-confidence is beautiful, probably because it's so rare nowadays, as everyone seems to hate their appeareance. It's that aura that, in my opinion, attracts more attention than even her ostentatious costumes, which, by the way, are fucking fierce (I think my heart was irreversibly stolen in episode 10 when she showed up at the baseball court cosplaying Alien). I also think her and Makoto would have made a great item but in the end I am kind of happy the series didn't delve more into his romantic life.
The character whose developement disappointed me the most by far is Erio. So much could have been done with her character. I would have loved seeing a resolve for why she acts the way she does, some kind of a motive, anything would have sufficed. Why even introduce us to the fact she was missing half a year and lost her memory if they weren't going to burrow deeper and actually let us know in the end? We got nothing at all, which was all the more frustrating since in the beginning the story seemed to hint there would indeed be such an explanation. This way, however, what her character ultimately comes down to is the moe factor. I guess this disappointed me so much because I actually really love Erio, not only because she is easy on the eye, and I'm quite sad that the only explanation for her very intriguing behaviour in the early episodes would be nothing but eccentricism in the end.
It's also upsetting how underdeveloped her and Makoto's relationship ended up being. They could have complimented each other so well. So much unused potential, it makes me want to scream.
A very pleasant surprise, on the other hand, was Hoshimiya Yashiro, the lovely, wise, white-haired austronaut girl, whose role in the series I underestimated horribly. It turns out that 'job' of hers, which I ignored for most of the time, was to help Makoto evolve from a quitter to someone who will take up new challenges with arms wide spread. Her speech while watching Ryuuko give her best in a basketball match in episode 11 was exactly the small push in the right direction that Makoto needed so badly in his conquest of 'puberty points':
"You all just don't see it. She's a human that can advance, albeit imperceptibly each second. Everyone tries to attain the ESP of their dreams. Seizing that which exists outside everyday life, just a few centimeters out of reach, is a sign of a budding ESP. Most people can never reach it. Everyone just inches closer, but a rare few are truly faster per second and can reach ESP. But those few centimeters before their eyes seem so far, so an overwhelming number of people give up. Ryuushi is slow. Her progress per second is less than a half of a normal person's. It won't be noticed by anyone even in broad daylight. Yet she doesn't give up. That's enough to make late-blooming ESP possible."
Hearing this fantastic allegory will direcly influence Makoto in the epic climax of his coming-of-age story, his internal monologue in the moment was as follows:
"Look, I'm not giving up. I don't have any ESP, so I have no choice but to fight with my own strength (...) I'm no good at seeing moving objects, and I have no talent in baseball. But for just now, just this once, let me do it even without talent! (...) My whole life is at stake! Let me progress just a little forward!"
...and he does, after which we are shown Yashiro looking down on Makoto from a nearby hill, smiling with approval and rounding up the whole story for a great ending.
Overall, I believe the concept was very original. It could have been explored more nevertheless. Erio's character especially could use some work. Either way, I still think of this anime quite fondly, and writing this review was actually an eye-opener to its many positive aspects which I had initially overlooked. To tell the truth, my heart is telling me to rate it 8/10 rather than 7/10 but my mind still says no.