What’s it about? Houjou Saito and Sakuramori Akane are two high school students that absolutely hate each other. Unfortunately for them, their grandparents want to live out their “lost love” through their grandchildren, so they force them into an arranged marriage. The pair are now stuck living together hiding their married life from all their friends.
I appreciate how blunt the title is about its premise. Perhaps, I’m used to seeing the worst of what anime has to offer, but for the time being, I’m just grateful hordes of girls didn’t immediately throw themselves at Saito’s feet. Although, if there’s one thing that the Ranma 1/2 remake has taught me, it’s that I’ll accept plenty of things in the name of comedy and that it takes a capable writer like Takahashi Rumiko to make the most absurd writing choices tons of fun.
In a better story, I can see how Saito and Akane’s relationship could’ve been interesting as an enemies-to-lovers story. If I’m to be generous, the chibi animation used to convey Saito and Akane’s banter really work and could’ve been the basis of a decent slowburn high school romance. Honestly? I would’ve preferred watching the two grandparents reconnect since we don’t get nearly enough stories about older people falling in love. Unfortunately, they’re busy being the true villains of the piece.
Their contrived need to live through their grandkids gets the plot started, but then races way over the line by forcing two uncomfortable teenagers to not just live but share a bed. It also doesn’t sit well with me that the grandpa gambles the future of his company as collateral if his grandson doesn’t comply, which endangers the jobs of many people that work for him. The whole situation is honestly annoying, and it doesn’t help that the story infantilizes Saito’s cousin to the point that she has no personality — she also loves to sit on his lap, because of course they have no sense of physical boundaries.
It’s a shame that no one watched or read Mission: Yozakura Family, because if I’m to be forced to follow the marriage of two teenagers then at least I want a relationship that’s similar to Taiyo and Mutsumi in terms of their ability to communicate with each other. I don’t have it in me to watch Saito and Akane constantly yell at each other for literally any minor transgression, and without any of the comedic timing that made Ranma so great.
The only character whose breath of fresh air is Akane’s friend, Ishikura Himari. She’s honestly just a nice person who’s willing to be there for her friends whenever they need support. Aside from her there really isn’t anything else that makes me want to continue watching this show. There’s absolutely no charm to Saito and Akane’s relationship, so you’re better off just catching up on your anime backlog.
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