One of the things that drew me to anime back in the late 1970s and early 1980s was the way the genre was free to explore boundaries and tell stories about anything, While the American animation of the period required that all shows be dedicated to “family values” and every exploding jet had to show a pilot parachuting to safety at the last minute, anime was telling dramatic stories that involved major characters dying, romantic relationships that got resolved on-screen, visual depictions of wholesale destruction of civilizations, and anime girls in their underwear. Yes, anime is free to explore boundaries, and that’s a major reason why I love it.
One show I’ve been enjoying is the currently-airing Wataten: An Angel Flew Down to Me (Japanese title: Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!) It’s the story of socially awkward college student Miyako, who has a younger sister named Hinata she’s close to. When Hinata brings her new friend Hana home to play, “Mya-nee” becomes obsessed with the young girl, offering to make delicious sweets for her she’ll wear cute costumes and pose for photos. While there are the usual comedic situations centered around Miyako going too far and Hina pulling out her cell phone to call the police, the show is actually adorable, mostly cute girls doing cute things. I especially like the exploration of Miyako’s social awkwardness: she really is in pain, struggling with the stress of life as she tries her best to grow up.
This isn’t the first time anime has created humor around a female character who’s attracted to younger girls. Last season we had the crazy high-budget Uzamaid!, an extremely sublime yuri subplot between a teacher and her student in Slow Start, Akari’s sister from Yuru Yuri, and Sena from Haganai, all shows that basically took a kind of classic Tom and Jerry slapstick humor and updated it for the age of yuri.
Is Wataten a high-quality and mostly adorable slice of life anime that’s relaxing and fun to watch? Sure. Is it for everyone? Probably not, depending on how seriously you take your fictional anime stories. But whether you’ll give Wataten a try, I hope you’ll agree that it’s a good thing anime is free to explore boundaries, even ones that aren’t 100% mainstream.
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