Yup, Kao ni Denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni Deru Oota-kun is definitely a series I’m going to miss. It was the perfect soft entry into a crazy Sunday of coverage, a relaxing start to the day that never failed to make me smile. As it turns out the anime used less than half of the manga’s roughly 90 chapters, so the theoretical possibility of a second season is always out there. But KashiOota is the kind of show I pretty much expect to be one and done. And while that definitely makes me sad, it’s the sort of slice-of-life that can feel complete and self-contained even without showing the series’ literal ending.
Good shows – never mind good romcoms – about middle schoolers (and there are quite a few, actually) capture the unique way kids this age are on the razor’s edge between child and adolescent. Take the bug chapter, which featured a mini-Oota named Yota-kun (remember, all the named characters in this series have the “田” kanji in their name). It was a healthy reminder (not that we really needed one) how little separates Akito from elementary school imps and their obsessions. No surprise Akito would still be into bugs, but Kashiwada being totally cool with them was kind of fun.
Figures Kashiwada, for whom stealth is intrinsic, would be a natural bug-catcher and Oota-kun a terrible one. But he is good at catching cute girls, though the 100-point bonus for that was purely subjective. Next up is another in this series’ comprehensive survey of romcom situations, this time the summer festival. The girls are all on-hand in yukata, the boys strictly Western casual. Their meeting is incidental, but once the two groups intersect it’s inevitable this is going to lead to couple moments and fireworks. Kashiwada-san may have been disappointed that Akito didn’t compliment her on her yukata, but that’s clearly a momentary setback.
Kashiwada fleeing the fireworks “like a puppy” was amusing, but then having her be accosted by a predator is another rather jarring diversion into the dark side. Like the disturbing scene with Akito and Kashiwada’s brother this is played more casually than it probably should be, but Oota certainly does the right thing in getting her out of there stat (declaring that she has a boyfriend). Of course the next thing he should have done is go to the cops. Kashiwada pointedly asks who he was talking about, but Akito-kun isn’t about to answer that one (if he needed to).
Sada-kun may be either ace or aro (too early to say for sure) but he is a keen observer, and he’s the only one to pick up on what the others cloddishly walk in on. Still, that takes us to the next romcom scenario, small fireworks rather than big ones. Oota and Kashiwada’s firework avatars are spot-on (so is Tabuchi’s, though it’s not flattering). After that it’s the end of summer, and that means all-nighters for baka boys like Akito who didn’t so their summer homework (a barbaric Japanese custom that should be abolished). Oneee-san’s “help” is naturally more trouble than its worth, but when Kashiwada – who doesn’t finish her own till 2 AM – starts a messaging conversation, Onee-san seizes on the opportunity to goose things as usual.
The most telling part of this scene is when Kashiwada-san says “that means I get to see you tomorrow”. “I guess” isn’t exactly a florid response, but the point is clearly made – that was effectively a formal confession. It would be nice to know how things progress for these two from here – and indeed, reading the manga is definitely an option now, with a sequel seeming exceedingly unlikely. But the anime leaves them in a good place. They’re kids – there’s no rush, and the progression of their relationship is more than satisfying in its pace.
It seems relevant to point out once again that junior-high romance is, broadly speaking, just a more winning subgenre than high school romance. It’s been a great decade for it in manga, and many of the best examples have successfully made the jump to anime. There seems to be a diminished weight of expectations on series like this, less a sense of certain boxes that have to be checked. And this stage of romantic development is just that much more innocent and pure – though series like Bokuyaba (as if there were others) successfully riff on the paradoxical nature of that. There are still more manga in this vein crying out for adaptations, but Kao ni Denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni Deru Oota-kun stands as a great success in its own right – a simple idea executed with abundant charm and wit.
The post Kao ni Denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni Deru Oota-kun (Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Oota) – 12 (End) and Series Review appeared first on Lost in Anime.
