The Dangers in My Heart

The Dangers in My Heart has had quite an interesting run, from a full on cringefest to an incredibly wholesome ride filled with great character growth, and moments that really dangered my heart indeed. Granted, I liked the show from the beginning even with how cringe some of it was, but fast forward to about nine weeks in, and this became one of the shows I looked forward to the most every week in the spring anime season. From being lukewarm on the protagonist, I definitely came around on him, and he became one of my favourite male characters of the season. If you wantto watch two dumb, goofy characters get together in a very entertaining matter, I highly recommend this, as it’s one of my favourite new romcoms I’ve seen in quite some time. Many of us have been a cringe teenager at some point right? Right? Come on, admit it. Kyoutarou Ichikawa, the male protagonist, is the embodiment of the cringe teenager personality. He’s edgy, a bit creepy, and wants to kill his classmates. What a guy, am I right? I fully expected his edginess to be the focus of the comedy, but he ended up being a much better protagonist than I ever thought he could be. While he is an incredibly chuuni character at the start, his edgy personality makes him quite a perceptive person, who’s very aware of what happens around him, and thus, that perceptiveness allowed him to help others, and it turns out, he’s quite an empathetic character who cares a lot for the people around him. The word “Karte” in Japanese, refers to a patient’s medical record. If you’ve watched the show, I’m sure you noticed that the title of each episode has this word in it. In a way, it means with each passing episode, Kyoutarou is getting cured from his chuunibyou personality, little by little, and is maturing. In my eyes, it’s an awesome example of “show, not tell”, as there’s just a lot of nuance here, the development isn’t just thrown right in your face, but slowly, but surely, you see Kyoutarou opening up, talking to more people, becoming braver. The romcom genre is quite a saturated genre these days in anime, and it’s pretty rare to have a romcom protagonist grow in a very “earned”, and natural way without it being forced, so I appreciated his development a lot. Not to mention, it’s also pretty rare to see an extremely short male character compared to the female character, and I honestly liked that change of scenery. I love my short kings! And then there’s Anna Yamada, the adorable glutton who seems to like the perfect girl to the people around her. In reality, she’s quite a doofus, and does some inexplainable things that leave me scratching my head sometimes. Kyoutarou puts her on a pedestal just like most of the boys would, but that tall pedestal slowly shrank and he wouldn’t have to look too high up anymore, though he still would need to look up at the towering girl that he likes. The direction is also top-tier, from the first-person angles, to the colour palettes, to the framing, and the soundtrack from Kensuke Ushio, a legend who has worked on big name anime such as “A Silent Voice”, “Ping Pong The Animation”, and even another anime this season in “Heavenly Delusion”, did a fantastic job on this show as well, as it only added to the important scenes and made it ever more impactful. From the awkward exploration of teenage love, to the heartwarming moments that left my heart in danger, this is truly one of my favourite romcoms in recent memory in my eyes, and I only hope we get to see more of these two doofuses together making some great memories.

This show, like the title did say was quite ~yabai~ in the first few episodes but trust me it does develop fairly well in the later episodes. I thought this was just gonna be a chunni freak show with weird fanservice which it manages to fit in quite a good amount of, the boisterous and ultra well endowed little giant of girl yamada anna , (who we are somehow supposed to believe) is a middle school student and a model is alarmingly unaware of her antics of overeating and accidental fanservicing which are fueled by the chunni and Perverted delusions of our main lead ichikawa whoalso fantasies about murdering people in elaborate ways? Yeah I was gonna drop it soon too. But, We actually got a decently written Romance in which the MC actually improves as the story and his love progresses and he goes from I gotta murder her to protecc her quite smoothly and the subtle hints of romance and the doki moments are well placed with no bs ecchi accidents and are usually quite heartwarming! It is a slow burn and definitely stings to your cringe bone for a while but it does get better later on! Does that warrant a watch? Well it depends story(6/10) I know even after showering it with praise I can't sing much home about the plot and its progression as such, the gluttonous genki girl who belongs to and is the star of the unattainable group of cute girls gang somehow catches the attention and spends time with the most chunni and loner guy of the class, there are the standard christmas date , study camps ,sick visits, and photoshoots topped with, obviously, sex jokes and lewd remarks which are either supposed to be funny or be relatable to our own dark past do not amount to a substantial plot , its mostly always just a setting for the characters to get closer to each other. I seriously cannot emphasize enough about this THERE IS SIMPLY NOTHING UNIQUE in this story , is it heartwarming and cute at times ? sure yes it is but that is definitely the characters not the plot. Characters (8/10) The character development is all the romance anime have to show any semblance of plot and subsequently romantic progression , and in this anime the journey of Ichikawa from being a perverted and frankly messed up lonely murder fantasy nerd , whose only intention of even justifying his actions is “Oh ill murder her some day” to someone who is able to stand up for her and openly admit that he loves here was a slow but enjoyable and frankly very cute ride. Yamada as well becomes more aware of her. Art and animation (7/10) Okay I will give it some points for the art style being a bit more unique than standard and definitely the animation is okay and actually surprisingly good sometimes for a romcom. Sound and VA(7/10) The OP and ED or even the ost is not much special except on maybe the "karte" moments , Voice acting of ichikawa is mostly the standout thing , but that is cz its 80% of monloguing , the other VAs do an good job too. I can recommend this only if one has the persistence and tolerance of powering through the first three or four episodes , because it certainly only becomes a mildly interesting romance after them.

The Dangers in My Heart is… uncomfortable, not due to its subject matter, but because of its effective satirization of the inherent creepiness often found in male-led romance anime. It cleverly critiques the recent wave of school rom-coms featuring generic boys who mystically attract conventionally attractive girls through exaggerated narratives and voyeuristic direction. Kyoutarou Ichikawa, the average male protagonist, embodies the creepiness to the extreme with his lurking, antisocial behavior, and disturbing thoughts. However, the series takes an unexpected turn by juxtaposing his unsettling tendencies with moments of genuine kindness. These anime tend to follow men who narrate about their love interests while staring atthem longingly, usually as the anime’s director ogles her leeringly. Is Kazuya a creep for staring at Chizuru and thinking about her? Yes, obviously. Kyoutarou Ichikawa the average male-led rom-com protagonist, with the creepiness cranked to eleven. He lurks in the dark library, avoids socializing, carries a box cutter at all times, and loves to ponder murdering his classmates. Oh yeah, he’s also five-foot-nothing and shatters at the slightest confrontation. Initially, I had assumed this would be your average “loner guy gets hot girlfriend because she sees he has a beautiful heart.” And it seemed that way, at first. Ichikawa’s private sanctum, the library, is threatened when his model classmate, Anna Yamada, comes to secretly snack in private. Rather than announcing himself, he hides a foot away from her behind a bookshelf, and narrates his frustration and murderous desire to the viewers. But seemingly, Ichikawa can’t help himself when she’s in need. Like when she’s crying, he kindly leaves her tissues, or readily defends her when she’s in trouble with teachers. It’s almost like the anime is attempting to make us overlook his stalker tendencies because he’s a nice guy™… except, she doesn’t actually need him. Everytime he attempts to help, it’s clear she’d be fine on her own, or has already solved the problem herself. What keeps this formula refreshing is how Ichikawa’s plans tend to fail in unpredictable ways. Early on, Ichikawa witnesses a boy harassing Anna, as he is stalking her of course—but rather than step in to help, he throws his bike down a hill, landing it in a river, but effectively getting the attention of other students to draw away the harasser. Despite epicly failing to be suave, he helped Anna—at a major expense to himself. He’s not smooth in any way, but his sincerity is earnest. Watching the series blindly, I worried Ichikawa would successfully rescue Anna at every turn, and make her fall in love with him. A cliche, tried and true romance trope. In fact, it’s the opposite. Ichikawa’s well-meaning failures and adorable awkwardness are what endear Anna to him. Their relationship slowly develops into friendship, hinting at something more, and the ball is always in Anna’s field. She has more power in their relationship, but not in an manipulative, abusive, Nagatoro-san kind of way. Considering she’s an athlete and like a foot taller than him, capable on her own. Other anime about generic cringe-worthy teenage boys who somehow attract the hottest girl in their life usually treat their heroines like objects of desire. They’re to be looked at, but entirely devoid of personality, conflict, and depth, Anna is the antithesis of them. The recent trend of male-led rom-com heroines may have flaws that make them ‘not like other girls’, such as sadism, inability to speak, teasing, but these supposed flaws fulfill a desire for some viewers. Anna is just a person—her idiosyncrasies aren’t attractive qualities, they simply make her unique. Yamada does some funny things occasionally that made me laugh out loud. Such as pulling a pound of candy out of her pocket randomly and covering other magazines with her own at the store. Sometimes she’s a little ridiculously stupid. How don’t you question why a random dude is always hiding in the library behind you, or wonder why he just has a box cutter on him? However, her foolishness never exists to make Ichikawa appear smarter. They’re both dunces in their own ways. The perfect example of this is in a later episode when the two catch colds trying to care for one another; Ichikawa chases after Anna in the rain to return her forgotten belongings, then Anna visits his home after school, bringing him ice cream and showing her concern for his well-being. When Ichikawa passes out from a fever, Anna helps him and, in her genuine worry, cannot resist hugging him during his delirium. Unbeknownst to Ichikawa, Anna caught a cold from their heartfelt hug, highlighting her selfless and caring nature. Although I found it cute and accurate to his personality, his obliviousness to her affection may come off as frustrating for some viewers. Ichikawa's insecurities and fear of rejection are vividly depicted, leading to his edgy behavior and rejection of Yamada's sincere care. In episode nine, Yamada's efforts to obtain Ichikawa's number go unnoticed until he realizes her intentions, but a series of misunderstandings further strains their relationship. Ichikawa's distorted belief that Yamada has been using him causes him to ignore her, until a heartfelt confrontation reveals Yamada's vulnerability and genuine affection. Their emotional connection deepens, as they begin to bridge the gap between Ichikawa's fears and Yamada's unwavering support, setting the stage for a potentially transformative chapter in their relationship. Notably, he sees Anna as above himself, however, it causes him insecurities rather than as a means to make her an ethereal, otherworldly being. The viewers see both of them as equals, mostly due to Anna’s abundant screen time in the latter half and hearing her inner monologue. Also there’s virtually no fan service. Even though Ichikawa is a normal, hormonal, teenage boy, the animators never sexualize Anna—and it PAINS ME to say this is refreshing. The Dangers in My Heart anime seems uncomfortable at first, then the series takes an unexpected turn by juxtaposing Ichikawa’s unsettling tendencies with moments of genuine kindness. Anna Yamada, the center of his infatuation, proves to be a well-developed character with agency and depth, contrasting with the typical one-dimensional heroines in similar anime. Yamada's flaws make her unique, while her caring and selfless nature shine through, even as Ichikawa remains oblivious to her affection. Their relationship evolves into a friendship where Yamada holds the power, challenging the usual power dynamics seen in male-led rom-coms. The absence of objectification and fanservice in the anime is refreshing, emphasizing their equal footing and focusing on their personal growth. Despite its discomforting premise, The Dangers in My Heart subverts expectations and delivers a refreshing take on recent romance anime, highlighting the importance of genuine connection and mutual respect between characters.

These days there are no shortage of wish fulfillment anime, especially ones that revolve around the very common wish of having a cute GF. As a fan of the subgenre, I can say without a doubt that this one is among the worst I've seen. It's like the ultimate herbivore shut-in fantasy. Seriously, the MC might as well have been isekaied considering how ridiculous this show is. I can't believe this requires a reminder but guys, if you are the quiet weird kid of your class the hottest girl in your class isn't going to randomly fall in love with you. The MC of thisshow has no friends and other people in the class generally avoids him. It doesn't help that he's constantly reading grotesque books about murders. It would be no exaggeration to say that he gives off school shooter vibes. Meanwhile the girl is so hot that she works part time as a model and every guy in the school has a crush on her. It would be one thing if the MC was some unfriendly bishounen, but no, he's literally just a scrawny guy who is a full head shorter than his love interest. Now before you call me a hater I just want to compare this show to a few others and why this one is too ridiculous even for a self-described fan of the subgenre. I scored all the other shows below pretty positively so my beef is with this show specifically, not the genre itself. Uzaki-chan: both characters are regular college students. While the FMC is a cute short stack, the MC is also quite handsome and even have a small fanclub at work. Don't Tease Me Nagatoro-san: both characters are regular high school kids. Although the MC isn't popular, he is a talented artist that's acknowledged by others. My Dress-up Darling: here the FMC also works as a part time model. However, the MC is the heir of a nationally renowned business and his talent was immediately recognized by other talented cosplayers. It's also a little kept secret that the mangaka for this series is actually a woman and the MC is her dream man. As such he is tall, good looking, sensitive, essentially everything she would want in a guy. Tease Master Takagi-san: both characters are regular middle school students. Despite being in middle school it would be no exaggeration to describe the MC as a chad who exudes positive masculine energy. He is hardworking, sensitive, and has his own group of friends. Alright, so to summarize this show is just too much. Compared to other shows, the MC of this show just have nothing going on in his life. No friends, no looks, no talents. Meanwhile, the love interest isn't even just some normal girl, but an active model. I'm all for wish fulfillment, but at a certain point shows like this is just giving people some weird ideas and expectations.