Tadaima, Okaeri

Quite possibly one of the cutest, most sickeningly sweet shows I have ever seen. If you like BL or even just romance in general, don’t let the fact that this is omegaverse throw you off - it’s definitely worth the watch. Tadaima, Okaeri is a romance/slice of life about two parents who love and cherish their kids and each other. It revolves around them enjoying life with their family and friends, and learning how to accept themselves, despite what others might think. The omegaverse part is pretty lowkey and is mostly just a kind of caste system concept in this anime. This is such aheartwarming show that will leave your cheeks hurting at the end of every episode from smiling so much.

When I read fanfic, I always steer clear of the omegaverse ones mostly because it's just not my speed. So I waffled on if I would watch this series or not, but I didn't see anything off-putting in the promotional material or description, so I gave it a chance. It was cute and I could see how it used omegaverse as a metaphor for real world prejudice, which was part of why I ultimately continued to watch it and would watch more seasons if we get any. If you like omegaverse stories, I don't know if you'd like this one or not. What I cansay is if you like stories about families, metaphors for how society treats people it sees as being inferior, and a mature romance, then you might want to check this anime out. If toddlers being a central character in a story isn't your speed or you're looking for super spicy romance, then this might not be your thing.

So... um... I did a lot of Google-ing, today... This is flat out the cutest thing I've ever seen before in my entire life. I was actively smiling and daww-ing and cheering throughout every single episode. I had zero knowledge of "the element" before watching this, nor have I ever heard of it before. I tried looking into it before starting the show and I didn't entirely get it. I just kept watching it as a typical romance story and had zero problems doing so. The writing is so brilliantly crafted to where you can associate it with either "the element" or you can also associateit with a real life scenario that you or someone you know may have experienced personally. After I finished the show, I looked into "the element" one more time and I think I finally understand it. I've seriously never heard of this genre before, nor do I know of any other stories like it. Which means I have no idea what other stories in this genre are like. So I'm only judging this one that I've just watched. Even if I don't entirely get "the element", I don't feel its entirely fair to dock this show points because I would've preferred if "the element" wasn't there, or even if I simply think they didn't need it. This is the story they wanted to tell and they did so in such a beautiful and accessible way. This is genuinely one of the sweetest and cutest shows I've ever watched in my life and I highly encourage anyone who may be turned off by "the element" to just give this one a chance, rather than judging it for how other stories with "the element" may be like. This show was perfect. And I can't give it anything less than my highest recommendation. 10/10

Just a kind of nothing burger. I feel like everyone's character development, especially HIromu and the Masaki, had a chunk of their character development off screen three years ago. In the omega's case he does learn and grow, and he's the character that changes the most throughout the course of the show, but it wasn't enough to keep me properly engaged. The two side characters, Matsuo and Yuki had more chemistry than the main duo, but the bar is still in hell. The twins did not need to be there. Masaki's cousin was okay I guess but I don't even remember his name. The kidsare cute i guess. There are some cute moments in the show that made me laugh, but it really isn't enough. I wish the kids were more annoying. They felt too perfectly cute. Kids are fucking little assholes, thats what makes the cute moments even cuter. They felt really flat. My main issue with the show is its treatment of omegaverse. I am no omegaverse connoisseur, but I am on Tumblr, so I know a fair bit. I will give the show credit: it does utilize the omegaverse trope throughout the whole show... but it doesn't really do it well. And I think that's the highest insult. For the uninitiated, omegaverses across media can vary **very wildly,** and there's really only a few general rules--and even those rules get broken. The show generally follows the main "rules." For the sake of gross simplification, generally speaking alphas are the semes, ukes are omegas that can get pregnant, people release "pheromones" like wolves, omegas go into heat, and omegas/alphas do mating marks. Betas also exist. (No one knows what betas do in this hierarchy. Not even tumblrinas.) These are the only real rules Tadaima Okaeri follows, which usually would be a great thing--shows that feature an original cast must have a very nuanced/well thought out/unique take on the omegaverse. But those are the only rules it follows because Tadaima, Okaeri doesn't remember anything else. Packs are flown out the window, despite the four or five rotating dudes that keep inviting themselves over to the main couples house. Even stilll, the only real rule that Taidama Okaeri cares about for most of its run is that alphas are semes and ukes are omeagas, with the other stuff not appearing until the final conflict. Something interesting that Tadaima Okarei does do is that omegas and alphas aren't encouraged to be together; what's normal in this verse is dating within your type. This is the main piece of worldbuilding that drives a lot of the show, and to be fair, I've never seen anything like it before. However, it ends up just being a copy paste bad discrimination story, and you could honestly replace it with "they disapprove of this marriage because I'm gay/transgender" and really nothing would change. I'm just... who is it for? Back when this was airing every anituber i saw treated this like it had the fucknig measles, and while we're all allowed to have our likes and dislikes, this show was so milquetoast that the fear from people like Glass Reflection seems like it's for a different show. that's another thing, despite omegaverse being what this show is about, it never really leans into the strangeness of it all. Masaki literally has gets pregnant and has a baby in the middle of the series, and all we get is him saying "I'm having a baby" to a jump cut of the baby in their crib. Like, seriously? The only people watching this are comfortable with omegaverse content, they can withstand a pregnant man. It just felt like it never wanted to commit to anything weirder than it's bland discrimination angle. And even still, even still!! With that discrimination angle we never saw anything beyond how people in the couple's personal lives felt about it. Nothing about systemic opression of omegas, which IMO, you HAVE to deal with if your'e doing an omegaverse with original characters. Overall this is a hard skip, for both casual BL fans, omegaverse fans, and everyone else. Don't waste your time. Also the budget for this show appears to be four pieces of lint and a toothpick, but since this is a BL, that's kinda a rite of passage.