Domestic na Kanojo: Final Review

Thus ends the spiciest drama of Winter 2019. While the show has many flaws on its own and pales in comparison to the manga (according to its readers), it did make for an addicting watch for a romance drama. I've made a first impressions and a halfway point review of the show, so feel free to check those out before my final review! Warning, this review is filled with spoilers, but there is a spoiler free summary at the bottom.

Story

I did enjoy the last half of the show, where the relationship between Natsuo and Hina was built up. I found myself getting excited whenever anything happened between them, and the payoff when they finally got together was great. That said...

The full incriminating picture

The tiny part of the picture with Hina and Natsuo

The latter half's story had some rather awful contrivances. Forgetting to close the door on two occasions, while bad, can be excused because it's not impossible to forget to close the door. But that photo which exposed Hina's relationship in episode 11 was just stupid. There's no way a camera can take a photo clear enough to identify Hina's face far, far away in her hotel room. She wasn't even the focus of the shot. Even worse, there's no way someone can tell the boy in the image is Natsuo from the back of his head! If the manga author wanted for a way to break up Hina and Natsuo, this certainly wasn't it.

Why can't we have nice things

I was hoping the anime would go for an original ending because the manga hasn't finished yet, or at least end at a good part of the manga. The ending would have our main couple, whoever that would be, get together and have a happy ending. We were so close, but unsurprisingly, the producing studio Diomedéa decided to have a wonderful "screw you, read the manga" open ending. This ending shouldn't even have occurred if you consider how unrealistic the incriminating photo deal was. However, I do appreciate that the sad ending causes our characters to grow- Natsuo manages to advance his writing career, Rui declares that she isn't gonna hold back anymore to win Natsuo's heart.

Characters

The show manages to pump out likeable characters that us viewers care for, to the point that we feel for their joy and pain, but they don't receive much development outside of the main couple Natsuo and Hina.

Natsuo's characterization was pretty good. He's got his own aspirations to be a writer, and even asks to become an apprentice of Kiriya-sensei. He's also a genuinely kind and empathetic person, like when he meets Momo and cooks for her instead of taking advantage of her for cheap sex. He also has a strong will to be with the one he loves- seen by how he rejects Hina's suggestion to break up for their own good and how he promises to work to be able to buy a real ring for Hina in the future. I believe all these traits make him an admirable main character that we can support, despite him being a bit naive about the consequences of such a taboo relationship.

Hina, while my impressions of her were quite low when I found out she had an affair, turned out to be a mature adult that I rooted for in the battle for Natsuo's heart. She breaks up with the person she's having an affair with when she's confronted by Natsuo and Rui, decides to move out when she realizes she can't control her feelings for Natsuo, and even takes all the responsibility when her relationship with Natsuo is found out. She even acknowledges she is a terrible person and a failure as a teacher when she dates Natsuo. I really did hope that she could be with Natsuo happily, and I don't care about the whole student-teacher and incest taboo.

Rui, what are you doing?!

Rui barely gets to shine; she's cute and cooks well, but I feel like there wasn't much development on her part except for her realizing that she loves Natsuo. If anything, I feel like she's a little too aggressive with getting with Natsuo. She gets him to kiss her to apologize for not telling her about his relationship, and even kisses Natsuo not too long after his heart is broken by Hina leaving. Like calm down girl, the guy's still grieving.

The side characters were definitely shafted. Momo, while not really needing any more character development because it feels like her character arc was finished within the episode she was introduced, doesn't do anything in the story afterwards. Miu has it worse; she doesn't get much development outside of being a soft spoken cute girl at the literature club, and just like Momo doesn't have any role in the story either.

Animation and Sound

Rui pout 10/10

The animation is not bad, but not amazing either. There were no poorly drawn faces (in fact all the girls are pretty), but there certainly were a lot of still shots and not a lot of movement- for example in episode 10 there's a slideshow of characters at the cultural festival that's a minute long. What's annoying is that in the blu-ray release of the series, there are added uncensored sex scenes. I get that uncensored sex scenes can help raise sales, but animating those scenes takes up budget and time, which instead could be spent on better animation for the show!

I've nothing great to say about the soundtrack, it works fine. Both the OP and ED are fantastic though.

Summary

As an anime on its own, Domestic na Kanojo isn't a really good show, but is... ok. Although the spicy story is as addicting as cocaine, its a little contrived at times. The characters are all likeable, and the show manages to make us care and feel for them, however there isn't much character development outside the main couple. There's nothing amazing about the animation or sound outside of the OP and ED. I had higher hopes for the show, but honestly I think I'll learn to just not trust anything that comes out of studio Diomedéa anymore. It's a shame, the show probably could've been so much better if it had 24 episodes instead of 12, but I understand the adapting studio may not have had this option. 6/10. Changed to 7/10 for how enjoyable it was.


However, as an advertisement for the manga, then this show has done its job. But not because it managed to adapt the manga perfectly and thus showcase how good it is, but instead the opposite. Every time the show rushes or skips an arc or leaves out characterization for certain characters, readers of the Domestic na Kanojo manga immediately point this out. Hence us anime viewers are left with the knowledge that the anime is inadequate; that it's just not as good as the manga. We are even encouraged by the manga readers to just read the manga from the start, not where the anime ends, because its story has been butchered. And in that tragically awful way, we are drawn to reading the manga. I know I will.

-GaryMuffuginOak