Take A Pick Tuesday: My Love Story
One very distinctive show and one I had been really excited
for since the anime had been announced is My Love Story. Takeo is a high
schooler that many not be the usual anime Prince Charming but is the lead
character in this series. His friend is
the dashing Sunakawa who happens to catch the eyes of all the girls as well as
the credit of heroic deeds. When really it is Takeo is doing them, such a
saving a child from drowning, running in a burning building and any other
heroic feat imaginable. The first person to say it wasn’t Suna is Suna and
there is a reason for that.
Takeo is over six feet, huge with bulging
muscles, thick rugged lips that are more human than anime as well as long side
burns, which are backed up by his monstrous strength having been the captain of
his Judo team in middle school which is before he became a freshman in high
school. Yes he’s a freshman, one who appears to be a body builder someone who
may belong in a fighting anime. Except
looks can be deceiving as they are in real life.
His best friend
Suna knows what we know as we watch the series, Takeo has a heart of gold,
gentle as can be, extremely polite, thoughtful and kind of longing for true love. The only problem with that is despite Suna
being disinterested in the sort of attraction that the women have for him it
sort of snatches Takeo’s chances away. Except that changes when they are on a
train and Takeo spots a grouper who is making a young girl uncomfortable and a
little more than that, touching her. So Takeo steps in and lifts the man’s hand
in front of the whole train car, embarrassing him.
When explaining
it to the authorities, the young girl Yamamoto stands up for Takeo as well as
Suna who stood there but in his usual quiet way assisted. It’s quick to get her
interest in thanking the two of them and she’s beautiful to Takeo,
unfortunately even she personally comes to his house to thank him he’s sure
it’s like all the other girls that her real interest is in Suna since she seems
to get flustered around the two of them.
However Suna
seems to know the truth and eventually calls it as he sees it, allowing the
chance for Yamamoto to show that she’s been appearing on purpose, baking on
purpose because she actually has feelings for Takeo. Right in this instance the show accomplishes
two things that are not only unique but organic to the show. They resolve what
the usual premise to most romantic comedies is and offer something more. As well as place an unlikely underdog as the
main character.
My Love Story is in a lot of ways what
it’s like to be in a relationship, even more so for someone who never believed
they would be. Finding out about the person that changes this belief and trying
to understand them. Takeo is indeed a great boyfriend, the smallest things
about Yamamoto make him happy as it is for her who declares him hot even though
her friends find the pairing odd to say the least. Though Takeo has a way of
impressing anyone, simply by his good character.
Another twist
to the series is that Takeo is the opposite of a perv. He’s a gentlemen with what some might call an
innocent mind, he wouldn’t even hold hands with Yamamoto until she brought it
up. Takeo has a great respect for her which may at times make it more difficult
for him to understand what she’s thinking. Yamamoto on the other hand has no
problem imagining dirty thoughts and in a lot of ways she moves the relationship
forwards. Of course Takeo has help from his best friend Suna whose disinterest
in dating kind of places him in the third wheel position. Something he is quite
aware of, usually he’s placed there without even wanting to be but truth be
told Takeo needs the help. Though even
for the stoic Suna, some of the things he’s needed for to help Takeo can even
scare a reaction out of him, such as Takeo wanting to learn to kiss, putting
plastic wrap on Suna’s head which makes it appear like he’ll kill him throwing
him to the wall with the image of Takeo’s lips approaching. Poor Suna and still after the scaring
experience he’s a faithful friend.
Everyone knows
it too, it never goes unnoticed with his obvious answers to their dilemmas,
playing it calm, cool and collected, Suna hardly bats an eye at his sisters’
devastation that Takeo has a girlfriend having apparently been in love with him
for years. Every once in a while the quiet, helpful Suna reading a book and can
find his assistance to help in his own personal life, such as a family matter
which shows that this quaint heartwarming love story can have consequences and
concerns that do not necessarily overshadow the romance but enhance the world
it’s placed in.
We witness
everything from birthdays to rivalries to child birth? Ok it isn’t Takeo having
a baby so spoiler on that but I say nothing until you watch it but really
heartwarming episodes, transcending cute
while still maintaining tension in the characters’ dilemmas, giving you the sense
of what they’re experiencing in front of them, something that they may go
through themselves in the future, yes even having a child. You never know where
this is going. You also get a look at Takeo's parents, his mother who he seems to get his super strength from and his perfect father who doesn't need the white in his eyes is where he must get that relaxed charm.
An interesting
contrast is other relationships happening around the two characters. Now Takeo
and Yamamoto move slow, real slow and it’s a different pacing that people
around them have to comment on but again
I think it’s great how they emphasize on every step in their relationship, see
challenges, maybe even realize something as simple as not everyone gets the
happiness the two do. It makes it all the more fragile and important.
Now as unlikely
as Takeo might seem to be the main character or even to some in the show, I’d
said that people are impressed about how great a guy he seems. This helps see an admiration for Takeo coming
from everywhere, all the characters around them. Takeo restores your faith in
people to be kind and yearn to understand accomplishing what it’s set out to do
in a bold way, give you a bit of a twist on a genre you were cocky enough to
believe you figured out. If all this sounds like a lot to take in it’s packed
in nicely with the humor in the show as well, laugh out loud humor in large
part because of Takeo’s gestures. When he is passionate he looks serious enough
to kill someone often portraying his great strength and speed or his positive
encouragement you’d be a fool not to take. You have this to compare to
Yamamoto, to Suna, to everyone and it’s great to watch. Is it surprising that
the hit manga didn’t just spawn this series but also a live action movie as
well. Of course not, watching this makes that very clear. Where will the series
go from here, will it maintain and innocence while still delving deep in the intricacies
of the relationships of people or taking
a completely different direction as only anime can. Only time will tell and we’ll
revisit this Take A Pick Tuesday Article when that times comes.
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