Domestic Girlfriend [Anime Review]
August 10, 2020 August 2, 2020 by mattdoylemedia, posted in Anime
Title: Domestic Girlfriend
Anime Studio: Diomedia
Publisher: MVN Entertainment
Released: August 10th, 2020
Language: Japanese / English
Don't have sex with people who could become your relatives!
Natsuo Fuji has a serious crush on one of his teachers, Hina Tachibana, but since he knows he has zero chance of ever being in a relationship with her, he lets his friends talk him into going to a party where he meets Rui. One thing leads to another and then, well, neither of them is a virgin anymore. Unfortunately, it wasn't what they expected, but that's fine. They're just ships passing in the night and they'll never have to see each other again, right? Except when Natsuo's father announces that he's getting married again, Natsuo discovers that he's getting two new step-sisters as well. Now there's a problem, because one is his teacher, Hina, and the other is Rui. Yep, the family dinners at Natsuo's house are about to get REALLY awkward!
Domestic girlfriend is a series that really surprised me. I actually expected to get a lot less enjoyment out of it than I did, largely due to it covering one of my least favourite story topics. But, this managed to not only keep me interested throughout the twelve episodes but also managed to get me invested in the story, albeit not in the way I'm sure was intended.
When it comes to the romance side of the story, this dealt with two taboo subjects: step-sibling love, and romance between a teacher and a student. Now, when it comes to the step-sibling side of things, I should make one thing clear: while not technically 'wrong', it's a subject that I hate. It feels morally off to me, and I honestly can't get passed that. When you add in that one of the two step-siblings – both of whom are interested in the male lead – is a teacher at his school, and the morality of it all comes into question even more.
Like I said though, this got me invested in the romance. The reason for that isn't that I was rooting for the characters to overcome adversity, but rather that it all felt very realistic. The three people involved acknowledged the moral issues, and it all got very messy very quickly. There was doubt, and fear, and it always seemed like it could come crashing down around them if they continued. That was all aided by the characters acting in ways that I could actually see people acting in real life. It was this feeling that it would reach a realistic conclusion that kept me watching, and in some ways, I wasn't disappointed.
I won't spoil exactly what happened, but there were parts of the final episode that drew this to a conclusion that I was happy with. Natsuo's response to the events too came across as very real, and the way he eventually dealt with it all was absolutely positive. I was also a fan of the supporting cast. Momo and Masaki are given more depth than their initial appearances let on, for example, and it was nice seeing them get moments to shine.
Throw in that the animation and OST are decent, and that both the original and dub VAs do well, and it was all surprisingly watchable. The opening, Kawaki wo Ameku by Minami, is worthy of particular note. It was very stylised, both vocally and visually, and the use of colours in the video really summed up the mood of the series well.
Now, it should be noted that the series gets a little raunchy at times. There are sex scenes, and while they don't quite stray into hentai territory, they're about as close as you can get without doing so. So, if that's likely to put you off, be aware that there are a few of these scattered around. It's also worth noting that the subject matter means the characters are going to be making constant miss-steps, especially as they all know that what they're doing would be viewed negatively. That includes Natsuo attempting to kiss a sleeping character, which would, of course, mean a lack of consent.
Some of the supporting cast members don't quite get the time I would have liked either. Miu is a prime example, as I felt like she would have been an excellent character for Natuso to grow closer to had he not continued to pursue the main arc. My biggest issue though was actually with the ending. If the final episode had ended just a little sooner or cut one particular scene, it would have been far more to my liking. Again, I can't say what exactly happened without diving into spoilers, but I will say it was enough to make me sigh.
So, how do I rate this one overall? It was never going to get full marks from me. Anyone that's read my reviews or seen me comment on this sort of story subject before would know that. I'm also not a fan of explicit scenes, which drags things down a little for me. However, I am aware that many won't be bothered by the step-sibling romance or the adult content. When you look at it, Domestic Girlfriend takes a fairly realistic approach to its subject matter, and it does deserve some praise for that. I'll give it a solid 3.75 out of 5.
Tagged anime review, domestic girlfriend, MVM Entertainment
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9 thoughts on "Domestic Girlfriend [Anime Review]"
This is the second time that I've seen a review for this series in three days. Talk about a coincidence. Have to admit that your review got me just as intrigued for this series as the other one did. Like you, this isn't my usual cup of tea that I would watch, but as I said, I've now seen two convincing reviews and I don't believe in coincidences lol. So will check this one out. Great review as always 😊
Oh, awesome. It's a new release, so it could be that everyone's got the same timing to review it 🙂
That's probably it 😊😊
Yon Nyan says:
I have to admit that I didn't care for the anime—or the arc it focused on—as this is definitely a series that gets much stronger with the characters growing into much more relatable and wiser ppl as the it progresses with a decent chunk of arcs down the road. It's one of those cases where the manga (circa chapter 50ish and onwards) is tons better than the anime, at least for me. It'd be neat if they did do adaptations of the healthier relationships that happen later. I would actually enjoy that a lot.
I didn't realise it continued beyond this in the manga. I'd like to see that too. It would certainly feel more comfortable to me to see them in healthier relationships.
Yeah, that's what made me go on the manga search. It does have a couple of strange arcs in it, but overall, much better than anime. There's even a couple of characters who are introduced later on who have diverse sexual orientations, which was really neat to see.
Oh, awesome. It's a shame when we don't get the full thing adapted like that. I was disappointed in there not being a third season of Spice and Wolf for example, because there was so much more of it.
That's a series I loved and definitely would enjoy more of it. One day I want to read the source material.
I still need to grab the final book and maybe the spin-off but the source LNs have a lot going for them. The manga adaltion was pretty good to as I recall, though different to both the novels and anime.