Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun – 01

OP Sequence

OP: 「WHITE」 by Bentham

「青山くんはキレイ好き」 (Aoyama-kun wa Kireizuki)
“Aoyama-kun Is A Clean Freak”

I won’t lie, it took some real dedication to make it past the 10 minute mark. But somewhere after that, I genuinely found myself really enjoying this show.

General Impressions

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun is like a fine wine — it’s something that you may like right when you see it but it’s possible that it’ll take some time for it to really appeal to you. Luckily, unlike other things that require to “acquire” a taste for it, I think this first episode manages to give you a good enough look to honestly decide if this show is for you.

Starting with some of the dislikes (because you already know where this post is headed in a little bit), I think what I disliked the most about this show was just how hard it was trying to sell the “Keppeki” part of it. Like, I think we all realized by the 4 minute mark that Aoyama was a germaphobe but instead of easing up on that fact, the show really stuck true to its guns and unrelentlessly kept hitting us with example after example. What made it even more unbearable was how it all tied into Aoyama’s deadpan style of speaking and behaving. Had he been a more “normal” guy, I doubt it would have been as bad, but just like Zaizen I felt myself getting angrier the more I watched Aoyama. And I get it, we’re supposed to understand that he’s just somewhat misunderstood (and just a little odd), but boy I’m not sure if being badass at soccer is enough to offset something like that. And if we’re talking about dislikes, god I can’t even bear to talk about Takechi and his incessant need to show off his god damn abs. Let’s just say that I kind of wish he was the one who took a soccer ball to the head.

Changing pace, I think everything toward the latter end of the episode managed to almost balance out all the stress that built up getting to that point. From Zaizen taking a freaking soccer ball to the face to Aoyama giving up his need to stay clean, it almost felt like I was watching a completely different show. A show so different that I’d probably end up sticking with it since it felt like the right balance of “Keppeki” and soccer.

In any case, I think this was an okay first episode for the show. Even with its awkward pacing and choice of topics, I think that there’s a chance that things could get better by the third episode. So, for all of you who aren’t watching this one or couldn’t make it past the first few minutes, I would recommend giving it another go just to see the epic ending of this first episode.

P.S. The music in this show is stellar.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「太陽がくれた季節」 (Taiyou ga Kureta Kisetsu) by 富士美高校サッカー部［青山くん（置鮎龍太郎）、財前かおる（関智一）、坂井一馬（保志総一朗）、塚本仁（阪口大助）、吉岡太一（吉野裕行）］

End Card