Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「はなれない距離」 (Hanarenai Kyori) by (TrySail)
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「近すぎじゃね？」 (Chika Sugi ja ne?
“Isn’t This Too Close?”
First of all, apologies for the late coverage of this series, life has been crazy and just this weekend I was able to catch most of the anime premieres for Spring 2022, and then some.
Anyway, let’s talk about Aharen-san wa Hakarenai. Everything up to this point suggests this series is your next wholesome anime, of course, it has big shoes to fill since last season’s weekly dose of wholesome dopamine was the long-running and fairly good Takagi-san. So how does Aharen-san compare? Taking cues from Komi-san as well as the likes of Nagatoro-san and Uzaki-chan. Aharen-san wa Hakarenai flips the formula by introducing Aharen, Reina (Minase, Inori) a quiet shy girl who doesn’t know any type of boundary.
As soon as someone is nice to her, she goes full in and begins being her overbearing self. Her backstory is basically just that, she tried to get way too close, way too fast to her friends, and they were creeped out by her behavior and so she was left all alone; Now in high school, she decides it’s time for a fresh start. But because of her trauma, she speaks in barely a petite recognizable voice. Cue scene, Matsuboshi, Raidou (Terashima, Takuma) whose sole purpose in life is to get to know his classmates and introduce himself to his seat partner. Which just so happens to be Aharen, he tries and tries to communicate with her, introducing himself, saying good morning, and the like, and gets no response from her, or so he thinks. He does have somewhat of a scary face, but it’s just that he’s eyes are slanted, he’s actually a pretty good guy.
In fact, if it wasn’t for Raidou and how he takes Aharen’s closeness, this series wouldn’t really work, both parties have to be naive and not really think anything of it. This goes in hand that the production didn’t deter to fan-service for some of the moments where Aharen is basically way too close for her own good. Think nothing of it! These touch interactions are weird for someone you just met, but not for Raidou apparently as he takes everything in stride and lets Aharen carry him to the next gatcha store.
The characters look way more adult than their actual age is, I personally thought this was an office comedy and was surprised to learn that the setting is high school. We’ll have to see if Raidou can fill those shoes as the next protagonist who gets attached to a classmate or an office worker who is way smaller than himself. This man looks to be 1.80 (6’0) or above, meanwhile, this girl is 1.40 (4’5) or below. So the height difference is prominent.
And you could easily mistake Aharen for a child. I will not say more on that, because well the community that has built around episode one, aka my quick dive into the Anilist thread for this show, is mostly ignoring that fact. So I shall ignore it too, no point in creating controversy where there is none, I’ve learned my lesson the hard way.
So I’m very interested in seeing where this one goes, as apparently, comedies like this are my thing, I’m not so fond of Aharen just yet, but very fond of Raidou as he has taken in stride Aharen’s problems and made them his own, which doesn’t sit well with some people evidently.
This random person, covered in shadow, has apparently been watching the pair in close secret this entire time. I mean I guess it would be difficult to butt in when you see a relationship that has developed such as the one with Raidou and Aharen. Is she just jealous or overprotective of a girl she does not yet know? We will have to wait and see. Other than that, the wholesome vibes are kinda cute and for that aspect, I’m loving it so far. The other aspect aka Aharen being the new loli, is well, not quite sitting right with me, but I could be the only one who is on that note. Since both are in high school I am assuming they both have the same age, so let’s just leave it that.
Will a romance develop between Aharen and Raidou? We will have to wait and see, even though they are already pretty close, but that’s on Aharen’s side. Raidou hasn’t exactly done anything to suggest an advancement on his part or that he’s going to take advantage of Aharen’s naivete. We’ll have to wait and see how this one develops.
P.S. Let the seance commence!
Full-length images: 39.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「キョリ感」 (Kyori-kan) by (Hakoniwa Lily)
Oh good. Another Loli anime.
When I was in High School I was over 6′ and had a girlfriend a year older than me who was around 4’9″. She came up to just under my chest, and was very petite. Some people are just like that and it was somewhat comical to see us together at the time. Her character is more cat like than anything else as she finds someone nice to her and just climbs all over them. Sometimes in shows that are set in High School you have to see it from the eyes of the character and divorce yourself from viewing it from the outside as a person much older.
Reiterating; This series wouldn’t really work unless both characters have that naivete ingrained in their persona, which they do. I’m just stating what I see and it did make me uncomfy, that’s why I said it. Why the need to justify it though? There’s nothing wrong with the height difference. However, the characters do feel like much older actors made to play in a high school setting. And that’s glorification, take what you will from that.