Itazura na Kiss is Stupid | The Okay Parts

Prologue
Being able to get me to not like something to the point of being disgusted with it is something that can arguably be an achievement, even if that achievement isn't exactly a good one, because it usually takes a lot for me to get to that point. Itazura na Kiss is one of those things, and I'm afraid my disgust for this particular anime, in my opinion, was well earned. Sure, there are things that naturally earn their status due to just how terrible they are, such as Chargeman Ken, but there are other shows that earn their status over time once people have had time to consume the material off of it's hype, such as The Legend of Korra. Itazura na Kiss slightly falls more into the latter of this medium, but that's mainly due to the credit of the animators that did a decent job on the anime adaptation in 2008.

Defining & Disclaimers
For those unfamiliar with it, Itazura na Kiss is a Japanese shojo anime series written and illustrated by Kaoru Tada in 1990, which got an anime adaptation in 2008. It goes by other names as well, such as Playful Kiss or Mischievous Kiss - for the sake of consistency, I'm going to stick to the original name.

Allow me to preface that, at time of writing, I will only be covering the manga and the anime adaptation. Please don't ask me to cover the other adaptations, as how terrible both of these versions were has turned me off from ever picking up this series again except maybe to tear it apart a bit more.

What I Liked

Let me make something clear - there were a few things that I liked, but I'm afraid that as time has gone on, it's tolerant at best for some of these things.

For starters, the animation: the anime was fine, and my untrained eye didn't see any blatant errors like I saw in Sailor Moon Crystal. However, I cannot say the same for the manga: the manga was so ugly that I'm surprised it got an adaptation, much less multiple. To be fair, if One Punch Man could get out of this manga-ugly-rut and become the popular anime that it did, surely it's not the biggest deal breaker in the world. Design complains mainly go to the main character, but that's for another time.

I'm also willing to give the music some leeway here. I don't care for the starting song, but the end credits song is pretty. Seriously, what is up with shitty anime getting the prettier songs in some cases?

The only other thing I can think of fondly to any extent is the relationship between Kinnosuke and Chris. While I don't like how they got together, their shown to be a healthier couple than the leading couple we see more on screen, which sucks as far as storytelling goes.

Sooo... what exactly about it makes it garbage? Another time, my dear, another time.

Noriko Irie Is Toxic - Here's Why

This was originally a post on Reddit, elaborated on Tumblr.

Do you mind if I go on a rant about how much of a bitch Noriko Irie is?
That’s right - I said bitch.

Normally, I wouldn’t go that far, but the most infuriating element regarding Noriko’s character is the way she’s portrayed is supposed to be cute and supportive (and to some extent it is) but it doesn’t erase just how damn problematic she is. While she is the ultimate shipper of Naoki and Kotoko, right up to 11 out of 10 (arguably 15 out of 10), her reasons for forcing her son into the arms of the only girl who would ever want to have him are extremely selfish.

Yes, she admits in the manga that she finds Naoki and Kotoko to be a good match on the account of how much of opposites they are of each other (chapter 8)...

but here’s another reason at play that is presented, but not addressed: Noriko wants a girl in the family.

At face value, you might think that is a sweet sentiment and that it’s fine to want things.  The problem is that her handling of Naoki and Kotoko’s relationship isn’t the only time she goes up to 11.  On top of being the top person to insist that Naoki and Kotoko should hook up, she’s also responsible for Naoki’s childhood - dressing him up in girl’s clothes until he realized what was going on and finally protest.

 It would be easier to tolerate if this was something Naoki actually wanted, but this detail about his past is so embarrassing for him, it becomes something Kotoko uses later to blackmail him with into helping her study.

Why didn’t she just get him boy clothes? 

Because she didn’t want to throw out all the clothes she bought. 

She admits to all of this in chapter 2!

 It’s no wonder why Naoki has so much trouble opening up to people: the woman who was supposed to take care of him disregarded his emotional needs on multiple occasions (even when he says “no”) all for the sake of wanting a girl. To add insult to injury, she admits to this as well as if it isn’t her problem. 

And the dad? He’s sweet, but a doormat when it comes to his wife.

Upon reflection, Noriko is being extremely sexist here, but it’s supposed to be fine for some reason, because not only is the one she’s being sexist against is a man, but it’s pushing Naoki and Kotoko to spend more time together, so it’s totally fine, right?

As the leading couple, the ends justify the means, no matter how problematic you are in getting there… not.

I don’t think I’ve ever met such a toxic wing-woman for the leading female of a romcom like this before. Somebody should have sat her down and told her “no” and tell her she’s going too far over something Naoki clearly doesn’t want. That way, when Naoki and Kotoko’s relationship grows, it’s not because of environmental pressure, but rather them as characters.