Kuzu no Honkai (Scum's Wish)

To the outside world, Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya are the perfect couple. But in reality, they just share the same secret pain: they are both in love with other people they cannot be with.

Hanabi has loved her childhood friend and neighbor Narumi Kanai for as long as she can remember, so she is elated to discover that he is her new homeroom teacher. However, Narumi is soon noticed by the music teacher, Akane Minagawa, and a relationship begins to blossom between them, much to Hanabi's dismay.

Mugi was tutored by Akane in middle school, and has been in love with her since then. Through a chance meeting in the hallway, he encounters Hanabi. As these two lonely souls spend more time together, they decide to use each other as a substitute for the one they truly love, sharing physical intimacy with one another in order to stave off their loneliness.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Kuzu no Honkai

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Characters & Voice Actors

Yasuraoka, Hanabi

Main

Anzai, Chika
Japanese

Awaya, Mugi

Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga
Japanese

Ebato, Sanae

Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka
Japanese

Minagawa, Akane

Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki
Japanese

Kamomebata, Noriko

Supporting

Izawa, Shiori
Japanese

Kanai, Narumi

Supporting

Nojima, Kenji
Japanese

Kirishima, Atsuya

Supporting

Asanuma, Shintarou
Japanese

Terauchi, Takuya

Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuusuke
Japanese

Hayakawa, Mei

Supporting

Fujii, Yukiyo
Japanese

Moriyama, Take

Supporting

Kijima, Ryuuichi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Higa, Yuuji

Producer

Fujiyama, Naokado

Producer

Komatsu, Shouta

Producer

Andou, Masaomi

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Uso no Hibana (嘘の火花)" by 96neko

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Ending Theme

"Heikousen (平行線)" by Sayuri

Reviews

Apr 7, 2024

tmoverbeck

Recommended

What starts out as a seemingly cheesy romcom premise - we can't have the ones we really love, so let's hook up as each other's substitutes instead - turns into a complex, scandalous and overall compelling story, emotionally charged and beautifully illustrated.

Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya are two high school students, each with a crush on their respective teachers, Narumi Kanai and Akane Minagawa. When they find out those teachers are falling for each other, Hanabi and Mugi, in a state of emotional despair, make a pact to be a stand-in for each other's object of desire, with the stipulation that they can't fall in ...

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Feb 28, 2024

OhsnapitsDavid

Mixed Feelings

I honestly wanted to rate this anime at a solid 10 just for its production quality, but like other animes that miss their mark, I just can't go higher than a standard 7.

The show is gorgeous, don't forget that. But the writing, the story, the characters, are all so surface level they are just like cardboard cut outs. The main female protagonist was the worst to sit through. Actually, the whole anime just felt like a giant slideshow about her inner dialogue that it completely forced me to just sit and wait for her to narrate the story while giving little consideration to other ...

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Feb 20, 2024

Thelaris

Not Recommended

2.7 | Something totally depraved, with no real artistic value behind this atrocity. Yes, this anime just reinforces this argument that I hear people say every day "anime is in decline or anime is already dead" — this is an audiovisual atrocity. But, in any case, I didn't expect anything great to come from this work, and in the end, I found nothing but disgust and the urge to vomit with each episode of this tactile medium.

Kuzu no Honkai, what a colossal disaster that I unfortunately was able to witness with my own eyes! A work that dares to call itself a "novel" when ... in fact it is just a parade of depravity and emotional emptiness. I will unravel all the flaws in this abyss of mediocrity that dares to pass itself off as entertainment. First, let's address the characters' lack of depth. They are mere two-dimensional caricatures, void of any real substance or development. There is nothing but carnal impulses and superficial desires, creating a narrative so shallow that even a puddle of water would be deeper.

THE CHARACTERS:

Let's start with Hanabi Yasuraoka, the protagonist of this melodramatic farce. What an existential void! What a lack of personality! Hanabi is like a leaf in the wind, aimless, without purpose, with nothing to distinguish her from a paper doll. Her supposed emotional dilemma is as deep as a puddle of rainwater, and her journey of self-discovery is as exciting as watching paint dry. And what about Mugi Awaya, the other protagonist of this comedy of errors? Mugi is the epitome of insipidity, an existential void with a human form. His journey of self-discovery is as predictable as sunsets, and his attempt to find meaning in life is as pathetic as a fish out of water. The secondary characters aren't much better. Ecchan, Hanabi's childhood friend, is a stereotypical caricature of a confused lesbian whose only role in the plot seems to be to cause unnecessary drama. And Narumi, Hanabi's teacher, is the stereotypical heartthrob with zero depth, a cute embellishment to accentuate the plot's lack of originality.
And let's not forget the rest of the cast, who are like a parade of emotional mannequins, strutting down the catwalk of banality. Each is a bland caricature, without a hint of humanity or complexity. The lack of creativity in sculpting these characters is a direct attack on the intelligence of any viewer who dared to believe they would find something of value in this pile of tedium.

The characters in Kuzu no Honkai are like paper dolls in a soulless theater. Its lack of depth is an affront to the concept of character development and a grim reminder of how a narrative can founder when creativity is absent. May this collection of empty figures serve as a warning about the dangers of creating characters that are nothing more than shadows on a stage devoid of substance.
And what about the plot? A succession of clichés and predictable twists that do nothing but insult the viewer's intelligence. The pathetic attempt to explore "mature" themes only serves to reveal the author's lack of maturity and sensitivity. What could be a reflection on complex relationships turns into a spectacle of cheap voyeurism and self-pity.

DIALOGUES FROM THIS ANIME:

In every episode of Kuzu no Honkai, a lament persists: the dialogues, like an out-of-tune echo, resonate with an alarming lack of authenticity. Every word seems more like a forced attempt at dramatization than a genuine expression of feelings. The script, far from being a tapestry of eloquence, is a tangle of lines that clash, moving away from the naturalness that a narrative deserves.
The characters, victims of this questionable choice, are like the puppets of an inexperienced playwright, moving on fragile strings of poorly constructed words. With each episode, disillusionment grows due to the lack of fluidity and authenticity in verbal exchanges. Instead of captivating, the dialogues only amplify the feeling of discomfort and artifice. In a work where communication should be the emotional foundation, linguistic inadequacy becomes an insurmountable obstacle. In each scene, the hope of a meaningful exchange is dimmed by textual mediocrity. Perhaps, in a parallel universe, the characters of Kuzu no Honkai can find more fertile ground to express their emotions. However, on this narrative level, the ineptitude of the dialogue remains like a shadow that obscures the quality that the anime could have achieved.
Let's start with the interaction between Hanabi and Mugi, the protagonists devoid of any trace of emotional depth. Their dialogue is like a monotonous dance between two waxworks, with no emotion, no passion, nothing to make them sound remotely interesting. Their conversations are a festival of clichés and banalities, a parade of stock phrases that say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And what about the secondary characters? Ecchan, Narumi, and the others are mere puppets, echoing lines of dialogue that sound as forced as a desperate attempt to be profound. Their interactions are as superficial as a puddle of water, without any trace of AUTHENTICITY or ORIGINALITY. The themes covered in the dialogues are as predictable as the sunrise. Love, desire, betrayal - everything has already been explored ad nauseam in previous works, leaving the dialogues of Kuzu no Honkai as a mere repetition of what came before. There are no deep insights, no true reflections, just a series of platitudes disguised as profundity.
Furthermore, the visual aesthetics are a real disaster. The character designs are generic and uninspired, and the art direction lacks originality or creativity. Each scene feels like a desperate attempt to shock the viewer with explicit, eye-catching imagery rather than investing in a careful construction of atmosphere and meaning.

And finally, the moral message (or lack thereof) is simply disgusting. Rather than offering an honest reflection on the ups and downs of human relationships, Kuzu no Honkai glorifies selfishness and immorality as if they were virtues to be admired. It is a shameless apology for hedonism and a lack of emotional responsibility, feeding a culture of superficiality and indulgence without consequences.

But anyway, Kuzu no Honkai is an insult to the intelligence and sensitivity of any self-respecting person. An arrogant production that wallows in its own selfishness, offering nothing of true value or meaning. It's a clear example of everything that's wrong with the entertainment industry today, and a reminder that not all that glitters is gold. And that those who indulge in this kind of cultural trash are only perpetuating the decadence and emptiness that plague our modern society.

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Poll: Kuzu no Honkai Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Mar 30, 2017	433 replies	by unbigou »» Mar 24, 8:22 PM
Poll: Kuzu no Honkai Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Feb 16, 2017	250 replies	by AniGreek73 »» Feb 17, 5:46 PM
Live Action JSeanaY - Dec 18, 2023	5 replies	by Asudox »» Dec 29, 2023 3:14 PM
Poll: Kuzu no Honkai Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 9, 2017	159 replies	by Sanyuu »» Dec 22, 2023 10:06 AM
I want to watch it but I don't want to watch it. Ronin_Sensei - Sep 13, 2023	48 replies	by Zarutaku »» Dec 13, 2023 2:23 PM

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Ebato, Sanae

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Kamomebata, Noriko

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