Kuzu no Honkai

There aren't many anime as uncomfortable as Kuzu no Honkai. It introduces itself as a melancholic tale of unrequited love, and quickly transforms into something far more ugly. The characters are relentlessly trampled upon, until, indeed, as the title might suggest, they are reduced to human trash.

It isn't necessary for a story to make you feel happy. There exist a wealth of fiction that, while depressing, and perhaps never even enjoyable, are still valuable for the message they are trying to make.

Kuzu no Honkai doesn't have that message. It is misery for misery's sake, existing almost exclusively to make you feel like crap. ... If you found anime such as Aku no Hana and School Days difficult to watch, you might have yourself something of a challenge here, too.

There is seldom a character within Kuzu no Honkai who behaves sensibly or is capable of thinking with any other organ except their genitalia. Hanabi and Mugi are lonely because they cannot be united with their loved ones, and so they seek to find some solace in each other. They can't love each other because they love someone else. They use sexual intimacy as an escape. But they still can't give up on the one they love. And so the cycle, their tedious lives continue.

If that is where the series stood, all may have been fine. But it escalates, and they, and just about everyone else surrounding them, wants more, more, until nothing remains in their hollow lives but sex and sleaze. It becomes impossible to feel any empathy for them and the grief they are constantly plunging themselves into. They're beyond saving. They deserve everything that happens to them. And so I cannot bring myself to care when it tries to play Hanabi as the victim, the tragic heroine. The real victims are Norumi (the male teacher) and Noriko for being deceived by such deplorable people. Love is blind, as the cheesy proverb goes, but in this case they must also be blind in the literal sense.

Most of Kuzu no Honkai's cast is comprised of hypocrites who get upset with their partner(s) for acts they have been committing themselves. They act nonsensically at times, and can change their attitude on a whim, giving up on their love at the end of one episode and then cheerfully encouraging each other to confess at the beginning of the next. They haven't the slightest idea of what they want. Maybe that is to be expected. Love is a tricky thing, after all, and teenagers are at their most confused stage in life. But it becomes a question if what they felt was ever love in the first place when they can so readily find someone else as a replacement, sleeping with anyone who shows them even the slightest affection. It's entirely possible that Hanabi and Mugi only fell in love with their respective partner because they were the first ones to give them that affection. And so how am I to feel bad for the two when their crushes end in disappointment?

While women like Akane undoubtedly exist in the real world (having unfortunately encountered someone similar myself), she is possessed by such an intensely twisted and ugly worldview that it becomes a wonder how she is even able to fulfil her duties as a teacher. She eventually comes to a point of redemption, but makes it quite clear that she is there only to see, to try, potentially ruining a man's entire life merely for the chance of relieving her boredom. I didn't find that heartwarming as it was intended to be - I found it disgusting of her, and that's in the face of all the detestable things she had already done.

The main theme of each episode is who is going to make out with or bang whom. It's an endless rotation, much like a hentai, the characters seemingly unaware of or passive to the concept of cheating, and incapable of guilt. Everyone loves someone else, and seemingly nobody in the world is capable of a happy, fulfilling relationship-- even Hanabi's friends (who are never otherwise shown) are revealed as having their partner cheating on them. Maybe it's a good thing I detest all the characters, as I don't think I would want a character I actually like to be in a story like this. Any time Noriko appeared, the one I disliked the least, I was dreading to see the mess she might be dragged into. And Narumi, while naive to painful extents, is never really deserving of the awful situation Akane puts him through. The only joy you could possibly extract from something like this is some sadomasochistic desire to see everyone in pain and despair. I can't say I possess that desire.

The main rebuttal, I would imagine, is that the characters are meant to be human trash, and so it is okay that they are trash. I could concede to that point, as stories do not require respectable characters. But even trash are human, and so it is expected that they still behave like humans, a detail that Kuzu no Honkai seems so ready to forget.

Sanae, for instance, has such an intense (and frankly creepy) attachment to her loved one that it almost seems a crime for her to not be locked away in some mental hospital. There can at times be a desire to stay with someone you love even when you know you cannot have them or that they are bad for you, but she long crosses the boundary of how real people would react in her situation. There is a difference between being a confused teenager who seeks sexual gratification, and being a psychotic almost-rapist who believes people are their property. If they have done as she does, then they've probably gotten to know prison life pretty well.

It's also questionable why the author decided to complicate things further by giving Sanae someone who one-sidedly loves her as well, considering how little is ever done with them. You could write them out completely and it wouldn't affect much of anything. They exist solely, I would assume, to create more despair, as if the show hadn't enough of that already.

Kuzu no Honkai's detestable cast is, if nothing else, well-realised, thanks to the frequent monologuing and backstories. Each of the main six get their turn to narrate on numerous occasions, which does well to explain their motivations and feelings and to make them feel like proper protagonists rather than mere accessories to the carnage, even if some (namely Sanae) receive significantly less characterisation than others. To merely show two characters having sex or making out with each other is not nearly as meaningful as when it is accompanied by narration. It leaves less to the imagination, but, unlike other intensely uncomfortable and cringe-filled anime such as School Days, gives substance to the scene and makes sense in the context of the characters. When timed with the anime's emotional soundtrack, some of the dialogue can almost feel captivating, and a kiss can carry power, even if it is between two people who really have no business kissing each other in the first place. It's nice to have an anime courageous enough to portray sex in an honest manner, as most use it purely for pornographic purposes, or seem afraid of touching upon it altogether, as if humans are somehow sexless creatures. I just don't think that real people are nearly as defined by it as they are in Kuzu no Honkai.

I'll fully admit that I hated every second I spent watching Kuzu no Honkai, and felt relieved when it was over. This isn't because it is a particularly bad anime, but because it aims to say or do little else but make the viewer feel terrible. It pushes you, kicks you, and then throws another punch to your gut once that is over. It is filled with moments where you want to shout at the characters to stop, to not be stupid. There are times where you will have to pause and take a breather because of all the cringe and madness that is unfolding. Kuzu no Honkai is about as far from a pleasant anime as can possibly be, and it never really aims to fill that gap with much substance or meaning. Its starting and ending points are the same. It wants to say that people are stupid, that love hurts, and more than that, it wants you to hurt, too.

Some people will be fine with that. Maybe they want to feel awful. Maybe they just want to feel emotion, any emotion.

I'll give them that - it certainly makes you feel something.

Love is perhaps one of the most complicated feelings in the world. We may all have experienced sometimes in our lives. Whether it’s platonic, romantic, or parental, it’s something that humans feel because that’s who we are. As part of growing up, people learn to understand these feelings. Yet, there are also people who make stories out of their lives from such feelings, in ways that become so twisted and disjointed that they become scum. Welcome to Kuzu no Honkai, a show that gives the characters a chance to grow up.

As a manga reader, I was already prepared although it’s easy to judge by the ... premise that the story itself will be saturated with drama. Ever heard of ‘friends with benefits’? That’s pretty much how the premise sounds like. In the beginning of the story, we learn quickly that Hanabi and Mugi are engaged in a “relationship” that seems like those of a happy couple. Yet deep down, both suffers from pain because they are in love with someone else and are only using each other to ease their pain. It’s not hormone that’s driving these young folks into engaging in sex but that they simply want to feel something rather than pain. I have to admit, a show like this definitely takes on a more mature approach at romance than your typical high school rom-com. Make no mistake about it, Kuzu no Honkai is an emotional story that deconstructs romance in many ways more than one.

The character cast is small yet complex because almost every character has their own personal issues. Some are more complex than others as the show focuses on them in their own twisted stories. A primary example is Akane, the seemingly lovable teacher. Yet, as the story progresses, you’ll quickly learn that she isn’t exactly what appears to be. Fans could easily label her as a bitch in sheep clothing and hard to accept. It’s also relatable too as Akane is a type of character that can easily be encountered in real life. That’s what also makes this show more realistic than some others as Kuzu no Honkai demonstrates a lot of realism. Relationships draws a line between love and sex. Can sex lead to actual love? Or is it just sex?

In the meantime, character relationships in the show deconstructs what you’ll find in most romance stories. Yes, there are love triangles but Kuzu no Honkai has characters that uses others to satisfy themselves. Hanabi and Mugi is one but many examples. We’ll also learn in the show of how childhood friends will take the risk of being rejected and hurt. The fact is, no one is really safe of being happy in this series. Happiness is more like an illusionary word in the world of Kuzu no Honokai. Even when certain truths are realized and confessions are made, it is the stone cold truth that brings in even more pain. It doesn’t fall for every circumstance in the show as some characters are more willing to accept reality. However, the truth is still there that makes character relationships in this series seem like a losing battle. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

As you can imagine, the show is drama heavy with a lot of emotions. Jealousy, regret, greed, hopeful, mistrustful, fear, are just a few to name. Action has consequences and this show brings out the worst out of human behavior. Think about it really. Kuzu no Honokai translates to Scum’s Wish as the title references to one’s interest to satisfy their own desires. Most of the characters does this and is drawn by humans emotions. At the core of these emotions is love. However, this show deconstructs love and very few characters actually understands it. Or perhaps there is no real answer because everyone has different perceptions. Narumi (Hanabi’s homeroom teacher) is a rare example in this show where he accepts certain people for who they are even after learning the truth. Still, the truth can hurt doesn’t it?

Yes, don’t expect much comedy or humor from Kuzu no Honkai. It occasionally throws in some comedy from time to time but the majority of the show retains its mature feel. Now, the anime portrays sex as what it is and believe me, there’s a decent amount of it. The manga even has more explicit scenes to illustrate its point. So in essence, this show is not designed for a younger audience but suitable for those looking into a serious yet twisted story. The word ‘love’ doesn’t fit in there as that word is more or less an illusion. Still, I am happy that the adaptation captured the general idea of the original manga. It sticks to its point without derailing from its coming of age feel while inserting human emotions.

Lerche surprisingly did a fairly decent job at crafting the artwork. Character designs look mature especially for the adults such as Akane and Narumi. Ebato has that pure nature lady look that makes her desirable. However, Moca’s character design can be bothersome to get used to as she looks like a child being stuck in a mature world. Be aware that the show has a lot of fan service such as make out scenes, sex, and other suggestive innuendos. One thing I am impressed by the artwork is how there are certain scenes in the show that captures the characters’ expressions at fullest. It accomplishes this with a more detailed visual of their feelings but importantly makes them look impactful.

Soundtrack and music retains a somber tone. It’s a drama heavy story so what else did you expect? It has a feel of melancholy throughout the series along with light instrumental OST. Music director Masaru Yokoyama (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) does a fantastic job at the directing as expected. The OP and ED theme songs have some symbolism along with a drama-like tone. But in terms of voice mannerisms, this is where it gets sort of mixed. Characters such as Akane and Ebato are really hard not to feel attracted to with their mature voices. In the meantime, I have to mention again that Moca is a source of annoyance whenever she opens her mouth.

Kuzu no Honokai is like walking into a world of twisted desires. It’s like going into a maze with endless doors and no way out. Behind every door is a truth or lie that brings anything but joy. However, I think the show does bring up a good point of showing the realism of love. Examples in this series can really happen to anyone and realistically, it does. It’s part of us being human as there’s no real answer to what love is. Or to put it simply….

Love hurts.

When someone considers themselves or others to be connoisseurs of any storytelling media, there are specific prerequisites expected from that individual that's usually understood without the need to outright state it. These factors can include being well-versed with different genres within the medium in question, to more demanding things, like understanding the construct in which the medium expresses its ideas. But out of all these unspoken base requirements, I think the most important one is something that's usually acknowledged but often taken for granted. That something in question is a hands-on understanding of the subject matter itself.

Without that attribute, an exhausted catalog of ... literary knowledge and understanding of narrative tools is rendered almost pointless. Being book smart amounts to nothing without practical experience, or at the very least, first-hand encounters. Think of it this way, knowing about an archetype or trope is only as valuable as understanding what worldly influence caused it to exist, to begin with. Anyone can comprehend a creator's intent all day, but without an inkling of relation to it, all diegetic information could only be taken for what it is at face value.

Now, with that in mind, it's time to take a quick litmus test; ladies and gentlemen, Kuzu no Honkai (Scum's Wish) is average.

Quickly, what was your initial thought after reading that statement? Did you think that was an outlandish claim to make? That Scum's Wish is far from average and that the claim made was purposefully contrarian or, for the lack of a better word, attention-seeking? How can an anime that explore sexual decadents with such unfiltered restraint be considered "average" by any means? Most relationship anime don't even get past first base, so how can that claim be justified?

If you've already come to a similar conclusion regarding Scum's Wish before reading my statement, bear with me, as for everyone else that possibly rattled off something similar to the aforementioned thought process, time to explain why.

One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, The O.C, Dawson's Creek, 90210, Pretty Little Liars, Gilmore Girls; what do these live-action TV shows have in common? Well, for one, they're centered around teens or young adults dealing with relationship drama in very exaggerated ways. And secondly, and perhaps more important as well, they're usually understood by most astute viewers to be conventional television programming. No critical thinker or demanding viewer worth their salt is singing high praises about these shows. The reason why is pretty simple, apart from being well-cultured in several different mediums that is. The discernment for shows of this ilk ties back to that essential requirement I mentioned: having hands-on experience.

If your firsthand encounter with the drama Scum's Wish wraps itself up in is close to none, praising it becomes easy to do. However, if you've ever been involved in any relationship, where you and the party in question were mutually in it for sexual gratification, then what Scum's Wish tries to depict gradually gets more juvenile and diluted with each passing episode. Anyone of the bottled off sexual/sensual encounters it indulges in can be believable on its own, but when meshed together to the degree in which every single character in immediate circles in the show is involved in a daisy chain of intimate depravity—at that point, it becomes wholly unrealistic; almost approaching the point of midday soap opera levels of contrived. This is sensationalized TV drama 101; the quintessential reason for why the phrase "sex sells" remain relevant for mainstay media.

Simply put, Scum's Wish is an animated version of your typical live-action teen/young adult drama TV show.

Now, before we go on any further, let's make this clear, teen/young adult drama shows themselves aren't inherently devoid of substance. There are live-action TV shows like Friday Night Lights and My So-Called Life, and even animated titles such as Nana and Beck that receive widespread critical acclaim for the same kind of things depicted in Scum's Wish. But instead of sensationalizing the subject matter for the sake of capturing audience attention, those shows decide to represent the relationships of the characters in naturalistic ways. The key takeaway here is that those shows did NOT rely on sensationalizing its content. That's the difference between media that use sex in an exploitative manner, and those that incorporate it as just another facet of life in the narrative at hand. Having relatable scenarios don't amount to much if it's unrealistically presented in the confines of the story. The show takes itself seriously, but the situations themselves are vapid at best.

And that isn't even to say that theatrically sensationalized programming doesn't have its place in storytelling media either.

There's no shortage of TV shows that use sensationalism to its advantage; such is the case with TV series like Shameless. A show that purposefully acknowledges the fact that it's all about sex, violence, drugs, and mayhem. And if the namesake didn't already make that clear enough, it "shamelessly" uses these aspects to tell its story. But that's the difference between something that's purposely sleazy like Shameless and the likes of Scum's Wish. One show is self-aware of its overblown content while the other operates with an aura of conceit and pretension.

But enough with the long-winded preamble, let's discuss what the show is all about. Short answer: yearning for others and sexual depravity. Long answer:

For as long as she could remember, Hanabi "Hana" Ysuraoka has been infatuated with her neighbor, Narumi Kanai. Due to their single parent upbringing, from a young age, they had quickly established a sort of family bond with each other, with Narumi becoming a frequent guest in Hanabi's household, to the point where she refers to him as her "big brother." Eventually, this infatuation Hanabi shares for Narumi slowly turn into a romantic interest. And as is the case with any story scenario of this nature, that love goes unnoticed as Narumi has his eyes set on someone else. That someone being the alluring music teacher and predestined rival, Akane Minagawa.
Being the object of affection to any guy that attends Hanabi's high school, Akane has no shortage of men fawning over her at any given time. With her strawberry blonde hair, alluring smile, and an aura that just permeates femininity, Narumi became yet another lovestruck male caught up in her presence.

With Akane and Narumi both being teachers, Hanabi's standing as a student further widens the gap between her and the one she loves, as she watches with each interaction they share slowly chipping away at her chances of ever having him to herself. Left in a state of emotional limbo, unable to do anything but watch as he gradually slips further out of reach; it's here, in this place of solitude that she finds out that she's not alone. A pair of eyes fixated with a familiar saddened gaze reflected in them stare at the cheerful adults as well. His name, Mugi Awaya. She may not know him personally, but that familiar bitter tinge of unrequited love that they mutually share leaves her a small glimmer of reassurance—"I don't have to suffer this alone." And so a pact is made by the pair, one signed with only physical comfort in mind. Sexual relief, mutual resentment, a promise of no strings attached; emotions left harbored off from each other for that promised day. Friends with benefits with only one intent in mind, to eventually gain the affection of the person they truly yearn for.

A tragic, bittersweet, ill-fated romance. A setup that could take on so many avenues of exploration and be successful at all of them if done right. It doesn't have to do much, just simply show the consequence of that kind of entangled emotional dependence as it affects the characters involved. Anything that toxic and shortsighted is bound to cause psychological scarring to anyone that participates. A dangerous game that some of us may have personally felt the backlash for at some point in our lives, after foolishly thinking that we were above the consequences. That somehow the end-result that many faced before wouldn't apply to us. A foolhardy belief that we could handle it where others weren't capable.
A continuous physical/sexual dependence on others will always come with a steep price of admission, whether it's immediately realized or comes on later in life during a silent night laying in bed, as thoughts of it creep in, festering in your idle mind. The foolishness of our now bruised ego, as we reflect on the stupid decisions of our past selves. Hubris in its purest form, with humility being the bitter pill we're made to swallow.

And to the show's credit, it does a good enough job depicting that inevitability. The problem is that it doesn't just stop there, as it decides to go the whole nine yards, and then some. Instead of just settling with a believable depiction to carry this core message, Scum's Wish is too greedy to call it quits. It doesn't just want to depict that scenario; it wants to portray everything under the sun, exhausting every possible love/lust situation imaginable in an attempt to make every possible outcome into an attention-seeking circus act of sexual decadents. And it's because of this, what once started out as a reasonably believable scenario, has now been turned into a ludicrously overblown orgy fest.

Without getting into specific names or details, I'm going to describe the general plotting of this show. And no, I'm not exaggerating here, this is what truly happens:

Person A wants to be with person B, but person B wants to be with person C, and person C only desire attention, and person D wants to be with person C but settled for person A, while person E wants to be with person D, and person F wants to be with person A, and person G wants to be with person F, and person H wants to be with anyone who's willing, and person C uses person H, while person D uses person E, while person J and D use each other, and person A uses person F, and person H tries to use person A... and so on and so forth.

And again, this isn't an exaggeration, this is what actually happens when you sit down to map out the plot for each episode. To say this story is insanely contrived would be an understatement. There are shows with fatalism in it that manage to feel less artificial. Any character that's recurring or has a name in this story is actively trying to bone each other.

There is absolutely nothing realistic about this toxic nonagonal love-web. And it's this web that actively defeats any victory laps the show achieves with any one of the individual stories stuck inside it. This show does have genuine character beats and arcs, but when all that's mired in content that's essentially one big exploitative fuck-fest, it's hard to take any of it seriously.

But to the show's credit, it does dedicate a decent amount of time framing the characters' mindsets so that the audience has an understanding as to what makes them tick, as well as why they carry themselves in the way they do. This is made all the more commendable given that a majority of them have despicable personalities. You don't necessarily have to like them, but you do understand how their thought process operates under certain circumstances. This is the definitive attribute it has over its much more cruddy sibling, School Days, where no time or effort was dedicated to any of the main lead's concubines. Scum's Wish, at the very least, gives the illusion that the characters presented are their own person, as with School Days, they were all just assembly-line fuck buddies. Not that it isn't the same case with Scum's Wish, in due time, they're all just reduced to sexual encounter cannon fodder as well. But with the time given beforehand to at least probe their psyche and reasoning behind their actions, they could still be considered to be "characters" by the end of it.

And speaking of School Days, not surprising enough, this sleazy brainchild was also penned by the same scriptwriter as well, Makoto Uezu. The man tends to over exaggerate everything he writes, and where that proves successful with his efforts in comedy-centric shows, for dramas, they have the adverse effect, as demonstrated here, in Arslan Senki, Akame ga Kill and of course, everyone's favorite, School Days. Adequately written drama is not the man's forte.

And speaking of dramas that became unintentionally funny or embarrassing, Scum's Wish is also plagued with random "comedic" cutscenes that began and ended with no discernable reason or benefit for the tone of the series. This usually occurred after an emotionally heavy scene, having the same terrible effect in the way Akame ga Kill would randomly cut to comedic hijinks after someone gets brutally murdered. Whether we could pin this similarity as another fault of Uezu is unknown, as this might just be a result of what the manga does than what the adaptation might be responsible for. Either way, it's a lousy attempt at levity that comes across as awkward the first handful of times it's used.

Other than that, the actual art and animation of the show demonstrated some thoughtful consideration of how it was constructed. By incorporating panel strips to make scenes flow together—visually emulating manga image tiles—Scum's Wish was able to convey more information by not only accounting for the character's reaction towards a situation but also drawing attention to certain critical moments as they pertain to the people involved within the frame. This allowed the audience to get a general sense of the mood or mindset that's being conveyed by placing a fixated point of interest with things boxed off within the manga panel tiles as it relates to the overall scene. The talented duo behind this thoughtful bit of storytelling was Yukie Oikawa and Masaomi Andou, who's past collaborative efforts together created the technical wizardry demonstrated in Gakkougurashi, where they both made their best Satoshi Kon impression.

Capitalizing off that, the art department showed a keen eye for color placement as well, with cool and warm colors striking a delicate balance, bringing with it visual chemistry on screen. Nothing overpowers the other unless it's done to insinuate a particular mood. An example of which is when they purposely chose to plunge the entire palette in monochromatic blues and dark purples to help give a feeling of isolation, only to use that same coloring technique with soft touches and color highlights to be used for times of intimacy. It's this firm grasp the creators had over color theory that allowed for selective color choices to serve dual purposes under the right guidance.

They also used splodges of ink and watercolor paint during cutscenes to represent a myriad of emotions and ideas, like lustful desire and deflowerment. While done with no subtlety whatsoever, it was still a nice touch. And even when everything was more than likely digitally colored in, they didn't use that for shorthand around adding personal touches, often giving things soft pastel-like textures and occasional color-penciled-in still shots placed throughout for good measure. Even the character designs are an excellent standout, having anatomically believable body proportions that help the viewer buy into their placement as people within the story.

With sharp edits used to juxtapose certain situations and letterboxing being applied to convey certain pivotal moments, every idea here was given careful consideration. Yukie Oikawa's acquired abilities from early documented work on Noir up to now has made this a show with a steady hand for cinematics, even if only on a smaller, manageable scale. And to be honest with you, this overall care given for its presentation might be the most significant saving grace for this show. Without it, the show's gimmicky content would be way more apparent than it is now.

Well, at least for everything within the show, as for the opening and ending themes, however, things couldn't have been more ridiculous had it tried. Starting off with a goofily blaring vocal performance and a flurry of rose petals, the imagery and song throughout the opening were pretty overblown; especially when it hammered home symbolism that felt tacky in comparison to what was presented in the show. But to its credit, the tune wasn't bad on the ears if you just let it play out absent-mindedly. As bad as it may have gotten at times, it doesn't come close to touching the ending theme's issues.

The ending theme's visuals were so blatant and try-hard that they actively made me cringe. It reminded me of Zayn's "Pillowtalk" music video, which is never a good thing since that was basically the equivalent of someone screaming:
"Get it BRUH? The FLOWERS represent VAGINAS and WOMEN'S WOMB... and like SEX and stuff, ain't I clever fam?!"—like no, just stop, you're embarrassing yourself and society. It's the kind of imagery a 15-year-old going through their "emo phase" would create, as they wear their Sid Vicious necklace and blast Linkin Park and Pierce the Veil in youthful revolt. By using a mixture of kaleidoscopic visuals to create phallic images, the whole thing aims for contemporary sex appeal along the lines of an FKA Twigs music video but ends up falling incredibly short. It had the tone of a former Nickelodeon child star trying desperately to break free of their kiddie image by being super raunchy.

Having "mature themes" and being "maturely handled" aren't the same thing. And when it comes to Scum's Wish, this is an applicable distinction to keep in mind, as the show crosses the line thinking they're one in the same on several occasions. And it's perhaps this issue that's the show's greatest downfall, as it relates to one of the bigger pending problems that need addressing; the character's awareness of themselves and each other.

The characters all have this uncanny ability to not only know the inner-workings of their own thought process but also that of everyone around them as well, like if they were all psychology majors. The internal reflection was appreciated, but knowing the mindset and framework of everyone else was a bit ridiculous. Realistically speaking, there should only be two characters in the entire show with that kind of mental capacity, and that were the adults. As a teen, one's ability to discern self and the disposition of others are only achievable on a superficial level. This isn't an "opinion," this is a scientific fact.
I've been in similar situations before as a teen, acting on sexual impulse, but was I fully aware of my decisions to the point of self-reflection? No, because I was horny, not some man musing about life and his choices. This anime treats teens like adults. The phrase "young, dumb and full of cum" isn't just passed around to describe youths for a good laugh, it's an expression born from the fact that during that turbulent time of change in your life, teenagers are shortsighted and driven by impulse. You don't start truly thinking with your prefrontal cortex—the rational part of your brain—until you've hit your early to mid-20s when it has fully developed.

Whenever the characters experience emotional woes regarding their actions, that's natural, and again, commendable for the show for trying to depict that. But it's the moment they all become Dr. Phil that it loses touch with itself and reality.

And I think I've danced around this long enough.

I'm trying my best not to state the obvious here, but fuck it, time to state the ugly truth of the matter. If your closest thing to intimacy is the love you received from your family, with little to no experience in an actual relationship, then what Scum's Wish depicts may come across more realistic to you than what is actually true. If you only watch anime and haven't ventured out to other mediums, then Scum's Wish offerings may also seem more novel than what it is. However, if sexual relationships—especially in the form of "fuck buddies" that this title plays with—are something you've had some passing experience with or hell, if you've seen/read enough other media centering around the subject, then chances are, what Scum's Wish offers to you may be nothing more than animated sleaze.

This anime's value could easily sway in either direction given the experience of the viewer that looks at it. As such, it's a show that's bound to cause contention among those that adore it and others that mock it. Of course, all of this doesn't even matter if you just want to be entertained, because if that's the case, there's nothing here worth reading that would dissuade you in the slightest. But if for some reason you happen to fall into that small camp that dissects and discuss the content they watch, this show would be met with coin toss results.

Your level of acceptance for what the show depicts depends entirely on your tolerance or love for certain narrative decisions. As for me, I don't see any reason to get up in arms about it. If you see it for what it is, there's no reason to get upset.

Scum's Wish lives in a vacuum. Real life is never so perfectly contrived. So instead of focusing on what it mirrors from societal norms, what should be looked at is what it does within the confines of its narrative. And when seen for what it is and not what outside influence it is not, the answer derived is pretty clear; Scum's Wish in its rudimentary form is quite literally animated smut. Meaningful at times but smut nonetheless. That age-old adage "sex sells" that's expressed by everyone, from your critics to your everyday viewer, isn't one to easily shake off. It's a commonly known truth for a reason. Sex in and of itself is not a bad topic to center around. It's a natural act we partake in. The issue is when sex is reduced to nothing more than a meal ticket to get audiences through the front door. At that point, any kind of message the show may have had becomes null and void.

In the end, what saved me from entirely dismissing Scum's Wish was the overall care given for its presentation, the extra time dedicated to at least exploring the characters involved, and the fact that content of this perverse nature is easily digestible on a basic entertainment level. As far as anything content-wise is concerned, it falls incredibly short of any meaningful passages in its narrative, save for the individual pockets of occurrences that get drowned out in all the clutter. When everything is said and done, Scum's Wish is a pretty porcelain vase; something beautiful to look at for a while but when peered into, just turns out to be a hollow shell.

Since episode 2 I'm waiting for this anime to just deliver the final blow so I can finally drop it in peace (and for good this time). Not because it's complete garbage… But the way it's going right now, I really don't know for how much longer I can sit through this. Good heavens. Ô_Ó

„Scum's Wish“, more like „Friends With Benefits: The Anime“ is about people being each other's replacements for people they cannot have. Which is an interesting premise, that anime as a medium hasn't explored too often yet, I agree. Nonetheless it's also a premise that can be ruined spectacularly with so little ... effort, and I feel like it's already taking that route.

STORY (5/10):
- up until now, nothing but wasted potential. The majority of episode 1 seemed so very interesting, but I feel my expectations shattering more and more with every new episode :'D What expectations? Well I certainly didn't expect a freaking jizzfest, which by now, it totally is. You may think I'm just oversensitive here, when I'm in fact all for anime showing and exploring sexuality more (and better) than it has until now, really. But guys... When an anime that's partially ABOUT physical intimacy makes me cringe whenever there's physical intimacy...it's doing something terribly wrong. I came here to watch characters cope with all the struggles and emotions that may come with screwing around- NOT to actually watch the characters screw around all the time.
Maybe anime's just really bad with sex scenes in general. Still, this one would definitely be a lot better if it reduced its amount of sex ever so slightly and would use that extra time to...idk, maybe handle its core themes a little better instead. For example by exploring the characters' complex emotions a little more deeply/detailed, but whatever.

CHARACTERS (5/10):
They're scum, hence the title LOL- No I'm not even kidding, they're all kinda slutty and really unlikable most of the time (especially the main girl and the “antagonist“), - Which isn't automatically a bad thing, I even think it's one of the show's strengths.
When a character isn't just unlikable though, but also starts making fucking dumb or utterly selfish decisions...then I don't want to root for them anymore, I'm sorry. For god's sake, I can't even empathize with the redhead anymore, they managed to ruin the one gay character within just 1-2 episodes. Basically just shortly after I'd even figured out she's gay, so at least I didn't have enough time to hope for a proper character arc in the first place. Joke's on you!
Anyway, onwards to the other (attention-) whores: … Do I even care enough at this point? Dear Kuzu no Honkai, if you want to make me care, you have to show me something more than characters being hopelessly infatuated with one another like, 24/7. Don't they like, do or think about anything else? If so, then show me. If not, they're the most unrealistic and unlikable bunch of twats I've seen in anime :'D I guess we'll just have to wait and see. And hope for lots, LOTS of character-development.

ART (8/10):
I like it, very much so. I think it's pulling off that novel-y style with the written words and floating images really well. Then there's this lack of outlines, which may look a little weird at first, but I find it very pretty and refreshing :) So luckily, however dumb the story might still get, the art is and will always be beautiful.

SOUND (7/10):
It's funny how the opening's the one thing that made me come back after I had initially dropped the show. That's how insanely good it is...!!! I love that song, I love the visuals … so pretty. Why can't the show be more like its OP :') The background music and sound in general are alright as well. Oh, except the kissing sounds. They're horrible.

ENJOYMENT (4/10) ---> OVERALL (5,8/10):
I want to enjoy this show, I really do. Not least because its themes are so relatable and common (to a certain extent). But instead of teaching me stuff, I feel like Kuzu no Honkai is doing NOT A THING the way I'd EVER do it.
So no, I can't get anything from this show (yet), wake me up when I care. Though I can't bring myself to rate it too low either, it's not that bad... Let's just hope it gets more...insightful, meaningful, deeper, whatever. Just make it better! And let's hope the plot isn't actually that predictable as it seems (cos it seems awfully predictable).

"I hate being alone. Being alone makes me feel empty. I want to sleep with someone."

DISCLAIMER #1: All opinions expressed in this review are mine alone, and you are not obligated to agree/disagree with them at all.

DISCLAIMER #2: Don't be deceived by the genres listed on the left. Proceed with caution if you see dislike any of the themes presented below:
* Forbidden love
* Netorare
* Sex and betrayal
* Yuri
* Lolis
...
TLDR; Overall rating: 2/10 OR 8/10

I will try and explain, as clearly as possible, the rationale behind the rating above, everything that this anime does right and wrong, and why you should or shouldn't watch it.

Story:
Kuzu no Honkai is a breath of fresh air, a new and unique romance-themed anime that will leave you speechless - just kidding. Kuzu no Honkai is a story about a group of kids playing house, featuring wishy-washy characters in that high school setting we all know and love. Apparently they're calling it seinen now.

The basic premise consists of an intricate love triangle featuring a perpetually depressed flake of a girl, an emo boy-toy, a standard issue onii-chan, a cougar, a lesbian, and a loli. In episode 1, Person-X decides to have sex with Person-Y. Repeat this for 12 episodes with different combinations of X and Y and congratulations, you've finished this amazing series.

Kuzu no Honkai is pretty much a hate-it-or-love-it kind of anime. The problem with this series is mainly how pretentious it appears to be. "I'm 17 and I'm deep" is the theme of the day. When I was in high school, the first and foremost thing on my mind was passing the university entrance exams. Relationships were important but I never forgot my priorities. Of course, that's only me, and you can't compare an anime to real life, but they wouldn't have made it a high school setting if they didn't want people to relate to it. I'll take the liberty to allude to Golden Time here: a similar romantic-themed anime placed in a university setting. For all its flaws, they at least they got that part right, and that made things a lot more real. Perhaps the setting is an unfair point of criticism, but the incredulity of it all was a dampening factor on my enjoyment of this series.

What does this anime do right with the story? For starters, I find its openmindedness towards love quite commendable. Love knows no bounds in this anime: (low-key) incest, lesbianism, lolicon, student-teacher love. Phew! Raunchy stuff.



Art:
Average 2017 animu art. However, one interesting thing about the art is how closely it resembles that of a shoujo anime - the suffocating close-ups, the excessive blushing, the simplistic nature of the backgrounds, fluidity with transitions, etcetera. Unassuming at times, allowing the viewer to focus completely on the trainwreck unfolding in front of them.



Sound:
One redeeming quality of the anime is definitely its music. The one thing you'd expect from the music would be to compliment what you see on screen, as opposed to jarr/seem out of place, and that's what the music did here.



Characters: (Minor revelations/spoilers, proceed with caution.)
With the exception of Ecchan, pretty much everyone is a flake.

Let's start with Hanabi. Supposed "honour student", has a thing for her onii-chan. Is fooling around with three different people at the same time in order to numb the pain of unrequitted love. Enjoys playing the victim card, is easily hussled into sex, and doesn't know how she feels 99% of the time about anything.

Next, the emo boy-toy, who has such a bland personality that you wonder what women see in him at all.

Third, we have a piano teacher who loves sleeping with underrage boys. And yet, Mugi the boy-toy enjoys perpetually jerking his little ding-dong to her, despite knowing what a tramp she is. Attraction to someone's looks is apparently called "true love" and entitles you to mope around 24/7 and wonder at how deep your life is.

Fourth, we have a loli who is actually just a stuck up little bitch. Also an osananijimi who you know will lose just based the trope she represents.

As you can see, there really is nothing likable about any of these characters and you can't really relate to any of them, owing to how bland and pretentious they are. There is no real character development either, apart from little revelations about each ones' true colours, which I don't really consider development.

I can, however, appreciate that this anime has some stellar relationship development. The true strength of Kuzu no Honkai, for me, lies in its character interactions. I keep harping on this, but the roller-coster relationships that characters experience with each other is actually quite realistic, and would have felt a lot more relatable in a university/work life setting.



Enjoyment:
This anime does not provide an iota of feel-good enjoyability at all. You will feel discomfort, jealousy, cringe, and at times, even disgust. But you'll probably want to keep watching with a grotesque interest that you'd have watching a butcher cutting up a piece of meat.

Overall:
In the end, Kuzu no Honkai has its good points, but is a painful pill to swallow. Vaguely resembling a B-rate drama, if you derive any more enjoyment out of this than what you'd get from a cheap soap opera, I commend you.

Depending on what parts of this anime you love or hate, you might end up calling this a 2/10 OR an 8/10. I recommend you watch and find out.

“Why can’t it be me?”

Love and lust are two terms synonymous with the young and naive but understood by those who’ve experienced both. “Lovesick” teenagers are often impressionable and irrational, driven by an overwhelming cesspool of hormones and emotions. Love is ambiguous at a young age, and can often be a stifling enigma. Lust is an enveloping, instinctive thirst for a partner’s sexual freedom. Although these concepts can be weighty and complicated, experiencing them is part of what makes us human, and are as intense as any incident we’re likely to encounter in our lives. Scum’s Wish is a visceral, raw and uncomfortable approach to ... love and lust, and even deeper, what makes our minds tick from a relationship perspective. Does it succeed in translating the equivocal nature of human sexuality or does it miss the mark?

Adapted by the small scale Studio Lerche (Assassination Classroom), Scum’s Wish takes the concept of a love triangle to unfathomable new heights by adding a dynamic and cunning twist, where love escapes the limelight. What we’re left with is an askew pile of sexual hatred and numbness that is downright unsettling. One night stands, homosexuality, virginity and incest are all covered at some point in the anime’s short 12 episode run, in an attempt to unearth the deepest and darkest fantasies of virtually everyone in the cast. The problem is, to achieve this level of promiscuity, the writers lose the credibility they attempt to obtain due to the dialogue and monologues drowning in a sea of melodrama.

Our main character, Hanabi is in love with her life long “brother” figure Mr. Kanai, who in turn is in love with a fellow teacher, who just happens to be the apple of her classmate Mugi’s eye, so naturally Mugi and Hanabi start a facade of a relationship to help them cope with the unattainable “unicorn” they’ll never be with. Honestly, the whole premise sounds like a joke. Add in an aggressive lesbian who falls for Hanabi within minutes of being saved from a pervert on a crowded subway, a goodie two-shoes lolli who is unfailingly devoted to Mugi’s love and a creeper who’s constantly trying to molest his cousin and the wheels start to fall off the believability. Almost every facet of Scum’s Wish revolves around sex, causing the series to be rather unnerving.

It’s one thing to talk about sensitive subject matter like chastity or innocence in an anime, but when it becomes diluted to the point of omission, the initial argument is lost entirely. Scum’s Wish attempted to bombard its audience with too many sexual themes in too little time, resulting in a desensitized viewership just aching to skip ahead to the “love scenes”. If the point was to shower us in copious amounts of fanservice, it could’ve been done with a lot less effort and cash. If the point was to incite pondering and stimulating intellectual debate about love and its many intricacies, each theme should’ve been handled with care. Instead, these taboo topics become nonchalant and shadows of their former selves.

The characters in the anime are a mix of plausible and irrational. Although I added in the beginning that love can make us do the dumbest things, some of the behavior exhibited by Scum’s Wish’s cast is unbelievable at best. A teacher sleeping with her students has happened before, hell it’s even been in the news. But the way it’s scripted here seems slightly schizophrenic… revenge taken on a girl half your age to shelter your own inadequacies? Highly unlikely. I think Hanabi sleeps with everyone in the show, except the person she wants the most… but you know what, it’s okay because she never went “all the way” with any of them. She’s incredibly dense, despite having an overwhelming barrage of internal monologues throughout the series, describing who she should be with next and why. The real question is, “why do I even care about this?” Mugi may be even worse, but being a teenage dude, his testosterone is probably blinding his potentially intelligent decisions. Mugi and Hanabi’s relationship never really made sense to me, from inception to the conclusion of the series. It felt as though it only existed as a plot crutch, and to allow the writers to slam a bunch of other themes in our face along the way.

I couldn’t care less for the other characters in Scum’s wish. Their sexual struggles always seemed to be the lifejacket keeping them relevant, though I couldn’t get onboard with any of their causes. The empathy just wasn’t there for me. Even Kanai, who I initially perceived to be the sole intelligent, unblinded character in the show succumbed to his libido and broke his innocence eventually. Scum’s Wish tries to shove down our throat that it’s okay to be a slut, everyone’s doing it! But in all actuality, these characters are just playing out the desires our meek and timid selves are too reserved to pursue. And why does every character need to whisper all the damn time? I felt like every line was so soft and overexaggerated.

The animation in Scum’s Wish is top notch, and when incorporated into certain scenes, really made my heart race. If there’s one thing that Studio Lerche nailed (pun intended), it would be the orchestration of the love scenes. Sweat dripping, pulse pounding, moaning and blushing all around make this anime one not to watch with a friend, unless you want some supremely awkward silences or dinner conversations. The character models are attractive and crisp, while the environments (if you even noticed them) are accurate and consistent.

The music is also a high point for me, definitely a soundtrack that fit the atmosphere of the show. Each sexual encounter was brilliantly timed with an epic addition of strings, while the plotting and scheming soliloquies were laden with an equally devious accompaniment. Ironically enough, I didn’t really care for the OP, as it didn’t really flow with the anime at all. A fast-paced JPop song with a relatively melancholy vibe just irked me. The ED was more appropriate, and really captured the tarnished innocence that Habani exuded throughout the series. Slightly haunting, and stunningly accurate. The voice acting was decent, though nothing out of the ballpark necessarily. I did like the apathy echoing through Habani’s voice during her monologues, a nice job for sure.

Overall, Scum’s Wish was a promising anime that became corrupted by the oversaturation of its sexual themes. The result was an uncomfortable, guilty pleasure that is best reserved for watching by yourself, on an introverted, quiet night alone. Those of you less intellectual might want to grab a tissue, though not necessarily for tears… I can assuredly say that this series pushed the envelope of what I might find appropriate to watch in anime, and I haven’t really seen anything like it before. I’d recommend it if you are really into hormonal, melodramatic sexual escapades, or are looking for a show with adult subject matter and want something completely different. I enjoyed it, but not enough to say it’s a must watch… and definitely not the anime of the season. As always, thanks for reading and be sure to check out the rest of my Winter ‘17 reviews!

You can easily say that Kuzu no Honkai (Scum´s wish) without a doubt has been one of the big talks of the winter 2017 season. Either people praise this new angle on a romance story in anime, or are disturbed by the emo depressed characters that does one scummy thing after another.

Well, Scum´s wish for shore manages to separate itself from its siblings in the genres, much do to with that it is including sex as one of the big factors. Because let´s be honest, most high school kids are exploring their sexuality and are not going out for months before they have their ... first glowing wonderful kiss (which often is the case in many anime´s). It’s often much less romantic than that. That at least Scum´s wish manage to portray very well – often you don´t need to have romantic feelings or care for the person in question, for physical and intimate contact. Even if Scum´s wish is labelled as a “Romance” anime, there is very little actual romance in it. Other themes such as rejection, unrequired feelings, loneliness, egotism, replacement, sexuality, naivety, desire, selfishness, and jealousy are explored much more than an actual two-sided romance. As for the characters – they truly are scum driven by instincts most of the time, and therefore are very hard to like or understand. At least they are to me.

But the question you probably having, is it any good or worth watching? I will get down to that now.

Story and Character: 3,5/10
The first words that’s comes in mind to me are “Soap opera with an emo-soft porn touch”. As in many anime of this kind, the plot is mostly, if not only character driven. The plot is the character’s actions, thoughts and interactions, therefore I´m bundling the story aspect and character aspect here in one.
That´s not necessarily making this kind of show good or bad, it just is what is. But then all the weight is on the characters and if they fail to do their job to make you feel and care about them... Well, then the whole experience can become much less enjoyable then it could have been. The thing is that most of the characters in Scum´s wish is unlikable and hard to relate to. *light spoiler* Is there a time that you felt so lonely that you slept with your friend of the same sex, even do you are straight, just to feel less lonely? If not, you see my point. *end light spoiler* The characters are very self-centred, lost, egoistic and outright scum most of the time. You have Hanabi (female MC), who is a cute lonely/empty high school girl with a big brother complex and crush on her male teacher, Mugi (male MC), the normal but slightly depressed handsome high school boy with a slut teacher complex and a crush on his female music teacher, Moca, Loli childhood friend with long time crush on mentioned male MC, Ecchan, lesbian friend with a crush on female MC, Akane, said female music teacher with a thing for sleeping with men that have other women loving them (just to get the kicks off their sadness and jealousy), and a Nerdy, clueless and naive male teacher that has a shy personality and a mother complex. And there you have the set-up for this “love” hexagon. Many times, I almost wished for that bad things would happen to them because they kind of deserved it. In the same time, I was kind of enjoying this new input in an anime, you aren´t meant to like the characters. They are deliberately written like that and that´s also what’s makes Scum´s wish interesting in its own way. So even if I really disliked the characters (some much more than others – yes, looking at you Akane), they still managed to make me want to watch them and their drama. Who was going to get rejected/fucked/used/do something randomly humiliating next? This phenomenon made me want to know what weird thing was going to happen next, and to keep watching this emo-soft porn drama week after week. A large amount of the show focuses on the character’s thoughts and reasoning’s. Most of the time it´s kind of depressing emo-philosophical stuff about the unrequired love, loneliness, how a bad of a person he/she is and how they use people, and the wish to change oneself. As mentioned before, the romance/love aspect is almost absent – most of the time there´s about desire and filling an empty place (both literally and figural speaking). And about control and sooth one’s boredom or loneliness. And by doing so getting involved with multiple people without give a shit about their feelings, to fill this empty place in one´s heart, soul, and… You get it. Other than emo-emotional/sexual stuff revolving the characters it isn´t much to the story. So, if you can put up with that, go ahead and watch it. If not, this is probably not for you.

Art: 8/10
The art and animation is pretty great – it has a certain quality about it. Mostly in form of shoujo beautiful backgrounds and scenery’s. Much effort has also been put on more detailed parts, such as the character’s eyes, with multi-layered colours and lights, or rain drops that’s falls and causes ripples in a puddle. And the blushing and sweating of sexually aroused characters is… hum... very pronounced. The colour palette that is used is very aquarelle with a wide spanning of the colour spectrum. It has a softness to it that is quite a contrast to the characters/story. The character designs are nothing unique or special. They have a pretty common anime standard design. For the animation, it´s absolutely fine, but nothing outstanding either. It has few weird motions and angles, but didn’t blow my mind either.

Sound: 7/10
For the soundtrack a lot of piano/guitar combos are used, with a sadder/melancholic touch to it. Which I suppose matches the mental states of the characters. Vocal songs are used but not that frequently. All over decent in my opinion. The OP is actually pretty good, it´s an upbeat pop song that´s gives of more energy than anything in show itself. The ED´s is also pretty good, and which I think is supposed to reflect all the confusing and mixed emotions the characters are feeling.

For background sounds and such, it does its job but nothing especially memorable. Waring, a lot of slobby kissing sounds are present every episode. That could be a huge turn of for some viewers. For the VA´s (Japanese) I think they did their job pretty well. It would be exaggeration to say that they really brought life into their characters, because the characters themselves appeared pretty lifeless to me. But they did a good job with the character they had to work with.

Enjoyment: 6/10
So, was it any good? Not particularly for me, but Scum´s wish do have something that made me keep watching it and see if there is any progression of the characters and their wishes. Even if I didn´t really felt for the character’s personalities, I still was somewhat entertained by this soft-porn emo drama anyway. Scum´s wish was something new I hadn´t watched 10 shows just like it before, and brought a new perspective to the genres. A little bit refreshing if nothing else. So, I enjoyed some of it, was disgusted by some of it, was irritated of some of it, and was pretty entertained of some of it. I would say, that for me it was worth the watch and I don´t want to charge anyone for my time back.

Overall: 6/10
The unlikable characters both made this show to something new and interesting, and at the same time puts sticks in the wheel for its self. I became somewhat emotional invested in the characters but for the wrong reasons. I wanted bad stuff (some karma please) to happen to them because of their egoistic and often childish behaver. But I definitely can´t call Scum´s wish boring or particularly bad. It still manages to entertain me to the degree of me watching it to the end, and be curious about what was going to happen next. So, I would not recommend this show for everyone, especially if you are looking for a cosy romance story. You aren’t going to find any of that in Scum´s wish. But if you like the genres and want to see something that hasn´t been done before and give a new perspective, go ahead and dig in to the scummy characters of Scum´s wish.

I hope you found this review somewhat helpful and informative. Cheers!

Love and the sexual feelings we have, lust, are complicated and confusing. Much like my overall thoughts on this anime...

Scum's Wish was the break out hit this season with conflicting opinions all over the place from people praising the show as a masterpiece in which it conveys the themes of romance and love in a realistic manner and those who say that it is over glorified and unrealistic. If you were to ask me, I'd say this anime is pretty stupid, and for the longest time I couldn't decided what this anime was going for exactly nor of what to make of it! It ... honestly feels like, in a lot of places, it is the second coming of School Days!

The biggest problem I had with this show was its lack of any interesting characters at all, but before I get into that, let's discuss the plot for this show:
Scum's Wish may seem like your typical romance show, but the two main characters who are in a relationship with each other, in fact, do not love each other at all, and lust for different people. Hanabi loves her Onii-chan and Mugi loves his sensei. As the show goes along the two characters begin to bond together, as they begin to form a real relationship whilst trying to come to grips with their unrequited love, while, at the same time, being horrible, scummy people sleeping around with others and using others to get closer to what they want. The characters constantly fuck each other other (no sexual pun intended.) And that's the main aim of this show; to highlight and showcase people at their absolute worst, who do nothing but sleep around and use people for their own agenda's and goals, but here lies my biggest gripe with the show. I find it so boring.

While the plot does try to do something different, which is commendable in its own right, I found everything to be so lacklustre despite the numerous, and rather off-putting sex scenes in the show. I would go as far as to call this show a deconstruction but not a very good one since I don't care at all with what is happening with any of the characters since the anime hasn't given me any reason to care for any of them from the start. All of them are pretty much horrible, disgusting people, and I do get that this is the appeal of the show for some, to watch horrible bastards instead of your typical sugar coated anime girls, but at the same time, since the characters are so unlikable and boring, I found their struggles and problems to be entirely pointless! The characters go around in circles and often the scenarios feel forced and often rather trite at times as well! Not only that but this show is filled to the brim of emotional monologues which always came across as being pretentious in my eyes and a cheap way of sounding deep without trying to convey any themes or ideas in a convincing manner.

The characters are pretty stupid, and end up doing stupid things just to force drama and pad out the episodes. Now, I understand that teenagers do stupid things all of the time, so it would make sense for them to do stupid things, but the amount of times I became annoyed with this show, and face palmed is staggering since there is no catharsis pay off to make light of the dumb decisions they make, and again, I couldn't find investment since the cast was rather dull and one dimensional. The show does present lesbians and bisexuality as well and attempts to present these in a realistic manner, but since not enough time is invested in these ideas they instead feel rather lackluster and are pushed to the side, remaining stagnant with hardly any development.

I've seen some people refer to this anime as being realistic, and while I can't speak for anyone, this, to me, it perhaps one of the most unrealistic romance shows to ever grace the Earth. All of the drama feels rather forced and thus the characters do too. Also, when in real life have you seen a girl lusting after her own brother so badly before? Not in my world anyway...
To be perfectly fair, they do treat the incest subtext matter with some care and respect and it isn't just reduced to being just some fan service for all of the filthy weebs out there and hell, it even gets a decent amount of development to fuel her love, making it somewhat justified, although it isn't handled nowhere as good as something like Koi Kaze.

Each character also makes it a habit of referring as themselves as awful people, which, while acknowledging the fact that they're, it doesn't change them at all, nor makes them inherently interesting because of this. The show really needed a likable character to latch onto, or someone to care for in order to have made the drama more hard hitting, but what we get is a rather dull, and confusing mess without any sense of direction to go in terms of its characters or story. The whole time while I was watching the show, I just felt uncomfortable and the whole show feels trashy, hiding behind the disguise of an emotional drama. It honestly does feel just like School Days in many regards. Now, I'm not someone who thinks School Days was the worst anime of all time, far from it in fact, but it attempts to do the same thing as Scum's Wish - that being a deconstruction of the harem/romance genre while presenting drama and dirt bag characters, and it suffers from the same problem. Since the characters are only presented as being such, it's hard to latch onto them and feel for anything they go through since the show is nothing more than a deconstruction and believes that is enough by itself to carry the show, which it isn't at all. At the very least we get to see all of the cunts die at the end of School Days...if only that would've happened here.

Now, I have to say, Scum's Wish has a great visual aesthetic, with great character designs and even some experimental animation to convey the emotional instability the characters are feeling, and the sex scenes, while awkward to watch since they hardly add anything onto the characters, are well very well animated; as well as the music. The opening theme was great and there is a great variety of music in the show to fit the correct moods, definitely the strong points of the show. The voice actors also do a pretty great job at conveying the emotions of their characters and they do feel pretty convincing as well. I also liked the rectangular boxes that would appear on the screen that cut to close-ups of the characters faces which was a subtle touch at presenting their emotions without relying on forced exposition, and this was a nice addition in terms of visual appeal.

But, when it comes down to it, if we strip these elements all we have is a boring deconstruction with pretentious excuses for deep characters. I do appreciate that the show is trying to do something different, but sometimes, different is not always better. I honestly really wanted to like Scum's Wish, I really did, but the lack of any interesting characters combine that with the fact that I hated every second of it, makes me never want to touch this anime ever again.

Review is based on 4 episodes of viewing experience-

I'll keep this short and clean -
Simply put Kuzu no Honkai is a better animated and overall better put together SCHOOL DAYS with multiple people having personalities like the MC of School Days.

There is a lot of hype this season surrounding this show, people saying it depicts relationships realistically blah blah but I think this is an overrated anime that doesn't have anywhere to go.
Human's will probably hype this like Yaoi on Ice (Which wasen't that bad but it did not deserve what it got), but I don't plan on being one of those human's.

Sorry
Bye

Kuzu no Honkai is a show that caught my interest by reading its plot synopsis. However when I actually started watching it, I didn’t expect it to be sexually explicit. From just the first episode, I was already welcomed by scenes that just flash that “lewd” sign across the screen. Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered a show that uses this kind of approach in telling a romance story. However, this is my first time seeing a show use a more dark and perverse perspective of exploring love without being labeled as a hentai. It shows a lot of promise to become an ... actual mature romance story that is unafraid to touch taboo topics. Yet, it turned into a mess that is beyond saving.

Let’s start with how the two main character’s relationship started. Mugi is in love with his teacher Akane and likewise, Hanabi is in love with her brother-figure Narumi who is also a teacher. Now, the story presents both Mugi and Hanabi’s situation as unrequited love. Since they feel conflicted with their feelings towards their love interest, they decide to form a relationship instead out of frustration. There’s a feeling of void that they want to fill by being in each other’s company and that’s an interesting coping mechanism that I would’ve liked the show to expound further on. Mugi attempts to imagine Hanabi as Akane and also Hanabi attempts to imagine Mugi as Narumi. Seeing this idea quite baffled me at first, as how in the world will they ever achieve that when they’ve never experienced embracing the warmth of their special someone in the first place. However, I interpret this is merely a childish wishful thinking and it’s a shame that the show only leaves it that way and never attempts to change that mindset.

As the story progressed, things got more complicated. It was no longer only about the couple’s dealings of sorting out their feelings by engaging in very sensual mouth play. You thought they were actually having sex? Nope, it got teased so much to a point that it became rather distasteful. So much for the friends with benefits type of story it was going for at the beginning.

The story started to introduce several subplots that couldn’t be justified within twelve episodes. Akane is not what people think she is under that innocent aura and the show gives her a bit of time under the spotlight, unveiling who she really is. There are also hints of Narumi having feelings for her and the show also dedicates time on how they interact with each other, with a possible sense of development to arise from it. It would’ve been fine if the story stopped at that point in introducing new things to the story, but it wasn’t satisfied and proceeds to introduce more characters that struggle to be relevant within narrative. Here comes Hanabi’s school friend Sanae and Mugi’s childhood friend Moca who both have romantic feelings with their respective friend.

All of the sudden, the show became about a love web that lost focus on what it really wants to do with its story. Character decisions started to become more irrational as I kept scratching my head what in the hell do they want to achieve. What happened to that interesting premise at the beginning? It slowly sank into a boiling pot of smut ideas, only to be rendered indistinguishable among the rest.

Another observation I’ve made that turned into something I can’t ignore is that it has too much internal monologues. Yes, they help in expressing thoughts of characters when all actions fail but there must be a limit to how much you can tell without being excessive. It breaks any sense of intimacy the show attempts to emulate with its atmosphere. A sexually explicit story must be able to convey thoughts through body language as well, don’t let all the talking do it. This is especially critical when it comes to foreplay. There has been instances where I can’t get into a scene because the narration always clashes with the suggestive movements, simultaneously doing both of them just makes me lose focus and attention.

With all of that mess, the show tries to end things in a positive manner which kind of puts me off. If you’re going to delve into the lowest depths of a human being, at least lower yourself all the way through and not ascend on the last minute like an emergency rope pulled you out all of the sudden. It immediately brings up a “People can change” cliché that felt so out of place. The only explanation I see for doing this is because they are running out of time, leaving all those subplots it laid out unfinished. It’s like everything went back to normal. Feelings were withheld once again and the main duo continues to move on with their lives without any sense of character development at all from those events that unfolded like it was no big deal.

Overall, Kuzu no Honkai is just a bad case of an unorthodox idea being subjected to a clichéd yet inconsistent approach in story. I could’ve hated it more, but a part of me tried to understand what it was going for. I could’ve not cared for it at all, but it intrigued me enough to pay attention. I could’ve loved it more if only it had a clearer direction in its story. Such wasted potential but it serves as a lesson that just because you are doing something that no one has dared to in recent memory, doesn’t mean you are excused for butchering your own work and still come off as a good unique anime.

But before the op even starts, the main characters of Kuzu no Honkai kiss already. With tongue.

This gives the viewer of good idea the direction this anime is going. Not shoujo. At all. A girl and a boy, their love for two teachers unrequited, seek comfort from each other, fantasizing each other as their crush. Expect a lot of kissing, undressing, and gratuitous scenes. Not being a fan of very intimate actions, I was a little uncomfortable watching. Not to say that these scenes weren't done well. The art is what really distinguished this series for me. The slightly pale water-color palate feel and meticulously ... drawn and animated characters constantly astounds.

However, the same cannot be said of the story. At first, you get the idea that the characters are struggling with their unrequited feelings, and so let their true, ugly natures into the light. The two mcs admit their most base natures to each other, and there are no lies between each other. The tricky dynamic between the two mcs is actually pretty nuanced and interesting.

Until everything gets downright abusive. Maybe at the fifth episode or so. Until the anime decides to turn on it's heel right near the end.

I'll not specify anything about the plot, but the sudden character personality changes are rather drastic. The two mcs were lonely, so they sought warmth from each other. The used each other, but it was a contract-like matter between them.

So where exactly did the mid-anime sudden abusive natures of both mcs come from?

And how did these two suddenly get epiphanies, allowing the heretofore miserable and abusive anime to end in sunshine and flowers?

It was a shame. I thought Kuzu no Honkai began brilliantly, defying conventions and challenging social norms with a unique twist on oft-seen material. But the sudden mid-anime abusive content just made me dislike the mcs too much for me to wish to follow the story. I would have dropped this anime but for its amazing art, but fans of a darker take on love who do not mind abusive relationships and intimate action, this is surely worth a watch.

What if i told you there was a softcore porn anime with the inanity of School Days and all the "artsy" pompousness of Shigatsu? If you have a modicum of taste, you may look at me in disbelief, wondering why anybody would birth that kind of abomination. Yet here we are, Kuzu no Honkai is very much real, and every bit as dreadful as you can imagine. But miraculously, KNH is entertaining, precisely because it is bad.

The concept is simple : we have here a cast of characters who do nothing but have sex with each other in random and ... ever changing permutations. The catch is that none of them enjoy having sex or even yearn for it. No, they just do it because the authors decided that it would have some sort of "deep", life-changing significance. While it may fly for the 13 year old female viewers, those of us who are older and more jaded will realize it to be the pinnacle of pretentious stupidity. And that's the story. No really, that's it. There is no real conflict, no accomplishment, and no progression. Just a bunch of idiots having sex and getting petty and jealous for nearly 5 hours.

Up to now it must still sound pretty awful and you must wonder how i could find any entertainment in this. The key lies in the execution. I'm not exaggerating at all when i say that 75% of the show is characters having inner, sappy, whispery monologues. It's so annoying and bad, that i couldn't actually get annoyed by it. Rather, i was amazed and bewildered, wondering how low it could get. I was on the edge of my seat with a chronometer, seeing what is the longest shitty monologue, seeing if it would set a new record. It's a bit like Poe's law. But here it's somehow more organic than a pure parody, because it wasn't intended to be. It's just one because i decided it to be, as the viewer.

Part of these monologues are what i call epiphanies. You know, when character A says something really inane, but the writers decided that it would instead be a "deep" statement, then character B launches on a 5 minute tirade about how he finally realized "something". Every character has at least 10 of these throughout the series, since they spend most of their time introspecting about themselves. And it became a game for me to try to anticipate when would be the next epiphany, or to count how many they could cram in a single episode.

Oh yeah, the characters. In all likelihood, you will hate every single one of them. I mean, what is more annoying than teenagers who do nothing but internally whine about their free-of-real-conflict lives? But here the despicable characters are an asset. I don't know about you, but i enjoy seeing people i hate suffer, and KNH really delivers that type of satisfaction. Don't expect true pain though, just woe-is-me depression over yesterday's "life-altering" sexual encounter. But it was enough for me, if i couldn't enjoy their sadness, i could at least laugh at them.

But really the show's strongest point are the pretentious little artsy devices that are densely sprinkled throughout. You know, like when a tear falls from a character's face and falls into an abstract background and creates water ripples. Or when the screen cuts out to a black background with some very "deep" 2 words in the middle that some character then says after a long pause, with all the dramatic intent he can muster. You know what i mean. These were profoundly hilarious to me. Just one cliche after another, and there is so many of them that it just adds to the humor.

Another source of entertainment is the visuals. The art is very good, with lots of details. Eyelashes are meticulously drawn, not just a thick black line. The hair actually looks like hair and not just a piece of hard, colored plastic. At the beginning, there are also some top notch lewd scenes. This isn't your 100$ budget hentai, and one of your only chances at seeing a properly detailed and animated kiss in an anime. Unfortunately, as usually happens, they concentrate the explicit stuff in the first 1-2 episodes to reel you in, then barely include any in the later parts of the show.

So to summarize, KNH is a true gem in the "good because it's bad" category. The problem is that it gets old pretty quickly, due to, well, nothing happening or changing. The lewdness tapering off also contributed to make this a test of patience to get to the end. If you are able to put yourself on 3-4 layers of irony, i would recommend watching the first 2-3 episodes, and stopping there. You will have seen all there is to see.

[Light spoilers ahead as of EP 7]

Kuzu no Honkai is a very mature (basicaly soft-core porn) romance anime set in high school (duh!). In very first episodes you can notice that this is not your average slice of life rom-com with very light and mostly only hinted actual romance.

First impression that this show made on me was quite good, good enough to write my original 9 out of 10 review where I praised finally handling romance rom-com differently. It isn't most genious story out there, simply two high-schoolers having kinda weird crushes so they decided to be each other's substitutes. The way how together with ... fantastic art and music portlayed it was unique at least. The cast doesn't act as 12 year olds blushing and getting embarrased. Well, actually there is not a lot of anime having so much of intimacy as this.

But is this alone enough for a good anime ? Nope.

After first episodes made you feel very excited about all the possibilities this anime could go, as each new episode, I got more bored and dissapointed. When I initially praised anime for it's way of handling romance, I don't know that this will be only thing handled here and how poorly when inital suprise of "wow they actually kissing" wear off.

I mean seriously, you won't find anything else here. 100% of runtime consist of static characters just talking or thinking about who to f*ck, if they are not doing so. Super-clever looking monologue doesn't help making story deeper than this.

It also won't help that initial pretty innocent premmise of woman MC "I like A but I can't be with A so I will seek banging in B" became in the middle "...So I will date B but I will meanwhile I go to bed with C because why not (yuri FTW!) and will try to f*ck D and make him fall for me and meanwhile A and B..."

It's simply a nonsense. It's so artificial, so unnatural that you quickly stop care about them. Because they simply can not exist in our world. I can more identify with those generic rom-com situations that I was making fun of in my first review. Characters are simply the worst. Almost every one of them. Not just one antagonist, they all just morons thinking only screwing everybody around (literally and also metaphorically). No fun, no develompent, any plot that would hold up that romance. That's also the reason why I don't have much to talk about besides this.

At the end, I must give credits for trying something different, for very good first episodes and for unique art and sound. That's it. As a manga reader, I know that this will go even futher downhill. So if you like this premise and you are masochist, then this is for you, otherwise you are going for mediocre ride at best that won't give you anything that other soft core and hentai can't.

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 ... characters, their motives, and the plot in general.

From the first episode, to the last, this anime appears like a stretched out soap drama in the perspective of just the main protagonist. Sure, there are reflections of others and seemingly "deep" interactions, but let's remember that even the secondary characters are so shallow they lack their own lives practically--all for the premise of the anime's theme of adolescence.

The more mature parts about this anime felt less of a serious topic and more like a gimmick of a showcase. Which can reflect real life in how some teens undergo "maturity" early on, but the story was just not on par. The mature and intimate parts are showcased, but the story as a whole remained flat and without an substance.

This is an anime you can have a better time in by having it muted, just to watch the beautiful art and transitions.

It's almost a shame, because it starts off so well, but in general, this anime appeals closer to just an ecchi show with a bigger budget for some story. Which is a shame. Because some anime shows attempt to be dramatic and mature with some themes, but become just gimmicks with a bigger budget.

In short, main character had the whole story revolve around her. Side characters were there to reflect the main character. Story? This might as well just be a fairytale once upon a time in terms of no one knows what is even going on behind the set pieces.

Kuzu no Honkai is a story about love and the different forms that it comes in, and how it affects us as human beings. the story starts off already with a predicament concerning the love of our main characters Mugi and Hanabi. two students who have in some sense unrequited love for two teachers in the school Akane and Narumi respectively. since both of them know that it is impossible to be with their teachers it seems the next logical step(for some reason) would be to date each other in the sense of licking/soothing each others wound and be the replacement for the ones ... they love. however this just feels contrived as it just puts two characters together for the sake of the drama that will unfold in the later episodes. yes you can say that it's young dumb love, but that comes to head to how not dumb the show is trying to make these characters to be. since pretty much each main cast member has pretty long monologues that take up a large chunks of the show about them thinking about their action, what it means to love, and pretty much going around in circles were in the end most of it feels pointless.
two more characters are then introduced one to fill in the child-hood friend love, and the other to fill in the "just friends" love with and added lesbianism; with both thrown in to added more fuel to the drama in the show.confrontations, confessions, heartbreak, reconciliation and long winded internal monologue ensue all to lead to an ending that was lackluster, and had me thinking what was the point of this show? because in the end, it just felt like angsty teenage drama that was so forced it had more penetration than any of the sex scenes in this show put together. this also made me wonder what was so mature about this show? was it the sex scenes? because that just feels more like mature content. was it the internal monologues? because those just felt tiring and recitative. was it the presentation? because this is the only thing i can think of, and even then it's not much. this just felt like a pointless and contrived story that i know was trying to do something "different", but completely failed upon witing and execution.
also the comedic moments just felt out of place in this show

looking at the characters there isn't much really going for them.the show mostly focuses on who each character likes rather than who each character is. Mugi likes Akane, Hanabi likes Narumi, Mugi and Hanabi are soothing each other, Sanae like Hanabi, Noriko likes Mugi, Narumi likes Akane, and Akane just likes men. the most fleshing out that a character gets from the show mostly comes from the flashbacks that the characters have that made them the way they are, and/or why they like the person they like. you won't get much depth from them even the internal monologues add nothing new to the characters that we don't already know about. there's a lot to left to be desired from these characters that are just looked over for the sake of this anime.

This show really does set itself apart from other romance/drama anime with its art-style. several frames and most of the still frames look fantastic, and the color pallet, background, and character designs(however the younger males seem to suffer from same face syndrom) looks rather nice. however this is where the line ends. either be it artistic decision or not there is always this heavy usage of panel shots and the screen turning foggy black. yes this can be used to look at many different character perspectives at once, but that comes to question when at times those shots have in them just a glass of juice or a tree rather than anything important in the story they want to show the viewers. yes the black smoke is to show about the corruption of the characters, but they just relentlessly hammer it into you like you might not understand what's going on and this goes for any other sort of symbolism that they try to show since they're rather on the nose about it. however there's is kinda of a payoff at the end with the black smoke turning to white smoke, but by then it was pretty obvious it was to happen eventually. it just makes it feel like they just checked the boxes of having these in each episode instead of instilling any grand meaning into them.
the animation is what it is for this kind of show

the voice acting was ok, but i never found any of the voices appealing. a lot of the voice acting from the women sounded annoying especially from the childhood friend character. since most of the voice acting for the males was Mugi i found him to be rather bland. pretty much all the voices made the characters sound uninterested of what is going on. the Ost was decent to say the least, but not much to really stand out on itself.

in terms of enjoyment i was bored, but i gotta see what this show was all about from beginning to end. OK time killer

overall it tried so hard and went not that far, but in the end is doesn't really matter. the writing and characters are below average. it's aesthetic and presentation are very good, but has several flaws. the sound was a big miss for me. nonetheless it was an OK experience that i would like to experience, but with better characters and writing.

So, Narumi Kanai ends up marrying the bitch Akane Minagawa, dispite of all the men bitches in her life, SHIT! So what can I say?

Very Good 8, Story

Storwise, it has romance, drama, slice of life and some yuri, but it was quite q unique one since , it involves such complexities within the romance part, where two people finds comfort on each other , not because they care of each other, rather they see themselves a replacements for the very ones they love. Also the slice of life was also unique since in includes some unexpectedness that one would either understand it or be disgust ... by it.

Fair 6, Art.

MAL has warn us about some mild nudity, but the only nudity you'll see was with Ecchan's panty shot and some angles were it kinda look like that Hanabi is going commando. In fact the nudity around here were very much within an acceptable standard.

Decent 4 , Sound

Ok the closing and opening themes were ok, and Hanabi's voice is cute, however Ecchan's seiyu Tomatsu Haruka , sounded too mature, in fact she should've voiced Akane instead of Eabato and Akane's seiyu Aki Toyosaki should've voiced Ebato, but the rest like Mugi and Noriko's seiyu were just right.

Pathetic 1. Characters

Ok let's go over each of them:

Hanabi Yasuraoka X Mugi Awaya, both were in loved with their teacher given that they already had a relationship when they were younger, the problem was, Hanabi juggles from having a yuri relationship with Ebato to a normal relationship with Mugi, her character was simply too complicated to understand, since she has to paddle her way to three rivers where one is her goal to be in a relationship with Narumi Kanai who was her teacher/ childhood friend/ onichan, the other river where she is having 2nd thoughts of being lovers with Mugi and the last river was being in a lesbian relationship with Ebato, what's annoying about her was her trying to have a relationship with one of Akane's man bitch, Takuya Terauchi. The same goes for Mugi, he's having some conflict of whether he should be in a relationship with Hanabi, continue to be Aakne's man bitch and being a lolicon with Noriko Kamomebata, also I very much pissed that despite of Akane's infidelity, he still continues to love her and is even willing to be one of her man bitch. Frankly, just those two alone were simply pathetic to the bone.

Narumi Kanai, who happens to be Hanabi older childhood friend is another reason for the low score was my disgust for him , in which he prefers to be Akane's man bitch instead of having to wait for Hanabi to turn 18 so that he can bang her and be his wife, in the end he's too foolish to even forgive Akane's sexual adventure with her man bitches and even choose to marry her.

Akane Minagawa, everyone would agree with me that she was a character that everyone would love to hate, so much so, that we'd wish that Kanai and Mugi would despise her but no and they even become one of her man bitches.


Sanae Ebato, basically she is the bokuko here and she forms a yuri element here, but she a double standard, she has the guts to hit her cousin whom obviously have some feelings for her, when she is annoyed, but she a pussy against a predator who was sexually harassing her on the train, frankly she one character whom I like to see get raped by her cousin.... or that predator on the train for that matter.

Noriko Kamomebata. she just a loli element here, whom I like getting owned by Hanabi.


Fair 6, enjoyment

I do enjoy watching this 12 episode anime, the down side was the characters themselves whom were a disappointment, especially when the Hanabi X Mugi never transpire beyond just as replacements with each other, too bad it had to end on a sour note.

Fair 6. Overall.

Do enjoy, but don't expect a good ending.


OUT!!!!!!

This anime is basically a drama revolving around immature horny teens n adults who fail to see the true meaning of love, confusing it with their carnal feeling of lust. The author heavily tramples upon his characters twisting them into pretty much human garbage to fit the anime title and because of that you’ll never sympathize or feel sorry for any character in this anime. The only sane character (if any) in this anime would be the glasses guy. Even though I can’t imagine a normal person making the decision he just made, his actions just emphasize the message of this anime. Yes, as much ... as how uncomfortable this anime is and how disgusting the characters turn out to be, this anime indeed has a message. That is, true unconditional platonic love, love that doesn’t demand anything in return from the person you love, love that is free from lust, is the only way to save people and it can bring about a change in even the scummiest of the bitches.

Well, compared to many other drama anime I’ve watched, the enjoyment level was almost zero. I more or less watched this to find how it’d turn out in the end. Even though it ended on a good note I’m not completely satisfied with the ending, but I’d give this an overall 6/10 just for the message. Not really recommended to everyone, but the ones who like the drama genre should definitely give it a shot.

It started off really good, when I started watching the first couple of episodes I was really engaged and wanted to learn more about the characters and why they were the way they were. But as it progressed, things got hectic. The show turned into a shit show and I constantly found myself saying, ''Oh. Another new character we get to dedicate the entirety of the episode to.'' And in the end, they ended up just being really irrelevant. If the show cut off the unnecessary side character back stories, it would of been reduced to like 6 episodes. I shit you not. I feel ... like they only kept them in there because it's either sad or there's sex involved. I also get the vibe that the creator made all these characters with their traits and backstories and what not, but couldn't make up his mind as to who to pair them up with so he was like, ''Hey. Let's just make a super confusing love triangle and make everyone kiss each others asses for 12 episodes. Deal?'' I can't really say if I prefer the manga over the anime, for it might be the same confusing shit show. But I probably will spare my money the confusion and angry emotions. This show had a lot of potential but at the end, you feel nothing. No sadness or happiness or anything. There was no message or true point or climax in this story. My feelings for this anime was pretty mediocre because quite frankly, it was kind of bad. But it had a lot of potential if they buffed and cleaned it up a bit.

Um, Kuzu no Honkai is pretty much an anime that takes some interesting and compelling topics of romance...and well..

Ok, so me and my best friend watched this borderline hentai, and let me tell you, there was a lot of screaming. Now you ask, why would two pre-pubescent giggly-filled sparkly eyed girls would watch this? Well that's not the point.

Any who, I applaud Kuzu no Honkai for daring to explore the dark sides of 'romance' and breaking away from your seasonal mushy Rom Com.

In all the drama and such, it probably actually executes its meaning pretty well,

BUUUT

... That doesn't mean it was enjoyable.

My biggest problem was the characters,

I mean seriously at some points they had less sense than an empty piggy bank.

But then again, I don't expect much from characters from an anime called 'Scum's Wish'
Pretty much to describe the relationships of everyone in this anime in one sentence is...

Everyone loves some other person, but they will do anyone.

Now with all the fun I had pointing out the flaws of this anime, I do personally think that it showed well just how empty procreation can be if its not with someone you love.

Then Jersie, if it executed this topic well, why a 5 rating?

LIKE I SAID BEFORE,

IT'S NOT ENJOYABLE.

I would say you are a strange person if you genuinely enjoy extremely over-dramatic teenage drama and seeing them mate like dogs without reason....

I mean, Kuzu no Honkai like I said before executes meaningless procreation well, but

It's depressing, and uncomfortable and just overall,

THE LONGEST 12 EPISODES IN MY LIFE, they seriously felt like 2 hours per episode.

But at least at the end even with all the broken and trampled hearts of the characters, the raging and suffering of the viewers, it manages to tie the ending up...well better than I thought it would.

(BTW I usually rate an anime on its enjoyment of the average viewer)

But some good things Kuzu no Honkai had going for it, was its good animation, but at least how my best friend would of called it

'The beauty was wasted on it'

It also had good music, and well yeah that's my review.

Kuzu no Honkai had good concepts, but it's still not enjoyable.

Thank you for reading.

It's hard to review this one fairly.
It's a pure drama series, provocative, over the top, sometimes brutal. This is why you will build up a lot of resistance towards it. However even though the character interactions often feel forced and over the top (everybody sleeps with everybody else and everybody is hurt), as is typical for drama shows, the series can't be called bad.
Actually the drama in this show is often times reflected very intelligently. The topic of the teenager desperatly trying to find a place in a world that turned out to be far more cruel than ever expected is realized well in ... this anime.

It's hard to rate this show.
It is intelligent and self aware.
However it overtunes everything like any cheap drama show and this almost makes me hate it.

All in all: If some brutal, provocative drama is what you are looking for, watch this one, at least it is smart with the way it uses drama.
If this is not your genre, this anime wont do anything good for you.