Taishou Otome Otogibanashi

Self-styled pessimist Tamahiko Shima lives alone in the mountains of Chiba after losing the use of his right hand in the same car accident that took his mother's life. Deemed incapable by his father and other wealthy relatives, he has been forced into exile; he experiences idle days of reading and sleepless nights of irrepressible angst. True to the Shimas' famous pride and determined not to disgrace his family, Tamahiko is resigned to his new duty—stay in the mountains and wait for death to put an end to his suffering.

However, on one snowy night, Tamahiko's insomnia is interrupted by someone knocking at the door. He then meets the 14-year-old Yuzuki Tachibana, who announces that she has come to be his future wife! Suddenly, Tamahiko remembers his father promising to send him a bride to assist him with impediments to his daily life.

Although she was sold as a bride to repay her family's debts, Yuzuki proves to be thoughtful, diligent, and dedicated to Tamahiko. Will the world-weary teenager prove insensitive to the rare breeze of kindness her presence brings to his monotonous existence?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tachibana, Yuzuki Main

Aizawa, Saya Japanese

Shima, Tamahiko Main

Kobayashi, Yuusuke Japanese

Shima, Tamako Supporting

Miyamoto, Yume Japanese

Shiratori, Kotori Supporting

Itou, Ayasa Japanese

Atsumi, Ryou Supporting

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Shiratori, Hakaru Supporting

Toki, Shunichi Japanese

Tachibana, Mother Supporting

Tsunematsu, Ayumi Japanese

Shima, Tamao Supporting

Yamaya, Yoshitaka Japanese

Manabe, Tamasuke Supporting

Hatano, Wataru Japanese

Shima, Tamayoshi Supporting

Sakuya, Shunsuke Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Itou, Hirofumi Producer

Nishimae, Shuka Producer

Reviews

Jul 5, 2024

robin_p

Recommended

Love carries the world through all pain.

That sentence alone is the primary takeaway from this show. You get to see the protagonist progress and change as the woman that is bought for him impacts his life and the life of those around her.

Many will get immediately worrisome at the age gap and odd start to this show, thinking of it as another loli/wish fulfillment show. This could not be further from the truth. A criticism that will be levied against this show inevitably involves the age gap, however, let us assume that the viewer, you, would be willing to give it a chance despite that.

What ... is found within this show is change. That a single person can shift the ideologies and beliefs of many through kindness and a diligent effort. The characters introduced in this show are introduced with purpose, and relative to the runtime of the show, given plenty of space to grow. Seeing the characters you meet get impacted by not only the primary love interest, but by the main character who is actively changing, is amazing.

Something this show does that is impeccable is that even when the main character is changing and growing, they still stumble, make mistakes, and ultimately fall back into their old habits sometimes. This is a realistic character on that end. There is a lot to criticize about this show having odds and ends that seemingly aren't tied up well, but the ending is for the most part extremely satisfying. Anyone even somewhat interested in the time-frame, and an innocent but beautiful love story should spend time watching this. It is worth your time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 21, 2023

Benx2019

Mixed Feelings

The animation is pretty mediocre. No real flash to any of the scenes, character animation is just alright. Although the backgrounds are actually pretty solid. The characters are not all that impressive either, they're not shallow as a puddle, but they are not incredibly deep. The story has decent premise and leads to some fun hijinks, but that being said it's not too involved. The pacing is good for the most part, but the middle struggles a bit. Voice acting is pretty average. It's not lifeless, but it's also not at all impressive. The soundtrack is pretty good and the op/ed is also decent. Overall ... it's cute and I enjoyed it, but it felt a little dull. The voice acting plus the mediocre character animation just made the entire thing feel a little lifeless. I think that was really what held this anime back, a lack of effort in some key areas. Voice acting and character animation might not seem like a big deal, but they impact the ability of the show to move the audience. It's a rom/com drama, so I expect to be moved a bit more and I felt this was somewhat lacking in that area. 6.4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 16, 2024

Panda_Roll

Not Recommended

Ever had a knee jerk reaction just from a show's opening?

That's Taishou for me. A story about a sad boy being sad and the /manic pixie/ dream girl that "saves" him. I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. This genre was practically invited back then and it completely saturated the market back in the day. I guess Japan, like Disney, really is 20 years behind trends...

Now the catch here is that she's a granny. Nope, that's it. Think of the ideal grandma, the sweet one that does all the housework perfectly, makes the best food and can sew. Yeah, now place ... her in a childlike body and you have this show. Because heaven forbid we don't infantilize women. Sorta made worse by having the boy practically tower over her, I get that tall = handsome is most Otome stories but this just looks like a pedo entrapment show!

The rest is what you'd expect from this kind of story really. /manic/ is loved by all from the start, super happy all the time even when it makes no sense for her to be and she saves sad boy by bringing him out of his shell. In return sad boy is handsome, super tall, rich, gets good grades and is the author's ideal only with better hair.

And here is the issue I have with this trope. The characters are empty. Sad Boy usually feels more real since we get his inner monologue in stories like this but Manic doesn't really have her own identity, she is whatever will make sad boy happy (bra size included!). It makes sense that she was "bought" for him now doesn't it... By the way I find it problematic that this premise is ok in this day and age. It's a common one is BL to force the couple together but in a supposed romantic show??? There is some lip service paid towards this but that's all it amounts to, lip service.

It gets a few points since some of the situations are cute. Also the old timey 1920s aesthetic is charming and does work with manic's grandma persona. Over all it's not too bad but if you're not into this specific trope then you won't like it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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