The third movement of Debussy’s Bergasmasque Suite plays softly in the background as a strong gust blows hundreds of cherry blossoms in the night sky. It’s a fitting piece not only for setting such a tranquil mood, but also referencing Paul Verdaine’s poem, Clair de Lune, whose first stanza is a decently fitting representation of what may be one of the most beautifully written slice of life anime out there.
“Your soul is a chosen landscape
Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fanciful disguises.”
Story – 9/10
Hourou Musuko is a story about Shuiichi Nitori, a boy who wants to be a girl, Yoshino Takatsuki, a girl who wants to be a boy, and a cast consisting of their friends and acquaintances as they navigate through the issues of puberty, transsexuality, and gender identity.
I usually state in my reviews that the anime in question has a simple premise, but Hourou Musuko’s is anything but that. The issues that the show tackles are complex and filled with varying perspectives and challenges. The show doesn’t sugar coat the current state of people’s views of the transgender community. Yes, there are many who understand one’s plight and predicament, but often times, he or she may be almost entirely alone, forced to don a set of clothes that may not echo with their true identity, and changing clothes when nobody is looking to feel more like themselves. There are characters in this story that aren’t very accepting, or uncomfortable, or have strange fetishes that just make things worse, or are confused and externalize their confusion into near bullying. There are many people, even friends, family, and loved ones, who are certainly not ready to accept Nitori for the person he wants to be. Hourou Musuko doesn’t offer a perfect world for our protagonists to live in and be happy. It’s a confusing and trying time, with just the right amount of help from great role models to push our protagonists towards understanding themselves and the growth they’re experiencing.
In this sense, it was brilliant to tackle them from the perspectives of children, who are not only innocent, but easily influenced, confused, and prone to unpredictable outbreaks of emotion and anger. I felt like such an angle gave a lot more depth, with the perspectives of children and their older peers and adults on Nitori’s cross dressing a major motif in the story. The story’s most powerful message is of personal acceptance and coming to terms with one’s identity and physical changes that are taking place in one’s body. I truly believe that taking the perspective of kids empowered this message, as it removes any potential fluff in high school dramas while pinpointing the most confusing time for some of us all: the beginning of puberty.
Characters – 9/10
I would imagine it’s really hard to write children, and as we’ve seen from many movies revolving around children (most recently the disaster known as Ender’s Game), children can really suck if not done right.
Hourou Musuko has no such problems, and while I have to fault them for having some children (predominantly Chiba Saori, ironically one of my favorite characters) that act way older than they really appear, at the end of the day Hourou Musuko is powered by a really strong cast of characters that each fit their own role in their story, no matter how small it is. It’s really refreshing to see a cast that’s so varied and each serving a variety of important purposes and aren’t just lifeless plot devices.
Nitori’s best friend Mako is a fantastic foil character, bordering on the line of supporting his friend and envying him. The bombastic and tomboyish Sarashina serve as surprisingly good comic relief and sort of early role model for Tataksuki, who is interested in wearing more boyish clothes. The little girl Sasa is a mediator, trying to keep her friends together despite various conflicts, and she might be one of the characters a good portion of the audience might sympathize with. There are too many others for me to cover, but for such a short show, Hourou Musuko gives life to these characters and give them purpose, though it could be said that they needed to be a bit more fleshed out.
But it’s the three main characters, Nitori, Takatsuki, and Chiba Saori that get the most amount of development, and I think the three of them played such an interesting dynamic. I think Nitori and Takatsuki speak for themselves as the show’s two main protagonists, but Saori is definitely one of the more complex characters in the show, and she played kind of an antagonistic role, always causing problems for her own selfish needs. She’s blunt, and despite her brutal honesty to other people about her opinions she is least honest to herself. Her inability to externalize some of her deeper feelings and get along with people meshed her romantic feelings made her likable despite how mean she was to everyone else.
All in all, Hourou Musuko has great characters, and I think despite the fact that many may act over their age level, I think that’s a small and irrelevant point in the long run. While it’s true that children should be portrayed realistically, the end goal is the thematic elements that are what makes the show really powerful. To that extent, the children are portrayed realistically. They may have lines that hint at more deep thought, but it’s their quirks, confusion with feelings of love, innocence and inability to process between what is socially acceptable and what is not, and unpredictability that makes them children.
Art – 9/10
Hourou Musuko is a really good looking show, and it’s unique too. I must admit that the watercolor-ish look at the beginning seemed a bit too bright for me, but it really grew as the show went on. The character designs are also nice. I thought both Nitori and Takatsuki were drawn really well to demonstrate that they could look both like a boy or a girl. I think they changed Saori from her original appearance in the manga, but I think that only strengthened her presence in the show.
Other than that, there’s nothing particularly spectacular about the animation. The art is where the main compliments are had, and ultimately the show is less about animation as it is about the writing, but I do think their use of facial expressions were really spot on. You could really tell people’s attitude from how they were drawn, the look in their eyes, their smile or apathetic frown. I thought that attention to detail was really important.
Music – 8/10
I’m not particularly impressed by most of Hourou Musuko’s music, but I think that was intended since it was a kind of quiet piece that really didn’t have a need for any kind of outstanding score. The soundtrack was mostly very forgettable outside of three pieces, which was their rendition of Clair de Lune, the opening, and the ending songs.
The songs are composed mostly of a piano and a guitar, and I think that those make for quiet and peaceful tracks. They have melodies but are mostly unimpressive compared to the quality of everything else.
Enjoyment – 9/10
I had a great time watching Hourou Musuko. I haven’t watched too much school based slice of life/drama/comedy (more than most people though), but Hourou Musuko takes the cake for the best and most powerful school/drama anime I have ever watched. Its messages are powerful, thought provoking, and long lasting. This is an instant recommendation to a lot of my friends who are looking for good slice of life, and all of my transgender friends have cried and have sung only praises for such a realistic portrayal of the struggles of the TG community.
The characters in this show, while I may not directly relate to, are very interesting and multilayered. They all have their own qualities and I’m sure many will be bound to find at least one character to really like and look forward to seeing. The show has a great balance of comedy and drama too, without forcing melodramatic scenes down our throats at all. The writing and dialogue was great and demonstrated a mastery of narrative and storytelling. Sometimes Hourou Musuko even read almost like a poem, with beautiful passages short and expressive.
So, as the ending of this show came around, and the sound of applause began to echo in my ears, I could only clap along with everyone else. This seems like an overlooked gem in the anime community, and I sincerely hope you take my words and give this show a chance. I can only imagine which expression you may relate with when those final curtains rise on this magnificent performance.
