Runaway children. What do you expect for them to encounter while being defenseless without the supervision of adults a.k.a parents, boy or girl. In the case of the JK in question: Sayu Ogiwara, she ran away simply due to family problems that didn't work out, and had to live with the expenses given by her brother Issa until the internal problem could subside (which didn't happen). Being out of money and out of options, Sayu goes out to solicit sexual favours in exchange of having a roof on her head, just to live out another day, on and off. That is until she is spotted under a night lamp by an adult, which she attempts to repeat the same seduction behaviour again, only except that this man rejects her advances outright and teaches her how to do housework, and he goes by the name of Yoshida. From this day forward, the story begins the life of a JK who is being taught how to be a proper high school girl, and the man's constant love afflictions over women whom he desires or has a crush on him at work, going through the hustle and bustle of life while keeping this secret under wraps.
First off, I really want to stress this point home: Age disparity relationships are uncommon but yet still a heavily debated relevant societal issue, though you would often see worldly views denouncing these relationships, from being the shortest marriage possible to facing day-to-day ridicules from people around them. Unsurprisingly, some have eschewed from the norm, and are still able to find happiness over their relationships, and this is definitely the case with the "parent-child" family rhetoric of Sayu and Yoshida. Being an easily vulnerable girl, Sayu has had her share of a depressing past, most of which stems from her natural beauty that others would be jealous of (and friends being scapegoats driven to death), not to mention that the numerous times of her successful sexual favours for a roof above her head slowly seeps in her forced mindless attitude and behaviour of going bleak, in a terrifying fall from grace as a growing teenager and already having her virginity taken away at such a young age. Her remedy is Yoshida, an adult man who is beginning to feel his romance clicks at work with one of his co-workers (the busty Airi Gotou) while being enamored by his junior (Yuzuha Mishima) in a love triangle, all in the name of love and hoping to score with her as a growing adult.
Alas, with the arrival of Sayu, Yoshida has to keep everything about her a secret, lest his neighbours or anyone outside on the street parallel to his small apartment calls him out, even down to his colleagues, to which when hey spot Sayu with him, they begin to question his morales of "taking care of" her when he could've easily exploited her for sex. Nevertheless, this chad adult stood his ground, goes against the social norm by having her around like his own borne child, truly caring for her like a real and mannered adult should be. Even with the growing pangs of Sayu's past coming back to haunt her, as is the eventual reveal with relative colleagues both on Sayu and Yoshida's side, Yoshida faces it like a real man against these problems, though harbouring second thoughts on a clear head at times to stymie his actual body and verbal languages. This is where the original source material and this show finds its "wholesomeness" (and other haters "not buying the cringe drama") in the "parent-child" stranger relationship, where both Sayu and Yoshida grow more fond of each other, while keeping themselves at bay of the potential backlash that they will face in the series going forward. This is IMO character development and background done dreadfully-but-absolutely right, even if on a fictionalised level. If I were to consummate this akin to a quote in the real world, it would be this: "If you want to be successful, learn from the other peoples’ mistakes, don’t learn from success stories.” by Alibaba's CEO Jack Ma.
I'd pray for any studio who got this adaptation to work wonders with the original source material (that's condensed due to time issues), and Project No. 9 got their hands on it, and truly delivered with its limited animation that is made up by the almost-gorgeous visuals, seemingly the best that this studio has pumped out so far that I've seen. It has been a dream come true for fans like myself to finally see HigeHiro on the small screen, and aside from some omissions, this is a largely intact adaptation that does not try to force its themes into one of the stalker kind (I'm lookng at you, KoiKimo) and anything else that detracts from the experience. As for the OST though, it's largely cheerful and doesn't give away the hidden themes that this is an R-rated show with some fanservice and such (that thankfully isn't much). Some good OP/ED songs that fit the expressions of the show well, and Seiyuu idol group DIALOGUE+ has definitely upped their song repertoire quality.
This show won't be a masterpiece of a set piece of dark romance drama, but at least it's a good showing to newcomers who are intrigued with HigeHiro. Make no mistake, there are some scenes that will make you retch at the sight of it, and the drama may go ham and be superficial at times, but when you combine all of them together, it is one hell of an experience not to miss. Finally, a long-awaited show of mine that I can check out of my checklist of works made into anime. It's not for everyone, and you'd be best to have an empty stomach going into what HigeHiro is all about, to letting it ring the fact that you can never easily get out of once you start sinking into this deep rabbit hole of an engrossing drama.
