First Impressions|Sanrio Danshi – Just Do You Bruh

Originally I was going to stick to a live action review for Sunday, but I was sick and accidentally published this earlier last week. I’m sure some of you may have seen it before I took it down haha…. The other reason I’m delaying my live action review post is because I had a cold this week and Nyquil had me out before I could finish the movie. So I’m swapping my posts. Forgive me… (_ _|||)

Okay…so Sanrio Danshi (or Sanrio Boys) was joked about amongst BAYOG once or twice. Everyone probably would’ve thought I’d rush to volunteer and be totally into it. You see Sanrio Danshi is a franchise by Sanrio. After all, I’m not just a girl. I’m an Asian girl, and a hella basic Asian girl at that. So of course I love Sanrio (I currently love Gudetama~).

Minty, resident hella basic Asian girl at BAYOG.
Except, I actually had no plan or interest in starting the series. Sanrio Danshi is based on the otome game, a visual novel dating sim game aimed at females, that spawned the franchise. A manga series was subsequently released as well. Anyway, one would expect me to be all “I volunteer as tribute!” because of Sanrio and hot guys right? Here’s the thing….I like Sanrio, but not so much otome games. I’m not really into otome games and those reverse harem genre type of stories. I’m also not really into 2D dudes since I live more in my live action drama and pop music land. As much as I was interested because of Sanrio, I also hesitated because of a trauma I have. You see, I did try an otome game once. The art seemed gorgeous so I thought I’d give it a try. I did what I thought would be the safest route. It went horribly, HORRIBLY wrong. Long story short, I got a crazy bad WTF ending. What I thought was a safe choice, was the bat shit crazy secret yandere guy. The trauma left me avoiding anything otome game related. Maybe I’ll talk about that in more detail for a future post.

It was originally an otome game. (ﾟωﾟ；)

Manga Cover
Anyway, I was stuck on a road trip with my family. I was caught up on my other shows and had nothing to watch. So I ended up starting Sanrio Danshi anyway. Turns out it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Although my initial reaction was alot of “WTF”, several tears, and alot of laughs. It’s still not exactly my kind of show, but it is amusing. I’d just watch it to kill time because of Sanrio, how upbeat it is, and the fact that it’s centered around friendship. There are still some references to it’s otome game origin. Again, it’s not my thing. However, there’s hella fan service if you’re into that or if you’re a fujoshi. Here’s an example (NSFW).

PLOT
It basically centered around a group of good looking high school boys who all happen to love different Sanrio characters. The focus is on Hasegawa Kota as he becomes friends with the other guys. Kota’s days are pretty unremarkable, but they start to change as he becomes friends with Mizuno Yu and Yoshino Shunsuke. Kota has kept it a secret that he actually loves the Sanrio character, Pompompurin. He felt embarrassed, but is able to openly admit his love for the character thanks to Yu and Shunsuke. They too have their respectable favorite Sanrio character. And so begins the sparkling days of the Sanrio Boys.

(I honestly didn’t really know how to write this plot summary…so deal with it.)

So far a good chunk of the series has been on dealing with people’s harsh judgement on these dudes liking Sanrio characters. It also shows them dealing with their individual struggles and growth. The other part of it is just accepting it and accepting who you are.

CHARACTERS
Each dude has a favorite character, and are different character types (as typical of otome game characters). At the time of writing this post, I’ve only seen 4 of the episodes. So this is mostly just on the characters I’ve seen so far.

Hasegawa Kota
He’s seen as living a normal boring life for any average 17 year old. His favorite Sanrio character is Pompompurin. He loved Pompompurin ever since his grandma got him his favorite Pompompurin plushy. At first he was embarrassed and scared to admit that he liked Pompompurin due to being made fun of as a kid. He’s that naturally sweet, sincere, and overall nice guy character. This dude has the Pompompurin plushy his grandma gave him, as well as a sticker given to him by a little girl. (Character focus in episode 1-2)

Mizuno Yu
His favorite character is My Melody. He’s probably the most open about his love for a Sanrio character. Dude totally doesn’t hide it, nor does he feel embarrassed by it. He’s very friendly, cheerful, outgoing, and popular. He’s that kind of character that is friends and hangs out with basically the entire female population. He comes off as that openly flirty charmer and girly kind of guy. Yu is pretty athletic though, and is good at soccer. He loves pink and wears alot of pink accessories thanks to his love of My Melody. Despite being such a playful guy, he’s pretty responsible.He has a younger sister and does the chores of the house. He’s also very close with Shunsuke, who is his childhood friend. (Character focus in episode 3)

Yoshino Shunsuke
His favorite character is Hello Kitty. Dude’s personality and features resemble a cat (like his eyes). He has a rather serious and stoic personality. Dude is hella athletic, being the star player of the soccer club. He seems cold and may seem a bit anti-social, but still treasures his friends like Yu. Yu is his childhood friend and calls him Shu Shu. He has hella respect for Hello Kitty, seeing her as his goddess of victory. Typically people refer to Hello Kitty as “Kitty-chan”, but Shunsuke addresses her as “Kitty-san”.
(Character focus in episode 4)

Nishimiya Ryo
His favorite characters are Kiki and Lala, or Sanrio’s Little Twin Stars. He seems to hang out in the library alot. Dude has that angelic and sweet kind of face. He wears different colored shoe laces, referencing his love for Little Twin Stars. I’m guessing he’s like the shy and cute little bookworm type?

Bruh…You remind me of Mori from Ouran Host Club…

Minamoto Seiichiro
His favorite character is Cinnamoroll. He’s the student council president, as well as a member of the archery team. He seems to be the mature and cool character type?

The series has hella fan service for the fujoshi and otome game fans. Things from panning at half naked (or basically naked, but strategically covered) characters for a bit too long, kabe-don, and skinship.

Dat Kabe-don fujoshi fan service tho. ┐(︶▽︶)┌
There are also seems to be references to the otome game. You’ll notice the characters bump into a certain girl several times. It’ll also switch to her first person perspective during her brief interactions with the characters. She’s basically the protagonist (aka the player) from the game?

[Some Spoilers Ahead]

To be honest, I had no idea what the heck I was getting myself into. The first episode had me feeling all sorts of things from: “WTF?”, “WTF?? Is this the right show??”, LOLOL, “MY HEART!! HOW CAN YOU MAKE ME CRY LIKE THAT?!!”, to “AWW! YAY!!~”

I’m not going to lie. I was completely confused the first 2 minutes into the first episode. I mean the series seemed like it’d be something bright and happy. However, you’re greeted with a scenario where it looks like there are different countries (kingdoms?) for each Sanrio character. Each main character is a candidate of their respective country, and they’re basically fighting for something? It seemed a bit heavier and darker than expected? I was just sitting there wondering WTF I was watching and if I had the right series.

Me: Wuht…? What is going on…?? (・・ ) ?
However, it then switches to the expected normal school life setting. There are quite a bit of silly gags in here. Such as Kota’s weird face. I busted out laughing at the scene where he was trying to help a lost child. He tried to stop her from crying by making weird faces. Of course it scares her and has the opposite effect Kota intended.

TBH Me throughout my work day…
Interestingly enough, they add little factoids about the Sanrio characters each Sanrio Boy likes. I like Sanrio characters, but I’m not familiar with those little details. So I learned some new funny (and weird) things.

WTF? Today I learned….I guess…but wuht…??

There are quite alot of feels too, despite seeming like a light-hearted series. It addresses the different issues and struggles the characters go through. I basically cried for Kota’s story.

Damn onions! Σ(ಥ_ಥ)
The main issue of conflict for these characters are the judgement and cruel words they face from others due to their love for Sanrio characters. Those judging them say that it’s too girly, and that it’s gross for a high school guy to like Sanrio characters. But you know what I say? Who the fuck cares what they think?! Personally, I see nothing wrong with dudes like cute things. We can all like cute things together. If a girl like me can like video games and shooting guns, why can’t a guy like cute things or “girly” things? Just do you bruh. If you like something, just like it. If it’s not hurting anyone else, then it’s not a problem. Ultimately it’s about YOU, and what makes YOU happy. There’s no need to be ashamed. I would totally support my guy friends if they liked cute things. If someone had a problem with it, then they can come and fight me. +ﾟ*｡:ﾟ+凸(◕‿◕✿)+ﾟ*｡:ﾟ+

Preach it boiiii!!! Preach!! ▒▒▓█▇▅▂∩( ✧Д✧)∩▂▅▇█▓▒▒
As for the opening and ending…they were cute and upbeat as expected. It’s not really my kind of music though. Visuals were cute, so I guess it was alright. It just isn’t one of my top favs is all.

Despite the otome game feeling/aspect, the series has been surprisingly enjoyable. I’m not super into it, but it’s a fun and cute series that I’d wouldn’t mind watching to kill time. It does send a good message of friendship and accepting who you are and what you like. Also there’s a crap ton of Sanrio product placement, and you bet I want all the things. The promo picture also really made me want to go to Sanrio Puroland… BAYOG fam and Jess (my Jess…and Loha’s too I guess…), let’s go!~ We’ll hit up the Sanrio theme cafes too~ I don’t love Sanrio enough for otome games, but I do love it enough for food~ Because I’m totally about that~

Sanrio and food I can do!~
Look forward to Minty’s post about the Hello Kitty House Cafe in Bangkok coming Summer 2018~