Domestic Girlfriend – “First” Impressions
Unlike the last show I wrote about, I am not going into this show blind. Though, even knowing exactly what the show is going to cover, it’s been too long since I had read those chapters that watching it is almost like a fresh experience. It’s nice seeing a whole 200 chapters in the past get animated, and for those that like a little romance/drama, you should buckle up for this ride.
Domestic Girlfriend is about exactly what it sounds like. Natsuo has one of those typical crushes on the hot teacher. When his classmates drag him out to a mixer, he meets a slightly unapproachable girl who propositions him which quickly escalates to them actually following through with it. To which she quickly tries to cut ties with him after. Not long after, Natsuo finds out his father is remarrying and when they meet the new wife’s family, both daughters just so happen to be both his teacher, Hina, and the one night stand, Rui. And so begins the (more legal than the others) story of taboo relations.
From a manga reader’s perspective, this adaptation is honestly everything I could ask for. The animation and art quality is great. The voice acting is so spot on it’s scary. Kobayasi’s voice actor nails the character’s voice so well and Rui’s actress gets the attitude perfectly. As it stands so far, it has not cut any content but it’s only been 3 episodes.
I have a feeling it will be more of an advertisement for the manga and cut some content to get the good stuff out, but I’m being hopeful that it isn’t and stays true to the manga. Here’s hoping it’s 2 cour!
On top of all that, the pacing of the anime is rather well executed. The story does not feel rushed or too slow. It’s happening at the pace I had imagined it happening if it was animated. In addition, the comedic timing of some scenes was enhanced in the anime, notably the scene in episode 3 where Natsuo and Rui are trying to figure out who is older. Side note, Rui’s pout is one of the best things about her.
Overall, the anime is doing a damn good job of adapting a currently long-running drama manga. The quality of it is beyond what I had initially expected and I definitely would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone that enjoys a good drama/romance story. It airs on Fridays on HiDive and VRV. Lemme know what you think in the comments! Which ship are you on, Rui or Hina?
One Reply to “Domestic Girlfriend – “First” Impressions”
I’m not really on any ship with this, but I am enjoying the drama so far, which is odd because I’m not normally into that sort of drama. They are just doing a good job with presenting the drama in an interesting way so far and I’m kind of getting caught up with the characters, though Hina is probably the weakest of the main three characters so far.