Nagatoro

With how popular this series has been, it should come to no surprise that I would get to it eventually. I was honestly worried about it conceptually when it was first being announced, but it's wound up being quite a bit different from how it was initially posed to be. From first glance, it looked like a demeaning show that glorified bullying, and tried to make such things look humorous. It may start out that way, but quickly makes a great turn.

I said this month was going to be about two series that were very similar in their bones, and while the last post had varying aspects of of the BDSM world, this month, we have one very strong theme. Ijiranaide, Nagatoro is an endearing story that reminds me of that age where kids are afraid to actually show any vulnerability. Rather than show affection, or talk about how they feel, they tease kids, and give each other a hard time, which can often cause schisms in friendship, or hardships due to lack of proper communication.

What we fortunately see here though, interspersed with moments of shame and teasing, is two kids who genuinely enjoy each other's company. They slowly bond during various scenes, and wind up providing support and help for the other through a myriad of situations. There's a balance that occurs between the shame, ridicule, and genuine bonding that helps make the series entertaining, without feeling harmful. In many ways, over time the teasing becomes a way to say they're still there, that things are alright, and that they're comfortable with where their friendship, and relationship as a whole are moving.

And with the theme of BDSM, this anime heavily played into a lot of the tropes of femdom culture. The consistent verbal shame on a handful of topics, and even at some point real objectification when Nagatoro uses a character as a bench. There are also aspects of territorialism throughout, when Nagatoro's friends behave in a bit of an entitled manner. They will often try and treat our male character the same way, and Nagatoro is quick to swoop in, and knock them away like a dog with resource aggression. In many kink spaces we see that male submission is a rarity, and so many female tops will often ignore the ideas of consent and negotiation in play spaces, acting like one submissive is fair game for anyone around. It can sometimes take someone else who isn't afraid to speak up in order to protect that person's well-being, and keep them safe.

While the show doesn't start with the negotiations of a healthy power exchange dynamic, what we see by the end is a wonderfully supportive power exchange dynamic. Everything is clearly done in good fun, and ultimately, limits are respected, and positive behaviors are also happening. It's like a silly first foray into power exchange, navigating tropes and finding out how to also create healthy relationships. It may be a little more awkwardly done, and certainly not a prime example on how to begin a relationship like that, but we do see it happen. We even see the first touches of negotiation, limits, and adjustments as the series goes on, and the characters get more comfortable with each other.

This is the kind of series that needs to be watched all the way through. There's a lot of wonderful growth for everyone to be found, and a fun ride for anyone willing to watch it all. And for those who may have experience in kink, it can be amusing to look back on how many of us started.