The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

With no games to play and plenty of need to distract myself, over the past few days, other than playing in the new Shin-Megami-Tensei-Themed Mafia game and playing fucking Tiny Tower, I watched all of Sasameki Koto. I’m not sure why I did this. I watched the first couple episodes back when it was first airing, and I found it kind of depressing and frustrating. But it stuck with me, I kept thinking of going back to it, and this week I found myself just watching it all.

What a stupid show.

I mean, okay, obviously there are some things I liked about it or I wouldn’t have kept watching. For example, the yuri-lover Asuza, who claimed she wasn’t a lesbian, was an interesting and sadly realistic character, and Sumi trying to deal with her without hurting her was a real decent sort of conflict. The idea of trying to take care of her, while trying to protect the identity of Kazama’s brother, and that causing Sumi and Kazama to drift apart a bit? Fantastic idea for a conflict.

Of course, the problem is that Sumi and Kazama aren’t a couple, because the show is STUPID.

Maybe this is a Japanese thing, and is something about how Japanese lesbians stereotypically act. Maybe that’s why I don’t understand it. But for goodness sake, Sumi and Kazama joined a LESBIAN CLUB together, and Sumi still can’t admit she’s gay, much less that she likes Kazama? Like, for a little while at the beginning, I get it, right? Sumi is worried about rejection because the type of women Kazama lusts over aren’t like her. I get it. But with all the shit going on in this show, when they’re laying together, right next to each other, talking about how Sumi is always going to be there for Kazama, and you still don’t say, “You know, I’m gay, and I really love you.” Fuck. That. It’s extra sad that a lot of the conflicts in the later part of the show would be more sensical if they WERE dating. With them just being friends, it seems really ridiculous that some of this stuff is a problem. If they were a couple, not only do I get it, but I also empathize with a lot of it, such as the whole “I’ll call you when I get there,” and then get no phone call for a day or two. For a friendship, Kazama seems to be way the fuck overreacting. If they were dating, her worry might make more sense.

I also wish I knew what they were trying to do with the crossdresser character, Akemiya. It’s like they couldn’t decide if he was transgendered or not. His original motivation was to date Sumi, which is really a ridiculous premise to go to such lengths to crossdress, because then you’ll convince the lesbian to date you and of course she won’t be disappointed when you’re male, right? (Also, literally EVERYONE deduces that Sumi is gay but Kazama, by the way, because she is really clearly obsessed with fucking Kazama, going into constant daydreams about it all the damn time, which everyone notices. Of course, she won’t just say it! Blerarg!) Sometimes he’s being forced and he “complains,” sometimes he seems completely, completely into it and enjoys it, and then near the end, he wants to prove himself to be “a man,” when before he was worried about his clothes not being cute enough and shit. It would be different if he just didn’t know how to deal with his attraction to doing it, or something of that nature, but his character just comes off as… well… whatever they decided for him to be at that moment. Again, obviously some personal bias makes me want him treated well as a character, but dammit… when you can have something as amazingly well done as Hourou Musuko out there, it’s hard not to demand everyone treat that sort of thing with respect and actual character building.

Anyway, yeah. It’s a silly show. It tugs at heartstrings a few times, but man, there are so many annoying bits! Just fuck already, dammit! Surely all your lesbian friends are! But yeah, I wouldn’t recommend it.