Mayo Chiki! and Uta no Prince-sama really need to be seen back to back.
In Mayo Chiki!, Kinjiro, your mild-mannered harem protagonist, magically discovers that some random ass butler is so not a he, but actually a she. Let’s not waste time with the boring setup though. Let’s just skip right ahead to the one question we’re all thinking: how does he find out?
“Uguu, I fell backwards and my three piece suit came completely open!” Seriously? Yeah, seriously. Just moments ago, Konoe’s three piece suit was perfectly composed:
But when a jar threatened to fall on Konoe’s head, Kinjiro went into shounen megahero mode. He dove and bravely knocked her out of the way of dead frog juice. Still, as they were flying through the air, her clothes remained intact:
The very next thing you see, however, is Konoe in a state of complete undress. How could this be?
I hypothesize, therefore, that upon falling to the ground, Konoe hit her head and knocked herself out. During this moment of incapacitation, Kinjiro proceeded to undress the butler to satisfy his indecent urges. Remember, however, that Kinjiro thought Konoe was a he! Upon discovering Konoe’s real sex, Kinjiro was left in a state of utter shock until the poor girl regained consciousness. What? My theory seems outlandish? Pfft, as if her clothes could fall apart like that in midair. Wait… did she get lessons from…
…this guy?
In case you didn’t notice, I was being sarcastic in the previous paragraph. The rest of the anime was dull as hell so I’m not gonna bother writing it up. You might be wondering why I’m mentioning Mayo Chiki! at all when the only thing I wanted to focus on was a portion of the first episode. Read on, my friend!
Before we really dig into Uta no Prince-sama, I have to say my bit on this topic too:
What is wrong with Haruka’s eyes? That can’t be medically right, can it? It’s like someone stuck a pair of preserved duck eggs where her eyeballs should be:
It’s not like her best friend has it any better.
Look at her vacant eyes. You can plumb the depths of her soul all you want, but you know damn well there’s nothing behind that facade. With that said, enough about the eyes — let’s get to the actual show.
Welcome to the most stunning boarding school you’ve ever seen. No, don’t even start — you’ve never seen a school with four hedge mazes like Saotome Academy:
Saotome Academy owes its extravagance to a single song. A single single, if you will. How is that even possible? It just is — with four hedge fucking mazes, who cares! I’ve already mentioned our heroine with duck eggs for eyes. The anime also features singing bishounens (and the financial groups they belong to),
a crazy headmaster walking through the air,
Pajama, pajama, pajama!
and a trap with drill hair for a sensei.
Having said all of this, I hope you guys don’t get too caught up in all the random wackiness behind the school and SHINING SAOTOME! that you end up missing out on some subtle genre deconstruction at work.
There are some obvious harem tropes being flipped on their heads like how one of the pretty boys mistakes Haruka for his pet dog. Or how the student body actually finds Haruka and her group of friends noisy and annoying. But even then, that’s not the sort of genre deconstruction I’m talking about.
The anime’s premise is simple because that’s sort of the point. True subversion requires taking the subject of subversion seriously; it wouldn’t really make any sense to over-complicate Uta no Prince-sama to the point that it no longer resembles the genre it’s poking fun at. Plus, it’s a goddamn harem; they’re not complex. People are asking for the show to have a gimmick to help it stand out — what the hell? The anime’s pure ridiculousness is the gimmick.
If I really had to summarize this show, it’s about Haruka, a dullard, who goes on to meet a slew of hot guys. Dear Haruka, however, only has her eyes… *shudder* …for one bishie: Hayato-sama. There’s just, ah, one problem:
Yep, that’s her hero, the amazing idol whose song magically changed the course of Haruka’s pathetic life. In the anime’s own words, Hayato-sama is a “totally frivolous comedy idol.” The guy is probably playing a role, but when not-quite-there Haruka gets the rare chance to meet her beloved Hayato, she can’t seem to get the hint. He bitterly tells her not to associate him with the Hayato character, she exclaims, “Grandma… what could this mean!” Gosh, I dunno!
So how will love bloom between the two when the girl constantly wants the guy to demean himself by fulfilling her Hayato fantasies? In asking that question, you suddenly realize that this is true of every. damn. harem. anime. It’s just that in other harems, guys or gals willingly and/or obliviously demean themselves for the harem lead. Hell, just look at Mayo Chiki! The Konoe character has to be so incompetent that Kinjiro walks in on her twice. She’s so fucking incompetent that her clothes literally falls apart in midair and she couldn’t do a thing to prevent it. If she wasn’t so stupid, Kinjiro, our harem lead, would’ve never discovered her precious secret! Ergo, the harem is dead in its tracks from the very start.
Indeed.
If that isn’t deconstruction, I don’t know what it is. As a result, I don’t understand the people who are calling this a dumb anime. Do you really think directors, writers and animators could get together and produce an episode that so thoroughly flogs itself like the first 24 min. of Uta no Prince-sama and not realize what they were doing?
Sure, Uta no Prince-sama may be a shit anime, but isn’t that the point? We know it’s shit, but the anime knows it’s shit too. The only problem is whether or not Uta no Prince-sama is shit enough. Throw caution to the wind, I say, and go for broke. What have we got to lose? This series could go for something really special here, i.e. a classic satire for years to come…. or it could be another half-assed harem parody. I should be in pain from laughing, not just merely going “heh” every now and then.
In the end, even if the deconstruction fails, I can at least glean another positive from Uta no Prince-sama: some people out there will take this anime at face value. Never say never — there are folks who actually think Stephen Colbert isn’t an act.
Moe Sucks 
Another harem lead contestant i see. You know what? they should make a game show/anime where viewers choose what the harem lead does. For example the cartoon stops before one of those reveal scenes and then says “what should happen next: Scene A: he opens door, Scene B: He walks away or Scene C: he plays the accordion until something happens. etc. The highest vote gets the desired scene and a free T-shirt along with a figurine of the anime poster girl!!!!!!”
By the way who’s idea was it to give that young lady yellow pupils. I’m surprised that guy didn’t jump out of his skin with those yellow eyes peering at him. Maybe he’s just that cool a guy.
Well, the game show idea might be nice but if we really wanted a “choose your own harem,” could just play visual novels.
Not everything needs to be highbrow to be savvy. I was bored as hell and entertained as hell in equal amounts watching Uta no Prince, and that’s why I’m likely going to keep watching. It’s savvy with its own banality, and that alone is something to keep one’s attention. Maybe not for the whole thing, but for long enough for more subverted tropes to come dribbling out.
Again, that’s the only reason why I’m not dissuading people right and left from watching it.
Who said anything about high brow?
Nobody did. I was just confirming what you said about it having decent enough deconstruction material, despite being in the dregs as far as premise/promise goes.
Oh, I see. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t give off the impression that the anime was high brow or something.
Nah, you hit the nail square on the head.
I’m completely sure that you’re mistaken about the whole genre deconstruction thing. Uta no Prince Sama is pure harem drivel and nothing more. Your argument about what’s-her-face’s encounter with “Hayato-sama” being meant to evoke a realization about the demeaning nature of harems is rendered null by the fact that *SPOILER* the guy she meets at the end of the episode is actually Hayato’s younger brother rather than Hayato himself. Clearly, the story is being set up in such a way that what’s-her-face will gradually deepen her bond with the-dude-who-is-not-Hayato by exploring the dynamics of his sibling rivalry and in the process will open his heart.
As for the girl being mistaken for a dog, I would argue that was intended to showcase that particular bishie’s sole identifying characteristic of liking cute things. Meanwhile, the group being denounced as being annoying is par for the course. It’s crucial that the group should attract attention because otherwise it won’t seem like the entire universe centers around what’s-her-face. Thus, Uta No Prince Sama is smackdab in the middle of stereotypical harem territory.
I have seen the second episode so you don’t have to spoiler tag everything.
(1) Have you seen Hayato and his brother on screen at the same time? So how do you know there are really two of them and that the headmaster isn’t simply lying? If you rewatch the scene, all the dude ever says is that it’s frustrating to be compared to the idol. When Haruka asks “Isn’t he your brother?” — he doesn’t respond.
(2) But hey, let’s say I’m wrong and there are twins. What difference does it make? The entire show is about getting guys to objectify themselves and sing stupid ass songs. Here’s a proud guy who’s going to have to act like a dumbass in order to bond with the heroine; he’s going to demean himself in the long run anyway, supporting my point that harems typically require lovers to lower themselves down to the harem lead’s level.
(3) Although I certainly argued that it’s likely Uta no Prince-sama “meant” everything it’s doing, whether this is true or not is irrelevant in the long run anyway. The anime would still evoke the same realization regardless of whether or not the deconstruction is intentional.
What does liking cute things have to do with mistaking a girl for a dog, especially a female one? I like cute things. I like cats. I’m not going to mistake cute girls for cats. That’s ridiculous. The scene makes more sense as a joke at Haruka’s expense than otherwise.
Have you seen other anime where the no-name students always fawn over the popular kids? Hell, that just happened in Hanasaku Iroha. In this anime, Haruka and her friends are openly derided. I don’t usually see that in harems.
Are you sure? I’ll post a pic of me and you can tell me if you see me as a girl or a cat. I’m all dressed up for this one!!!
Well, I realize I’m kind of late in replying to you but what the heck.
I hadn’t watched the second episode when I posted that comment. I found out about the twin brother thing after reading the characters’ bios in a vain attempt to distinguish between them. After watching the episode though, I’m inclined to agree with you that the twin thing is a diversion.
Regardless, I disagree that Hayato or whoever-he-is will have to demean himself for the sake of the heroine. What’s-her-face isn’t in love with the clown-like Hayato. As her fuchsia-coloured friend mentioned, Hayato used to be a much more serious singer at the start of his career. It’s this version of him that the girl is in love with. So, by interacting with him, she’ll probably inspire him to cast off his clownish character and more earnestly pursue his passion for music.
You’ve forgotten that reverse harems are a different breed from female harems. Rather than being demeaned, the male characters are uplifted by the female’s presence. They learn to trust and love others through their interaction with the heroine.
In the process, I would argue that the heroine herself is degraded since she ends up being portrayed as little more than a virginal therapist who constantly needs to be rescued and protected (usually in such a manner that she ends up being pinned down by a male in a sexually suggestive position). But that’s a discussion for another time.
“The anime would still evoke the same realization regardless of whether or not the deconstruction is intentional.”
Doesn’t deconstruction have to be intentional by definition? But If you’re trying to say that the show is an unintentional satire of itself, I would agree.
Jokes at the expense of the protagonist of a harem story are nothing new. In Ouran, Haruhi is mistaken for a homosexual male and is consistently mocked for being poor. And most male harem protagonists are habitually browbeaten by the members of their harems.
I’ll admit that it differs from the norm for the main characters to not be showered with admiration. But my argument was that they had to attract attention somehow. Usually they would receive this attention because of their physical appearance, wealth, or talent. They attend an exclusive school for future idols though, so their beauty and riches won’t be very noteworthy, and they haven’t had many opportunities to demonstrate their talents yet. So, being annoying is the best means to stand out. Also, in reverse harems, the heroine will often be the target of jealousy and ridicule. Her classmates’ open annoyance is likely the precursor to this.
Is it? I still think she was in love with a clown. Either way, the end game is to get Hayato to become an idol who can sing and dance on stage with everyone else, resulting in homogenization of his character. Whether this is “serious” or clown-like, I don’t think that’s really “uplifting” his character.
No disagreements here and I don’t think I wrote anything to given the impression otherwise.
Your alternative doesn’t necessarily put us in a better spot, i.e. how does one unintentionally satirize? But even so, I don’t think intention is necessary. Why are the viewers necessarily in error if they see deconstruction in the work even if the writers hadn’t intended it that way? Because we didn’t write the story? That’s a very limited position to take in literary criticism.
They may make jokes at the main character’s expense, but usually not the main character’s group of friends, but look, if you see it different, that’s just as valid. Maybe we just have different anime viewing experiences. From my perspective, it is rather unusual. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.
Pingback: ‘Tis the Season of Worthless Anime « Misaki Thursday
look i agree but harems are the greatest things of all time
lol anonymous
Pingback: » ‘Tis the Season of Worthless Anime flomu