In Even a Replica Can Fall in Love, Sunao can create a replica of herself known simply as Nao. Whenever Sunao is feeling depressed and listless, she has her replica take her place at school. They’ve never run into any problem until now, because the replica has never deigned to step out of line. But when Nao starts befriending a male classmate — and we already know from the title that she’s destined to fall in love with the guy — things start to get a little complicated for the two girls. Will the original come to resent her replica? It sure seems like we’re headed in that direction. The whole episode is a downer in general, because Nao keeps insisting that she merely exists for Sunao’s benefit. You just know that as her relationship with the boy progresses, the existential dread will become louder and louder until disaster strikes.

But what even is Nao? From what I can tell, she’s pure magic. Sunao conjured her replica out of thin air one day, and even though their biology is purportedly the same, Sunao can desummon Nao whenever she wants. Is Sunao obligated to keep Nao “alive?” Does a mystical being deserve to eat if she wouldn’t otherwise die without food? Does she even need sustenance? Every time Sunao has to hide her replica, the world goes completely black for Nao. Can this be considered a death of sorts? Is it even immoral to “kill” a conceptual being like Nao? This is why this show feels odd to me. I’m not exactly sure how I’m supposed to approach Nao or if I should even be invested in her as a character. Plus, why is it that Sunao can even create a replica in the first place? And is she the only one who can do this? How do we know if any of these characters are “real?” What if the whole world is just full of shut-ins living vicariously through these mystical proxies?

You could argue that we shouldn’t take any of this too literally. Rather, this is a girl with deep-seated issues, so she feels the need to disconnect from her own life. This has many benefits like, for instance, avoiding responsibility. Nao only came into existence because Sunao simply didn’t want to apologize to her friend. Overtime, this ability has become a crutch. The girl feels the ever increasing need to take less risks as she continues to distance herself from the world around her. Through her replica, Sunao can rebuild or maintain her current relationships without investing too much of herself. If she fucks up, well, it’s not really her fault. Blame it on the replica. Even if Nao feels bad, who cares? That’s her problem to handle, not Sunao’s. I’m reminded of the lady “severing” herself in Severance in order to avoid dealing with the pain of carrying a pregnancy to term. This anime isn’t quite as mindfucky as that show, but you can see how it could potentially explore similar themes.

Finally, the show has this permanent hazy effect around the borders of the screen, and I find it highly annoying.

The next anime is Eren the Southpaw. Koichi is relatively talentless, and for some bizarre reason, he doesn’t think he needs any major talent as a designer. He thinks he can cobble together a bunch of minor talents and get by. Well, sure. Most of us are just average. Most of us are mediocre. But you don’t need to single out designers for that. You can apply this logic to any career. Nevertheless, Koichi’s less than inspiring outlook on life is enough to make his friend and clubmate swoon. Life comes easy for Sayuri, so you think someone like her would want to aim high. And yet, she insists that she isn’t a protagonist in her own life. She also desire mediocre nobodies with down-to-earth aspirations. What is wrong with these kids?

This all changes when Koichi encounters a piece of graffiti art that utterly blows his mind. All of a sudden, he wants to aim high. He wants to make a name of himself one day. Well, the graffiti was done by the left-handed Eren, hence the title. And she seems… rather volatile. She’s extremely talented, but she’s not even shooting for the middle like Koichi. She completely rejects her mother’s idea of going to art school. When she yells at Koichi that only a select few will ever make it big, it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself to put her own foolish ambitions to rest. Okay, fine, but what does that have to do with Koichi? Why does she go and slap him across the face for drawing a mural she doesn’t like? Why does she give a fuck what he wants to do with his life? Is it her job to gatekeep the art in her neighborhood? I mean, she literally does the “gatekeeping” meme: “How many [designers] can you name?” Oh yeah, you want to be an artist?! Name literally every artist out there! You can’t? Then you’re just a poser! But seriously, this all seems very silly to me.

Also, what was with the opening? Why is adult Koichi getting pummeled by some oaf? What’s with Eren’s eyes lighting up whenever she looks at art? Is this an actual thing or just some overly embellished representation of her talent? What was with Eren’s dad basically traumatizing her at a young age over her talented left hand? Honestly, can’t say I’m really hyped for this show. The characters seem unlikable, and the drama is a little off-putting.