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EP. REVIEW: My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex


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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 11137
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2022 4:06 pm Reply with quote
I think, at least in terms of anime, we have plenty of series about two leads falling for each other and getting together, but not very many that take place after that and when the couple have already broken up and are now forced back together due to circumstances.

So it's less "will they get together" and more "will they get back together and overcome the issues that drove them apart?" Especially when it's clear these two still aren't completely over the other.

Also they're step-siblings so they can mine that cliche. It's like they're trying to explore whether they have a sibling fetish with each other.

Hiro Shimono and Rina Hidaka play off each other well, they did in Hensuki, and the "best friend" characters for each lead are off to a strong start as well (Nobuhiko Okamoto really loves playing the best friend in a romcom in-between Bakugo seasons, while you can never get enough Ikumi Hasegawa).

Yume is a beauty and the show definitely isn't afraid to show it off. I'm really glad Rina Hidaka is finding new life as a seiyuu outside her loli typecast.

I'm curious to see if the reason for the breakup was more involved or if it was as simple as the built up misunderstandings they state in the show.
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I can't tell if this girl is going to go on a killing spree or if she's just that comedically airheaded
Oh, come on, that would never happen in such a sweet show, with an ending filled with konpeito, just like that other incredibly wholesome show, Happy Sugar Life.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 11137
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 4:57 pm Reply with quote
These two are still horny/perverted for each other...they even steal each others' underwear!

Yandere Minami was not what I expected.
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zekro94



Joined: 30 Mar 2017
Posts: 84
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:08 am Reply with quote
I was confused at first when Mizuto refuted the fact that he was with a girl in their house, he was also confused at what happened so it threw me off a little but then.... the reveal that it was Minami hiding in the house.... I feel like this was a brilliant missdirection, first seeing Mizuto with a chick at a "date" and then seeing those shoes at the entrance, you'd think " maybe she's a cousin or something" and that when Yume would burst in the room she would see she misinterpreted the situation. Gotta give it to the show, I didn't expect a yandere craving for Yume
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 11137
PostPosted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:26 am Reply with quote
Yume and Mizuto both looked pretty snazzy for their dates, but the most fun part is watching Yume try to manage her utter thirst for Mizuto. Frankly, that's one of the best parts of the show, really.

I like how even when the pair dropped the pretenses of acting couple-like and went back to their usual banter...it still felt like a date between the two of them and you could tell they're enjoying each others' company. And also, despite Mizuto claiming they're better off as step-siblings, that hug at the end and the looks on their faces was way too much like lovers.

So Kawanami pretty much confirms he was the boyfriend in middle school who Minami sent to the hospital. Which is why he knows how to handle her and why he's not interested in romance (because Minami basically ruined it for him). So we have two different pairs of exes in this show. At this point I wouldn't be shocked if the parents were high school/middle school sweethearts who broke up and then got back together.
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Akcoll99



Joined: 28 Feb 2011
Posts: 226
PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 6:24 pm Reply with quote
This show has been a pleasant surprise for me, with this episode being my favorite so far. I love the dynamic between Mizuto and Yume, even if she has her occasional tsundere moments. The scene with the thin walls had me laughing hysterically, even rewinding it a few times to watch it again. Best moment of the season so far.

Also, the line about the moon being beautiful has a special meaning in Japanese, as it's a poetically coded way of telling someone you love them.

https://www.tsuki.world/world/the-moon-is-beautiful-isnt-it
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DarkAudit



Joined: 17 Oct 2020
Posts: 33
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 7:16 am Reply with quote
It's refreshing to have a scene where when someone goes "you're not acting like you, and I don't like it. Explain," they actually do.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 11137
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:30 am Reply with quote
I love how after Mizuto helps her realize that she doesn't need to be the best to be popular or have friends and it seems like Yume's at the point in a romcom where the character realizes they're still in love with their love interest and runs to see them...she finds Mizuto with another girl.

Isana seems like a nice, quirky, girl who will keep the audience and the cast guessing as to her feelings. She and Mizuto gel very well because of their similar interests and personalities (and how many Kadokawa series can we advertise in one anime?), and she's surprisingly forward with him, but she doesn't quite treat him like a love interest...even though she does blush around him.

I guess if anything it might embolden Yume to get more possessive despite how much she denies how she's still massively attracted to Mizuto.
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:10 pm Reply with quote
Are characters in a romcom allowed to sit down and talk to each other about their feelings? Isn't that against the rules?
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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:25 pm Reply with quote
I watched the first two eps of this. I think it's a rather sweet little show. Wouldn't mind seeing where it goes. :]
Oh and the ED with the puppets is adorable xD


Yttrbio wrote:
Are characters in a romcom allowed to sit down and talk to each other about their feelings? Isn't that against the rules?


Yes. Laughing

Unless you are watching Girlfriend Girlfriend, where the MC is so outrageously honest about every single thing that it's PEAK comedy.

(No, really it is)
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 11137
PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 5:56 pm Reply with quote
I'm starting to see why Minami ended up sending her boyfriend (Kawanami) to the hospital with how extra and forcefully she meddles in other peoples' lives.

I was wondering who confessed first. So it was Yume with a love letter, but she wasn't able to confess out loud, something Isana actually pulled off.

Yume really projected her middle school self into Isana and wanting to see her get together with Mizuto, because she still holds onto the memories of dating him as happy ones before things went bad. And equally so, Mizuto still carries her in his heart which means he can't be with another girl.

I'm glad Isana was able to realize her feelings even if she also got rejected in quick succession, but the fact that she valued her friendship with Mizuto so much and it was an important aspect in her liking him in the first place means she was able to recover from her heart being broken quickly and feel no qualms about still being friends with him. Something the two girls who saw their love interests as more than just friends can't really comprehend, especially when they're still bitter towards their exes.
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Thesarum



Joined: 25 Mar 2022
Posts: 402
PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 2:43 am Reply with quote
MFrontier wrote:
Something the two girls who saw their love interests as more than just friends can't really comprehend, especially when they're still bitter towards their exes.


Not more than friends so much as something other than friends. They couldn't really comprehend also being friends with their love interest, and that is always going to doom a relationship to failure over the long term. Rather than Isana learning from them, they probably need to learn something from her.

How Yume deals with what she overhead will be interesting. He tries so hard to look cool, collected and distant, but he's a big softie really, and obviously still devoted to her happiness. And now she knows. But can she accept it? It clashes with the Mizuto who lives in her head.
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Penrhos



Joined: 09 Jun 2021
Posts: 167
PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:10 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't put it past this show for the "occupied slot" in Mizuto's heart not to be Yume at all but some other random character we've not been introduced to yet.

I thought this would be trash but this and Cuckoo's are wiping the floor with Rental this season.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 11137
PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 9:24 am Reply with quote
Isana has really grown on me in these past few episodes. Her blunt yet innocent (and sometimes lewd) personality/dialogue, her chill and relaxed vibe, her prioritizing her friendship with Mizuto (despite still having feelings for him), and Miyu Tomita's performance are just really endearing.

Somehow it doesn't surprise me that Yume's fashion sense was partially meant to please Mizuto. I mean, she does have a pretty great sense of style nevertheless, but it's better if she dresses how she wants to dress.

If Isana's boobs are her best feature, than I think Yume's best feature are her legs. She can really pull off skinny jeans! And then when she took off those thigh-high socks...
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Thesarum



Joined: 25 Mar 2022
Posts: 402
PostPosted: Fri Sep 09, 2022 4:43 pm Reply with quote
Yume's impressions of Mizuto and Isana were great. Her head's a mess though isn't it? Outwardly at least she's struggling much harder with this arrangement, though that's partly just because he's better at self denial. Swimsuits put some serious pressure on that control it seems though.

Isana continues to be inappropriate without being aggressive, and it's a great angle for her. I'm not sure Mizuto is ever going to go for it (though really, hair stroking is a good step beyond "friends", isn't it?), and I don't know if that will become frustrating and painful for her at some point. But for now, I like the way their dynamic works.
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