Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless...
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2564 Location: Online Terminal |
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Is it possible that Mai has some sort of "gifted kid" situation going on? That her natural skills puts her on a tier so beyond her friend group such that neither can relate to the other? Or is it the other part of giftedness where any admission of vulnerability or weakness is confirmation that you're an "impostor" and everything you care about goes away?
Or could it be that they're kids and they're dumb? IDK at least there's stuff to chew on. |
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BeanBeanKingdom
Posts: 52 |
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Reviewer trying their hardest to see more in Mai when she really is just a female version of those overly aggressive shoujo love interests.
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 6228 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Depends. Everyone is different. But it is a dangerous road for your romantic relationship if you are leaning on your friends, instead of your significant other. Specially if it gets out that you are doing so. Confidences and secrets are a form of intimacy when shared. |
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Rogueywon
Posts: 309 |
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Having read the first three light novels, I think it's possible to over-analyse this show. It's a big, dumb harem rom-com in the late '90s and '00s tradition. Yes, they've flipped the gender of the protagonist, but Renako's just a gender-flipped version of those old milquetoast male harem protagonists. If the first episode seems a little more introspective, that's probably because this is a light novel adaptation, while most of those old harem shows were based on manga. But this is not a show aiming for deep psychological analysis - it's a piece of lighthearted yuri fluff, where the plot gets slightly more serious (comparatively speaking) for a short while towards the end of each light novel volume. All of which is absolutely fine with me, but if you go into it expecting more, you will likely be disappointed. |
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Florete
Posts: 464 |
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I don't think I'm seeing Mai the same way the review is. To me, Mai is being shown as a spoiled rich girl who has never been told "no" in her life. To some degree I think Renako is romantically attracted to her, even if she says she just wants friendship, but Mai still very clearly is pushing too far too fast and rarely, if ever, considers how Renako feels about anything, and this brews until the end of episode 3 where she finally sees consequences for her actions.
And I love messy yuri so I'm all here for this. |
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BeanBeanKingdom
Posts: 52 |
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I'd give Renako more credit because she definitely has a personality and in fact her internal monologue in the novels in particular really showcases how odd and off-beat her thought processes can be, plus she often makes the plot happen herself rather than just being a reactive plank of wood to the heroines' stories. I agree with the rest though. |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2321 |
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I read the first 3-4 volumes of the manga a few years ago and I really liked it. Mostly because Renako in spite of her introversion and social anxiety consistently stands up for herself and tries to improve. She's confused about her emotions and just trying to be friends with someone is maybe all she can handle at this point. I think that makes her relatable and genuine. Mai is the extrovert that doesn't quite get where Rena is coming from, is used to winning/getting what she wants and yes as someone else mentioned kind of acts like an aggressive shojo love interest/boyfriend.
Don't get me wrong I'm not defending Mai, I recall finding this part in the manga more off-putting and Rena's slap seemed harder? I expect that some viewers may drop the show after the last episode. |
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omnistry
 Posts: 1047 |
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Definitely one of the prettiest anime of the season, and I do think a good chunk of the humor works. But I do hope they tone down Mai a bit and allow Renako to get more comfortable with her.
Also, I hope I’m not the only one who sees the title, and finishes the “Unless…” part with spoiler[“You Bring Me…Hundreds of Beavers!”] |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4869 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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indeed. in terms of aggressiveness, she's like ainspha from tenten kakumei at best, at worst, she's an even worse version of the MC from im in love with the villainess! |
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akitainu
 Posts: 208 Location: SATX |
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Having read the first six LNs, I'm pretty pleased with the adaptation. Mai seems to be just as divisive as I'd have imagined. I'm watching it with some one cold to the series, and she's, uh...less than enamored of Mai. I will say though, Mai does, in my opinion, at least, do something that a lot of characters don't...spoiler[she learns, changes and grows as the story progresses.]
Anyways, at its core Watanare is a goofy, romcom. But I think it does flesh out the characters nicely as it advances. I hope the anime captures that, given its episode count constraints (assuming it's 12-13). I fear that some of my favorite moments won't be animated. Well, what can you do? Now I just need Vol 7 of the LN to get released here, because Vol 6 left me hanging. |
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Clarste
Posts: 445 |
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I think part of the problem here is the assumption that you are supposed to be rooting for Mai. She is not a protagonist, she is the antagonist. Not to say that she is an irredeemable villain or anything, but her purpose in the story (at least so far) is to prevent Renako from getting what she wants. She is an obstacle to be overcome.
She makes Renako very uncomfortable with unwelcome advances and you're supposed to feel uncomfortable with that.
That's also true, the manga framed this scene much more dramatically, with a much sharper slap and Renako with tears in her eyes. This was a big deal. |
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PorkBazaar
Posts: 24 |
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It's so distressing that when we finally get an actual yuri anime people pick it apart and criticize it to death for being problematic. I wonder if this is why some fans gravitate towards fluff that falls more into the headcanon territory where they don't have to deal with messy things like physical intimacy or fanservice and can just imagine the yuri in their mind to conform to their own content levels. This is what most yuri fans enjoy. Messy, physical, sexy fun. Watanare delivers all that in spades and Mai's antics are a treat to watch.
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LinkTSwordmaster
 Posts: 818 Location: PA / USA |
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I think it would be willfully-ignorant on my part, not to point out that if Mai was a guy character and that third episode ended the way it did, the show would quite possibly be getting flamed. I've sat through the whole of all episodes of Mushoku Tensei that have aired currently, and there's definitely some uncomfortable (under-age) interactions on that show - it's prevalent enough there, that it kind of makes it hard to casually recommended watching it - thankfully Lover! Unless... isn't really giving that sort of vibe. Additionally, I've been forced to sit through numerous "Oh, this show has a Yuri couple!" anime series in the past, and it's quite often that those shows get kind of toxic by the end and try to backtrack how serious the two girl characters are - Lover! Unless... also doesn't seem to be bothering me in that same way either. Overall, I think they're doing a pretty fair job of things, given the genre of the show. It seemed to me at the end of the last episode that Rena is potentially interested in being physical like that with someone else, but potentially with Sena (Ajisai-san) rather than Mai, and certainly not with other family nearby. Readers likely know what's happening next, but I'm going in blind, so I'm reserving judgement of each individual characters' portrayal until I've finished the whole thing. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4287 |
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Episode 3 helped redeem the series for me with Renako slapping Mai but it does nothing for the girl herself. Sena on the other hand looks to be offering the opposite problem as Renako seems to be more interested in her as a girlfriend while Sena just wants to be a friend.
But what is really curious is that Renako always saw Sena this way, rejecting herself from even being her friend because of self esteem issues. Perhaps being pursued by the glamorous model will help Renako beef up both her friend game and her "friend" game. |
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jr240483
Posts: 4869 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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i also saw this during review eps of wataoshi (im in love with the villainess), watayuri (yuri is my job), tenten kakumei (the magical revolution of the reincarnated princess & the genius young lady), whisper me a love song & especially gundam witch of mercury! ite even worse on forums like MAL and even in some japanese websites!. its probably because of overly critical people like them that are the primary reason why there is a double standard within the yuri genre, and is why every single yuri anime adaptaion ALWAYS get the "source material promotion" type of treatment! and i will not be surprised AT ALL if just like with the rest of the yuri anime i mentioned above that this series get the "READ THE BOOKS, KIDS" scenario aka a source matetial promotional series! |
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