So this was a series that I had actually initially skipped over. “Guy is engaged through arrangement to a girl, and then moves in with her and two other girls! Rom-com hijinks ensue!” is not exactly a good sell for me, because even though Mikakunin de Shinkoukei is adapted from a manga and not a light novel it still looked to have that same type of trashiness. I figured it was some fanservicey, quasi-harem-y wish fulfilment crap, so I didn’t give it much thought. But when it started, I started hearing quite a bit of positive buzz. Stuff like it being charming, endearing and rather special. I caved, and decided to give it an actual chance instead of dismissing it completely.
It would be more accurate to say that the premise is “girl is engaged through arrangement to a guy, and then he and his sister move in with her and her sister; rom-com hijinks ensue” which changes things quite a bit. With the realisation that the focus was on the girl and not the guy, suddenly it no longer seemed trashy and painfully, tediously derivative. Well, of course it wouldn’t seem that way once you started watching and got proven wrong but you get my point. Instead, it turned out to be a rather fun little rom-com/slice-of-life!
Oftentimes it feels like discussing the plot in an anime rom-com is a bit of a pointless endeavour, as they’re almost always largely episodic, slice-of-life things with a weakly overarching narrative of the main couple actually falling for each other, only truly accepting their feelings right at the end. Mikakunin de Shinkoukei is no exception to this. Kobeni (lead girl) turns 16, goes about her morning, only to be told by her mother that a boy (Hakuya (lead and basically only boy)) is moving in. Also his sister (Mashiro) is tagging along. Also you’re now engaged to Hakuya because gramps said as such and this is still apparently a thing in Japan I guess?
Kobeni freaks out, her sister (Benio) freaks out, and their mother buggers off and leaves them to it. Cue the rest of the series spent having Kobeni slowly get closer to Hakuya while not being happy about the arrangement, learning more about these new, mysterious people in her life, and uncovering what this ~strange event~ that happened when she was a child and involved Hakuya actually entails. And the obligatory amusing shenanigans. Pretty standard stuff.
The plot does warrant some discussion though. That aforementioned event that Kobeni can’t remember is treated as a fairly major revelation for most of the series, and is slowly explained piecemeal to ramp up the anticipation, but strangely doesn’t actually result in all that much. It gives Kobeni a small amount of character development as she struggles to come to terms with what happened and how she feels about it, but it’s all fairly minor.
Somewhat similarly (and a little bit related) is the element of the supernatural that Mikakunin de Shinkoukei brings in. Hardly a surprise considering its name is translated as “Engaged to the Unknown”, but the subject isn’t broached in the story for a few episodes. You’d think that this could perhaps form the basis for a greater, further-reaching plot, but again it’s unfortunately mostly a non-issue. The only real effect it has is adding in some different dynamics between the characters (which do actually payoff quite well in terms of entertainment value) and introducing an insignificant subplot with a secondary character.
In other words, Mikakunin de Shinkoukei has just added their own small twist onto a pretty standard story and left it at that.
None of this is necessarily to say that it is bad as a result; just that the narrative driving it all is unexceptional. But one criticism that can and should be levelled at the story is that Kobeni and Hakuya’s relationship goes notably underdeveloped, which for a rom-com is rather terrible. Basically all that happens is that Kobeni goes from not being romantically interested in Hakuya to falling for him (with a touch of “I’m in love but can’t recognise and acknowledge those feelings” along the way) and Hakuya becomes a little more open. Which would be less boring if it weren’t for just how unremarkable the two of them are.
Seriously! Kobeni has an incredibly passive and reticent personality, hating any attention she gets and being perfectly content to just go with the flow of those around her, and Hakuya is very much the silent type. He speaks little. It’s an early joke that he has little presence. It’s a continuous joke that he is expressionless (although the jokes based on this can be pretty damn well executed). Pairing those two personalities up was never going to be engaging. I mean, they’re both fairly enjoyable characters in their own right, and get to be involved in a lot of great jokes in varying capacities, but as a romantic duo? It’s really not compelling.
Fortunately, the rest of the cast basically makes up for this and then some. For the most part. Take Benio, Kobeni’s older sister. She’s the charismatic and considerate student council president at their high school, respected and beloved by the entire student body. She’s gentle, graceful, responsible and caring of each and every student there. Until she’s not around them, at which point she’s revealed to have a massive imouto fetish, having trained Kobeni to call her “Onee-sama” and being intensely, violently protective of her. This is a mixed blessing, as this is her only joke, and it can be very hit-or-miss. But when it hits it is hilarious. The amount of energy put into it – through the VA’s stellar performance and the wonderful expressiveness the art and animation gives her – completely sells it, and some of the situations she ends up in or causing, coupled with the excellent comic timing, are comedic genius.
Mashiro is the final ‘main’ character, and is Hakuya’s little sister. She’s very much a child, but one with pretensions to maturity that reveal themselves through her proud, easily flustered personality. Her voice is rather divisive (you’ll know exactly what I mean if you hear her speak) but I personally found it to endearing, and at the very least a perfect match for her character. Being so much younger than the others as well as potentially becoming a step-sister naturally results in her becoming the primary target of Benio’s unrequited affections, resulting in a lot of great moments (Mashiro overreacts in the best way possible every single time), but this is fortunately only one part of what she contributes. Mashiro brings so much entertainment to Mikakunin de Shinkoukei, from her refusal to admit to her childishness, her fascination with UMAs (Unidentified Mysterious Animals), to her blasé attitude towards her brother and more, and to top it off she’s cute as a button as well! Easily the single most entertaining part of Mikakunin de Shinkoukei and basically perfect from start to finish.
Props have to be given to the side characters too. They’re an entertaining bunch, often acting as foils for the main characters or otherwise complementing their personalities, and without them this show wouldn’t be as funny as it is. For example, having Kashima, the student council vice president and the only non-family member to know what Benio is actually like, playing the straight man to Benio and keeping her in check not only results in a lot of great jokes but also helps break up Benio’s otherwise monotonous personality. Or consider Suetsugi, who admires the public persona of Benio to the point of romantic devotion and joining the student council to spend more time with her, and who is actually a bit of a country bumpkin despite the elegant and proper image she tries to give off in front of everyone. She plays off of Mashiro and Kobeni frequently and hilariously, in so many different and effective ways. There’s a lot of brilliant comedy in Mikakunin de Shinkoukei thanks to the characters, with all of them getting at least some laugh-out-loud moments, and it’s just a shame that it takes until about the halfway mark for it to really hit its stride and become consistently and notably funny. And without that comedy, there’s not really a lot going for Mikakunin de Shinkoukei, so it’s unfortunate that it takes so long to become rewarding.
The final notable element of Mikakunin de Shinkoukei is the rather refreshing visual style. In terms of character design, direction and presentation it’s pretty standard – it’s no SHAFT or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – but the way character highlights are pure white and act almost as a second outline makes it all look very bright and colourful, but without coming across as non-naturalistic or eye-searing. It really lends itself to the show’s atmosphere, and gives it a solid visual identity. As far as nice little aesthetic touches go it’s one of the most efficient I’ve seen, making it a show that’s enjoyable just to look at without anything else about it being atypical.
In the end I can kind of see what those praising the show early on were getting at; Mikakunin de Shinkoukei is certainly a charming and entertaining show. But it’s definitely not as exceptional as they indicated. Between the fairly boring romantic leads, rote story, slow start and low variety of jokes with some characters it ends up being a bit forgettable and rather unremarkable. But it was still good fun, and funnier than a lot of similar shows I’ve watched when it wanted to be. It just didn’t do enough to stand out or be hugely interesting, unfortunately.
7/10
Leave a comment