Common Name: Kuzu no Honkai
Alternative Names: Scum's Wish
Score: 9/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Drama, Romance, Grimdark
WARNING: This show features highly sexual and suggestive content as well as a tone and theme some might find emotionally distressing.
Summary: In their daily lives, Yasuraoka Hanabi and Awaya Mugi look like a model student couple. What people don't know is that their relationship is built on a lie. They both love someone else but know that they can never be with that person. In an attempt to move on, they both seek the physical attentions of the other and play a game of pretend. How far are they willing to let this lie go though?
Review: For a show that I'm inclined to hate with every fiber of my being, I have to say I have a lot of respect for what this show does. If you know me, you know I'm generally squeamish around sexual content thanks to my upbringing and a few other things I'd rather not elaborate on. So I'd normally avoid this show like the plague, but a thought crossed my mind when I initially regarded this is unreserved disgust. The thought was that if I ignored this show that practically oozes sexual malice, I wouldn't be much better than the people who say that anime is just for kids. If I couldn't approach this one show that stands in defiance of that idea, then I'd be limiting both myself and my perspective of what anime can and should be while passively agreeing with that kids-only limitation. To be clear, I do still dislike this show and am still uncomfortable around this kind of stuff, but I've also found an appreciation for its existence in an industry that is, admittedly, full to bursting with childish garbage. It wasn't an easy ride for me, but no matter how uncomfortable, disgusted, or emotionally numb this show made me feel, I was still able to see something that I'd be willing to call a work of art.
Considering how gorgeous the show is at times though, it's kinda hard not to see it that way.
One other thing that grabbed my attention while deciding whether or not I should suffer through this show was its name--Scum's Wish. Without watching a single second of the show, you can tell from that name alone that this isn't going to be a fun or happy show filled with charismatic, self-respecting characters. You know, from the very beginning, that these people are scum or, at the very least, see themselves that way. Here's the thing though, I have no qualms with calling these particular characters people--one of those walking masses of inconsistent emotions and flawed ideas of what they should do/be. Even when it's easy to notice that the show's cast was created in pairs because they frequently share similar plot lines, motivations, and inner conflicts, I can't bring myself to think of them as less than fully fleshed out and complicated characters. Take, for example, this show's supporting cast. Through Mugi's childhood friend Noriko, we're given a tale of how tragic expectation and wanting can be for young people, especially when they finally realize their fairy tale romance was little more than a self-obsessed delusion they'd been inflicting on others for most of their life. Then there's the twisted and resentment-filled story of Hanabi's best friend Sanae, who has also been seeking a romance that, as far as anyone can tell, could never be.
With their motivations laid out so simply, it's pretty easy to see how these two characters function in much the same role during the course of the show. They are both people who want to be with someone they can never have. More than that though, both of their stories hinge on how they answer a single question: What are you willing to destroy to be with the person you love? What makes make it clear that these two characters are different people, however, are the truths that can be gleaned from their answers. On one hand, Noriko is doomed to watch her ideal world and the hope that her prince charming will break free from the witch's spell crumble before her eyes, so she decides to destroy herself, desperate to let at least one of her fantasies come true--even if it is the most selfish and obscene fantasy of all. In doing so, however, she also sets herself up to grow as a person. With her fantasy world in ruins, there's no way she can keep being a pure and innocent princess so, through the destruction of her naïve worldview and dependence on others so that she's able to grow into a stronger, more determined person who is able to take the things she wants. Sanae, on the other hand, has always been a strong-willed and determined person. She already knows who she is and what, or rather, who she wants. The only thing getting in the way of making her dream a reality is that person's sexual preferences. So, during her friend's moment of weakness, Sanae decides to destroy the friendship she and Hanabi had fostered for a couple years now along with Hanabi herself. In this act of destruction, Sanae is able to claim a version of Hanabi that might be broken and pathetic, but at least she's willing to accept her love. As you might have guessed though, the main characters are included in the blanket statement that "these characters might as well be real people" so Sanae's version of Hanabi will only be able to stick around for so long. She'll likely never fully recover from what Sanae did to her, but at least there's a chance Hanabi might discover some feelings she never knew she had during the reconstruction process. While that might sound like something Sanae wants, she also dreads that possibility and what it would mean. After all, if Hanabi was capable of loving Sanae all along, what was the point in destroying everything they already were?
Just a little reminder: those two were just the show's Support Characters. These two are the main characters.
To the show's credit, and my chagrin, the parts of Kuzu no Honkai that revolve around Hanabi and Mugi aren't nearly as easy to evaluate or sum up. Their motivations, actions, and character progression can't be boiled down to the analysis of a single question. Seeing how they are the show's main characters though, aka the driving force behind the main storyline, it makes sense that their story would be significantly more complex. There is, however, one consistency these two share with the supporting cast. Both Hanabi and Mugi, as characters, function in similar ways throughout the entirety of the plot, but are also distinctly different people. In fact, it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to consider them polar opposites. For example, Mugi can usually be described as a quiet and agreeable sort with a bad habit of getting caught up in his own thoughts, particularly the negative kind. Hanabi, on the other hand, is more inclined to let her egotistic and capricious personality rule her actions since they hide her compassionate nature and deep-seated insecurities so well. Despite how different they are though, they both start the show in similar situations, ie. suffering from an inability to be with the person they love and have loved for some time. They even go through similar trials and tribulations over the course of the show until the show closes out with, for lack of better term, closure. What makes the biggest difference between these two though, is where they are in their lives when the story begins. It's that the gap in their experiences up to the show's start that will ultimately dictate how Hanabi and Mugi will progress through the show's overarching story.
While Hanabi is new to all these feelings of grief, guilt, inadequacy, jealousy, and sexual frustration, Mugi has actually been through all this before, and that fact alone is a large portion of what makes him "scum." I'm not saying he's to blame for everything that goes wrong in this show, but he is certainly a part of it. No, what I'm blaming him for is his weakness and willingness to let Hanabi be drawn into his own personal hell. Despite his previous experiences and the knowledge that this will go nowhere good, he gives in to her good looks, desperate wanting, and sympathetic companionship. Not only that, but he makes little to no effort to warn or stop Hanabi from walking down the same road he did a few years ago once they are together. The closest he ever gets is his decision to adopt some kind of warped code of chivalry. This "code" dictates that he will ensure that Hanabi will have the ability to walk away from their relationship with some amount of dignity intact, meaning that he refuses to let their physical relationship move past touching and kissing. To his credit though, that's a lot more than he got when he was in Hanabi's position.
You know, at least he knows he's a tool. That's got to be worth something.
There is, however, a significant problem with this experience gap. Since Hanabi and Mugi exist as functionally similar protagonists who undergo a series of shared experiences, it would stand to reason that the two of them were meant to grow and mature simultaneously until they eventually find closure together. Since that level of character symmetry is impossible, thanks to that experience gap, the show attempts to remedy this by doing two things. First, the vast majority of Mugi's storyline sees little to no character development until Hanabi has experienced enough to be considered his peer when it comes to traumatic experiences. Unfortunately for Mugi, that doesn't happen until the show is nearly over. Second, Hanabi's storyline overcompensates for the fact that she's still pure and innocent in comparison to the rest of the cast by giving her the worst experiences the show can reasonably offer. This means is her story is filled with so much abuse and loathing that it becomes difficult to watch at times.
I've already hinted at some of the things Hanabi suffers when I mentioned her best friend, Sanae, but that's not even close to the worst things she suffers over the course of this show. Before I get into that though, I feel like it's necessary to mention that Hanabi starts this show as a sharp-tongued but insecure person whose emotions regularly fluctuate between belligerent and melancholic. In other words, she's thin skinned and far from being the most stable person in the setting--that position is reserved exclusively for her love interest and teacher, Kanai Narumi. So it's pretty easy to figure that Hanabi wouldn't respond well to Narumi falling his a fellow teacher, Minagawa Akane, aka Mugi's love interest. Add in the fact that she's now in a relationship with a boy she does even like, i.e. Mugi, just so they can both try to work through their mutual grief and eventually move past the need for each other's comradery. Once all that is established, the shit can finally hit the proverbial fan with the big reveal that Akane has been going out with Narumi just to torment Hanabi. With that single revelation, any amount of composure or stability she had up to that point has been shattered and left open to all the abuse this world has to offer. Since Hanabi isn't as stoic or experienced as Mugi, she spends most of the show in a constant state of vulnerability. Not only that but she can't help but be driven by her unstable emotions, making mistake after mistake that debases herself and drags others into her schemes to get revenge.
It's probably a good sign you're not emotionally stable when your literal inner child manifests just so she can call the current you scum.
What's interesting though about Hanabi's descent to the status of "scum" is that it solidifies her connection to another member of the cast--the very person she despises, Minagawa Akane. While it may be true that Hanabi and Mugi share near-identical roles in the anime and undergo very similar trails over the course of the show, it is worth noting that she also is similar to this show's villain. It might sound weird to call a character in a romance anime a villain, but there's honestly no better term for Akane. She is a malevolent and corrupting influence that seems to find satisfaction in the suffering of others--aka a textbook villain. While that personality trait might make her uniquely different from Hanabi, there are still some similarities between them. For example, whenever Akane isn't putting on her elaborate, seductive performance, she tends to exhibit that same egotistic personality and sharp wit we see in Hanabi. When things don't go the way she expects, there are even signs that point's to her bearing a familiar, but more matured, brand of insecurity. This subtle but important revelation does a lot for this easily hated character. For one, it proves that she's a flawed, but also reasonable personality. You might still hate her guts, but it becomes difficult to not feel some amount of sympathy for her situation. What this also does though, is create the possibility for redemption. After all, if she's really not all that different from Hanabi then who can say there's no hope for her as well?
I guess what I'm trying to get at with long-winded review is my appreciation for how masterfully crafted this show feels when all is said and done. For starters, the show's cast has a depth to them that's rare in this industry. There's an intention to them and everything they do that just boggles my mind. Throughout this show, I was to find personal and functional similarities between most, if not all, of the show's cast. By drawing all these lines of similarity, the show is able to convey a level of nuance as each character tackles similar problems while also keeping the show's scope consistent throughout. Take, for example, the similarities between Mugi and Sanae or Hanabi and Noriko when the time comes for the main cast to answer that question the supporting cast got during their stories: What are you willing to destroy to be with the person you love? Their answers aren't exactly identical, it's not hard to see some amount of similarity between these pairs of characters that, for all intents and purposes, hate each other.
Maybe hate is too strong a word. Abhor? Yeah "abwhore" definitely works.
Despite all these similarities and functional pairs though, each character feels unique and realistic in their own right. I have no trouble believing there are people like Hanabi and Mugi who have experienced or are currently experiencing the same tragedies seen in this show. The world is, after all, a pretty messed up place. Sure, it might be a little far-fetched for all these things to happen to a single person within the span of a year, but that's why I think this anime exists as a kind of grimdark romance. Its events are believable but are taken to such an extreme that the story becomes ridiculously improbable. What's interesting, though, is that the show never feels forced or childish despite its ridiculous premise. It never treads into the world of parody or pastiche usually found in grimdark anime. Instead, it feels like the show tackles its adult content from a level-headed and mature manner. It acknowledges that the relationships depicted aren't healthy or desirable by any means which means it doesn't try to romanticize the suffering and abuse seen throughout. While this approach lends a lot of credit to the show and its subject material, the grimdark nature also presents a small problem.
The problem with this approach is the fact that it makes this show inaccessible to a lot of people. For some, the sexual nature of the show is already a pretty solid deterrent, but when you add an oppressively negative approach to an already heavy topic you might as well attempt to sell this as some kind of obscure, art house series. As I've said already, I found Kuzu no Honkai hard to watch at times. Whenever I tried to watch more than one episode at a time, I would need to take long breaks between each episode just so I could cope with its heavy and distressing subject matter. Now I'll admit I'm a bit of wimp when it comes to heavy stuff, to begin with, but I also lack any experiences that even remotely relate to those the cast suffers. So if an inexperienced person like me found it necessary to take breaks for my emotional health, I pale to think how someone who has actually suffered or is currently suffering from similar circumstances would handle this title. For all I know, such a person might find this story personally empowering though. Others might be able to see a message of sexual liberty in this story as well.
Honestly, I think this is one of those shows that will be divisive for most people and a complicated subject for others, like myself. On one hand, I hate the story's content and how every episode would either darken or numb my emotions for hours after the fact, but that's more of a personal issue than a critical failing on the show's part. On the other hand, I love and respect everything this show does to convey its story. Its art is gorgeous. The story and dialogue are well-written and deeply insightful. The music, apart from the OP and ED, definitely isn't the sort of thing I'd want to listen to on its own, but it solidly sets the tone of each scene and makes the experience all the more engaging. The show has some pacing problems, to be sure, but that's the show's only critical flaw. If it weren't for that one niggling, but likely intentional problem I'm pretty confident that I would have given Kuzu no Honkai a perfect score. As it stands though, this will be one of those shows I'll carry with me for a long time. It reminded me that quality can exist in almost any genre, even those I actively dislike or avoid due to personal preference. While I likely won't try to touch this subject matter again in the future, I'll definitely think twice about dismissing something as worthless just because it's not in my wheelhouse.