Common Name: Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun
Alternative Names: Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun
Score: 4/10, 1/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Sports, Comedy, School Life
Summary: Recognized as a soccer prodigy in middle school, the eyes of the world are on Aoyama now that he's in high school. Yet, rather than attending a school with some real star power behind it, Aoyama has settled for a school full of nobodies and weirdos. In a way though, that choice seems appropriate for the legendary germaphobe who is skilled and fast enough at his sport to simply avoid contact with sweaty teammates or, even worse, large mud puddles.
Review: It's always been a longstanding belief of mine that idol culture of any kind isn't good and this show pretty much exemplifies part of why I believe that's the case. At first glance, Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun sets itself up to be a quirky but action-packed soccer anime. We're introduced to a main character, the titular Aoyama-kun, who is generally over-powered in that he can quite literally dance around his competitors but is limited by his germaphobia. We see him do his thing but struggle to form meaningful connections with other people because of his condition. Yet even when he gets dirty or hurt, he always finds a way to overcome his hang-ups to close out each game he participates in. So, go figure, Aoyama is something of an idol; a god in the world of youth soccer who is skilled enough to own the field and has enough quirkiness to keep people's eyes on him. Too bad he's only present for about 20% of the show and plays soccer 30% of that time, at best.
Were the show only about this hotness (↑) then I might be sold on the idol idea, but nooooo~!
Rather than focusing on Aoyama doing his sports thing and trying to "get over" his germaphobia, the vast majority of this show is dedicated to the school Aoyama has blessed with his presence and all its quirky students. Yet even that statement isn't exactly true. At no point is this show about the daily lives of these students or their personal struggles. Rather, all we get each episode is an odd-ball character drama caricature centered on one of Aoyama's schoolmates and how their lives are impacted, directly or indirectly, by Aoyama. Put simply it's a comedy anime full of the most crass and crude humor reasonably possible paired with the worship of a single character who might not even be friends with the character the day.
At least the show seems to agree that anyone and anything that gets in the way
of what little Aoyama airtime we have deserves only death.
Had this show been a more serious title that tackled tough things like tackling the hang-ups born of extreme germaphobia, I honestly think I would have loved it to pieces. But that just didn't end up being the case. Rather than a story about Ayama's germaphobia, or Zaizen Kaoru (the team's striker) learning the benefits of hard work, or Ibuki Seigo (Aoyama's rival) learning to balance his romantic and sports-centric lives, we got a bunch of idiots dancing around Aoyama, the Golden God. As humorous as that concept might be for some people (people who aren't me), there's little else this show has to offer. It's next to impossible to grow attached to characters since they exist as little more than gag-generating caricatures. There's little actual drama to the game because there's never a question that Aoyama won't win a game that matters. There's just not enough to latch onto to make this show enjoyable. Sure, there are some great and tense moments during the show's soccer matches--I'd even argue that the show is at its best during those moments--but there's just not enough soccer action to make the show worthwhile on that aspect alone.
To summarize, if there was more this (↑) than there was this (↓), I would have probably
been fine with this story. Yet, for whatever reason, they decided to make a show
that fails as a soccer anime and a comedy all at once.
Now, don't get me wrong, I get why this show exists. In the wake of the greatness that was Sakamoto desu ga?, everyone wants to show off the next big idol character comedy. But here's the thing though, while Aoyama-kun might be centered on a single character's interactions with his classmates like Sakamoto was, it fails to actually be a show about Aoyama. While Aoyama-kun is filled with quirky and ridiculous characters who deify their titular main character, there's little to no meaning behind their bizarre behaviors. Sakamoto desu ga? was great specifically because it maintained a focus on the gorgeous insanity that was Sakamoto while telling weird but meaningful character stories about the rest of the cast. There was a solid understanding that Sakamoto interacted with his classmates for better or worse, but both parties took something away from the ordeal. In Aoyama-kun's case, the stories have little to nothing to do with Aoyama and the main character is never altered or affected by the experience at the end of the day because he, quite literally, plays and lives in a league of his own, separate from the rest of the case.
So, rather than being a good sports drama or a good comedy, Aoyama-kun ends up settling on being neither. If anything, this show is just a trumped up idol glorification show filled with nothing more than fans sqeeing over Aoyama or enemies plotting against him. As the golden god of this world, however, he stands above all these things, constantly distracted by how dirty his pedestal has become. While I won't fault how great the art in this show looks, it doesn't do enough good to boost the show's appeal in my eyes. The same can be said about the animation, music, and overall story. At the end of the day, I'm left with a disappointing mess that leaves me feeling gypped and wanting an actual sports drama. Me, of all people, wanting a sports anime....Dear God, what has this show reduced me to?! In any case, I think my opinion on recommending this show is clear at this point. Don't bother. Go watch something good, like Tiger Mask W.