Step 27: Hate-Watch

The other day I talked about hate-reading the Kare Kano manga; last night I hate-watched an anime titled Say "I Love You". In my never-ending quest to find a good romantic series to sink my teeth into, I stumbled upon every cliché high school trope known to man (ugly girl attracts the most popular guy in school, violently possessive boyfriend, girlfriend with a major tsundere complex, etc.) all rolled into one goddamned train wreck of a show--and I'm only four episodes in.

*urge to throttle main character rising*

And yet, Say "I Love You" is just endearing enough to keep me interested. I feel like I ought to turn in my feminist card for being even remotely charmed by its ridiculous premise, but I'm such a freaking sucker for anything that tugs on my heartstrings that I can't seem to peel my eyes away. It's stories like this that probably give women the wrong idea of men and relationships (because seriously this shit does not happen in real life), but come on--what girl who has ever struggled with self-esteem issues didn't fantasize about catching the attention of someone as hot as Kurosawa Yamato?

Y hello thar.

Even though I indulge in the occasional guilty pleasure, I've always tried to keep my own ideas as grounded in reality as possible. The very first story I ever wrote featured a totally average, relatively unpopular high school girl who finds love--not in the star quarterback, but in a fellow nerdy student. And you know what? She comes to appreciate her averageness, and embraces her relationship with her average boyfriend wholeheartedly.

Art circa 2003.  I may have to revisit this someday...

I'll be the first to admit that my book isn't entirely absent of clichés, but I tried my hardest to give them context, or at the very least hang a lantern on them. I feel like Defining Lines would be a perfect story to adapt in animated form (more so than live-action for... reasons), and sometimes I wonder if there is someone I could sleep with talk to about getting it in front of the eyes of an animation director. Perhaps there are too many cultural differences for it to be appealing to a Japanese studio, but still... *sighs dreamily*

C'mon, Japan--I know you want a piece of this shōjo fluff.