In Defence of Trash Anime

Last month, I finally realised my lifelong dream and visited Japan. For decades, I had fantasied about spending my evenings sat shoulder-to-shoulder with locals in Izakaya as I took my chances on recommendations, or queueing up for some legendary wagyu beef. However, once I was finally there and tired from a day of walking more than I would in a week back home, I found myself falling back on the ol' reliables. When I was up all night stressed out fearing my wallet stolen (a story for another time), nothing hit the spot quite like a big, greasy KFC. If people knew that I wasn't always eating lavish, Instagram-worthy dish in favour of fast food that I can get anywhere, they'd have been calling for my visitor's visa to be revoked. However, sometimes the heart yearns for something trashy.

That brings me to Girlfriend, Girlfriend. An honestly stupid romantic comedy about Naoya, an overly earnest high schooler who is trying to have two girlfriends at once: the dim-witted Saki who carries chaotic bisexual energy whether she knows it or not, and the meek but homely Nagisa. Along the way, they become embroiled with Rika, an obsessive YouTuber who insists on becoming Naoya's third girlfriend, as well as Saki's trusted friend Shino, who portrays herself as "proper" and disapproves of Naoya's "two-timing" but has a secret of her own. Now in its second season, Girlfriend, Girlfriend is not an accurate or nuanced portrayal of polyamory, nor does it pretend to be. What it is, is a "harem" comedy that's so dumb that you can't help to laugh - and paradoxically, that's the genius of it.

When I say that Girlfriend, Girlfriend is my Anime of the Season, that's not me saying that it's objectively or even subjectively the "best". I won't be wasting anyone's time arguing that this is a masterpiece of storytelling or creative talent that deserves awards or scholarly analysis. However, I've always had a rather unusual yet simple measure of what I deem my favourite anime of a particular season: when I sit down in the evening and boot up Crunchyroll, which anime do I watch first? Anyone who's spoken to me at any point in the past couple of months will know that I rate Frieren: Beyond Journey's End very highly, but that's the lavish plate of Instagram-worthy Wagyu beef. When I'm tired and just want something to lift my spirits with little thought, I want that quick and greasy KFC.

The simple reason why I've found myself gravitating towards Girlfriend, Girlfriend first each week is because it's funny. The characters all have their own unique charms and the series' author Hiroyuki knows just how to play their personalities off each other for maximum impact. Take the series' protagonists, for example. Saki is a boisterous airhead who lets her imagination run ahead of her (particularly when it comes to sex, which she'll try to hide). However, Naoya is way too open about wanting to acknowledge his girlfriends' feelings, so he'll drag those hidden desires back to the surface with the purest of intentions, with the result being dumb yet genius chaos. This is then even made even more hilarious by the voice acting, like, Ayane Sakura going all out capturing Saki's frantic energy in the original Japanese version.

The second season saw another unlikely pairing of characters that ties into why I enjoyed Girlfriend, Girlfriend so much. As mentioned earlier, Shino Kiryū is a respectable woman and Saki's best friend, so why does she get roped into becoming an unwitting partner in crime with Rika, who schemes to steal Naoya for herself? Well, the very premise of Girlfriend, Girlfriend is the wish-fulfilment fantasy of a guy who wants it all, but Shino's story is that of a girl who can't even have the one thing she wants.

Shino is in love with Naoya. First teased in the closing moments of Season One, this secret becomes the driving force of the story here. Being in love with your best friend's partner is unthinkable, which is why Shino tries to bury these feelings in the hopes that they'll fade away someday. But, how can she move on from a guy who has multiple girlfriends? Suddenly, Shino's supposedly pure opposition to what she calls Naoya's "two-timing" makes perfect sense: she wants to rid herself of that last slither of hope, while disguising her actions as being for Saki's sake, when they're actually for her own.

However, should Shino hide her feelings? That question is posed to her by Rika, who also has feelings for Naoya, but wants to steal him away for herself. They couldn't be more ideologically opposed if they tried, but the two girls form an unlikely alliance based on two things: Shino's begrudging admiration and jealousy of Rika's openness, and of course, good old fashioned blackmail. When Rika finds out about Shino's secret, she certainly tries to take advantage of it for her own devices, while also ultimately inspiring Shino to question whether she should be more bold, and true to herself.

For a comedy based around an otaku wet dream premise and humour that's largely overly-energetic misunderstandings about anything remotely sexual, I didn't expect Girlfriend, Girlfriend to grab my attention this way. Sure, I'd be lying if I said that I never expected to enjoy it (I'm not above giggling like a school girl). However, rather than simply just enjoying a cheeky laugh at a dumb show, I found myself invested in Shino Kiryū and all of the contradictions that make her human.

Given the huge shift in her demeanour post-confession, I can see all of this nuance being thrown out of the window should the anime adaptation get a continuation. However, for now, I'll enjoy the second season of Girlfriend, Girlfriend for what it is.

Ultimately, though, I shouldn't have to preface or offer any caveats to statements about enjoying what people may deem "trash anime", even if it does have the subtlety of a shovel. During my film studies degree, I researched theories of phenomenology, which in this context, places emphasis on a person's individual - and often physical - response to films. For example, in her influential essay on "the body genres", Linda Williams discusses responses of fear and disgust at horror films, the emotional pathos of melodramas (or "weepies"), and... reactions to porn that I'll leave to your imaginations. These categories of films tend to be ignored by academia, and Vivian Sobchack offers a simple explanation for that in her book "Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment of Moving Image Culture": scholars are embarrassed or bemused by involuntary or crude responses that go against their assumed  “fine-grained sensibilities, intellectual discriminations, and vocabulary of critical reflection”  (p.48). So, they are unfairly dismissed and debased as being purely for “easy thrills, commercial impact” and associations with forms of amusement like theme park rides (p.49).

However, these opinions are arguably in contrast with the people who actually buy and watch anime. In their December 2023 newsletter, the independent retailer Robert's Anime Corner named their Top 5 best-sellers of the year. Obviously, the sample size will be affected by the enthusiast nature of the small sample, but when the No.1 title was Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time (and the other 4 weren't much better). Well...

Basically, what I'm saying is: while we can all enjoy a fine Wagyu stake, there's nothing wrong with the occasional KFC. So, don't be a prude, and watch Girlfriend, Girlfriend on Crunchyroll.