Crappy Date is one of our seasonal Periodicals, temporarily standing in for Tuesday Terribles, created because of our love for Asian cinema and the fact that it’s February and March – the months of Valentine’s Day and White Day.
What we’ll do with Happy Date is recommend romantic films to NOT watch for your date. After all, we want to warn you what movies will make her not want to call you back.
Crappy Date will be slightly different from Tuesday Terribles, in that we will have fun with it and tell you why each film is a bad idea to watch for your date, and what you can expect out of making each selection.
So without further adieu, let’s get going! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day and White Day, everyone!
This week’s Crappy Date: How To Date An Otaku Girl
How To Date An Otaku Girl
Original Title: 腐女子彼女
(Fujoshi Kanojo)
(My Geeky Girlfriend)
Country:Japan
Language:Japanese
Genres:Romance, Comedy,
Slice of Life
Year:2009
Director:Kaneshige Atsushi
Main Cast:Daito Shunsuke
Matsumoto Wakana
Furukawa Yuta
Trivia
- Adapted from the light novel series of the same name.
- A manga series was also serialized.
- Fujoshi is a play on words. Normally, the word means “girl” (婦女子). However, change the first character with the one that means “to rot” (腐), and you have the fujoshi that describes the otaku in this film (腐女子). The readings are exactly the same.
- Yaoi, the term used to describe Boys’ Love (BL) work, originally stood for “Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi“, or “No peak (climax), no fall (punch line), no meaning”.
- An alternative, and somehow more befitting, meaning to the term means “Yamete, oshiri ga itai”, or “Stop! My ass hurts!”
Story
Hinata (Daito Shunsuke) is a college student who is in love with Yoriko (Matsumoto Wakana), a girl two years his senior who he met at his part-time job. One day, he gathers up the courage to ask Yoriko to be his girlfriend.
And her answer? Of course, she says “Yes”.
However, she warns him that she is a fujoshi, a girl different than most because of “certain” hobbies. Not clearly understanding what Yoriko means, Hinata proclaims that he doesn’t care if she’s a fujoshi or not, he is in love with her.
And so the moral goes: look before you leap.
It turns out that Yoriko is a super-hardcore fan of Yaoi, flipping out over it like a cat in heat, totally taking Hinata by surprise. She brings him into her world, introducing him to her fujoshi friends, and subjugating him to her favorite books and cosplaying lifestyle. However, Hinata is determined to fight the good fight and prove that he can be the best boyfriend Yoriko can ever have.
Thus begins his journey of pain.
The Date
Some of the funniest films are one centered on two different worlds clashing. That being said, How To Date An Otaku Girl had a promising concept: the world of otaku-culture meeting the, well, “normal” world. And this isn’t just any normal otaku we’re talking about here, but the over-the-top-swooning, screaming-at-the-top-of-one’s-lungs, rampant-imagination-having, overspending-at-the-anime-shop type of otaku. More specifically, the center of the film is a fujoshi (an otaku girl who obsesses over Yaoi).
Oh man, fujoshi or not, dating an otaku girl sounds like any geeky guy’s dream come true! Plus, the otaku in question is Matsumoto Wakana, aka Airi-neesan from Kamen Rider Den-O. Definitely sounds like a treat!
If this is the film you choose to watch on your date, you will have lots of fun in the first half of the film. The situations are super awkward and the ways the two leads interact with each other are really cute. However (yes, however), the second half totally shifts gears and the film ultimately loses its charm, like a girl you meet and realize she’s nowhere near as hot as her Facebook profile picture.
Basically, the film turns from a unique, promising comedy into a clichéd romantic film. Not trying to spoil what the major turning point is all about, but a new obstacle presents itself to the couple, and the otaku girl theme is thrown out the window and forgotten.
Guys, we’ve all been there before, haven’t we?
In good romantic films, both characters help with each other’s development throughout the course of the film, ultimately making them a better person than they were at the start. Hinata makes Yoriko realize that there is someone who will love her no matter what her poison is. Yoriko helps Hinata out with…
…well, I hope some cosplay sex, because there was little to nothing.
Sure, the goal of Hinata’s character is to eventually be accepting of Yoriko with who she is. But, the results seem forced and honestly, the quest concludes quite early in the story. Because of the combination of the halt in character growth and the big drop in energy, it’s really easy to lose interest in the characters.
You’ll find yourself being more interested in the numerous anime references scattered throughout the story.
Will your date be entertained? If they can dig over-the-top acting and comedy revolving around awkward situations, sure. Matsumoto is sure to make you both laugh with her geeky tendencies. However, your date will hate you afterwards because of the letdown that is the second half (as if we couldn’t make that clear enough).
There is one thing guys should learn out of this movie. Don’t let the girl subjugate you to her hobbies and make them the center of the relationship unless 1) she lets you introduces your hobbies to her and 2) there’s some good hanky panky involved.
Watch this film…
…if your date doesn’t mind films that pull off the same tricks to make you cry.