In saying that the Dangers in My Heart is
an overrated anime, I’m going to point out the flaws in narrative and especially how
repetitive some of these episodes will be. Throughout these two seasons, the same structure
of story is repeated again and again, where Ichikawa causes a misunderstanding, then the
couple are separated and there’s a conflict as a result of this misunderstanding, and
at the end, Yamada forgives him after an apology. Now you might be saying that Sousou No Frieren
is kinda
repetitive as well, but the difference between Fern getting angry and Yamada getting
angry is that the situations that Ichikawa finds himself in creates such coincidental
and contrived misunderstandings compared to the more narrative driven misunderstandings
that Stark finds himself in. It doesn’t make for a compelling romantic
comedy when that’s one of the gimmicks you’re using. Speaking of gimmicks, this anime’s synopsis
tells me that Ichikawa actually wants to kill Yamada and that’s never men
tioned again
except in passing and never becomes an important plot point in the future except till the end. Now I’ll caveat these bits of criticism
by also highlighting that the Dangers in My Heart is a very cute anime and the relationship
dynamic between Ichikawa and Yamada is one that I am personally very invested in. Not to mention that there are actually some
really stand out moments from the second season that break the narrative pattern I’ve previously
mentioned and the Ichikawa from episo
de 1 is basically unrecognisable. From this really awkward and socially inept
kid, to now expressing his feelings and wanting to fight for the girl that he loves. So he’s super relatable and as I’ve said
in a previous video, the reason why I have a personal attachment to this show is that
Ichikawa was literally me as a young high schooler. However, my contention here is that do all
of these good things and personal reasons to like this anime outweigh the bad of this
show, and is it so good that
it deserves a spot in the top 50 on My Anime List, or for
that matter, is the Dangers In My Heart a rank 23 anime? Oh also, spoilers by the way for all the anime
mentioned in this video. My main criticism of series is that it’s
got the sexual energy of a 13-year-old and I can already hear you in the comments saying
“oh Podcast-san, I think that’s the point of this anime considering he is a thirteen
year old,” but if you are to compare this show with the other romance anime that are
ranked lower,
like we’ve got Your Name, Your Lie In April, the Violet Evergarden Movie
where themes of romance and relationships, and issues of identity and belonging are treated
with such a greater level of maturity. To say that the Dangers in My Heart is peak
when we have other romance anime which are ranked lower than it on My Anime List; I should
think you are severely mistaken. I’ll mention Love is War too because it
utilises its secondary cast a heck of a lot better than the Dangers in My Heart. I know
the stories of the other characters
and I also care about Miko, and Ishigami, and how they got to that position and for
Love is War to still tell these tragic stories and for me to respond quite emotionally to
these stories in that anime is a reason why I think Love is War is actually peak romcom. Love is War also has superior humour, animation,
and every episode is unique and very, very creative. Not to mention the confession scene which
Love is War does better. It's a building up throughout t
he third season,
and really hypes the audience up that Miyuki’s going to confess. The music, the tension, and the building up
to the scene at the top of the clock tower, all contribute to this beautiful confession
of love between the two main characters. Compare this to the Dangers in My Heart where
the confession is dragged out between two scenes, two locations, and completely different
time periods right? Not to mention that there’s so much interrupting
as well from side characters – and it ma
kes for this really choppy and jarring experience
when you watch the thirteenth episode. Again, it’s really cute, and I love the
level of emotion displayed with Ichikawa really pouring his heart out, but is it peak? Compared to other romance anime, unfortunately,
it doesn’t play out at the level of its peers. So looking at Violet Evergarden, again, the
confession scene is far superior as they both run to each other upon realisation of their
feelings. Animation’s also way higher quality and
Viole
t Evergarden’s pays much more attention to the level of detail in each episode, and
here comes the rant about rankings because it’s rank 27 compared to Danger In My Hearts’
rank 20. I’m really miffed about Your Name and Your
Lie in April being ranked at like 29 and bloody 75 because the portrayal of division and the
emotional response one has when viewing each piece of media is far more impactful and far
more developed in the treatment of its themes. So I’ll make this super clear, if you love
th
is anime, I’m not knocking you down for it because I absolutely adore these main characters,
but to claim that the Dangers In My Heart is peak romance when we’ve got plenty of
other contenders which deal with the same matters at a much higher quality and at a
much higher level, is mistaken. With that, if you do disagree with me, please
let me know why you do in the comments and give me your reasons why some of the alternatives
I’ve granted the title of “peak romance” to are in fact not. Of cours
e, I stand by Love is War which I
do think fits the description of “peak romance” and you can find my reasons why I think so
listed in the video here.
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