Papa to Kiss in the Dark Review

story 1/10

Papa to Kiss in the Dark has such a scintillating story that I can sum it up in three sentences: Mira has sex with his dad. Mira also has sex with or fantasizes about pretty much every male out there, and all of them conveniently end up also being gay. Mira cries and cries.

Yes folks, that’s literally all there is to it.

I’d say I’ve seen my fair share of shounen-ai (boy/boy romance) titles. I make it a point to find things labeled "yaoi" (most of which actually aren’t), and to add them. That being said, there are two main types of shounen-ai: those that try as much as possible to shove it in your face that YES ZOMG TWO GUYS ARE HAVING SEX LOLL!!1!, and those that make it secondary to the actual plot. Papa to Kiss in the Dark definitely is in the excessive category, and then some. In addition, the OVA definitely is on the hentai side of the fence, as opposed to the subtle hint side of the fence as far as the shounen-ai/yaoi thing goes. So, though Papa to Kiss in the Dark technically is considered shounen-ai and NOT yaoi, it’s pretty damn explicit.

And speaking of explicit, Mira got more blowjobs in 2 episodes than a group of 90 otaku get in a year. It baffles me why basically every male in sight wanted nothing more than a piece of FIFTEEN year old cock. And also, like Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi, I failed to understand why everyone was even attracted to such a whiny little bitch. Mira cried more than a woman with post partum depression, all while wearing his pink apron and hot pants (I’m not kidding).

Sorry guys, that’s all there is to the story. Mira has sex, cries, and then does it all over again. There’s a mild attempt at a plot when Mira’s past comes into play, but overall it’s a big fat snoozer. To wrap up the sheer craptastic and disturbing hentai-style story of Papa to Kiss in the Dark, I leave you with the following line that actually came from the OVA, while Mira is (surprise!) having sex with someone: "But my body doesn’t tremble like it does with Kyousuke, could it be because we aren’t related?"

Wow. Just... wow.

animation 7/10

Though fairly generic, Papa to Kiss in the Dark’s animation was well done. Like in most shounen-ai titles, the characters all look incredibly bishounen (pretty boy) and remarkably the same. It’s almost like the creators were drunk and played a game of Mad Libs that day. Your character will have _____ and be Mira’s _____. "Ooo, I’ll choose "orange hair" and "childhood friend!" "I’ll go with "yellow hair" and "class mate"!".

Backgrounds were definitely gorgeous. One scene that stood out was a shot of a tree with cherry blossom petals floating through the air. The occasional chibi graced the screen, and there was a good level of detail.

sound 5/10

Fairly standard fare, quite forgettable in every way. Voice acting was decent and definitely fit the bishounen yet macho characters, and Mira’s was definitely in whiny bitch mode, which fit him perfectly.

characters 1/10

I am convinced that the only reason the characters had any sort of background was to make it so Mira didn’t look like a complete slut who would let just anyone with a penis blow him. Besides having titles like "childhood friend", the characters were literally as flat as a piece of paper, having no notable personality traits or mannerisms. Mira himself, as mentioned previously, is a pink apron-wearing whiner. He reminded me a lot of the main character of the Gravitation OVA (the name escapes me right now); just as angst-filled and annoying. Kousuke was far too obsessed with planting his face in Mira’s crotch whenever possible. I’ll give one point for the mild character development of Mira and -9 points for everyone else.

overall 2/10

Papa to Kiss in the Dark’s only redeeming value is the animation, hands down. In addition, if you are into angsty yaoi, you might appreciate this. Even so, there are much better shounen-ai titles out there such as Fake, so why waste your time on this garbage? No plot, shallow characters and more angst than a 90s grunger makes this OVA essentially useless. Do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time.