The Dangers in My Heart

AustinDR May 21, 2023

8

Honestly a pleasant surprise. Reading about the Dangers in My Heart, I did not initially know what to think about the series (what with it being about a borderline delusional student who fantasizes about killing his classmates), but the show consistently made me laugh and love the characters. I often don't care about school anime shows, but this one is pretty good. For instance, Ichikawa may view himself as having an insatiable blood lust with him wanting to kill Yamada, he's really just confused about how he felt about her. Despite his deprecation of himself, he is actually a nice and considerate person who is just really, really socially awkward person. It almost hurts how relatable he is in that regard. Mainly part of the reason as to why people seem to overlook him is actually because of his low self-esteem for himself and he eventually has a realization that it ends up hurting him in the long run. What makes the show interesting is how Ichikawa is left trying to read Yamada who is a total ball of a character in her own right. First, he'd think that she was either upset about something or whatever, he goes to do something for her to make her feel better only to be totally wrong in his observation. My favorite scene is when he saw how Yamada was getting uncomfortable with that one guy trying to ask her out, and he decided to push his bike into the water to serve as a diversion. Speaking of Anna Yamada, she has a fun personality. She kind of reminds me of a puppy with how her actions seem to be sporadic. She often hangs out with Ichikawa at the library where she eats a lot of sweets sometimes even giving the wrapper to Ichikawa. But there is more to it. While the show does not outright spell it out, Yamada has a slight fear of men one example being when she was displaying signs of being uncomfortable around a boy when he tried flirting with her. In addition, she often makes comments about how she dislikes shallow relationships. Underneath that nice and flighty personality, Yamada appears to internalize her self-doubts and self-worth. In one episode she would stand around at a mall hoping people would recognize her due to her modeling work, or in the roles she has for TV shows or movies. So, despite not wanting artificial relationships, Yamada also wants acknowledgment which manifests in her growing close to Ichikawa. Really, Ichikawa and Yamada were practically built for each other and it is cute. The side characters are also pretty good. Probably my second favorite pairing is Hara and Kanzaki. They are just adorable with how they both like each other but are shy about it. Adachi is a good foil to Ichikawa in how he likes Yamada on a superficial level.

closetneet Jun 4, 2023

10

Super biased, as this is my favorite romance manga ever. The way the story and the scenes are portrayed through his eyes gives the viewer a lot of insight into how he thinks and feels (arguably moreso than the manga). Everything from his middle school delusions to his middle school peversions even. This creates a connection between the viewer and Ichikawa that makes what he feels easy to understand, and can in many cases feel more impactful such as his insecurities that get in the way of his reality. There were some shots taken straight out of the manga that blew me away. However, there were some scenes where the character proportions were inconsistent which took me out of it for a second. Overall, I love this anime and it is a faithful adaptation of the source material.

apoc9 Jun 18, 2023

9

I expected to like this series, but it exceeded my expectations and it became quickly one of my seasonal favourites. It follows high school boy Ichikawa, who masks his sense of not fitting in by this interior and exterior façade of being interested in grim stuff and internally having malicious thoughts. In reality he is quite considerate. I like he isn’t entirely commonly used type of male protagonist. On his opposite stands Yamada. She is tall, pretty and popular. She would be the all-perfect trope, but the series shows quickly it isn’t the case. She has her own idiosyncrasies such as sneaking out to eat snacks in library and other behaviours breaking that image most people have about her. This makes Ichikawa interested in Yamada and more involved with her, because he spends lot of time in school library. Those interactions bring them closer together. The series works mostly on ability and inability of Ichikawa to read situations especially with Yamada. When it comes to comedy element, Ichikawa is usually the straight man. It has some usual tropes including the main male character having combination of low self-esteem and fear preventing him to recognize and embrace signals Yamada is making especially later on. What makes the relationship less believable in my eyes the most is the fact Yamada is significantly taller than Ichikawa. This difference is usually instant turn off for both man and woman. Putting this aside the interactions and atmosphere is quite enjoyable. Visually the series is nice. Soundtrack and voice acting (Japanese dub) is very good. OP and ED are ok – still skipping them tbh. Overall, Ichikawa’s moments with Yamada making his heart throb. It’s what makes Yamada “the one bad for my heart” as the original title points out. I found this anime to be very enjoyable romantic comedy with characters different in some way from usual mould. I liked or rather enjoyed as characters Ichikawa, Yamada and various side characters as well. It doesn’t end in grandiose manner, but it’s quite nice from beginning to the end. Pacing isn’t bad either except maybe the last episode felt a bit like stretch. It’s one of the few series I watched regularly throughout the season. Recommend to check it out at least first three episodes.