HKBattosai

Intro:

The last two years in anime have been rough from the mounting delays to a flood of shows suddenly being released all in the same season, to a varying scale of future uncertainty. Whatever the reason, I feel as though watchers and enthusiasts of the medium are losing sight of one significant concept, which is that anime is just entertainment through creative expression. I have almost had to come to the defense of many of the artistic works that have been released in 2020/21 by writing reviews of select anime that I normally would not have. Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro is a shining example of this. Like Rent-A-Girlfriend, there has been some slaughtering brutal decapitation that I, personally feel as though some clarity (or perspective) needs to be brought to the aid of such harsh, travestying, and/or cynical reviews.

Now before I continue my actual review, I will add that other peoples' views and opinions are their own expressions based on what artistic creation they have watched, read, or listened to. Though I may not agree with them, I do respect their reactions and the well-thought-out ideals of individuals [in general]. Just because I write a review or counter review does not make me any less right, wrong, or indifferent.

Story:

So, what is this anime all about? Simply put, a female kouhai, Nagatoro, fatefully runs into one of her senpais at the school library; the ever shy, art club type, and practically friendless, Hachioji, who in turn becomes the target of her unorthodox affections for him…through bullying. From that moment on, she gets her sadistic thrills out of performing the three T’s on him:  tormenting, torturing, and teasing. Due to his timid and sensitive nature, he takes the constant bullying and integrates it into his normal routine, which keeps him constantly on-edge and in fear of Nagatoro’s daily assault. It is so bad at times that she even makes him cry sometimes, which leads to more of the three T’s.

Personally, the first 2-3 episodes were not that enjoyable. Being a person who received the three T’s when I was in both elementary and middle school, I found it “uncomfortable.” In fact, I found myself regretting taking this anime under my wing as the seasonal moderator for it. It was that brutal and distasteful in the beginning. However, and it is a big however, once I got out from under the intense first few episodes, more context and character development came into play. Even further on, the two main characters would both grow in unexpected ways that I could not have foreseen had I not continued further with Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro.

A relationship beyond victim and victimizer starts to form between Nagatoro and Hachioji “Senpai.” He begins to wonder more and more why she hangs around him practically every day after school when she has friends of her own. Honestly, she gets bored of them and not because they are necessarily bad or bullies like she is, although Gamou and Yoshi are, but rather because she is intrigued and entertained by Senpai.

But why? That answer is easy. She likes him. It is as simple as that, even if it is not as clearly known to her, since she herself does not fully realize it in the beginning. She finds herself constantly at his heals bullying him, but also standing up for him and even subtly encouraging him to do the same. She slowly, but assuredly, begins to break him out of his lonely, shy shell. Eventually, even Nagatoro’s friends start paying him more attention, and not always to bully him, but to “egg” her on since Gamou becomes aware of Nagatoro’s developing affections for Senpai.

Ironically, Senpai has a growing attraction to her in return, although he is even more unaware of it. It is true that she is an athletic, attractive, feisty, and relatively popular kouhai who unequivocally torments him daily, but she is also someone who gives him attention, who wants to spend time with him, and who throws him subtle hints that not only does she subconsciously like him, but that he is a better individual than he gives himself credit for. It comes to a point where even he overcomes his fear and both Nagatoro and her friends stand up for him, stand with him, show some appreciation towards him, and give him some deserved respect, even if only for a brief moment. It is a huge moment in the developmental relationship that forms between the kouhai and her senpai.

I found myself being emotionally touched in certain moments due to the careful growth of their relationship. It is true that the bullying is constant in each episode and over-the-top unnecessary at select times throughout, which does not mean that it is an acceptable practice in this magnitude, but it does somewhat remind me of the teasing I would share in my friendships and other relationships growing up. You just have to know when to quit, which is something Nagatoro and her friends do not know how to do.

One last comment regarding the story is about Senpai’s senpai, Sana Sunomiya. She does not come into the picture until after the midway point of the anime, but when she does, she takes a large presence in the series, which I will discuss further in the characters section of this review.

Animation & Sound:

Overall, both are average to very slightly above average in this department, which works for this type of anime. I know when I chose to moderate and watch this I did not have the mindset of "oh I bet this will be a visual and audio feast of pure bliss and amazement." It certainly is not that, but both levels of quality work for this anime.

Characters:

The story section sums up the vast majority of what Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro is all about, so I am only going to highlight select aspects of the main and secondary cast of characters beginning with Nagatoro. She is the kouhai, or under classmate, of her Senpai. She can be considered both a protagonist and an antagonist in this anime, switching between both in nearly every episode beyond the first few episodes. As previously stated, she is downright mean in the very beginning, but her character and subtle charm begin to form shortly after that. There is a point where she becomes clingy to Senpai for reasons of the three T’s, her unaware but developing affections for him, and her lack of boredom when she’s with him (and not just because of the T’s either). Because of these reasons, enter her clique of friends in Gamou, Yoshi, and [sometimes] Sakura.

Gamou, who is the rival, second-in-command clique leader, and overall closest friend to Nagatoro, is the one who first notices her slight changes in personality and behavior and unintentional distancing from their clique. Due to this, she is the one who deliberately strikes at her sensitive nerves when it comes to Senpai. While she, along with groupie friend Yoshi, can both be equally vicious in their bullying of Senpai, Gamou is also supportive of Nagatoro’s developing feelings for him. She finds subtle ways to encourage the growth of the relationship, while getting in some funny jabs at Nagatoro along the way, including her own Senpai teasing without Nagatoro’s knowledge or “approval,” challenging her on who is more athletic between them, and the bust size comparison, with the latter always being a cause of concern for Nagatoro even before Senpai ever came into the picture.

Of their clique, this leaves only Yoshi and Sakura, who both pale in comparison to Gamou in terms of their direct involvement in the plot and development of the anime and our two main protagonists. Yoshi feels more like a groupie who just goes along with whatever Gamou says and/or does. Sakura hangs out with them typically when teenage boys are involved. Otherwise, she is non-existent throughout a significant portion of the anime. To be blunt, Yoshi is a near doppelganger of Gamou and Sakura is boy-frenzied gyaru.

Before moving along to the nudist dark horse of the anime, Sana Sunomiya, let me at least give some mentioning to the other protagonist, Hachioji, aka Senpai. He is the counterpart to Nagatoro in so many ways. Where she is outgoing, athletic, and popular, whereas Senpai is shy, weak, and almost unnoticed by much of the student body, even in his own class. He is the prototypical artsy nerd archetype who spends any free time he has before, during, and after school in the art club room, alone. He is a complete loner who prefers to keep himself that way, so when Nagatoro catches him in an embarrassing moment in the library one day, his world slowly but assuredly begins to change when she starts to hang around him all the time! Like Nagatoro, he grows and changes into a person that picks up small amounts of her charm and personality, while leaving a similar impression on her character. It is more often than not an absolute pleasure to watch as they form their bond of friendship and maybe even more. The only real hinderance between them is the Senpai’s senpai, miss Sana Sunomiya, who joins that cast past the midway point of the anime.

Sana is a stoic, extremely well-endowed, near child prodigy level artist who has won many accolades for her artwork. However, there is one major problem with that…her highly praised artworks are typically of self-portrayed nudist paintings. Keep in mind that she is only a teenager, which is where a critical problem is brought into discussion. In real life something like this is not acceptable, nor should it be. She is an underaged person, a minor flaunting her body around, regardless of the medium in which she uses to do so. That is distasteful when thought of in that perspective. The only counter I have for that is that Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro is nothing more than a manga and an anime. It is for entertaining purposes only, although still not acceptable in the grand scheme of things. I must bear that in mind when watching, but I digress on that part of Sana’s character.

The other challenge she brings is her unexpected fondness and admiration for Hachioji and his dedication to his art. However, when she discovers what the art club has become, she threatens to shut it down forever since she believes that he has lost his passion and purpose for being an artist. A competition is conceived between the two of them and it is Nagatoro and her clique that end up fighting and helping him in surprising ways. Meow 😉. It is in this final act that the relationship between Nagatoro and Senpai is much more realized by nearly all parties, even Sana sees something more in him than she first thought.

The above realization makes for a decent conclusion or a good foundation to a potential continuation, depending on how the Japanese audience perceives the bullying, perversion, and the anime in its overall entirety.

Overall: 67/100 points

Coincidentally, this landed the exact same rating from me as Rent-A-Girlfriend, which says two things for certain. First, that this is not one of the greatest anime you are likely to watch in your lifetime of anime, assuming you give it a chance. Second, this anime is better than some of its harsh, undo criticisms that it receives. If you decide to go for it, give it a few episodes before casting it aside as a "no story, no tension, no stakes, no plot, no pace, there is nothing to keep you here" anime or a "this is f**king disgusting...even for an ecchi, it hardly has anything to offer" anime. The anime is more (or even less) than what is being portrayed by these particular comments. That is not to say that there is not validity or substance to their opinions of Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, because then I would be wrong. The plot is on the simpler side and there are moments that are indeed distasteful and unsavory. However, keeping that and everything you have read from this review in mind, I do not believe you will regret giving this anime a fair chance. But if there is anything that does make you too uncomfortable after reading this, then perhaps finding another anime to spend your time on is in your best interest, and that is OK too.

Entertainment Score: 16 points

Achievement Score:  +4 to Overall

My expectations were Moderate, and it delivered Above those expectations.

Age Rating:  TV-14+ (the bullying can be overbearing, especially early on; nude art)

Additional Information:

• Video Format:  Streaming FHD (1080p)
• Audio Format:  Japanese with English subtitles
• Publisher:  Crunchyroll
• Equipment Used:  Acer AN515-53-55G9 Nitro 5 Laptop