Inu230

What is love? How do I find it? How do I give it? How can I keep it? Is there a way to reject love without being a jerk? How do I make memories with those I love? What about with the one I love the most? What’s the best way to express my feelings? Can I deserve another’s love? How do I understand my feelings?

This anime explores different forms of love with a heavy emphasis on unrequited and misunderstandings of love. What one person feels for another may be romantic, friendly, and/or familial. How the other person feels doesn’t always match and these 12 episodes take an honest and realistic exploration of individual interpretations of that four letter word and its different forms.

While the main characters have animal characteristics their humanity is nonetheless at the forefront of the story. They may have animal ears and tails but this show is not about a fetish for young boys or girls with fluff, it is a beautiful interpretation of a wondrous, magical, ethereal feeling. One that alters a person, improves self-worth, grants individuals strength when they are going through difficulties, brings them out of their shell while coating them with a warmth that was once missing.

The series begins with Ritsuka a closed-off elementary student who doesn’t want to be friendly with his new classmates and doesn’t understand love. His memory loss has caused him much grief and the brutal murder of his brother - the one person he looked up to the most - has prompted him to be hostile to those who reach out to him. He wants to make more memories, ones that can’t be taken from him but he doesn’t have anyone in his life that he wants to make memories with. Enter Yuiko, one of Ritsuka’s new classmates and a girl in desperate need of an ego boost. 

Not too long after Soubi introduces himself to Ritsuka and sparks don’t need to be animated to be felt. These two have a connection and it may go beyond friendly. Watch for yourself and decide for yourself. 

The magic in the anime has a backstory that is poorly explained but in a smart way. Like most stories the M.C. is unaware of spells and thus an organization that trains magic users much less a destiny of a shared name, one given at - or before - birth so with Ritsuka the audience learns piece by piece. Though if you think you’ll have the full story by the 12th ep you would be wrong. There is much left unsaid and many questions Ritsuka asked are left hanging. The beauty is that the magic world isn’t the spark that holds the watcher in one place for 4 hour,  it is Ritsuka. His relationships: those he begins to accept from his classmates and teacher and the one he develops with Soubi. He may have been destined to meet these people, he may have been forced to transfer to a school with a girl who just won't’ take no for an answer and his brother’s death may have been unavoidable. What matters most is Ritsuka’s reactions to his life.  Yeah, he has weekly meetings with a therapist, his mother acts like he doesn’t belong, his school life focuses rarely on academics, his attitude towards these things will keep you engaged.

Together wondrous things happen.