Hitorijime My Hero

never have i ever... wanted to watch an anime that glorifies emotional dependency :( “you can decide, do you want to sleep with me or not have anything to do with me at all“ (couple 1) “enough, stop pretending, i know you want me to screw you“ (couple 2) “i didn‘t mean the relationship when i asked ‚so this is the end?‘.“ (couple 2) does the art even matter if you hate the show’s concept of love? my inner alarm bells were triggered so many times throughout this show. it is sickening to think about how many people are stuck in unhealthy relationships like these. seriously guys, i even liked Super Lovers, but this is a whole new level. make a reality check before you’re tricked into fangirl mode. DEFINITELY DO NOT WATCH IF YOU’VE EXPERIENCED EMOTIONAL ABUSE IN YOUR PAST! - couple (1): uke1 and seme1 haven‘t seen each other since elementary school when they meet again in high school and seme1 drops that „sex or not spending time“ line. let me remind you, at this point they’re strangers, they missed crucial years for anybody’s character development! while the anime suggests somebody who is in love would say something like that uke1 wants his old best friend back so bad that instead of punching him and moving on, he realizes he’s in love with that jerk. WTF, this is emotional dependency at its best. you’re so afraid to loose an important person that you would do anything said person demands. and adults comment „they were close as kids, must mean they love each other“ - great, so this is the level of depth this anime has... in their actual relationship this pattern continues. seme1 can’t stand that uke1 has a best friend and is constantly mean to him. uke1 complains but does nothing no matter how unbearable it gets. it is sickening that the show implies this is ok and what love looks like and obviously gets away with it, looking at all the good reviews. just to be clear, this is not seme1 „having a character“, but simply being shitty. if he had any character at least you‘d be able to say uke1 has a messed up taste, but nah, there’s just nothing they could actually love each other for. - couple (2): neglected child meets man with helper complex. this dynamic of the main couple sounds dark and quite promising, both sides have a good psychological reason to fall in love. the gang history of both of them as well as the present teacher student situation feel a little like too obvious choices, but whatever, i like it, it‘s sexy. or so i thought. the problem is not the age gap but how seme2 behaves in this scenario. uke2 lived in hell when seme2 lets him stay at his home. hero turns stray into housewife (eye roll), secretly feelings develop as familiarity builds up over the years. but ok, if the grooming a bride vibes don‘t turn you off, it‘s cute. when the teenager finally shows signs of a crush but doesn’t make a move the adult gets impatient. deciding the time of restraint and patting hair is over because he might get some 15y old booty now he drops line 2 from above, in a casual conversation. eww. and to top his shitshow off he lies about not being able to return the teen‘s feelings, although he actually expects him to come forward afterwards. WTF. we understand you can’t restrain your desires any longer, we know the drill, but is uke2 so unimportant to you, you didn‘t even think this through for 2 consecutive minutes? of course, not only does this crush self esteem, it destroys all the security you built up for him all. these. fucking. years. - for what? a quicker fuck? that’s just disgusting. how selfish can a person be? could this be handled any worse? is „l’m just not a hero“ all you got as an excuse for being an absolute ass? why don‘t you stop him from running away? down falls the neglected child and with it all the likeability of seme2. but of course this is not the end of things, because... yeah, this is shonen ai. future „romantic“ events include: breaking into your student‘s apartment when your bad conscience is finally bugging you. not caring for the pace your 15y old is comfortable with, constantly telling him he needs to show more initiative. playing games about being found out at school although your partner doesn’t want it. knowingly hurting your partner for the sake of teaching him a oh so ‚valuable‘ life lesson. using your friends for a stupid loyalty test to further provoke the thought that the relationship is in constant danger. not seeking the healthy conversation immediately, making sure to trigger his insecurity problems, repeatedly, knowingly. seriously saying line 3!!! all of this is painful to watch. because again - this is emotional dependency. when everything good that ever happened to uke2 is connected to seme2, then without him, he has simply nowhere to go. breaking up or even trying to avoid the other to think means going back to life in hell. and seme2 doesn‘t care enough to act a tad more responsible and prevent his lover from scarring. instead he is provoking the poor teenager again and again. being in love is no excuse for totally misusing your position of power. don’t get me wrong, nobody’s perfect. but we’re talking bare minimum common sense here. seme2 could’ve easily taken the pressure from uke2 and given him the assurance he knows this boy needs. you don’t need to be a hero to tell your loved one that it’s ok to have doubts. that he can stay at home anyways. but he doesn’t. why this is considered love i don‘t know, to me it certainly is nauseating. - if i have to give the anime credit for anything then it would be that it is bold enough to pick the topic of being stuck in an unhealthy relationship. i think it’s great that gay relationships in general are normalized by the characters. i like the artstyle. i like that it concentrated on an established relationship. that it showed how difficult relationships with big age gaps are for the more experienced partner. but in the end i can‘t forgive that it‘s romanticizing emotional abuse. actually nobody should. the devil lies in the details stated above. i don‘t want to overlook everything just because this is anime and the industry cannot overcome its tropes. or just because it is shonen ai and there is not a lot of better stuff out there. i hope someday the quality of my favourite genre will change into something the gay community mustn‘t be ashamed of - No.6 and banana fish are a good start, watch them instead if you haven‘t already, they have an actual genre besides shonen ai. it’s quite sad that this show has almost a rating as high as those...

“It might have looked that way to you, but I’m just normal ” ~ Setagawa, ep 4. And that’s practically ever BL protagonist ever, isn’t it? Anyway, if you aren’t interested in reading my entire review (because who enjoys reading long reviews, huh?), here’s a TL;DR version of it: If you’re a fujoshi or someone who's tired of the same tropes being used in BL (abusive seme, weak MC, cliché romance), then Hitorijime is something you’ll enjoy. But if you’re looking for something new, refreshing or path breaking in the BL genre, look somewhere else. This review will contain my opinions on what I liked and disliked about the anime. If you’re interested, read on! Man, I remember when news of a new Shounen Ai anime was released. EVERY fujoshi account in existence went crazy over this development, and the Mystic Messenger fandom couldn’t get enough of the fact that one of the MCs totally looked like Jumin Han (which he really did from certain angles, honestly). My Insta and FB newsfeeds were littered with scenes and GIFs from episodes as and when they were released. But me being the kinda person who waits for an anime to finish airing so that she can binge watch it in a day, patiently waited for three entire months for Hirotijime to, you know, finish airing. Now, since it’s Shounen Ai, the entire anime’s focus is on the increased closeness between our two MCs - Setagawa (the blond aka MC1) and Kousuke (the Jumin Han lookalike, aka MC2), as well as the doubts and trauma they both go through. The anime’s first three episodes, for some reason, were dedicated solely to the love story between MC1’s bestie (Kensuke) and his long lost friend Asaya (whose character design looks suspiciously similar to that of Sunagawa’s from Ore Mongatari). The dialogues were lackluster, the story had tropey elements and had certain aspects that I sincerely hoped the BL genre would have got rid of by now. The biggest sinners, ofc, are tropes where the seme kisses the uke WITHOUT HIS CONSENT and that’s portrayed as totally okay bc the seme is in love with the uke. Uh, no. Consent exists for a reason. But I digress. I did not like how this secondary romantic relationship developed – the seme gave the uke an ultimatum – bed me, or leave me. What the fuck?? That’s not what you say to someone who genuinely thinks of you as a good friend. And magically, this ultimatum made the uke realize his actual feelings for the seme and tadaaaaaaa!! They’re lovers. Again - what the fuck?? Also, the character responses were 1 second too late. So that was annoying. However, things did improve for the better when the relationship between MC 1 and 2 was explored. But there were several things that were not explained. Like, at all. First, how does a ruffian like MC2 become a respectable teacher in a boys’ school?? How and when did he get such an education? What forced him to make the change? How was his violent past (and I’m assuming, his criminal records) NOT an issue with the principal when hiring this dude as a temp??? Second, when and why does MC1 colour his hair blond?? The change in colour isn’t even used as a plot device, so why bother changing his hair colour at all? If you really wanted him to be blond this badly, then why not make him a blond child, instead of a child with ginger coloured hair?? These two things confused me till the very end if anybody reading this review has an answer, do let me know. Third, and most importantly, how could MC2 be so chill about kissing MC1 so openly in the school hallways? I mean, I get that you don’t care about what people think and all, but DUDE. You could literally be jailed for getting physical with a MINOR. Fourth, why did MC1 have to be a minor? The setting could have easily taken place in a college instead of a school and literally everything would have remained the same, except for the fact that this anime wouldn’t have been normalizing paedophilia. Ugh. So, anyway. Some of the dialogues were very well written, especially in the second half. My fav was when the dude who was ‘grossed out’ by MC1’s relationship (and was eventually shunned by his friend circle) said,“Nobody’s on my side. The one who speaks out is automatically the villain”. Not because it’s very deep, philosophical or ground breaking, but simply because of how REAL it was. I also enjoyed the little character details which made the show a little more memorable for me. For example, MC1 is a nice boy, yet he has ear piercings and wears rings on his knuckles (which nice guys absolutely never do in anime). His mother’s a prostitute, and it’s a miracle the boy turned out to be as normal as he is. Perhaps that’s also why he was totally chill when his bestie started dating a guy – you’re not exactly in any position to judge anybody when you yourself come from a pretty questionable place, you know. MC2 is a chain smoker (I didn’t like that, but it’s a unique quality nonetheless) and has big eyes, while it’s the uke who has smaller eyes. Generally, it’s the other way around, so this one thing that definitely stood out for me. However, MC1’s eyes were so beady (they reminded me of the eyes of the MC from Yahare Ore whatever the fuck its name is) that they actually made me not like him as much as I’d hoped. Why go for such an eye design? And he was the only one with such small eyes. Another breaking of clichés that I enjoyed was the seme encouraging the uke to take an initiative to kiss him. We don’t generally get to see that in BL bc it’s almost always the seme who’s the more dominant one (and by extension, the one more in control) in the relationship. ***Spoilers*** It was cute to see how one of MC1’s friend reacted (and handled) to his relationship with MC2. The friend then went on to join a different group of guys, and the way the group leader spoke to him made for an unnecessary (and yet more likeable) aspect of the details of the anime that I enjoyed about it. Episode 11 was definitely the highlight of the series. It had raw dialogues, show cased the internal/emotional struggles between both our MCs when MC1 decided to call of the relationship, and both the boys reacted exactly like normal people would in such a situation. I believe that episode was handled quite well. The engagement at the end of Episode 12 was totally ripped off Yuri on Ice, but I liked how it was played out. Totally did not see that coming! ***End of Spoilers*** My scores: Art: 6 (basic) Story: 6 (predictable) Sound: 6 (Catchy OP) Characters: 7 So, why an overall score of 7? Because of late, this has been the only anime that I binge watched in two days. It was nothing path breaking, but it was definitely worth a onetime watch.

Hitorijime My Herooooo! I was very excited to have another shounen ai be adapted, and I was not that disappointed. Story- basic concept that can be guessed from a teacher/student relationship. Common concerns and drama are present. If you're tired of the cliches, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this. However for those you enjoy fluffy cliches in this genre, oh boy you'll love this. Art- It's a bit lackluster. No explosions of color or movement. It's relaxing. Sound- romantic vibes all around. Gets repetitive in using the same fluff song. But the overall soundtrack is good. Characters- Is there huge character development? Ehhhh not really besides some reconciling. There was potential in other characters like the barista and the mom (you'll know what I mean). Our main character is conflicted the entire show and that's what really drives it all. Enjoyment- I will almost always enjoy a shounen ai anime just because it's still uncommon compared to other genres. Still, the anime left a sweet note with me and lifts up the heart! Overall- I would recommend this to someone who is new to shounen ai or just anyone who loves sweet conflict.

Hitorijime My Hero is a decent BL story with likeable characters and fairly healthy relationships compared to the majority of the genre. It’s pacing, though, could use some work. And by some work, I mean A LOT of work. Lucky for Hitorijime My Hero, all four main characters are engaging and play off each other well. It’s also nice to see our two couples not only interact with their love interest, but with other people - which is rarer in BL than I’d wish. There’s also more at stake than just “will they get together,” especially with Masahiro Setagawa. It’s easy to get sucked into his story, because not only are you wondering if he and Kousuke Ooshiba will figure things out, but you’re also wondering if his bad home life will set him on a potentially dangerous path, raising the stakes of not only the story, but the success of his romantic relationship. Despite spending time on Masahiro’s subplot and letting the characters interact with people other than their love interest, the anime spends the majority of its time focusing on the budding romantic relationships between two core couples - as any romance should. The biggest success of Hitorijime is that it’s really easy to root for the couples. Not only are all the characters likeable, but the relationships are fairly balanced, healthy, and end up benefiting everyone involved. Unhealthy relationships can make for a good and drama-heavy story, but it wouldn’t fit the lighthearted tone of the show, so thankfully, there’s no overly forceful semes to ruin the fun, mostly relaxed atmosphere. The animation, soundtrack, and voice acting aren’t anything to write home about, but they’re all solid and well-done. The anime’s biggest issue, by far, is pacing. I believe this stems from the fact Hitorijime not only adapts the manga it’s named after, but a prequel too. The first episode introduces us to the main couple. The next two episodes sidelines the main couple so heavily, that I thought they were the side couple. It was jarring, to get an intro, outro, and initial episode that seemed to set up one couple, only to switch to another pairing. While the side couple is cute, their story isn’t nearly as engaging as our main pairing, leaving the first few crucial episodes as some of the story’s weakest. Once the story switches back to the main pairing, things smooth out until you realize that all of the plots and subplots are already wrapped up, and there’s still a handful of episodes left. There are other issues the characters have to work out, but the anime does a poor job giving the viewer cues what those problems will be until the characters are already dealing with them head-on. If you like BL, Hitorijime My Hero is a must-watch. If you’re looking for a lighthearted, heartwarming romance, you might want to consider watching it. It’s an enjoyable, easy-to-watch story, but lacks anything that would take it from “decent & enjoyable” to “instant classic.”

Hitorejime My Hero is anime of the genre shonen ai which normalizes pedophilia and sexual harassment (in a way) and it's UNACCEPTABLE. Ok, so there are two couples, the main one: Masahiro (a 16 year old student) and Kousuke ( a 28 year old teacher) with an age gap of 12 YEARS and Asaya and Kensuke, which in one point their relationship was basically sexual harassment. Let's talk about why this anime has had the potencial to be at least a 7 but failed miserebly. First of all, pedophilia. As I said before the main couple is a relationship about a teacher and a student with an age gap of 12 years. Does this seem normal to you? Like, Masahiro is a kid and he fell in love with not only with an adult but also is his teacher. Why do the anime has the NEED to have a such a huuuuuge gap? Why can't we have a 16 year old with a 17 year old, or an 18 year old or geez even 20 year old (a little cuestionable but at least the gap isn't that huge and the younger one is soon to be an adult), but no, we want the main couple to be pedo teacher student prohibited couple. Like if you wanted the prohibited couple teacher student stuff why not make Masahiro a college student and Kouseke the teacher for one of his classes? You HAD to make it pedo. Yeah i know there are older couples with bigger age gaps but at least they both are adults. This couple is ILLEGAL. It makes sad because the couple has a kinda cute romance but they ruined. But maybe the anime is innocent romance they nay say but no. There were mutiple implications of Kousuke wanting to fuck with Masahiro, he didn't seemed very eager to fuck either. Like at one point Kousuke wanted to touch him in the school before classes began. ??? Why? This is illegal enough, Masahiro is 16, my god. This is not the only scene. Masahiro wanted to cook but Kousuke wanted to kiss him and touch him, obviously there were people at his house so he rejected so what does Kousuke do? Take him to an hotel! They end up doing nothing, just cuddling and sleeping buuuut the IMPLICATION IS ENOUGH. Masahiro is actually a good character, he's not great but he's nice. He actually acts, kinda, like a normal gay guy, not like his friend Kensuke, but im touching this subject later. Like he can be a gay man that doesn't act femenine (sadly as the uke troupe stablished in yaoi, he is weak and his seme has to protect him and cries easily and a lot). Kousuke obviously goes for the troupe of seme, protective, jelous, possesive and strong. What pisses me up the most is the fact that on the firsts few episodes he goes: "Yeah I know how you feel but I cannot accept your feelings", but the very next episode kisses him, gets close with him and suggest him to wanting to be alone in his or Masahiro's house (sexual very much?). Liken, first he rejects him, without Masahiro actually confessing him, but doesn't wait a day to kiss him? Fun fact, when Masahiro asks him how did he got the idea that he likes him he responds: "Your eyes are yelling me I want you to break me, to fuck me" ???? HE'S A 16 YEAR OLD HELLO? So yeah, the point of this couple is that it's illegal and runs into to many troupes to be good. The last episode romance scene was kinda cute tho. Asaya and Kensuke. Ooooh god, I HATE this couple and the characters. Asaya is super manipulative, jelous and possesive. He doesn't have a redeeming quality. The first three episodes where the couple was stabilish made me so mad. The thing is, Asaya was Kensuke childhood friend and because of changing of school and stuff, they lost contact. When they meet back, Asaya confesses he likes Kensuke but he's oblivious of the kind of liking, so Asaya force kiss him and literally goes, we cut relationship again or you fuck with me, you decide. Kensuke rejected very harshly the kiss, so it's not that situation that in the very deep he likes it. That's so wrong in many ways. Like why? Of course Kensuke is innocent and thought that was a joke, so he continued to talk to him as normal until Asaya force kiss him and ask him again, and Kensuke realizes it's not a joke. So Asaya goes "let me touch you for 5 minutes or we ain't friends anymore" Kensuke accepts this by pressure of losing his best friend again and lets him touch his body. (This last scene is taken in the rooftop in school btw). After one episode they talk and Kensuke realizes he """"likes""""" Asaya, says he doesn't want to loose him and boyfriends and happily ever after. Kensuke love for Asaya came out of nowhere for me and feels so forced. Kensuke is the typical femenine, crying baby, innocent and bubbly uke and never made me think, haha cute or haha funny, because after all he was annoying and dumb. Asaya doesn't have a good personality, whenever he talked I wanted to punch him. When he tried to "helped" he was just been a jerk. I don't see any good in him and I just rather not see him at all. In general, this anime is bad. I almost put it a 2, but a few times made me like the main couple (if it wasn't illegal) so there's that. If you expect a story in this one, there's basically none. They should had eliminated the gang scenes because I feel they are a waste of story and sometimes a tangent. Like in one episode they put so much focus in this and I didn't even cared. And other episode that I didn't cared about is when one of the side characters discovered the relationshop of Kousuke and Masahiro and gets mad and sad because of it... I didn't cared for him. Like i didn't even knew him, so I couldn't even get mad at him. So, the main characters have more flaws than goods (if they have any) and the side characters I couldn't care less.

Somehow I gave this show an 8 when it came out and I was a teen. Now, upon rewatching a few episodes as an adult, I'm flabbergasted. How did they get away with a series about a 27-29 yo kissing and sleeping (in the manga) with a 15-17 yo. Ok so what if they have Some cute moments? The shows feels a lot more boring/cliche/predatory in 2024 afted we had stuff like Given, Tadaima Okaeri, Doukyusei, Sasaki to miyano, Stranger by the Sea, which are at least closer to normal lgbt rep and not a mishmash of old yaoi tropes. I guess I never really liked student x teacher, though it could work if there's a time skip and they only start dating later, or meet again after a few years idfk, still icky but it would at least be LEGAL. Seriously, wtf were they on when they decided to make this series. 27 with 15 bleh. Disappointing rewatch. Bye.

Okay, so I usually come to My Anime List to get recommendations for an anime, and this is my first review so bare with me, but I felt that Hitorijime My Hero was such a great Anime that I needed to review this for anyone on the fence about watching. The synopsis doesn't really do it justice and it firsts it didn't make me want to stop everything to watch it, but I found this anime through a YouTube suggestions list. At the time, I was looking for another BL to watch and low and behold this one comes into my life and I'm so thankful for it. Yes, this is a Shounen-ai anime, but that's pretty obvious. Story (10) Although this is your typical slice of life/high school/romance anime, the story keeps you very engaged the whole time through. If you're not convinced by the first episode definitely watch the second one, things become clear. So, what exactly is the story? Well, it centers on a boy named Masahiro Setagawa. He's in a gang because he wants to have this sense of belonging. After some circumstances (I'll try to refrain from spoilers) he meets this other young boy named Kensuke Ooshiba and through some other circumstances his older brother Kousuke Ooshiba, who is older than them. They don't specify much older, but I'm assuming in his mid twenties. He has a reputation among gangs to be very tough. Upon meeting the two, Masahiro starts to become involved in their lives and stops hanging with the gang. Kousuke feels this need to protect Mashiro and their relationship grows stronger because of it. Another sublot to the story revolves around Kensuke and his childhood friend, Asaya Hasekura, that, after unfortunate events from when they were younger got diconnected from each other. Hasekura moves back for the start of high school and the story focus on them reconnecting. The story from here develops the characters and their relationship to one another. So my take on the story, like I said before it kept me engaged the entire time through. The characters are well fleshed out and it has a great balance between the comedy,drama, romance. Oh the comedy in this anime. If you need an anime that delivers on the comedy it's this one. I swear I'm not lying when I literally laughed every episode. Although the comedy is great, it also has a great balance of drama, as well as the emotional parts and the romance. If you're also looking for a great BL anime, this is for you. Art (8) The art for this anime is actually good. The character designs are nice to look at and it provides a nice scenery. It's nothing that's distracting is basically what I'm saying. The art design isn't much to talk about because it doesn't do anything particularly unique with the animation style, so I gave it an 8 because it's still pleasing to look at. Sound (9) The soundtrack for this anime is very good. The opening is catchy. At first I found myself not caring for it, but over time I found myself bopping my head to it when it plays. The ending is also good and calming, but what really steals the show for me in this anime is the tracks that play during the emotional scenes. They were very heartfelt and beautiful. I watched this with my brother and he and I both said that they need to release a full soundtrack because the tracks they use are beautiful. If it's enough for me to want to download, then it's good. The sound is definitely a strong part. Characters (10) Okay so let's talk about the characters. There are really only four main characters in this anime with a couple of side characters, but I'll be focusing on the main four. Masahiro Setagawa I would say out of all the characters in this anime, Masahiro gets the most character development, which makes sense because he's our protagonist. He starts off the series as this kid that wants something different with his life. He doesn't want to be apart of this gang, but he feels he has no other options. His home life isn't great and he doesn't really have anyone looking out for him. He also does what everyone tells him to do and has the tendency to apologize for everything. Over the course of the series, we learn about his home life and how he does develop as a character. I can't say too much without giving plots to the story, but this is a very well fleshed out character, especially over a twelve episode anime. Kousuke Ooshiba He is the older brother to Kensuke. He's a teacher at the high school that both Masahiro and Kensuske go to. He's very tough and has a lot of street cred, but also feels the need to protect Masahiro, especially from the gang. He's very dedicated to his school work and takes a liking to Mashiro when he sees how much potential he has as well. Kensuke Ooshiba He's the younger brother to Kousuke. He does serve as the comedic character, but also shows much care for his brother and his friends, especially Hasekura, his childhood friend. The story doesn't focus so much his character, but he was still a delight and you still grow to like his character. Asaya Hasekura He is the childhood friend of Kensuke and seems to care very much about Kensuke, but he also seems very intuitive about the relationship between Masahiro and Kousuke. He usually is the first to see if something's up before anyone else. His character was also good because he seemed to play a part and pushing things that needed to be pushed. I also want to say that I also loved the side characters. You really get involved in the all the characters. There was even an episode that focused on one of the side characters and it is very well handled and interesting. When watching this, I felt that these characters were very real in the way they interacted. It was very believable and if not for everything else that's great about this anime, the characters are really what shine here. Enjoyment/Overall Thoughts (10) I guess by now it's no secret that Is really enjoyed this anime. I feel like it was exactly what I needed. Like I mentioned before, I was looking for a nice BL because I had already watched all the good ones. This one though I feel like will stick with me in a different way than all the others. While the others that I've watched like Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, Junjou romantica, Super Lover, and even Yuri On Ice have their moments of fan service, and don't get me wrong I don't mind fan service, I felt like this one was genuinely trying to tell a story of the romance between two couples without needing to incorporate any of that other stuff. It felt genuine and it doesn't feel forced in the slightest. The development of the romance in this anime is what really keeps you invested. There were so many good and cute moments where I couldn't help but just smile and squeal like a fan-girl. If it isn't obvious, I'm a fan of boys love anime, but this felt somehow refreshing in the development of the romance. For once, there was no rapey scenes, that in it's self was a surprise. The characters, like I said were well developed, you grow to love them. The story is interesting, it can be emotional and may even give you that lump in your throat at certain parts. The drama is good and so is the comedy. Above all the romance is exactly what any person looking for a good BL anime looking for. If you're looking for Yaoi, then this isn't for you , but if you simply want a shonen-ai with believable characters and a great story to match, look no further. If the whole student-teacher thing throws you off and you can't get behind it maybe this isn't for you, but this anime does such a great job at developing the relationship that you almost forget about that aspect and see just two guys falling in love. I mean if people can get behind Super Lovers, then you'll have no problem watching this. Hitorijime My Hero is a beautiful anime that really focuses on the romance part of it and isn't just smut. I hope that this becomes more recognized now that it's finished. I highly recommend this to any fujoshi, but also to anyone that loves a good love story.

It's your usual BL, I'm a sucker for cute romances so I continued watching it. However, I can't get behind the age gap of the first couple (high school freshman + teacher). Also the usual drawn out BL drama, an episode that could be 5 minutes is stretched to 20 based on a misunderstanding. And I also dislike the whole 'older man/Top dominates and bullies younger man/Bottom into realize he's gay ONLY for him. If you can look past all that, then it's a cute feel-good show. I know sexualizing high schoolers in anime is common, but I don't think it should be common: pop culture is a reflection of society after all. If this was purely pornographic it wouldn't bother me, since the intent behind it would then be not to tell a good story but to fulfill a kink. The animation can be a bit stiff at times, but considering it's not an action anime, it's fine. The voice acting is great and I enjoy the character designs as well.

i used to love this anime when i was younger, but upon rewatching, i realized how problematic both of the couples were. the entire series romanticizes age gaps, student-teacher relationships, manipulation, and toxicity. though i must admit that if it werent for the issues i listed before, especially the age gap and student-teacher relationship, i would quite enjoy it. there were some cute moments, and the characters were quite enjoyable. unfortunately, these problematic elements are something i simply cannot and will not overlook, and neither should you. i understand that there arent many anime focused on lgbt relationships for people to choose from, and its frustrating to see so many of them normalize things like pedophilia, unhealthy relationships, and abuse. but trust me, you can find bl and gl anime that are good and unproblematic.

Twelve parts and I will write review. Hitorijime my Hero confirmed that is one of the better. And for me it's the most beautiful anime. I love typical yaoi / shounen-ai anime like Junjou Romantica, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi - This is a typical anime for people with love to homosexual love. But Hitorijime my hero is one of my best. After view all parts i feel lucky and sad. I want second season (But I know it would be the same like first season.) Characters: Everyone character is special. First couple ist nicely, but Kousuke and Setagawa... Oh my god. I am glad, that Setagawa was first, who showed interest. (Usually first, who showed interest seme and convinces uke that they love each other.) Other characters is not so much interest, but it belongs to the story. Story: 10/10 - Every part is special. Something unexpected appears there. The relationship of the main characters is not a typical cliché, it is always something enriched. I laughed and wept in every part. Music: Fantastic! All music go to my phone. Openning, ending - amazing! The music that the lovely pairs sing ... (Setagawa, Setagawa x Kousuke, Kousuke, Hasekura x Kensuke ..) I also like to listen. Overall - I think, that there is to offer here much. I Hitorijime My Hero I love, I am dependent on it, and I accept the criticism for me, because not everyone gets into the taste. :-)

My reviews and writing suck, don't read this. TL;DR: Shounen Ai is not for me. ------------------------------------------ I've never watched a Shounen Ai show. I'm just a straight, male anime fan who didn't really realize what he was clicking on when he logged into Anime Strike. Here is what I thought of Hitorijime My Hero. ------------------------------------------ Scrolling though MAL catching up on the top rated shows from last season, I had made my way down the list to this show. I didn't give the genres a glance as I typed the title into google to see which subscription service I needed to use to view it, but based on the title cover, I had a good idea of what I would be getting into. It didn't take long for my initial skepticism to have validation. From an outsider's perspective, I have no means of comparison for this show. Although, if this is supposed to be an above average shounen ai show as the ratings suggest, I don't think this genre will ever be something I can see myself going out of my way to watch again. *Some Spoilers ahead* Story: The plot of the show focuses on one of the two pairs and how they realize their love for one another, and then becomes a story of how they grow closer in their relationships through certain events and various emotional conflicts. Notice that I said "pairs". The show decides that the side pairing should take up the majority of the first 3 episodes before fleshing out the main pair. A decision I believe was made just so the show could have more BL than it already was planned to, and so that it could showcase different "top" and "bottom" troupes. The issue that really takes the cake for me though, is the #1 piece of evidence that you are watching a terrible romance: the "it was all a misunderstanding and I run away from our actually non-existent, but rather self-inflicted and imaginary, problems" cliché. Setagawa continually finds himself ramping up these scenarios and ideas in his head that Kosuke and him will never work out for this reason or that. Some of them plausible, others are problems that he creates in his head (although they may have some truth behind them) which end up hurting and straining their relationship beyond how things should have been. All this accompanied by common romance melodrama, boils down to a poor execution at making a compelling narrative designed to show that true love can overcome all odds. Art: Nothing special, but there is nothing inherently wrong with it. The characters are well polished to make them show off whatever features define their character, and the surroundings and environment aren't forgotten. Sound: Not a big fan of the OST, but the music accompanies the situations well and the VAs fit their characters. Characters: All 4 main characters in this show fit into a specific troupe so that no one's favorite is left out. Setagawa is a clearly defined bottom that is very powerless, dependent, and caring. Another obvious bottom is Kensuke, the younger Ōshiba. He is the typical comic relief through his childish antics and attitude during the lighter parts of the show. This makes Kosuke and Asaya the respective tops. Kosuke is a college graduate teacher who is meant to be the calm, cool, collected, powerful, strong type with an emotional, loving side to him. Lastly, Asaya is the tall, model-esque, inquisitive, jealousy-prone, selfish type. These 4 characters are created this way in episode 1, and have little to no development by the ending. Enjoyment: I finished all 12 episodes in a rather quick fashion, so something about this show must have kept me entertained enough, right? And to that I'd say: "No, not really." The only thing that kept me watching past a very laughably dramatic plot point in an early episode where Asaya tells Kensuke something the lines of "Leave me for good or fuck me", was the rather terrible habit of leaving things I completed. That coupled with a curiosity to complete a show in a genre I would have never watched, led me to complete this show. Overall: This leads to my overall score of 4/10 or "Bad". I know this show isn't the "Steins;Gate" or "FMA:Brotherhood" of shounen ai, but it is the show that, barring an over 8/10 score on a show that airs in the future, only reassures the fact that this genre will never be my cup of tea.

theme of the show: Morally questionable couple dynamics The childhood friend couple has a very concerning dynamic of the seme's tendency for blackmailing and gas lighting.......... yeah what the hell and the teacher student couple is just outright inappropriate to begin with. highly not recommended. watch better BL shows. I know BL anime is rare and far in between but we deserve better. The only positive aspect of the show is that there's a character that comments on how gross the relationship between the ADULT TEACHER and the MINOR STUDENT. I really like him -- he's a rad dude. I also like the fact that they do not completely villainize the neglectful parent of the main character.. She doesn't seem like a obtusely abusive mother -- just a sex worker trying to get by. Is the mother neglectful -- yes but its not because she's a bad person... It's more like how sex work is treated by society as well as the lack of social net for those who do not follow typical family structure (i am assuming the main character either has divorced parents or he never had a dad in his life). Anyway all things considered, would not recommend.

This is the first BL anime I've ever watched and I'm very conflicted. No, not because of the gay set up. I would like to start with a quick overview of everything but the characters. Story: Even though I had some major issues with the couples, I can't deny it was interesting to watch this anime in a weird twisted way. I can't say there is much plot of the story though. If it's not for the age gap (proper pedophilia) I would say this is a pretty average romance with some sweet moments. However, it came across as disturbing many times because of the weird set up. I could not understand the reason why the mangaka chose to have such young and emotionally insecure characters as MCs , but more about this when I will get to the characters. 5/10 Art: I really liked the art. That was the main reason why this anime caught my attention in the first place. I think the character design was nice. Although, I don't get what was the reason to use 3D fishes in the pub... 7/10 Sound: I was very happy with all the voice actors. They did a very good job. All the voices were in place and suited the characters. The music was average at best. 7/10 Characters: Oh well...This gonna be a bit long I'm afraid. 3/10 I gave this anime score of 6 at first, but then I was thinking through everything again and there is no way this was a fair experience. Our first couple: Where to start... it's just wrong, very very wrong in so many ways. So we have a boy (Setagawa) who has only reached the point of his teenage age when his sexuality and personality just start budding. He has abandonment issues and he is very much clueless about girls and boys. That is exactly the age when kids discover themselves and their sexual identity. So there is this guy who he admires a lot because he stood up for him when he felt scared and helpless. I could not see any romantic feelings in this as it felt more like respect as an older brother or an exemplar. However, even if he developed romantic feelings towards his hero, I don't think anything is wrong with it from his side. It is very understandable to have a crush on someone who you respect a lot. The problem starts with this other person. Kousuke: If I would like to explain him in one word I would say pathetic! First of all, he is a full-grown adult who is working with kids. I never got to know how old is he, but I would guess at least 25. He developed feelings toward Setagawa when he was only 13. That's already very alarming. What I got out from the whole story, that Kousuke felt lost at the time they first met, and tutoring and helping Setagawa helped him to get confidence as an adult and as a teacher. If is this happening without any romantic feelings involved I would say this is actually a pretty nice story, BUT he realized his feelings, and after some time he gets possessive towards the boy. And from this point, everything is just wrong. He has very serious issues! A responsible adult would leave the whole thing or would wait until the other party gets to know himself good enough to actually will be able to decide about his sexual identity. NOPE, this guy gets jealous over a teenage girl and he thinks his feelings give him authority to do whatever he wants with a confused and emotionally damaged boy. Kousuke is disgusting! He obviously more experienced in million ways than poor Setagawa and he is having fun putting this into use. He is aggressive with his romantic and sexual desires and he gives zero thought about how is this affects Setagawa. I'm pretty sure that boy never even kissed with anyone else before and Kousuke already talking about having sex. Sure that's pretty normal in an adult relationship, but in this relationship, nothing can be called normal. How pathetic an adult has to be to feel good from overpowering a young boy and using him to give himself emotional and sexual satisfaction. GROSS! A healthy person can't even romanticly connect that way with a kid. Obviously, Kousuke is a sick guy. I also found it very disturbing that all the other adults think of this as a normal thing. They don't question anything and their only concern that Kousuke might be caught if he is not careful enough. Hellooo!!...this is called pedophilia in most civilized countries! In a nutshell that's all from Kousuke..although I still could further analyze him. Our second couple: Not that disturbing, at least they are at the same age. However, far from wholesome. I've read in many reviews saying they hate Hasekura. I personally do not dislike him. Yes, he is manipulative. Yes, he used a very wrong method to make his feelings recognized, and Yes, he was pretty aggressive. I know that emotionally blackmailing Kensuke wasn't the best way to get into a relationship, but Kensuke made a decision, and even if that decision turns out to be the wrong one that's fine as they both kids, and they are still at their learning and experiencing phase of their life. I had a feeling that other viewers looked at Hasekura as a more experienced nearly adult person, but he is far from it. He is 15 just like Kensuke. Yes, he is more mature than him but I don't think he has more experience how to deal with these things than anybody else would have at that age. Especially if we consider it that he had a crush on Kensuke since they were small, so most probably he never had any other relationship. I think Hasekura's behavior is much less worrying than Kensuke's. Kensuke on the other hand has an emotional dependency on Hasekura. He also has a very weak and easily influenceable personality. And I honestly think Kensuke is NOT gay at all or at least he wouldn't be in a relationship with any other boy than Hasekura. Also, he is very far from being mature enough to be able to decide about his sexual identity. That's probably the most disturbing thing in their relationship. I don't think he discovered his sexuality, he just went with it because he was scared to lose his friend. First signs of the co-dependence personality btw. All in all his personality gives reasons to be concerned about him and his future. Side characters were alright, they were very supportive...I think they were a bit unrealistically too understanding though. When one of them stood up and said Kousuke's and Setagawa's relationship is gross I thought that's a fair thing to say because it is, but his opinion was shut down straight away. Also, it made it obvious that the mangaka recognizes the problem with their relationship, but thinks nothing of it. I think that the whole situation was handled very badly. The adult side characters were very creepy in my opinion. Enjoyment: Well...It was able to occupy my thoughts after watching it for some time. Also, It had some sweet moments, but that not change the fact that it still contains things which are shouldn't be acceptable in any kind of media. I finished it as I thought it's interesting, but I would never recommend it to anyone. I enjoyed the look of this anime and if the characters wouldn't have such a sick relationship I would even like all of them. Still, because it got me thinking and made me write this review I think a 6 is a fair score for enjoyment. Overall: I think I already said everything above so my score 5/10. Thanks for reading

Hitorijime My Hero isn't a very pleasant show to watch, both visually and plotwise, but it's not entirely without merits. The story falls into the trap of a lot of cliché romance stories in that it is just a series of misunderstandings and miscommunications stringed together. The characters seem to strive for maximum stupidity in all their decisions in a way that almost no real person would, which could maybe be excused with them being teenagers new to this whole romance thing, but several characters are adults, which makes it a lot harder to overlook their willfully dumb behaviour for plot's sake. The story brings up a handful of more serious topics (most importantly the focal point of the series, the teacher-student relationship) but those generally never go anywhere, get dropped or are played for laughs right after they were supposed to be emotionally impactful themes. I don't feel like any of them are handled well. The supporting cast stays rather bland and one-dimensional considering they are around an astonishing amount of time, but it is nice to see actual friendships in this romance-focused plot regardless. Visually, Hitorijime My Hero is below average. The animation often feels stiff and unnatural (a surprisingly common problem in BL anime in general, that this one sadly couldn't escape). While the backgrounds tend to be nice and functional, they aren't mindblowing or anything, and can certainly not make up for the character designs - one of the biggest issues of the series. Almost all the characters look the same: exact same hairstyle, same face, same body type, maaaaybe minor differences in eye shape. The only thing to really tell them apart by is the hair color, which isn't helpful when it changes throughout the story or depending on lighting. It can be genuinely hard to tell characters apart sometimes. The romance itsself is rather unsatisfying; the anime constantly shies away from actually visually portraying any romantic scenes for both main couples which is quite mind-boggling and comes across like censorship of even the most innocent moments. The music is alright, it works as intended in supporting the scenes but doesn't stand out positively either. A nice exception from that is the opening, which does a great job at motivating the viewer to start each new episode with a positive mindset through its catchy energetic tune. The voice acting is okay, the voices fit the characters well but don't exactly try to break from the norm in any way; from the whiney uke voice to the cool aloof guy voice to the deep manly typical seme voice, you get the full range of "typical BL". Overall, Hitorijime My Hero is about as cliché as it gets for basic BL love stories, and it doesn't even do a particularly good job in delivering them in a pleasant way either, but it does have its sweet little moments that make up for its many flaws at least a little bit.

I just re-watched the anime and that got me starting on this review. First of all, the anime is super cute, it's nothing inappropriate. The story itself was sweet and the first couple of episodes takes us to one couple and the rest of the episodes takes us to the main couple. I must say the couples are sweet and they all fit together well. There were a few touching scenes and it would've been even greater if there would've been a bit more drama but yeah. The art was alright, although I must say I never liked how small one of the main character's eyes were. But the way the characters overall expressed themselves were on spot. Those funny moments where the characters look funny made me laugh, the faces they made were better than most of the other one's I've seen so far, from other anime series. I enjoyed it, it was sweet and cute and funny but I needed some more action, that's just my opinion. Overall I'd say 9, mainly because there are so many good things to say about the anime rather than bad things. Good work!

Having the "shounen ai" tag, I expected something low quality artwise, BUT the art, animation, sound, colours and design were surprisingly good! The story is quite interesting itself, so the romance between the two boys doesn't stand out as much as in other shounen ai anime. There was character develpment, the feeling of freidnship and bonding and aaaah the opening and the ending are amazing <3 If you like shounen ai this is a MUST WATCH. Most of the times the mangaka,and the fans, don't have expectations and they feel that just the romance amd some extreme scenes are enough, and the anime is all about some minutes of romantic moments between boys. Well Hitorijime my hero is an anime to enjoy from the very start to the end.

Really simple stories and a good shounen ai recently released in 2017. Characters good development but i feel like sometimes they forget about other relationships in the anime Story line is very very good and the dialogues too. Has everything you could expect from a perfect shounen ai. A really calming and relaxing anime and good to rewatch too. Need more shounen ai like this and this is a really funny and the ending is really good. the last two episodes are a sob fest but heartwarming at the end. clearly says about true love and how many obstacles are there and shows the reality of a boyxboy relationship

As a fan of Shounen Ai manga and anime, I thought this would be a great anime. Unfortunately it suffers from what a lot of typical relationship anime's/manga's suffer from. Misunderstandings that cause a bunch of drama. It's easy to write I guess and that's why so many anime's/manga's suffer from it. It takes talent to write something that goes outside the norm. And I guess there's a lack of talent lately. Story: A very drab copy of any relationship anime/manga out there. One character falls for another character, they stumble over themselves for a bit till they get the love interest, it's a few episodes of mini drama and confused feelings and it all builds up to the main misunderstanding and then huge drama fallout. Just change around age, gender, jobs, names and so on and that's the basic layout of a typical relationship anime/manga. Art: Some of the characters were nice looking (not the main character...his eyes were freaky) and the backgrounds/outside shots of nature were quite lovely. Sound: Good sound, nice songs, pleasant enough voice acting. Character: As with the story, bland cookie cutter copies of characters with nothing interesting about them. The only slight interest was in the main character who ran with a gang...till they spoiled it and took the gang away...then it was back to being dull and boring. Enjoyment: But sadly we Shounen Ai fans don't have a lot of choices for new anime...so any anime is...better then nothing I guess? Overall: I think this had some good bits in it...as I said the gang was an interesting part. They could have expanded on that...maybe had the gang leader be a creepy pedo guy who abused the main character in the past and the main character was so used to being abused he didn't know he was in a mess. And the teacher could have swooped in and saved him... Or something other then the same old story again and again.

Tradução em português no final... There are so many issues with Hitorijime My Hero that it’s hard to know where to start — but to put it simply: it’s just a bad anime. The premise actually had potential, but the execution is a complete mess. The story is dull, poorly developed, and fails to make you care about anything that happens. The main couple, Kousuke and Masahiro, perfectly embodies everything wrong with the show — and they’re easily the most problematic part of it. The so-called age gap between them is incredibly uncomfortable. Not only is it a relationship between a teacher and his student, but the show also romanticizes it to the point of making it seem harmless or even sweet — which it absolutely isn’t. The dynamic completely ignores the imbalance of power and the emotional vulnerability of the student, who clearly depends on the teacher. It’s unsettling, to say the least. Instead of addressing this topic with seriousness and nuance — exploring the ethical and psychological implications of such a relationship — the anime frames it as a “forbidden love” story and tries to make the audience root for something that, realistically, should never have happened. It’s manipulative and deeply tone-deaf. The rest of the cast doesn’t help either. Every character feels painfully one-dimensional and cliché, with little to no real development. The dialogue and interactions are stiff, the writing is uninspired, and the visual presentation follows every tired trope imaginable. Nothing feels fresh, genuine, or emotionally engaging. In the end, Hitorijime My Hero fails as both a romance and a drama. It wastes a decent premise with lazy storytelling, shallow characters, and, most of all, a disturbingly careless approach to an age-gap relationship between a teacher and a student. There are plenty of BL series out there that portray queer love with heart, maturity, and realism — but Hitorijime My Hero is definitely not one of them. Save yourself the time. ... Existem tantos problemas em Hitorijime My Hero que é difícil saber por onde começar — mas, resumindo: é um anime ruim. A premissa até tem potencial, mas a execução é simplesmente desastrosa. A história é entediante, mal desenvolvida e não consegue despertar empatia nem interesse pelo que está acontecendo. O principal casal, formado por Kousuke e Masahiro, é o maior exemplo disso — e também o mais problemático. O chamado age gap (diferença de idade significativa entre os personagens) aqui é extremamente desconfortável. Não apenas por envolver um relacionamento entre um professor e seu aluno, mas porque o anime trata isso de maneira romantizada e até banalizada, como se fosse algo normal ou inofensivo. A relação entre os dois ignora completamente o desequilíbrio de poder e a vulnerabilidade emocional do aluno, que claramente depende do professor — o que torna toda a dinâmica ainda mais problemática. Em vez de abordar o tema com seriedade, mostrando as implicações éticas e psicológicas desse tipo de vínculo, a obra transforma isso em uma história de “amor proibido”, tentando fazer o público simpatizar com algo que, na prática, é inapropriado e problemático. É como se o anime quisesse que o espectador torcesse por um relacionamento que nunca deveria ter começado. Além disso, os personagens são excessivamente estereotipados e rasos. Nenhum deles tem desenvolvimento real, e as interações são forçadissimas. O visual e o roteiro seguem todos os clichês possíveis, sem trazer nada de novo ou cativante. No fim, Hitorijime My Hero não oferece nem uma boa história romântica, nem um drama convincente. Em resumo, é um anime que desperdiça uma boa premissa por causa de uma execução preguiçosa, personagens mal construídos e, principalmente, pela forma irresponsável como lida com um relacionamento que envolve diferença de idade e poder. Existem muitas obras dentro do BL que tratam o amor entre homens de forma saudável, sensível e REALISTA — mas Hitorijime My Hero definitivamente não é uma delas. Não vale a pena perder o seu precioso tempo com essa obra.

For this anime, the most important word is super super super sweet! For the story, the seme is about serval years older than the uke, which is actually super super cute! Some ppl might think the uke doesn’t even know the difference between admiration and love, but in fact, this story clear explains what is true love~It also shows the realities of lovers in various age, but, true love is true love~~~~~~ For the art, ahhhhhhhhh, the seme is so hot and handsome omg!!!(///▽///) He is like the handsome CEO from some BL novels, but he is actually a math teacher???Lololol The uke is also very cute. The uke’s eyes are so unique and the eyes always match his own personality perfectly~~~~ For the sound, OMG......Tomoaki Maeno senpai’s voice is super x10000000000000000 amazing! Especially his laugh in this anime....Gosh, so good. The uke’s voice sounds super good too. That’s exactly how I wanna my older brother sounds like if I have one....lol The ost is recommend too~~ For the character, sweet, so sweet, very sweet, super sweet lol So characters are just so fricking perfect to me!!! Well, this seme is not perfect, this uke is not perfect, but when they are together, they are just so fit!!! For the enjoyment, I love it!!!!!! This is one of my favorite anime~~ Pls have second season!!!!!!PlS!!!! Overall, this is an anime that u never wanna miss it or u would be regret for ur whole life. Pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls watch it pls pls pls I beg u pls............watch it........I just wanna share this mood to everyone thank you for reading this lololololol