I had my reservations watching this anime, because in general I do not enjoy romance that much, regardless of gender. However, for lack of another anime to watch and because I felt I should probably give it a try, I started watching Love Stage!! ... and I was shocked. Especially after knowing how well it has been received by the public.
It starts out telling the story of introverted Otaku Izumi whose family is in the showbiz and pushes him into the same direction. When he was still a child, he had been dressed up as a girl for a wedding commercial because the original cast dropped out last minute. There, he met Ryouma who participated in the commercial as well. Fast forward ten years and now famous Ryouma tries to find the 'girl' from the commercial by insisting they should redo the commercial now showcasing the kids from then all grown up marrying themselves. And so it happens that Izumi has to play a girl once again without anyone else knowing he's actually a boy. And only after the commercial Ryouma discovers that his long term crush is actually...a boy. So far so good. We have conflicting feelings in both main characters for very understandable reasons.
-- NOW POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD --
Some time after the incident, Ryouma visits Izumi at his place to once and for all get the image of that 'girl' out of his mind. He waits there for Izumi while Izumi's parents and guardian leave and then when Izumi arrives, Ryouma starts chasing him and undressing him, supposedly to make sure that he's really a boy so that he will no longer have to think about him. This alone is quite disturbing because the feeling of having your clothes violently ripped off by some creep isn't all that romantic. But it gets worse. Upon seeing Izumi's naked chest Ryouma does not feel the revulsion he hoped for and instead pins Izumi down and starts sexually assaulting him! Yes, indeed. While Izumi is crying and begging him to stop. If his older brother hadn't shown up to forcefully stop Ryouma, who knows what would have happened. So the situation is the following: a so far straight, eighteen year old introvert who has never even kissed before has been sexually harassed by a guy in his own home. Izumi then proceeds to hide out in his room without eating anything or going to school, naturally because of the trauma that incident has caused.
He finally opens up to his guardian, Rei, and asks him whether it is normal for a guy to feel aroused when touched intimately by another guy - and Rei says that of course it is, it cannot be helped. After that, Izumi feels better. Clearly he felt like a sick person for feeling aroused during such an assault. And I believe this is what most rape victims also have to deal with, this feeling of disgust about themselves for having their bodies respond in a way their mind truly does not want to. And even though Ryouma apologizes afterwards and wants to make it up, I find this is not acceptable. It does not explain nor justify him assaulting Izumi and it doesn't matter that he's feeling insecure and conflicted about having feelings for a guy. It made me truly angry that the show then proceeded to deepen their bonds as friends when one counterpart seemed to have serious issues with respecting personal boundaries and intimacy.
In a scene where Ryouma helps Izumi out finishing his manga and Izumi eventually falls asleep, Ryouma repeatedly kisses him. Romantic? I think not. Izumi told Ryouma that they may start out as texting buddies but that's it. At that point in the story he did not reciprocate any of Ryouma's feelings. Ryouma was abusing the situation of Izumi being asleep. Another highly debatable action of his. I am not saying his character is bad, he seems like a nice enough guy, truly caring for Izumi. But that behavior has a strong undertone of abuse and harassment. Their friendship eventually becomes stronger and after Izumi was turned away by the publishing house because his manga was so bad, he ran away from home and visited Ryouma's place in the hopes to stay there for a while- for lack of other friends or places to stay. Ryouma agrees and lets him sleep over. But the next day, Izumi tells Ryouma what happened and eventually Ryouma explains to Izumi that this situation is difficult for him, having Izumi sleep in his bed, while he's having those feelings for him. Izumi - still very down and now feeling guilty - tells Ryouma he may do with him what he pleases and lies down on his back, turning away his head and averting his eyes. But instead of assuring Izumi that it is ok and that he should not do anything he does not want to, he just takes advantage of the situation (again!!) and undresses Izumi, touching and kissing him. And Izumi? He lies there unresponsive, head turned away, crying. Yes... how very considerate and romantic. Seriously, by then I thought this show must be a joke. But instead they eventually made Izumi fall in love with Ryouma, accepting that his first love was a boy instead of a girl.
So, what should we take from that? Persistent sexual assault will eventually lead to a relationship? That attempted rape is fine? I mean, what the hell? How can you expect an eighteen year old virgin to not feel all confused after he had his first sexual experience with a guy who forced himself on him? This is wrong in so many ways and it made me terribly angry and sad, that apparently, the general public think this is ok as long as it happens between boys. If that is the case, then something is very, very wrong with our society. My rating will thus also be affected by this. While the animation is quite good and the soundtrack is decent, the story and its message are so repulsive that I cannot give anything above a 3. I am aware that this rating seems biased, but I cannot overlook the message of this anime that will be watched by adolescent viewers. Hence, my harsh judgement.
Last note: I am not a prude, not at all in fact. I have watched shows including sexually explicit scenes (very much so), showcasing various rape scenes. But there has never been any doubt that it was wrong. This anime however wants the viewer to believe that it's just part of the relationship and that the fact that Izumi eventually falls for Ryouma can explain everything away. This line of thinking deeply disgusts me, because it might blur the lines between what is acceptable and what is not even further, and it adds to the taboo of men speaking up when being assaulted.
It starts out telling the story of introverted Otaku Izumi whose family is in the showbiz and pushes him into the same direction. When he was still a child, he had been dressed up as a girl for a wedding commercial because the original cast dropped out last minute. There, he met Ryouma who participated in the commercial as well. Fast forward ten years and now famous Ryouma tries to find the 'girl' from the commercial by insisting they should redo the commercial now showcasing the kids from then all grown up marrying themselves. And so it happens that Izumi has to play a girl once again without anyone else knowing he's actually a boy. And only after the commercial Ryouma discovers that his long term crush is actually...a boy. So far so good. We have conflicting feelings in both main characters for very understandable reasons.
-- NOW POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD --
Some time after the incident, Ryouma visits Izumi at his place to once and for all get the image of that 'girl' out of his mind. He waits there for Izumi while Izumi's parents and guardian leave and then when Izumi arrives, Ryouma starts chasing him and undressing him, supposedly to make sure that he's really a boy so that he will no longer have to think about him. This alone is quite disturbing because the feeling of having your clothes violently ripped off by some creep isn't all that romantic. But it gets worse. Upon seeing Izumi's naked chest Ryouma does not feel the revulsion he hoped for and instead pins Izumi down and starts sexually assaulting him! Yes, indeed. While Izumi is crying and begging him to stop. If his older brother hadn't shown up to forcefully stop Ryouma, who knows what would have happened. So the situation is the following: a so far straight, eighteen year old introvert who has never even kissed before has been sexually harassed by a guy in his own home. Izumi then proceeds to hide out in his room without eating anything or going to school, naturally because of the trauma that incident has caused.
He finally opens up to his guardian, Rei, and asks him whether it is normal for a guy to feel aroused when touched intimately by another guy - and Rei says that of course it is, it cannot be helped. After that, Izumi feels better. Clearly he felt like a sick person for feeling aroused during such an assault. And I believe this is what most rape victims also have to deal with, this feeling of disgust about themselves for having their bodies respond in a way their mind truly does not want to. And even though Ryouma apologizes afterwards and wants to make it up, I find this is not acceptable. It does not explain nor justify him assaulting Izumi and it doesn't matter that he's feeling insecure and conflicted about having feelings for a guy. It made me truly angry that the show then proceeded to deepen their bonds as friends when one counterpart seemed to have serious issues with respecting personal boundaries and intimacy.
In a scene where Ryouma helps Izumi out finishing his manga and Izumi eventually falls asleep, Ryouma repeatedly kisses him. Romantic? I think not. Izumi told Ryouma that they may start out as texting buddies but that's it. At that point in the story he did not reciprocate any of Ryouma's feelings. Ryouma was abusing the situation of Izumi being asleep. Another highly debatable action of his. I am not saying his character is bad, he seems like a nice enough guy, truly caring for Izumi. But that behavior has a strong undertone of abuse and harassment. Their friendship eventually becomes stronger and after Izumi was turned away by the publishing house because his manga was so bad, he ran away from home and visited Ryouma's place in the hopes to stay there for a while- for lack of other friends or places to stay. Ryouma agrees and lets him sleep over. But the next day, Izumi tells Ryouma what happened and eventually Ryouma explains to Izumi that this situation is difficult for him, having Izumi sleep in his bed, while he's having those feelings for him. Izumi - still very down and now feeling guilty - tells Ryouma he may do with him what he pleases and lies down on his back, turning away his head and averting his eyes. But instead of assuring Izumi that it is ok and that he should not do anything he does not want to, he just takes advantage of the situation (again!!) and undresses Izumi, touching and kissing him. And Izumi? He lies there unresponsive, head turned away, crying. Yes... how very considerate and romantic. Seriously, by then I thought this show must be a joke. But instead they eventually made Izumi fall in love with Ryouma, accepting that his first love was a boy instead of a girl.
So, what should we take from that? Persistent sexual assault will eventually lead to a relationship? That attempted rape is fine? I mean, what the hell? How can you expect an eighteen year old virgin to not feel all confused after he had his first sexual experience with a guy who forced himself on him? This is wrong in so many ways and it made me terribly angry and sad, that apparently, the general public think this is ok as long as it happens between boys. If that is the case, then something is very, very wrong with our society. My rating will thus also be affected by this. While the animation is quite good and the soundtrack is decent, the story and its message are so repulsive that I cannot give anything above a 3. I am aware that this rating seems biased, but I cannot overlook the message of this anime that will be watched by adolescent viewers. Hence, my harsh judgement.
Last note: I am not a prude, not at all in fact. I have watched shows including sexually explicit scenes (very much so), showcasing various rape scenes. But there has never been any doubt that it was wrong. This anime however wants the viewer to believe that it's just part of the relationship and that the fact that Izumi eventually falls for Ryouma can explain everything away. This line of thinking deeply disgusts me, because it might blur the lines between what is acceptable and what is not even further, and it adds to the taboo of men speaking up when being assaulted.