Friday Fives (Domestic Girlfriend) – Five Moments of Clarity!
When I finished watching Domestic Girlfriend several scenes lived on in my head for days and weeks. This show had some things that needed to be said. Things that I needed to hear.
Friday Fives (Domestic Girlfriend) – Five Moments of Clarity!
My initial reaction to Domestic Girlfriend was that I really enjoyed it. Then, after a couple of days when I wasn’t able to think about anything else, it hit me. I actually loved the show. How did a show about a guy moving in with the girl he had a crush on and the girl he had a one-time fling with make such an impact on me? Well, I’m glad you asked. In this post, I’m going to highlight five moments in the show that I think perfectly showed why this was more than an awkward harem fantasy anime. This was storytelling at its finest. It connected with me and made me hear the truths that I myself had been avoiding.
5. If we’re found out, then we’d have to throw away everything, including our family and place in society.
Natsuo confessed his love to Hina on the beach, revealing that he had been in love with her for some time now. She casually climbed to her feet and took his hand. Then, she walked with him into the sea. Natsuo was shocked and didn’t understand what was happening. Hina explained that if they were to have a secret relationship, eventually someone would find out and it would be the end of them. So, to date would be like agreeing to a double suicide. She scared him into seeing how crazy the situation was. The fact that later in the series he tells her he is prepared to die for her highlights just how crazy love can make someone, especially when she confessed that it made her happy that he felt that way.
4. Let’s take this unfulfilled feeling and draw all the experience we can from it.
This is one that really hit home and I think anyone who’s aspiring to do something creative can relate to it. Miu and Natsuo just learnt that Rui was the only person to win an award from the literary competition they all entered. It was her first story too. They were both pretty distraught. Miu speaks about how even those without talent still must have something that people with talent can’t feel. Now, there’s something to that, but I also think it comes down to the judges and what they are looking for. As with everything creative, how people respond to something is personal. Otherwise, everyone would like the same thing. I agree that this is an experience that they should learn from and move on, but I also think that comparing your work to others is always going to lead to resentment. Either it’s so good you’ll wonder how why you should continue or you’ll be surprised that it is as successful as it is. The best person you can compare yourself to is you from yesterday. Have you grown or improved?
3. You can’t turn back time, and you can’t undo things.
Natsuo has been struggling to come to terms with Hina’s sudden disappearance. He can understand why she left and what she did for him in doing so, but it’s still hard. He can’t find a way to move on and Rui is worried about him. She confides in Masaki Kobayashi who arranges for Natsuo to meet him at a bathhouse. Natsuo is shocked to see the Yakuza tattoo covering Masaki’s back and even more so by his story. Masaki left the Yakuza, enraging his father. He remembered seeing him crying with rage as Masaki walked out. He didn’t regret it because he was free to be himself and be with the person he loved. However, his father soon died of cancer. All he could see was his last memory of his father so he didn’t attend the funeral. His advice to Natsuo is obvious and yet sometimes obvious is what we need to hear. You can’t change the past and you can’t erase your memory. Make it a part of you and move on. Learn to live with it.
2. Maybe it’s better if neither one of us go out with people we need to depend on.
So, this was actually one of the sweeter moments of the show. Momo had invited Natsuo back to her apartment. It quickly becomes clear that she has been pretty much abandoned by her parents, often eating alone. That has driven her to seek companionship with guys, and that’s sadly, exactly as it sounds. She has some scars on her wrist, and although she claims that was in the past, it paints a haunting picture of her life. They were undressing when Natsuo saw the scars. He stopped and began to dress. Then he asked her if a grocery store was nearby. To her surprise, he bought food and prepared dinner for them both. He told her that if she was ever lonely that she should call him and they would eat together. No one had been so kind to her. She asked if they were dating and he said no. He realised that what she needed was genuine friends, not lovers. The fact that he was able to step back and make this sort of decision is a testament to his character, and like the moment I mentioned earlier with Hina, it shows that when love is involved this level of reason disappears, leaving people making decisions that they otherwise wouldn’t even consider.
1. Do you want to write novels or do you want the status of being a “novelist”?
So, not long after seeing Rui win the prize, Natsuo went to Reiji Kiriya’s apartment and begged him to make him his apprentice. Reiji refused, telling Natsuo that he didn’t do things like that and even if he did, Natsuo would learn about the industry and that’s about it. If he wants to be a novelist, he needs to write. He needs to write a lot. This was the moment that hit me the hardest as I’ve been trying to be a novelist for many years now. This was the catalyst that made me slow down my blog to focus on writing. Reiji asked Natsuo if he wanted to write novels or whether it was the status he sought. Thanks to the way this scene was shot, I felt like I was having the conversation with Reiji. I’d known for a while that the blog had become a new form of procrastination. I’d known that I needed to write more. I need to publish more. I need to grow. Only then will I be able to say I took the steps toward becoming a novelist.
Final Thoughts
Obviously, there were many more moments like the ones I’ve highlighted above. These were my favourites because they either spoke to me personally or that I believed it showed us how we can and should behave. This is a wonderfully insightful story. I don’t think it will resonate with everyone the same way, but I do think there is something that will appeal to everyone. As I said, this series is living in my mind at the moment, such was the impact it made on me. The most wonderful thing about this is that I came into it expecting something else. I thought this was going to be a fun and awkward ecchi comedy. I did not expect to have it peer into my heart and give me the clarity that I’ve needed for quite some time.
Anyhow, these are just my opinions. Have you seen Domestic Girlfriend? If so, what did you think and were there any moments that spoke to you? Thanks for reading.
Other posts in the series
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