FORBIDDEN FEELINGS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM
OH NO, I LIKED WHATEVER THIS IS
Day’s with My Stepsister is the best anime of 2024 that I can’t outright recommend to everyone, but not for the reason you think. At least not entirely that is because yes this is an anime about a newfound relationship between a brother and his stepsister, a classic taboo that more anime than I can stand get their rocks off to for absolutely no discernable reason. Yet that very taboo is not the defining element of this anime nor why I find it hard to recommend, no its the stylistic execution of this story on both a visual and substantive level that makes it stand out from its peers. See this is a slice of life not a romance for all intents and purposes but even slice of life doesn’t do it justice because this anime doesn’t deal in slices, it’s all in on showing the full mundanities of life with laborious attention. I have not seen an anime so committed to being so explicitly boring, so specifically dry, so realistically awkward, in short this is an anime where nothing happens. It is devoid of pandering to degenerates but also devoid of plot hooks or high concepts for more ordinary viewers, it just is and somehow that worked for me.
WARNING! INCEST ALERT?
If there is any thing I can say to soothe the eyebrows that are understandably raised at this show it’s my own context as a human being because I am a professional big brother with 5 siblings which includes a stepsister of my own, yup I’m pulling that card and no you can’t stop me. What I’m really trying to say though is this, objectively I have less tolerance for any incesty BS than anyone I know like when I see it in any form my blood boils because I really can’t think of anything more disgusting or indefensible in media. Incest is plain ignorant fantasy writing to me, there is nothing more unrealistic to my lived experience as a human being and if you think this term doesn’t include step siblings than man you just haven’t grown up with one because I promise there is zero difference in that context, aside from different disses we have exactly the same relationship. And with that said, context is the heart of the line this story balances so precariously on and it’s what sold me in the end, because fantasy this work is not.
DO I EVEN WANT TO KNOW THE PREMISE
Day’s with My Stepsister follows the lives of Yuta and Saki, a pair of 17 year old second year high schoolers who are abruptly brought together as brother and sister by their parents marriage and have to tackle this newfound relationship together. This context is the key to this work because right off the top we have a “sibling” relationship that just isn’t one on any emotional level, these are two almost fully formed late teenagers with zero history or life together suddenly forced into this box because of an out of nowhere matrimony between their parents. This isn’t me defending this series, this is just the explicit premise of the matter and the series uses this context to explore not just the potential of a break in taboo but really just what human relationships are and how circumstances affect their development. I wrote this section as dry and clinical as possible not because I’m a crappy writer but because that’s the style of the text itself. I would even say it’s written with entertainment value as an afterthought because there’s zero content that exists just to please the audience. This clinical bordering on uncaring style of storytelling makes this show sing because I really have never seen a story this committed to just letting itself exist, letting the audience take what they want or can from what it says without a care for directing their interpretation. At least on a plot and writing level, I haven’t read Ghost Mikawa’s original LN but I wouldn’t be surprised if it could be an even more unconventional freeform story because at least on an adaptation front I assume more direction has been added by Souta Ueno‘s also unconventional but definitely focused efforts. We’ll wrap around back to that later though, first I gotta actually describe what the experience of watching this show is.
PERFECTLY… BORING?
Yuta and Saki are boring people to an almost comical degree. In any other anime these characters would slip into the background because they have literally zero unique traits or interesting personalities worth giving a spotlight too which is why I almost find it perplexing that I ended up invested in them. On paper both are just well mannered quiet folk, respectful in their speech and action and while Saki dresses like a gyaru the moment she opens her mouth you realize that there isn’t a hint of rebellion to be found. They are normal and ordinary teenagers which is pretty essential to the story at hand because how do you explore a taboo topic with full literary seriousness without a shred of inherent sleaze. This show declared its “higher intentions” by simply picking the two most boring characters humanly imaginable and than sticking them together to see how that’d work out. Awkward, that’s how. To be fair to them what else could you expect, these are two normies who’ve not only never had experience with sibling or romance but actually carry baggage towards the opposite sex for individual reasons and suddenly they have to not only live together but do so as siblings. How do you figure that relationship out as properly as possible is the central question that this series explores by simply letting these two live under our scrutiny for a 4 month period.
DELICIOUSLY DRAB DIALOGUE
As I said both characters are respectful and well mannered so their conversations have an almost robotic flavour, there’s no useless drama that they can’t fix with a sit down talk over a meal and because both are obligated to care for the other they go about this as by the books as possible. They enjoy each other’s company and their empathetic personalities means they’re always helping the other out but it’s got an obligatory flavour, there is not an ounce of chemistry or spice. Which is boring to behold but also so unusual that it’s hard not to be engaged, at least for me. Dialogue exchanges are rich on a characterization front but there’s no specific style to them, no unique flow or spark like other dialogue heavy series like NisioIsin’s Monogatari make use of. Heck this year we had another slice of ordinary life talkie in Shoushimin but that series is night and day more attentive to entertainment value in how quirky the main duo has been written. That’s how dry we’re talking about with this series, it makes Shoushimin look riveting and I kid you not that series put me to sleep twice. This is not an interesting story but it is a self concerned one, fully focused on the dialogues and inner monologues of its leads and that total, unusual scrutiny is what I’d describe as the hook and why I ended up being so into it all.
NORMAL, TERRIBLY NORMAL
We’re not following interesting people but how we follow them is entrancing and the moment that feeling hits the hooks are in you because the moment you start paying attention to anyone they begin to reveal themselves and a mutual interest develops. That’s the strongest thing about this show, it forces the impetus of entertainment onto you and once you’re intrigued the writing begins to shine, not with flair but with its depth. Because yeah, this situation is complicated and while the goal of a normal family life is well understood the problem with people but most of all teenagers is that feelings aren’t something we ever have complete control over, it can just as easily be the other way around. That’s why when two very nice teenagers start living in a small apartment while being very attentive to each other feelings start forming that may not be what’s acceptable. And it scares them both. Saki takes it worst because she does not have the emotional maturity to really wrap her head around this new feeling whereas Yuta tries to keep things steady, not letting these complicated feelings stop him from being the best brother he can be. Both are committed to supporting each other just as much as both are committed to maintaining a sense of normalcy which leads to emotional suppression and invisible pain.
ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS
Those mutual feelings become something of a wedge that ends up pushing them outside and the last act is concerned with their widening social lives which adds further opportunities and complications, but in the mundane hey I have friends now way. It’s like this series see’s the potential for spice and swaggers the other direction because it knows its duo isn’t ready to face things yet and by letting them interact with others closely they end up realizing alot about themselves but most importantly they realize things can’t be left unsaid if they truly do care about the other, to which both answer that yes they do. The ending is interesting because without knowing where it goes next I don’t know how to interpret their choice of togetherness, whether it’s romantic or just pure honesty as the next step to becoming proper siblings. And I suspect they still don’t know either, but now they have all the information to figure out that choice. It’s a fitting conclusion to such a laboriously thoughtful show and while I personally do not want a romantic route I can’t say this show didn’t do a better job writing the beginnings of one than a majority of them. It earned it’s final say, whatever it’s true meaning is.
HIGH ART ON THE DOLLAR
This show is the blandest looking visual powerhouse of the year, stylistically as flat as imaginable but also striking in how it frames itself and I think all the credit has to go to first time director Souta Ueno‘s very creative use of very little. To explain the bland part yeah from the art direction to the character designs to the muted colors this show does not pop on any level, it’s characters look pretty ugly honestly their designs are maybe too muted and forgettable. Working at Studio Deen with what looks like no budget but hey we got some bristol paper lying around Ueno drags intrigue out of his visuals by well dragging them out. You’ll notice pretty quickly this show likes to sit on its shots most of which are pretty sparse domestic spaces with only 2 conservatively animated characters in them. The lack of movement on both an animation and editing front serves the storytelling by isolating you in the scene, capable of only chewing on the conversations as there just isn’t anything else to distract or defer to. It’s a potent choice that forces you to be engaged by dialogue written without a particularly entertaining style which higher production values might’ve ended up backfiring for. That’s not to say it’s perfection because sometimes it does feel like the show is taking the piss as you wait an extra 10 seconds for a scene to die which kinda ruins the whole atmospheric point of the thing, your not supposed to pay attention to the lack of movement so when it stumbles and makes you it’s a bit irritating.
EASY ATMOSPHERE
The score is another key facet in this hyper focused atmosphere as it to is low key and soft, always purring pleasantly but never taking the lead away from the well leads. It’s done by first timer CITOCA and given how reminiscent it was of my own boy Kensuke Ushio I will watch this career with great interest, mainly because I need these damn osts on Spotify. Of course just doing long unbroken cuts doesn’t make you a master of a visual medium, creativity with said visuals is important to band with Saki’s diary sequences this series gets to come alive in beautiful home video form. The flat visuals are replaced by a low resolution box where Saki’s most innermost thoughts and feelings are let free in all their darkly faded glory, it’s a scratchily superb way of displaying the turmoil in her head and these scenes are easily the most captivating of the show. Hey they even put that aforementioned paper to use for one scene, resourceful! This show’s production is defined by it’s successful ability to make the lack of movement on screen a core part of its appeal and enhancing the narrative through an isolating atmospheric approach, it might not work for all viewers but it definitely worked for me.
TIS THE END!
Day’s with My Stepsister is an anomaly in every sense of the word, a truly taboo premise played straighter than most of its peers. It doesn’t seek to entertain with sleaze nor enthral with flashy production values that it probably couldn’t get even if it wanted. It’s cold and isolating and in that isolation it finds a quiet but surprisingly mature voice that gives its many conversations an enthralling real quality as we watch two people navigate feelings of love both made and spoiled by their circumstances. It shouldn’t have any right to be this good but Ghost Mikawa’s story of new siblings ended up being one of the best things I watched all year and I can’t deny it.
FINAL RATING: 8/10
Day’s with My Stepsister can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll or purchased from Yen Press in both LN and manga form.
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