TUTORIAL: HOW TO HISTORICIZE A CUTE-DRAMATIC ROMANCE

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Today I'm here talking about one of the many valid romances of this season. Since I have the review ready for "My Senpai is Annoying" and I'm not going to do it about Komi-san, I'm going to talk a little about the anime that perhaps most of all has passed into the background this season.



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PLOT:
Taishou Otome presents himself as a sort of counterpart of Tonikawa (which I did not like). So why did I like this so much more? The main reasons are 3. The first is that the setting in a more "ancient" historical context (1920) made the work more intriguing, especially for the fantastic ability to emphasize this context very well, in terms of customs, prices and even using historical events that really happened to reverse the situation at the end. The second reason is the fact that there is a much greater dose of drama than in Tonikaku. The life of the protagonists is characterized by a series of unpleasant, sad, difficult events that also disturb their own love relationship. These difficulties are due to selfish and incorrect behavior of some secondary characters, disabilities of the protagonist and particularly unfortunate accidental events. I will deal with the third reason better in the next paragraph because it is precisely the sympathy that the 2 protagonists gave me. To close the plot paragraph, the series alternates more peaceful and cute stand-alone episodes (even if they still remain tied to the plot due to the character developments that follow) with other dramatic ones for which it has the advantage of being able to vary very well between comedy and drama.



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CHARACTERS:
As I always say with regard to the slice of life genre (but it is a discourse that also applies to all the other series, even if in this genre it's predominant), the plot is made by the characters, with beautiful characters you always have a beautiful plot. This speech continues to be valid for Taishou Otome logically and I appreciated the work thanks to the presence of 2 excellent protagonists: Tamahiko (expelled by his father due to an incurable injury to his right hand) and Yuzuki (young girl who was sold to the Tamahiko's family to pay off a debt). Due to the trauma of his exile, Tamahiko is a wary boy who no longer has faith in himself and would just like to spend the rest of his life alone. Yuzuki is sent to the house where Tamahiko was exiled to take care of him and marry him in the following years.
Before continuing with the discourse on the characters, I always want to remember the historical context in which we find ourselves. Exiling a son for a hand injury or selling a daughter to pay off a debt are unthinkable nowadays, but in this period the mentality and customs were different.
Returning to where I had stopped, due to this situation the 2 enter more and more intimacy and Yuzuki manages to bring the light back into Tamahiko's life. As the protagonists develop their bond more and more they are put to the test by some very unpleasant situations caused by some secondary characters. The subjects in question are mainly Tamako (Tamahiko's sister, initially selfish) and Ryo (a girl from the village of Tamahiko, who tries to blackmail him to obtain financial support in order to allow the brothers to live in peace). Watch the series to see how these 2 characters evolve their personalities;). In the final episodes, instead, a series of much more friendly characters are introduced from the beginning and who help to support the protagonists and their relationship.



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ANIMATIONS AND MUSIC:
On a graphic level, the anime is very simple but not in a negative way. The animation studio (Synergy SP) in fact, although not a high-level studio, succeeds perfectly in the intent to reveal the emotions that the characters feel, the anguish in their eyes in times of difficulty and their cuteness in periods brighter.
As for the music sector, the anime has a very catchy OP and ED and on the OST it hits us even if it does not shine particularly in any of these.

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~~~ CONCLUSION: In conclusion, I recommend to all lovers of the romance genre to recover this excellent series, especially to Tonikawa lovers. As mentioned above, I also recommend it to those like me who did not particularly appreciate the aforementioned work because it has very peculiar aspects that make it much more interesting. Also remember that these 12 episodes fully adapt the manga so it is also recommended for those who want to enjoy a short and complete series.

P.S. I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any mistakes