Happy Belated Sweetest Day all you Lovely Weebs

“If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all.” ~Audrey Hepburn.

I think this quote is a perfect preface to my relationship with this Hepburn-centric work. It’s very true to me. Each of my favorite anime can be said to be fairy-tales in some fashion and the same is true of Rec, a 2006 romance anime. While I’ll go on to praise the show’s realism, it’s still a fairy tale in the way that most romances are for me: it treats me to a story unlike that of the world I perceive. Love is unambiguous and wins out in the end – there’s a clear-cut Happily Ever After. It’s a testament to how much I love Rec that this is my second rewatch of the show. It’s just so cute and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Rec follows Matsumaru (almost never seen without a “-kun”) a salaryman working at a confectionary company, and Aka, a voice actress who dreams to one day be as famous as her idol, the late and great Audrey Hepburn. After the two hit it off following a very meet cute, Aka’s house is lost during a fire. Matsumaru decides that Aka can live with him until she gets back on her feet. Their daily lives and their burgeoning relationship comprise the episodes of Rec.

The first bit of praise that I’d like to heap onto Rec is just how real and mature it is. After Aka’s house burns down, she and Matsumaru are swept up in the intimacy of Aka staying with him as well as their chemistry. They soon have sex. This is during the first episode and I’m always taken aback at how bold this is. No beating-around-the-bush for an entire series – Rec gets right into it. Furthermore, the next day, when Matsumaru tries to make a move on Aka, she reveals that the two of them aren’t an item and their emotions were just running high. This feels very realistic – people do sometimes have sex shortly after meeting someone if the mood is right and it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a couple. Granted, this might not work for everyone but it’s a breath of fresh air when it comes to romance anime. It feels like Rec takes both itself and its audience seriously, and it doesn’t stop there.

There aren’t dumb misunderstandings, the characters don’t get infuriatingly jealous, and the few characters that are in the show don’t feel like clichés. While Matsumaru can be a bit bland, he’s not dense and Aka feels quite defined in her personality. Even the characters you’d expect to be stock characters are subversive. Tanaka (hilariously always rendered as “Tanaka-san from Accounting) is Matsumaru’s initial crush who stands him up before their theatre date in order to meet a tough-looking guy. Based on conventions, you’d expect Tanaka to be a total diva and attention-whore, flip-flopping between treating Matsumaru with cold derision or using him when she’s lonely and throwing a wrench in Aka and Matsumaru’s relationship. No, the very next day she sincerely apologizes for forgetting she had prior plans. Later on, she’s really only a nuisance when drunk and actually assists in mending a potential rift. There’s also Matsumaru’s co-worker, Hatekeda, a boisterous and somewhat dull man who has a crush on Aka. You’d expect him to be a bully and make Matsumaru erroneously believe Aka likes him. Nope, there’s never an instance where it seems like Aka’s interested in him and he seems to respect Matsumaru as both a friend and colleague. There also isn’t a “–dere” in sight (though you could make a decent argument that Aka is a deredere). Rec’s lack of reliance tropes makes it feel more relatable, and thus even cuter than it already is: it feels like it could actually happen, maybe your drab office life will find some color, you just need to find an Aka (fittingly enough, Aka’s name is literally a color, specifically red). At the very least, this more realistic approach, along with the characters’ ages (26 for Matsumaru and 20 for Aka) makes the anime more distinct.

The art style is quite nice. While I’ve heard it criticized as being simplistic, I don’t think anything is wrong with this. It is on the simple side, but nothing’s wrong with the anime. The eyes aren’t stupidly big, the characters (what few there are) look distinct enough, and Aka, with her lovely red hair and red eyes to match, is beautiful. So while the art style isn’t making my jaw drop to the floor, it’s pleasant to look at. And even if the art style isn’t anything too unique, the art direction is nothing to sneer at. From the brightly lit and washed out dawn of episode 1 and 2, to the lamplit playground of episode 3, to the gray tone of episode 7, Rec isn’t afraid to try something new and treat its audiences. The shot of the Aka and Matsumaru on the bridge on episode 9 is absolutely beautiful and after each viewing, it’s one of the things that sticks with me the most.

The music is similarly pleasant. Rec, more often than not goes without music, but when it’s there, believe me it is there. The delicate piano keys, the sad chords, in part thanks to their scarcity, are sure to strike a chord (pun intended) and pull on your heartstrings (pun very intended).

One of the most striking things about the anime is its format - at ~10 minutes per episode (excluding the OP, ED, and next episode preview) and 10 episodes total (if you include the special, which is listed as episode 7.5), you’re looking at an hour, forty minutes for the entire series. Rec is exceptionally short and we see bite-sized snippets of their lives each episode. It might seem like this is too short to develop the characters and/or their relationship, but I felt the anime did a remarkably good job with its allotted time. There’s no fluff - not a moment is wasted and we see either the relationship or the careers develop each moment. Even more remarkably, these episodes don’t feel at all rushed. Things are generally wrapped up within the episode, though there are a few two-parters to spice things up. While some viewers have expressed wanting to see more, I can see it getting drawn out if given too much time, or worse, we fall into a rut where we see the same things over and over again. The ending begins to dip into this territory before it rights itself, rising back into the sweet zone. That’s how I’d describe it, short and sweet. We have a snapshot of the beginning a relationship - no more, no less. It might sound odd that I’m saying I don’t want more of the thing I love, but there’s a beauty in its brevity - like the bloom of sakura. (That and I hear the manga gets repetitive)

I really enjoy how the story is structured around the character’s personal lives mixing with their professional lives. For example, Matsumaru having some good-natured horseplay with Aka on the job leads to his company’s snack, Ha, having a boost in popularity. Aka’s able to get over her embarrassment over an eroge game by practicing her lines with Matsumaru. She’s also able to nail the emotion of a character greeting her loved one by thinking of how she feels when she greets Matsumaru. It’s really inspiring to see how the two aspects of the characters’ lives blend with one another, the work aspect doesn’t feel tacked on and it’s nice to see the characters grow and become better people thanks to their relationship.

Speaking of their relationship, it’s such a treat to see it develop. They don’t really do anything crazy, they just sort of...live together and develop feelings based on their mutual respect and affection. There’s a charm in how simple the whole thing is — having someone to greet you when you get home, drinking beer and yakisoba, having someone to talk to during work. It’s also nice to see how organically they realize their feelings aren’t just carnal and/or born from convenience. They slowly but surely realize how much they enjoy seeing each other, how each other’s smile makes things not so bad. I wish that I had the words to express just how cute this anime is. It can be very, very wholesome - just seeing two normal, kind of dorky people fall for one another. The fairytale element is how everything works out so smoothly in the end and indeed, how their relationship comes to be anyway, just a dice roll from the hands of Fate herself.

(And while I keep going on about the cute romance, I must add that Rec breaks up the dramatic, cute, and romantic elements with some funny bits of comedy. This very short bit of this drunk guy living his best life always makes me laugh.)

Everything isn’t peachy in the land of Rec, however. How would the romance be compelling and realistic if it were? Honestly, even though I still love the anime dearly, this is where it loses some points for me. I know it may sound like I just don’t like conflict in my Cute Romance™️, but the conflict in Rec just didn’t do it for me in some ways. It’s pretty strange because I remember being pretty fine with it last watch, fine enough with it to give it a perfect score. Maybe my sensibilities are changing as I grow older (though, bear in mind, my last rewatch of this anime was only two years ago) or maybe I scrutinized it more knowing I’d have to collect my thoughts into a review. Either way, something’s amiss in Matsumaru and Aka’s relationship, both in and out of universe.

Recall in the beginning that I stated that Aka states that she only slept with Matsumaru out of grief? That’s fine. It could seem like Matsumaru is taking advantage of Aka’s trauma but I think the anime does a pretty good job of illustrating that this isn’t the case. Their eyes lock for what feels like forever before Matsumaru gently kisses her. Aka stops for a moment to properly introduce herself before they proceed to make PG, fade-to-black love. I think this is fine, it doesn’t really seem to me that Matsumaru is forcing himself upon her and Aka clearly demonstrates measured thought and later on, the ability to advocate for herself. The next day, Matsumaru makes a move and Aka assertively rebukes him, telling him that they’re not a thing, she was just swept up in her emotions. That’s also fine. She did have sex with him, after all, it’s perfectly understandable that Matsumaru would assume she wants more. So she clears that up and the two should proceed like adults, right? Right!

Well, no.

Next episode we see Matsumaru try to kiss Aka followed by her shoving him away and huffing that she’s not his girlfriend. Okay...she’s told you that before, dude. That’s kind of a dick move there.

A few episodes later, we see Matsumaru try to advance on Aka again followed with a predictable, angry rejection. Okay, dude, what the actual fuck? This is just pathetic and gross at this point. Immediately after this, his frustration about not being able to spend time with Aka lately boiling over, he exclaims that he doesn’t like living with a woman who isn’t his girlfriend. Okay, that’s more like it, it might seem shallow to some, but that’s a legitimate feeling that your entitled to. I just wish we got this earlier instead of unwanted advances that paint Matsumaru as a pathetic loser at best and an opportunistic, wannabe assaulter at worst. I get that this feeling of a man advancing on his roommate because they have two different perceptions of their relationship is also probably realistic, but it’s a very icky type of realistic. For Rec, it’s an example of when keeping it real goes wrong. What’s worse is that these (the advances) were played for laughs when it just isn’t funny. It may seem minor, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Anyway, the two patch things up next episode and it’s cute. Everything’s fine and we’ve gotten over the Rough Patch™️. Oh. We haven’t? That’s right, the next two episodes are also about a rough patch. They just kind of blend together. It makes the last few episodes the saddest and can be a bit of a tone shift. Not to mention, them patching things up only to have another problem feels a bit redundant since the way the episodes are placed, if you’re remembering the show in hindsight after a while, it certainly feels like there’s one problem that the two have to work through instead of two distinct ones. But anyway, Matsumaru is having a rough time at work while Aka is doing well. They plan on going to dinner but Aka is held up in a meeting and thus misses it. When she returns, Matsumaru’s angry at both her and his misfortune so he begins to berate her just because he can, because it feels good even though he doesn’t want to hurt her. Again, I commend the series for being real, for showing the ugly sides in relationships that hit close to home. Maybe a little too close because I had the distinct feeling of

And maybe the fact that I see myself in Matsumaru - being angry at a loved one at things they can’t control and wanting to make them suffer for it; of having the feeling of knowing you shouldn't say something, but being unable to still your tongue - is personal to the point where you can ignore this section, but it really, really made the last few episodes uncomfortable. Okay, so maybe Matsumaru isn’t a fundamentally bad person, but it certainly feels like he is when we don’t really see Aka being mean in anyway. Some say she shouldn’t have blown Matsumaru off but it was an accident and she did apologize for it. It really would have made the two seem a lot more balanced if this issue was born more from Aka than Matsumaru. As is, it can feel like he really doesn’t deserve her. Not helping matters here is that the next episode, Aka tells Matsumaru that he doesn't need to apologize and that she was at fault. If a bad aftertaste was left in my mouth before, I had to gargle some mouthwash at that point. She’s essentially saying, “no, you don’t need to be sorry for finding fault in something innocuous, I’m sorry for making you mad.” And that really sounds like a manipulative relationship. The whole ordeal really docked some points.

But at the end of the day, I still love Rec. It’s like finding out a loved one has a few less than stellar qualities. Sure, you might not think they’re perfect, but you’re still fond of them, and if you can love something despite its flaws, doesn’t that mean the love is true?

Rec continues to stay with me years after I watched it. It introduced me to Audrey Hepburn and it was one of the first romances that truly warmed my heart. It’s not perfect, but it’s damn near up there.

This is a prime anime to write a review on. I know it very well, I know why I love (or hate) it, and I can share my thoughts with the world in hopes that others will check the anime out for themselves. Rec is criminally underwatched and I hope you’ll give it a view to see what I see.

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” ~Audrey Hepburn

I suppose, then, that Rec has become like a person to me. Because after all these years, I wish to restore and redeem my love for it.

(P.S. some say to skip the special (episode 7.5) because it feels misplaced. I feel quite the opposite - it’s a lighthearted episode to break up the dramatic final two arcs, thus it feels perfectly placed, alleviating some of my issues with the final few episodes. Not to mention, we get to see more of Tanaka-san from Accounting.)