This Review Contains Spoilers for Sing Yesterday for Me, Fuuka, and Scum’s Wish

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Theme music(sort of. I’ll get to that):

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No doubt much to the chagrin of the aromantic population, love is inescapable. Every single day, we encounter it in our books, our movies, our television, our advertisements, and our music. And why wouldn't we? It's almost certainly common ground: must of us have felt it in some capacity — from the spark of infatuation, to the raging inferno of love. Then there's the second reason of it feeling absolutely great. It makes you feel ecstatic, like you're walking on rainbows....when it pans out.

As a song once said, love is a hurting thing. When it's found and wanted, it's amazing, when it's lost or unwanted, it's terrible. Not only that, but it's ugly. Even when it's depicting heartbreak and love lost, love in media tends to be quite rosy.

Some might go so far as to say life itself is a hurting thing. Life often doesn't go our way and is often quite disappointing. There's a reason why many flock to art in order to pursue happiness. There's a reason why so many love happy endings.

If you're not feeling so pessimistic, you'd probably, at the very least agree that life is a boring thing. The meandering slog through most of our days belies the hyper activity that we find ourselves subject to in our media. Everything's meant to be exciting, everything is designed to stimulate your senses.

There's nothing wrong with any of these masquerades, it's fine to desire something different from the reality you live. Some, however, even if only in moderation, desire art that more closely imitates the sensations they experience in life. They want something that's slower, that showcases and commits to life's hurts, and yes, shows love as the beast it is instead of the pet it's often depicted to be.

Sing "Yesterday" For Me aimed to deliver.

This can be seen through some of the simplest, yet crucial choices. Throughout its duration, Sing "Yesterday" For Me lacks an OP. Opening songs are not only a stable for anime, but television in general, thus eschewing it is a very deliberate and noticeable choice. In this context, why else if not for making a statement that this is a more down-to-Earth, more real show that wouldn't disrupt the flow with a pop number each episode?

In contrast to most anime, the principal cast is either in their early twenties or late teens. Rikuo touched viewers with his apathetic, unsure tendencies that somehow felt more real than other wishy-washy protagonists.
The voice acting was (for the most part) very subdued.

Sing "Yesterday" For Me seemed committed to providing a very lowkey, somber character study. I'm not quite sure even what genre to ascribe this show. It's most certainly a romance, but is it a slice-of-life? It's not so much a day in life so much as showing a wide span of time in a broad stroke. Pie of life? Is it drama, even though it aims to make itself more quiet as opposed to dramatic? Yesterday is simply Yesterday, it's a genre of its own until it's not.

Remembering my enjoyment of 2017's Scum's Wish, I was ready for an anime that took a different, seemingly more mature approach to relationships.

Sing "Yesterday" For Me follows the lives of Rikuo Uozumi, Shinako Morinome, Haru Nonaka, and Rou Hayakawa as they navigate their lives and grapple with love, rejection, and loss. Rikuo Uozumi is a recent university graduate who dispassionately works at a convenience store, not pursuing anything else mostly due to a fear of failure. Haru is a high school dropout who works at a maid cafe. She often comes to the convenience store Rikuo works at due to being drawn to him. This feeling doesn't appear to be mutual, for Rikuo still harbors a crush towards his friend from university, Shinako, who herself was a teacher at the high school Haru dropped out from. Shinako still loves her deceased childhood crush and hangs around his family, leading his younger brother, Rou, to develop feelings towards her.

Writing it out, this reads as more melodramatic than it ends up being. While it definitely is about this complicated love affair, I feel it's more than simply grabbing popcorn as you wait for fists to start flying. As Uozumi and Shinako show, this is mainly a show about what happens when you cling to the past and how it can hurt you and those around you. This is a show about navigating life and all that it entails. Yes, this is a show about love, but it's seemingly one that respects that love is seldom simple, and that's different than chucking in a love triangle for drama's sake.

And I still stand by that. Even with my pretty glaring issues with the show, I still think that, on premise, it was solid. I still think that, on execution, it was solid for most of its duration.

The show, at times, was frustrating as all get out. This is a legitimate reason to steer clear of the show. The show won't be instantly-gratifying, some might call it a slog. The characters will act in ways that will, quite frankly, piss you off. It's perfectly fine if the plot progression, character progression, and character personalities turn you off. These decisions were quite intentional and I loved them. To some, this might sound hypocritical: after all, I've gone on record to say that intention isn't worth anything if it's ultimately not entertaining. You should be pleased to know that I stand by that. With all of what I said in mind, I found a good portion of Sing "Yesterday" For Me entertaining. I had very high hopes for Sing "Yesterday" For Me, and, for the first two-thirds or so, my hopes were met. Yesterday was often a breath of fresh, albeit biting air.

To start, there's that pacing I alluded to. I've heard some describe Yesterday as "meandering". A lot deride this, but I welcome it. I thought there was a beauty in this slowness, effectively emulating life while not dipping into slow cinema territory. It perfectly shows what it's like to not have direction and to not be expressly pursuing the object of your desire. What I'm trying to say is that, while I understand it's not for everyone, the pacing works for the show and I personally enjoyed it. Plus it makes me want to see the next episode even more, for I'm hungry for developments. The pacing issues some have may be mitigated by binging it.

The show is very committed to depicting the woes of unrequited love. This, combined with the show's freshness, makes it resonate a lot with me. Early on, Uozumi expresses his feelings to Shinako. No extended song and dance of trying to work himself up to admit his feelings for twenty episodes; the task is completed soon after being introduced. More notable still is Shinako rejecting him soon after. A lot of the characters in this show are quite frank and I appreciate it immensely. There's an episode in which Haru and Uozumi are planning on going to the movies but he ditches her to care for a sick Shinako. I appreciate the show depicting this understandable, but gut-wrenching move. The show will often present us with situations that can result in anime tropes but then the show surprises us with its very human character — the most notable instance is Haru to a location, carrying bags, when she sees something shocking. Instead of dropping the bags and running away, the camera cuts to her hands tightly grasping the bag straps, showing her stand her ground. Overall, this is a show that I found myself appreciating.

The art direction often features muted, realistic coloring and the characters themselves are fairly grounded in design. Nothing too crazy happens with direction, but a standout example is having the POV of a crying Haru cause the screen to blur before we see tears fall to the ground. It's very striking.

It's not all milk and honey in the land of Yesterday, however.

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First of all, towards the end, the show (specifically the episode endings) can start to feel exploitive. That word sounds a overwrought and reminds me of art theory professors who love throwing the word "violence" around until it has no meaning, but that's really the best phrase I can think of. The episodes increasingly end on cliffhangers, ones that feel stupidly charged given how the succedings episode will begin. We have Shinako invite Uozumi into her house at the end of an episode. Naturally, this is a big step for her and amps us up for the next episode...only for the next episode to begin with her backpedalling on her decision. It's like the director is hyping the viewers up, knowing full and well they can't deliver on that excitement, only doing so to make absolutely sure they tune in next episode. It honestly feels like a bad telenova; I was half expecting to see Rou's dead brother rise from his grave. It just feels like the creators didn't have faith that the audience would come back without these bogus cliffhangers.. Another episode ends with Rikuo on the phone, his face taking on a shocked expression as he hears something about Haru. A viewer stated that they knew Yesterday wasn't the type of show to have it revealed that the call was due to a burglary. Many people guessed that the reveal was going to be that Kansuke, Haru's pet crow, had died. This would be a weighty reveal and naturally force Rikuo to comfort her and finally give us some insight into her character. Lo and behold, the next episode begins a week later and it turns out that someone broke into Haru's home. Nothing was stolen and the entire event is pretty much brushed under the rug. Lovely.

But all this feels somewhat like beating around the bush. The characters are the bread and butter of this show. And unfortunately, while the characters are among the strongest aspects of the show, they also provide it with some of its weakest. As stated before, there are four principal characters featured in Sing "Yesterday" for Me, Rikuo Uozumi, Haru, Shinako, and Rou. Let's talk about them, shall we?

- This may or may not be a bit of a hot take, but Rikuo is my favorite character without contest. In fact, Rikuo is not only my favorite character, but he's unquestionably objectively Yesterday's best character in terms of themes and structure. Rikuo is introduced as an awkward, listless man, who graduated from university but works at a convenience store because it makes him feel secure. We get the sense that Rikuo does indeed have ambition, but that very ambition scares him. He doesn't want to go through life looking like a "try-hard," as his co-worker, Kinoshita, puts it. He doesn't want to be crushed under ambition if he falls short of his desire. This is also why he initially doesn't wish to reveal his feelings to Shinako; he's afraid of being hurt, so he's content not to try. He's stuck longing for yesterday in which things were simpler, when he was in school and the whole world was in front of him. Now he is right at the cusp of the world and he's too daunted to go any further. Things start to change when he gets rejected by Shinako. It hurts, but it's part of the push he needs to move forward as he begins pursuing a photography career and finally finds fulfillment from his work. While still awkward, Uozumi is making an honest, valiant effort to improve himself. Despite it all, he can't seem to get over Shinako, who seems to be giving him mixed signals all while he rebuffs the advances of Haru (which is totally fine, he doesn't have to try to reciprocate the feelings of some starry-eyed girl he's not interested in). While he's trying his damndest not to, he finds himself slipping back into yesterday. But hey, he's dating(?) Shinako now, so it can't be all bad, right? Rikuo is the strongest character by far. Part of this is simply because the majority of the show's POV is through him, but also because he gets the most (see: any) development. Additionally, he finds himself an example of the show's attempt to urge viewers to stop focusing on yesterday to the detriment of tomorrow. While all the principle characters explore this theme to an extent, he does it the most frequently and the most effectively. While he can be frustrating at times, all of his decisions make sense and all quite relatable. Maybe that's why I like him so much: because he's a character I really identify with, almost depressingly so. Probably the weirdest thing about his character is the fact that he's the only member of the principal cast who's had an SO, yet he's probably the most awkward of the main cast when it comes to relationships. - Next up is Shinako, who is probably the second-most prominent POV-character. As I stated before, she is in love with Rou's deceased older brother, who she was classmates with. As he grew ill, she cared for him. Even after parting, Shinako remained a family friend. You wouldn't be too off-the-mark to say that she's essentially the Hayakawa family's unpaid maid. This had the unfortunate effect of Rou becoming enamoured with Shinako. And of course, her love towards Rou's brother makes it so that she cannot truly love anyone else. She, too, is stuck in yesterday. As you can see, Shinako is an important character in terms of relations to others. This can make her a frustrating character because she holds romantic, plot, and character progression in the balance. Rikuo is in love with her and won't even give Haru the time of day until he's completely certain that there will never be anything with Shinako. Rou will continue believing he has a chance with Shinako unless she sets him straight in no way other than telling him to "fuck off." And of course, Shinako's own happiness hinges on her escaping from this love limbo. Given that Shinako rejects Uozumi early on, you'd think that this problem is solved before it even began. Shinako is frustrating because she's extremely wishy-washy and she has the confidence of a cornered mouse. She seems to softly take back her decision soon after, hooking Uozumi along once again. She doesn't have the confidence to outright reject him nor Rou, even though it's pretty clear she's not interested in the former and is intimidated by the latter. If you're feeling uncharitable, Shinako is a manipulative scoundrel who keeps Rou and Uozumi hooked because she craves the attention and will do anything to keep from being alone, even if it means hurting those who care about her. If you're partial to her, you'll just say that she's someone who's been broken by witnessing the death of a loved one and has been robbed of the ability to advocate for herself. She will always put the happiness of others over her own, resulting in never outright rejecting her suitors. When she does, she's quick to take it back, fearful of the pain she might have brought. If I may be a bit uncouth, Shinako is, in short, a wreck of a person and with so many people affected by her decisions, it can make her very frustrating to watch. It's always two steps forward, two steps back with her and I'd argue she's a pretty big factor in the show feeling like it "meanders" at points. It's really hard to be too mad at her. Out of the four main characters, she's been through the most. She also legitimately tries to move on from her lost love and is one of the first characters to commit to leaving yesterday behind. Her effort ultimately is less impactful than Rikuo's since she falls back to her old ways soon, lacking the gumption to forge ahead. I won't let her too off the hook, though. It really sucks to see Uozumi have to go through the passionless nightmare that is dating-Shinako-when-your-name-isn't-Yuu-Hayakawa. As terrible as he can be, Rou really doesn't deserve the fact that if he does literally anything, he's liable to met with a sad, "your brother used to do that," from Shinako. It's also kind of ridiculous to see a grown woman cower like a child at the mere hint of confrantion. Plus, she has an entitled desire for others to modify their behavior to make-up for her wishy-washiness. She tells Rikuo to be more aggressive/assertive, wanting him to continue pursuing her after she rejects him. Given the importance of consent, this feels gross to me. Overall, while frustrating, Shinako still feels tragically real. She's also an exemplary study in the show's theme. She tries her best to move forward, but the past is so enticing; her love, her connection to Rou, and her friendship with Rikuo all feel so secure that she can't give them up. She dates Rikuo with the intention of it being something romantic, but she wants to continue being friends, since that's what she's known, that's what she's comfortable with. She, like the others, longs for yesterday. - Then we have Rou. Ultimately, my praise of Sing "Yesterday" for Me being a realistically tragic show crumbles due to the fact that Rou's ear didn't get infected. Jokes aside, he's many a viewer's least-favorite character and it's not hard to see why. Rou is hopelessly in unrequited love with Shinako. This wouldn't be so bad (after all, he'd just be in the same boat as the rest of the cast), but he has a pretty foul attitude. He seems to feel entitled to Shinako's affection, to the point where he plans on living close to her when he attends college to ensure that she continues cooking for him. He gets angry when she dares have the audacity to date someone that's not the great and powerful Rou. Shinako isn't the most assertive or forthright of the bunch, but she makes it clear to anyone with half a brain that she's not interested, yet Rou states that he "won't let her go" and hugs her without permission. Thus, Rou is either incredibly dense or just an asshole. The tone of the show combined with other qualities of Rou make me lean towards the latter. Either way, he's frustrating to watch in a way that feels wholly different than the likes of Rikuo or Shinako. It's downright uncomfortable seeing how squeamy Shinako gets when she's alone with Rou. Despite all this, unlike some people, there are multiple, defined aspects of his character that are explored: namely his desire to be an artist. His goal is to stop living in his brother's shadow and to be acknowledged as more than just Yuu's little brother. Thus, he's among the characters most committed to breaking away from the past. Yet his main form of validation, the affection of Shinako, tethers him to the past in the form of his crush. While incredibly annoying, the fact that he has the POV at times means that we get to see the multiple sides of him. He's the least mature character, so following him is a pain, but at least this makes him into a somewhat round character. - Then we have everyone's favorite, Haru. This most certainly is a hot take, but, while not my least favorite character (that distinction belongs to Rou), she's the worst character in terms of structure and theme. Haru is a highschool dropout who works at a maid cafe. She's in love with Rikuo and goes to visit him at the convenience store every day. She has a pet crow named Kansuke that often perches himself on her shoulder....that's it. That's about the extent of what I can tell you about her character. Why does she love Rikuo? Why did she drop out of school? What makes her tick? What are her hopes and fears? The anime gives us a shrug and expects us to just accept this because she's a Cute Anime Girl™. And yes, that's about the extent of her personality. I don't really need to describe it, since you've presumably seen anime. And no, that's not hyperbole, she's really that cookie-cutter. She's a headstrong Genki Girl™ that never gives up even when presented with seemingly insurmountable odds. She really feels like any given generic female anime lead and she doesn't fit in with the rest of the show. Upon finding out that Rikuo is in love with Shinako, she dramatically points her finger at her and declares "war" on her. My eyes couldn't roll back far enough. Even her voice direction doesn't fit in with the rest of the cast. Haru largely comes across as a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl'' in a show that seemed committed to not relying on tropes. Some may argue that this is just an act, but I don't buy it. Even if she is, she's like this 24/7, so it effectively doesn't matter. Haru has more pressing issues than her personality: Haru routinely stalks Uozumi. This is written off by both the show and the fandom at large because she's a Cute Anime Girl™ and it's deeply frustrating. Many talk of Haru being the "best" character given her lack of issues, but the stalking and refusing to let Uozumi go is a glaring issue that people ignore. I could begin to look past these if the show delved into her character, but it doesn't. We very rarely get her POV and when we do get it, we aren't really privy to her thoughts. I'd be less inclined to harp on her issues if the show gave me something else to focus on, but it doesn't. Haru's lack of nuance makes her a failed character and in a show centered around characterization, this is extremely damning in regards to the overall quality. At the very least, her obsession with Rikuo ties back to the theme of yearning for yesterday.

These were my thoughts during episode 11. I still had faith in this show. It was slated to have 18 episodes, so I was certain they'd address my issues and turn things around in the final third.

Then I discovered that the belief that there'd be 18 episodes was due to a miscommunication. There were only 12 episodes. Doubt set in quickly. I thought they wouldn't be able to wrap things up in a satisfying matter in a single episode. I thought they'd drop the ball.

And I was correct.

To understand why the ending doesn't work, we must first understand the show's central theme.

Yesterday* is the title of a 1965 single by the world-renowned rock band, The Beatles. Yesterday is a melancholic, acoustic ballad sung solo by Paul Mccartney and played at a dreary 96 BPM. The song describes the aftermath of a relationship and how the singer longs for yesterday. The connection to the show should be obvious. All of the principal characters are stuck in the past due to being in love.

Not all stories feature morals, but Yesterday certainly presents one. All of the characters are unhappy by being stuck in the past, therefore leading us to believe that the characters must move on to grow. This applies equally to Haru, Shinako, Rou, and Uozumi.

Really, the only thing the ending had to do was do right by this theme and moral that the show had been pushing.

During the episode, Shinako and Rikuo break up, realizing they're not compatible. This is great for Rikuo, as it allows him to finally break free of the chains that were holding him back. I was hopeful that Shinako would move forward and not slip back to Yuu. We actually get to see Haru back with her mother and it seems like she's going to try moving on from Rikuo. Everything seems to be looking up before it all comes crashing down. Rikuo goes to see Haru and she intends on leaving. As she's trying to get on the bus, Kansuke makes a scene and she decides to stay. The bus passes, revealing Rikuo behind. It's cliche as all get out. Cute, yes, but cliche. Rikuo then reveals that he realizes he always thought Haru was cute. They kiss then get together. Then Shinako returns to Rou. As it's parallel to Haru getting with Uozumi, as viewers, we can only assume they're also getting together.

Let's ignore the fact that that "I think you're cute" is the most phony confession I have ever heard. Let’s ignore how Haru is revealed to be hopelessly in love with Rikuo due to picking up a paper of his years ago, setting us up for 12 episodes only to be met with a horribly anticlimactic reveal. A bigger problem is how rushed this ending feels. But let me make it clear that even if it weren't rushed, this ending would still have massive problems.

The breakneck pacing doesn't give the viewer much space to process things and can leave them feeling disoriented. Additionally, it has the very unfortunate effect of strengthening the impression that Rikuo chose Haru as his "#2," his "consolation prize." I really cannot buy Uozumi and Haru. They've barely had any interaction and I didn't notice much chemistry between them. Rikuo realizing that he loved Haru the entire time feels very "tell, not show."

Then there's the bungling of the theme. The teenagers are the weaker half of the cast, yet the ending caters to them and essentially rewards them for clinging to the past. Haru spends the entire series stalking Uozumi and being stuck in "yesterday," and she gets the object of her desire and presumably finds happiness. Rou gets to date Shinako by relentlessly hounding her. Shinako stays stuck on Yuu by returning to his younger brother. The only person who moves on is Uozumi and that doesn't feel like a great achievement because he does this by enabling Haru.

Barring Uozumi, no one in this show grows as a person. This would be fine if not for the fact that, except for maybe Shinako, they're given happy endings for this lack of growth, making the entire show feel like a slap in the face.

The ending that would have been best is an ending in which all the characters go their separate ways, realizing that they could never have a functional relationship with one another. Another decent ending would be one in which they go their separate ways then pursue relationships after they've improved themselves. Hell, while I initially loathed the possibility of this pairing, Rou and Haru getting together would have honestly made for a better ending. At the very least, it would have meant that the two of them moved on. The ending we got is quite possibly the worst possible conclusion for most of these characters' arcs and it's really disappointing. Even as someone who likes seeing happy, cute endings, I can't really enjoy Yesterday's ending.

I initially bristled at someone saying that Yesterday was the new Fuuka, one of my lowest rated shows. Finishing the show, now, I kind of get it. A logical pairing was eschewed in favor of one that was more feel-good and popular. While Haru x Uozumi is cute, it doesn't feel right given their lack of development.

And say what you will about Scum's Wish and its quality or lack thereof, it committed to its theme and tone throughout, most importantly during its ending. Even the revised ending later on still largely makes sense for the characters depicted. I picked up this show due to my love for different takes on romance such as the ones depicted in Scum's Wish and His and Her Circumstances.

The ending's really such a shame because I really did love this show in the beginning. I was excited to see where it would lead. Now all I'm left with is wasted potential born from the show being afraid to be different, to be sadder. I long for the yesterday where this show had infinite possibilities before it. But I must move on. I must acknowledge the good times this show brought while acknowledging that I must find something better.

The beginning of Yesterday is truly a sight to behold and I still stand by it being one of the most unique anime I've seen. And it's not only unique, but amazing, too. That said, the ending is a massive letdown. I don’t think I can recommend this show without some serious caveats.

The high score I'm giving is in part due to the early episodes being great, but mostly due to the "heart factor." Messy ending or no, the show truly did resonate with me at some point. Hopefully I find a show that not only resonates with me, but does it throughout.

*Upon further investigation, the show's title probably refers to "Singing Yesterday" by the Japanese Rock band, RC Succession. The lyrics are still (vaguely) melancholic and they often based their songs around Beatles tracks, so my point still stands.