© pom・JOYNET/LINE Digital Frontier・”Senior is a Man” Production Committee
Focusing on Makoto in the first three episodes makes sense. His personal conflict is the most obvious and immediate, and considering how many people I saw crying by the end of episode three, front-loading his original story was a perfect choice. However, you can’t base the whole show around two people blushing like crazy at Makoto’s every move. That means now is prime time to start digging into the other two clues, even if neither Saki nor Ryuji wants to confess their emotions.
I do want to talk about Makoto first, though, because we see the consequences of, you know, running up to his dance partner with a wig on. In a surprisingly sweet turn, Makoto’s social progress with his classmates doesn’t suddenly reverse once he starts cross-dressing again. While showing the masc was a poor icebreaker, the ice was still broken and now more and more people are starting to understand Makoto’s true self. It was really heartwarming, and I loved the choice to finally give Makoto visible eyes when she realized she accepted his classmate Hanekawa. As much as I love our trio, it’s always refreshing to see characters develop relationships outside of the main group of characters, and this is especially true considering how isolated Makoto was at the beginning of the show.
At the same time, Ryuji admits that he has fallen in love with Makoto and has reached the point of no return. His conflict is almost entirely intentional because he’s not ready to really talk about these feelings with anyone. However, it’s still interesting to see his thoughts on the matter. There is a degree of internalized homophobia at work, with him describing his attraction as “disgusting” and convinced that if he found out, Makoto would be offended or end their friendship. We, the audience, know that Makoto is flustered and confused at his worst because he’s never really considered dating anyone. Still, Ryuuji isn’t the first teen to be shamed for a perfectly healthy attraction. Another thing is that he wants Makoto to be a “real” girl, because assuming AFAB Makoto would be attracted to boys. I bring this up not to shame the character or the writing, but to highlight how terrible Ryuji is at handling his own feelings. If he can’t even imagine a cisgender person being gay, he’s going to have an uphill battle coming to terms with his sexuality.
And then there’s Saki – Hoo Hoo Boy. While the show has previously hinted that Saki radiates more than just Genki Fairy energy, it wasn’t until this weekend that it started to become clear. reactions (e.g., is she falling under the asexual and/or romantic umbrella?), but what’s clear here is that whatever Saki’s feelings for Makoto are, they don’t fit with what she’s been told love feels like. Furthermore, she masks this dissonance by insisting to her grandmother that she has found “someone special,” which is a direct parallel to Makoto’s hiding of her transvestism from her mother. Likewise, Makoto feels the pressure to project masculinity. Saki feels like she has to show some kind of romantic attraction, which raises a lot of questions about her performance so far.
I have no doubt she cares about Makoto—you wouldn’t hit a garbage truck to keep up appearances—but this paints a different light on her ongoing passion for him. All the nosebleeds and gushes are suddenly read as overcompensation, as if she’s acting the way she thinks a lovestruck girl should should Go instead to how she feels. Whatever you want to label her feelings, they don’t seem to fit the traditional romantic trappings of what Saki was told to expect, which keeps her performing. It’s a pretty strong turn for the seemingly simplest, most straightforward character of our trio, and it caps off a solid plot exploring these kids and their complex emotions.
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Senior is male Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
