3D Kanojo: Realistic Kids

3D Kanojo: Real Girl - Realistic Kids

(If you are perhaps seeking something to do while in quarantine, or need an escape from the news that is 2020 consider stepping into this unique romance series. What is happening in our world is unjust and terrifying, I hope this article will give you some peace of mind for a short time and an interest to look into when you are able. This was written both pre-Lock Down and before the heinous hate crimes in the US were committed.)

Mao Nanami’s shoujo manga delves into the lives of outcasts in high school. Otaku, similar to western nerds and geeks, who obsess over anime, manga and video games. Alleged sluts, seen with our female lead. The popular boy and the unpopular girl. These stereotypes are confronted throughout the narrative, but in relation to each other rather than separately, like a more thorough and thoughtful “The Breakfast Club”. I will preface this by saying this is not a spoiler free review and the material is rated “Teen”, with implicit references to sexual intimacy and affairs.

(Spoiler warning, rated Teen)

Tsutsui and Igarashi, as featured in the manga

Summary:

Tsutsui Hikari is a self-proclaimed Otaku, an active fan of magical girl Ezomichi, and supposedly hates “3D” girls. His best friend, Yuto Ito, is an avid lover of anime and cats, sporting a cat headband at all times. Their lives begin to change when Tsutsui arrives late to school and is ordered to clean the pool with known delinquent Igarashi Iroha. Charmed by Tsutsui’s refusal of her advances, she asks him out and eventually they begin dating. Early on it is revealed Igarashi suffers from a terminal neurological illness, requiring a risky surgery in six months' time.

This relationship between an otaku and a beautiful but outspoken girl causes controversy among their peers. Arisa Ishino has been used by her previous boyfriends, but her dating experience makes her well suited to help newbie Tsutsui with his girlfriend. The two soon become good friends. Takanashi Mitsuba, a popular playboy, asks Igarashi out but she refuses. When he goes too far humiliating her boyfriend and his own sister, Anzu, he must confront both families. Ishino Asks for him to spend more time with the group, hoping to date him. Tsutsui learns to bake for his friends, which leads to many lunch dates.

Two women cause further conflict for the group. Ayado Sumie, an underclassman otaku and Ezomichi fan, is loud and passionate about her interests. With her respect for upperclassmen, she is often nervous and apologetic around them. She quickly develops feelings for Tsutsui, stirring anxiety and jealousy in Igarashi, who doesn’t share Ayado’s otaku tendencies. When Ayado confesses, Tsutsui finally denies her and professes his love for Igarashi. Meanwhile, Ito has developed feelings for Ayado and tries to comfort her at this time. The second woman to bring chaos is a younger coworker of Tsutsui’s father, who Tsutsui and Igarashi hear speaking loudly with his father at a restaurant. When Tsutsui’s mother finds out, his father is banished to the living room and neither will speak to each other. With Igarashi’s help, they are able to confront the woman and resolve the misunderstanding. Tsutsui’s parents continue to live happily together. The final arcs are bittersweet. Ishino and Takanashi become a couple despite his commitment issues, while Ayado and Ito begin dating. Ito genuinely loves her but Ayado is only focused on sex, seemingly using him as a rebound. After their first time, she is not seen again until seven years later, returning as a divorcee to attend her friends’ wedding. Igarashi’s younger brother disapproves of Tsutsui, but the couple try to spend as much time together as they can as her time is coming short. They attend dates and take trips, including a weekend at an Inn, but Tsutsui does not sleep with her. On their second trip their feelings align and they become intimate, making her departure for surgery more difficult. Igarashi isolates herself and Tsutsui says goodbye as best he can, leaning on his friends for support. 

Seven years pass and the graduated students have matured into successful adults. Tsutsui is a hard working government employee, while Ito works in the anime field. Takanashi is aiming to working IT and is soon to marry Arisa, who is pregnant with his child. Igarashi and her brother soon return from Los Angeles, visiting their old hometown. Though her brother hopes she will return to LA with him, he attempts to reunite her with Tsutsui. Igarashi is immediately recognized by Tsutsui, who hugs her, glad she has survived but saddened by her memory loss. She doesn’t seem to remember him, but still looks at him fondly. She attends Ishino and Takanashi’s wedding and slowly recalls her friends from school. On their final trip to the Inn, Igarashi chose keychains for herself and Tsutsui, which begins to trigger her memories. Tsutsui walks her home and begs her not to leave. She tells him she does remember him as more events flood back into her mind. Ayado, newly divorced, returns shortly for the marriage of these two. (It is implied she and Ito might try again, but considering she only appears at Tsutsui’s wedding the idea is questionable.) The two soon marry and she truly becomes part of his family. The series ends with Igarashi announcing her pregnancy to Tsutsui.

Review:

"3D Kanojo" subverted much of what I thought about shoujo manga. I began reading manga in 2017, but had read many romance genre webtoons before this. There are certain stereotypes in these stories that can either be taken literally or subverted. I was pleasantly surprised by how realistically most of the characters are written in this manga. Tsutsui is introduced as hating real women, but upon experiencing Igarashi’s bravery and acceptance he disregards this preconceived notion. Ito has been teased for wearing cat ears since middle school, but is later seen getting along with his classmates and standing up for his friends. Ishino is lonely and seeks love through relationships, but her views are not so black and white, even with Takanashi. Igarashi’s character greatly subverts expectations too. When she begins dating Tsutsui she takes him to a hotel room and asks to have sex but he refuses, wanting to get to know her better. She later reveals she’s still a virgin. When first diagnosed with her illness, she dated boys fleetingly before dumping them to combat the loneliness she felt. Tsutsui’s unexpected reactions shock and charm her. Though seen as the prettiest girl in her grade, Igarashi is not looking to date a “hot” guy. She is considered a delinquent for her defensive attitude over her boyfriend and his friends. When Ayado comes into the picture, she does not throw a fit or start a fight. She instead internalizes it, until Tsutsui realizes the mistakes he has made. She loses much of this bold spirit after her surgery impairs her memory, but she is still as stubborn and cheeky as before. The art is certainly different, but I adore how unique it is. Many shoujo titles feature female characters with huge disproportionate eyes and a thin figure to be paired with tall muscular men, all in high school but looking as if they were in their twenties. "3D Kanojo’s" style offers a more realistic look at this age group. Ito is still rather short, Igarashi is tall like Tsutsui and their body proportions are not strange. It's refreshing to see teenagers portrayed so realistically.

My biggest criticisms of "3D Kanojo" comes down to two things: the absurd levels of miscommunication and Ayado’s characterization. Tsutsui’s father does not even try to deny the accusations of adultery. He resigns himself to sleeping in the family living room and eating take-out food, while his wife threatens to split the family up. I understand works of fiction do exaggerate behavior and reactions, but it’s difficult to imagine things unfolding this strangely in reality.

Ayado is a character who, thankfully, is widely disliked. Her flaky and cruel behavior is often commented on by fans. Ayado never had someone she liked until she came across a shounen protagonist in middle school, prompting her to hide in her video games, manga and anime. She has supportive parents, is an excellent gardener and has the “best figure” in her school. She is pleasantly surprised to meet others with similar interests and greatly respects them. However, this leads to public meltdowns over her gratitude which often seem fake, manipulative and self-serving. Ayado attends a camping trip with the group of misfits and confesses her feelings to Tsutsui while he sleeps, frustrating Igarashi who flees crying. Tsutsui comforts his girlfriend and reassures her of his feelings. Ayado never apologizes for the problem she caused, with the couple instead asking her to tell them when she’s troubled. Ayado struggles to deal with her broken heart, leaning on Ito as he guides her through this difficult time. Unable to withhold his feelings anymore, Ito tries to hold her hand at the school festival but is rejected. Ayado later confesses she can’t stop thinking about him, but continues to frequently bring up Tsutsui. Ayado is consumed with thoughts of intimacy from her very first date with Ito, crying that he won’t touch her until they have sex. Despite her own emotional tendencies, she finds it odd that Ito begins to cry when they sleep together. Ayado doesn’t attend the wedding of her friends’ Ishino and Takanashi, though she does reappear at Tsutsui and Igarashi’s wedding after finalizing a divorce. It is implied she will rekindle her relationship with Ito, but I can't help by feel bad for him and his feelings that she previously disregarded.

I want to feel for Ayado. I too was bullied for my interests and understand harboring a crush on a 2D character, who isn’t real and can’t hurt you. Yet I cannot look past her obsession with Tsutsui, her poor treatment of Ito and general manipulative behavior. I’d like to give Ayado and the author the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the author forgot to include the break up of the new couple. Maybe Ayado really was busy during Arisa and Takanashi’s wedding. Maybe she is socially awkward and never thought to apologize, consider others’ feelings or read a room. However, Ayado engages in this poor behavior too frequently, across all versions of the story, for me to feel much sympathy towards her. It is truly unfortunate to see Ito face many hardships like Tsutsui, yet not receive the same respect back.

Adaptations:

As with most adaptations, if you are able to read the book or manga first to better grasp the full story, I would recommend doing so. "3D Kanajo" has been adapted into both an anime and a live-action film. The anime is comprised of two seasons and aired its final episodes in March 2019. The show is full of life and color, with clean and concise animation that only occasionally dips in quality. The Japanese vocal cast perfectly portrayed their roles, sounding exactly how I imagined when reading. The anime does opt to exclude more intimate panels and arcs, including Tsutsui and Igarashi’s first visit to an Inn. This arc is instead replaced by a dinner with Tsutsui’s family. Unfortunately, Tsutsui’s turmoil over the imminent loss of his girlfriend and his desire to be intimate is also omitted. I know cuts are made when adapting manga to anime, but I have noticed a theme of shoujo cutting significantly more than shounen. While shounen gets filler, shoujo gets cuts. Unfortunately we don’t get to see Tstutsui’s turmoil, accepting that he will lose his girlfriend very soon, but also wanting to be closer with her. Overall, the anime is an enjoyable experience and if you don’t have time to read the 47.5 chapter manga, it’s still a relatively thorough experience.

The live-action film premiered in September 2018. Hayato Sano and Ayami Nakajo portray Hikari Tsutsui and Iroha Igarashi, respectively. I will admit, I am relatively new to film-adaptations of manga, but this strays significantly from the source material and features an entirely new second act. At just two hours, the plot is heavily condensed. Tsutsui rambles to himself. Anzu is now an unknown child, seen at his part-time job. There are moments baiting seemingly ‘romantic’ interactions between the three main male characters, which doesn’t occur in the source material. Ayado’s behavior is even worse, as she takes advantage of Ito’s kindness to avoid facing her cowardice. During the camping trip, Ayado has Ito confess her feelings to Tsutsui, mortifying him and ultimately sending him on a downward spiral. Unfortunately, Ito fulfills the role of the “joke” character, thrust in these situations without much choice. 

Instead of including the secondary couples, the affair arc and Igarashi and Tsutsui’s final days together, the movie added an original “Halloween celebration” arc. The celebration features heavily choreographed dances, with music reminiscent of “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas and the movements of “Masquerade” in Phantom of the Opera. Igarashi appears in Ezomichi cosplay and confronts the Grim Reaper, before revealing to Tsutsui she must now leave him. The movie then jumps ahead five years, subtly indicated by Tsutsui’s change of outfit to a suit. Arisa and Takanashi’s marriage and Ito and Ayado’s fling are not mentioned, or even hinted at. Igarashi finds Tsutsui at the bridge they took to school, but she doesn’t remember him. In an unsettling deviation from the canon, her doctor has asked her to marry him, clearly taking advantage of her memory loss. (What is even more concerning is how the doctor has known her since she was around 13. He would have been in his late 20s or early 30s, creating a troubling power dynamic.) All Igarashi’s high school friends attend her wedding, except Tsutsui, who is arguing with Ezomichi in his childhood bedroom that reality can’t reset. Igarashi’s friends tell her about their time together at school and leave her with a wand of their favorite magical girl as a gift. We can assume Igarashi’s memories begin to return. The Halloween antics continue as the group reunite five years later, where Tsutsui confesses his love to Igarashi once again. Igarashi, now married, tells him not to cry and they embrace. The movie concludes with charming credits of the cast drawn in anime style. Curiously, the live-action film has better quality animation than the anime does. 

Overall, this adaptation has good elements but suffers from awful writing. The cast are exceptional, as ridiculous as their roles later became. The bespoke animation used was impeccable, moving from outside the television screen into parts of the world around it. It was fascinating to see an actual Ezomichi anime, as well as the merchandise created to fill Tsutsui’s room. But for a series I like to call ‘realistic,’ it was ironically at its least realistic in the live-action format. The cartoon-like forms were more convincing. When live-action adaptations forget their origins they can feel disjointed and in-genuine, as is the case here. It might be fun to watch if you enjoy the series, but be aware of how far it drifts from the source.

Final thoughts: I found "3D Kanojo" to be an amusing story, successfully subverting common manga tropes. My personal favorite characters are Ito and Igarashi. I love Ito’s honesty in what he likes and dislikes, but also his willingness to sacrifice for those he loves. Igarashi is brave and outspoken, with admirable fearlessness and loyalty to her friends. After her partial memory loss, she is timid and more reserved, but remains strong willed and still rebels against her brother. Igarashi chooses to attend Arisa and Takanashi’s wedding, after being told not to and has Tsutsui take her home. She is an incredible character who, finally, has her love reciprocated in her marriage and new family with Tsutsui. How fitting for this manga to be titled “3D Kanojo: Real Girl” when its greatest strength lies in its truly realistic characters. You can read the manga online through Kodansha Comics, watch the anime on Crunchyroll or Amazon. The live action is available on Amazon for purchase or rental.

(Thank you to Sophie for kindly editing and revising this with me!)