Spring 2021 Anime: Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway

Synopsis

Yoshida is a 26-year-old salaryman who works for an IT company. On a certain weekend, he confesses his feelings for Gotou Airi, his superior at his workplace, but is disappointed when his love of five years ends in a heartbreak. He decides to drink his sorrow away in a pub while complaining about his heartbreak to his colleague, Hashimoto. On his way home, Yoshida bumps into a high school girl, Sayu, who is sitting on the street under a telephone pole. Drunk as a skunk, Yoshida half-consciously allows Sayu, who has no place to stay, to spend a night in his house. (Source: Muse Asia)

Comments

Dany Muhammad (The Indonesian Anime Times)

There is something that interests me in the miso soup scene of Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway first episode. It reminds me of a scene in Nisemonogatari where Nadeko clearly tries to seduce Araragi while playing Twister. In that scene, Nadeko tries so hard to the point that it feels like she is controlling where the camera should record, while Araragi is having none of it (Nick Creamer wrote about this in his Nisemonogatari review). The miso soup scene kind of similar to that. The camera appears to objectify Sayu as a sexy high school girl while she seduces Yoshida, yet the camera also shows how Yoshida rejects her seduction in a series of shots that feels flat but appropriate considering what Yoshida thinks at the time.

Maybe this is unintentional, but it creates a really interesting dynamic between the two leads for the rest of the episode. Rather than as romantic partners, Sayu and Yoshida’s relationship is closer to being a family. It feels like there is mutual trust between the two. Sayu could act defenseless at Yoshida’s home because Sayu trust Yoshida won’t feel anything for her. Yoshida can let Sayu stay in his house because he trusts Sayu’s seduction won’t work for him. Maybe their relationship will become romantic as the story progressed? Who knows?

Furthermore, we could see that both Yoshida and Sayu are lonely. Seeing how a drunk Yoshida asks miso soup from a woman he just meets means that rather than sex, what he seeks more is companionship. Meanwhile, Sayu is hinted to have a problematic family. Her runaway life is probably her way to seek the familial feeling that she never receives. Maybe a lot of people will disagree, but I see Higehiro as the story of lonely people who seek companionship and togetherness. I won’t mind if their relationship never develops into romantic direction, as long as the story is sticking to that theme.

Higehiro is currently streaming on Muse Asia and Muse Indonesia

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times