Fall 2024 Anime: How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer

Synopsis

College student Tokiwa is invited to a mixer by his female classmate Suo. For this mixer, Tokiwa brings two of his friends: Asagi and Nagi. They come to the mixer hoping that they’ll meet cute girls. But instead, they meet three handsome “men” there.

Comments

Dany Muhammad (The Indonesian Anime Times)

In Jeko’s article about trap, he mentioned that trap characters are often used to confuse the power dynamics of the characters. In Oregairu for example, Saika is often used as a way to destabilize Hachiman’s point of view. In the show, Hachiman uses his snarky and sarcastic point of view as a way to make him cooler because he perceives those traits will make him look masculine. But in front of Saika, his usual attitude is gone. His attempt to make himself cooler is obstructed because of a cute male classmate. I think their interaction is funny, as Hachiman stop being his usual arrogant self in front of Saika because he’s confused with the power dynamic between him and Saika, and we can laugh at that situation.

In How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer, we can see a similar power dynamic created not by the trap character, but by the reverse trap characters. The three main characters in this anime are confused with the power dynamic during the mixer because all the girls that they meet are actually looking more handsome than them. Tokiwa, Hagi, and Asagi are not snarky like Hachiman, but they also want to look cool in front of the girls because that’s what is supposed to happen, right? If the girls are more handsome than them, then how could show their masculinity? Yet, their dates turned out alright, and they are chummy with the girls. I think that’s the point that How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer wanted to tell. You don’t actually need to fulfil a certain gender role to make your date succeed. Just make sure you both are having fun during your time, that’s enough.

It’s also interesting to see the girls’ side of this story. Another point that How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer tries to make is about how things that are traditionally perceived as masculine aren’t always the reason why girls are interested in you. For example, Fuji is interested in Asagi because he’s kind, cheerful, and unassuming. Asagi is also the only one who doesn’t really care if the girl is cooler than him. The other girl, Kohaku, is interested in Hagi because he doesn’t mind if she acts cute while also dressing like a male. Kohaku is insecure about her identity, but Hagi is there to accept it. Suou is the hardest character to read among the girls. It seems that she has more stories on why she’s interested in Tokiwa. Maybe more things will be revealed in the next episodes.

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times