Episode 6
Ryo, Rumi and Toshiaki are discussing what they’re going to do over the summer. For Rumi and Ryo there’s Comima, a convention for boys love fans like themselves. Ryo says he’s never been, and Rumi’s shocked. That’s it, she’s taking him to his first Comima! But they decide against taking Toshiaki because of the dedication it will take – waiting outside in the heat for long periods of time, long lines, etc. Only a truly dedicated fan will be able to withstand those trials.
So Rumi and Ryo head to Comima, and sure enough like any convention the public transit is packed. Once they get there they have to wait out in the heat for a long time, but finally they get in! Ryo is overwhelmed at finally being able to buy books from some of his favourite authors.
While he’s browsing at Comima, Ryo happens to walk by a table with a doujinshi of two people on the cover who look suspiciously like Toshiaki and Yujiro… really!? We’re introduced to Daigo, who’s in the class next to Ryo’s. He’s a big BL fan too, so he’s decided to release his own doujinshi.
On the way home, Ryo’s paper bag breaks on the train because he bought so many things. Rumi gives him a bag of her own to use instead.
Episode 7
Later on in the summer, Ryo’s circle of male friends get together to catch up on what they’ve been doing lately. Ryo mentions that he went to Comima for the first time, although the way he says it makes it sound like he and Rumi had some fun times together, if you know what I mean.
Yujiro and Akira mention that they went to a summer festival together, and they got to watch a fireworks show too. Toshiaki went swimming in the ocean and got a little sunburnt. Ryo laments that he didn’t get to see any fireworks, and Yujiro gushes that if Ryo had said something then he could have gone with Yujiro and
Akira too. Ryo is clearly not interested, though he admits that there’d be a good chance of him getting to see some BL at such an event.
Then Toshiaki leans back and accidently discovers the doujinshi with him and Yujiro on the cover… Awk-ward. *cough*
In the next scene, Ryo, Toshiaki and Rumi are discussing some of their recent purchases. Toshiaki shows off his new limited edition shoes that he’d been saving up for, but Ryo thinks they were a waste of money. Ryo says he dropped a large amount of money on a BL book that had been hard to find. Rumi jumps in saying she’d found a cute summer top she wanted to wear, but because she would only get about three months of use out of it, she took that money (and a little more) and spent it on a new BL volume. It’s all about priorities right?
Then Rumi and Ryo take Toshiaki to a manga store called Mangadarake, where they immediately split up to look for their favourite titles. Toshiaki is confused and unfamiliar with the store, so he decides to just wait outside. When his two friends emerge with their purchases awhile later, Toshiaki asks why they didn’t buy very much, and Ryo says it’s because a lot of the stuff he wanted was rated 18+ so he couldn’t buy it.
My thoughts: Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu is a cute show, for an anime short. But because each episode is so short it leaves little room for plot or character development. I almost wish that each episode was double the length, or maybe even fleshed out into a full-length episode.
As it is now, the characters are a bit stale. Ryo is BL crazy and while his character is considered a little unusual (a male who is really into BL), I find him a little annoying because he’s all about BL all the time. Like buying doujinshi of your friends? Taking pictures of real-life BL situations around him? That doesn’t strike anyone else as a little creepy?
Rumi’s adorable and I feel more sympathy for Toshiaki than anything else. We haven’t seen much of Yujiro and Akira so I don’t have much of an opinion on them yet.
I’d love to see more episodes where the problems or scenes are a little more in depth, or maybe they even span the course of a couple of episodes. Fudanshi is cute, I just wish there was more of it to get into. Maybe a backstory episode on how Toshiaki and Ryo met, and how they are able to stay friends?
Aside from that, anyone else think that Ryo’s prawn tempura pillow is cute?? xD