Domestic na Kanojo Episode 12 [Final Impressions]

Wow. Just wow. This show truly delivered: it was a hot mess from start to finish. I found myself amazed week to week at just how much shit was constantly going down. Is it a well-crafted piece of art? Maybe not. But it’s probably the show I had the most fun with all season. I will absolutely be picking up the manga because I hear things gets even crazier. Anyway, onto our grand finale!

I’m laughing so hard at the principal actually transferring Hina to another school. I see he does things the old-fashioned way. She’s like a priest being bundled off to another parish. Like I guess they don’t have to call the police on her or anything (is the relationship even illegal in Japan or just heavily frowned upon?), but they could have, I don’t know… not helped her find another job around teenage boys? Surely that’s the last thing she needs right now. If anything she should probably be in therapy.

Natsuo was such a pain in the ass in this episode, but I’m glad he was. This means that I can feel fine about hating him once and for all (unless he gets his act together in the manga). He’s such a whiny, self-absorbed piece of garbage, even for a teenager. “Waaah, I can’t believe my actions had consequences”. Fumiya should have left him to rot. Why does he even care about this brat? If he were struggling with depression, you think Natsuo would be there to help him pull himself together? Not a chance. And Maria, Kiriya and Rui, too. Everyone pulls out all the stops for Natsuo, and what do you get in return? Bitching, sulking, and probably heartbreak if you’re Rui. And he more or less stayed in bed until New Year’s, so that means he ruined Christmas. I know Christmas isn’t a big deal in Japan but he still ruined it, and he almost ruined New Year’s too. That’s so Natsuo.

I don’t recall ever being so frustrated with a character. And I can see why people like him, I really can. There’s some good in there. He can be a genuinely considerate person, like what he did for Momo. But at almost every turn he makes the worst possible call. He didn’t have to two-time Rui and Hina. He had about a million different opportunities to tell Rui he wasn’t interested, and if he was interested he ought to have told Hina so. He’s not the worst guy ever or anything, and he is in a complex situation, but he is undeniably morally weak and doesn’t seem particularly interested in changing that. I’m pretty mad that he’s going to become a famous writer just like that. But then again, I guess a lot of famous writers are total fuckboys. He shall go on to inspire a new generation of thoughtless 17-year-old assholes. The circle of life. Beautiful, in its way.

Also I know I keep going on about The Book, but I love that his novel was so thinly-veiled that Kiriya managed to put the pieces together. I genuinely think Natsuo wanted this to all come tumbling out eventually, though it might have been on a subconscious level. He doesn’t get to be so sad when he was this careless, I’m sorry. And speaking of Kiriya, I’m still not 100% on what he deal is. Is he a creep? Is he not? I guess I’ll have to read the manga to find out.

My favourite moment, though, was when they hit us with Rui dressed as Hina. Which may be one of the most beautifully-executed bait-and-switches of the last 10 years. You’re already surprised because you think Hina’s come back, which is foreseeable but still a big deal. But Domestic na Kanojo’s not here for your garden variety twists. It’s here to challenge you. And it’s going to do that by throwing in Rui in a fucking Hina costume. Truly masterful. And then they barely even give you enough time to process this window into Rui’s madness, because it’s almost the end of the episode! They’re throwing gems at us right up until the last second and they don’t even care. I wish Rui would just give it up, though. I promise you, Rui, there are other boys. Let Hina take this bullet.

I’m not going to give this show a rating, because I’m not even sure how I’d go about that. I’ve been thoroughly entertained all the way through watching it, but could I call something so messy a truly good show? I’m not sure. At the same time, it’s not as off the wall as, say, School Days, and it really seems to care about its characters (in the same way as a child who sets their Sims’ house on fire but feels a little sad when they die, but still), so it wouldn’t feel right to give it an ironic 10/10. Regardless, it was a really fun watch, and probably my favourite show to cover of the season. Thank you for the shitstorms, Domestic na Kanojo.