A Refreshing Change: Hitorijime My Hero

Synopsis

Once Masahiro Setagawa was a hopeless teenager who acted as an errand boy for the neighborhood bullies. Defenseless, Masahiro knows that nobody will ever save him. That is until he meets Kousuke Ooshiba, a man known as the “Bear Killer” who goes around taking down neighborhood gangs. With their meeting, it marks the start of the change in Masahiro’s life. In addition to befriending Kousuke’s brother Kensuke, Masahiro becomes a recurring figure in the brothers’ home.

Now Masahiro and Kensuke are starting high school and coincidentally enough, Kousuke has become their math teacher. While Masahiro and Kyousuke are dealing with the changes going on between them, Kensuke is dealing with his own changes given the return of his childhood friend, Asaya Hasekura

The Good

For many fans of the shounen-ai genre, they will be happy to know that the series not only takes a step outside of the box with its main couple, but it steps away from the questionable consent point which is a recurring thing with the genre given the majority of pairings consisting of an aggressive/flirtatious and indecisive sort. With this series, it does a different sort of take with the relationships by adding an actual foundation for the characters and their relationship mixed with a good amount of communication between them.

It presents the sort of pairings that holds a solid dynamic within and out of their romantic moments. While they do have some usual and rather predictable drama between them, the chemistry between them has a soft quality that is not seen enough with shounen-ai anime. What’s more, the fact that the series has an established relationship slipped in while not making it the main focus is a nice touch. Simply put, the way that the series establishes and build the character and the relationships make for great series highlights.

On a smaller note, the series also has some good comedy and interesting side characters slipped in between. There was also a story flow that went on and some nice bits of action when they happened in certain episodes.

The Bad

The first noticeable problem with the series is in how it deals with its drama. It matches well with what the characters have to face and it brings a different touch for the series. However, is that it feels like the series is dishing them out for the sake of moving the plot along. An example of this is in how it has Masahiro and Kyousuke go through the issue of having been found out. This flaw was first noted with Kensuke and Hasekura when Hasekura was doing the whole aggressive form by having him choose between their friendship and a relationship.

The whole thing with the drama and how it was presented can be put aside, the most prominent issue of the series is with how it deals with its side characters. For one thing, the way it built up Yabase only for him to have a short excerpt, in the end, was slightly disappointing. Then there is the whole thing with their friend Shige which pretty much came out of nowhere. Basically, there are good side characters, but it could work out better in panning them out just a tad more.

Conclusion

This is a series that takes a different route with the shounen-ai series but does have its own mistakes here and there. The series does great in presenting the main characters and their dynamics but the way it handled the side characters could have been better. The same idea goes with the plot and how it dishes drama for the sake of moving the plot. It’s a good series that does well in building up the character relations but could have been so much better if it worked out the noted parts.

Rating: 8/10