Is Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO The New Steins;Gate?

Hello everyone and welcome to our shelter! 🙂

So, Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO just aired yesterday… First I will only call YU-NO from now on because nobody ain’t got time to write/read such a long name.

Well, I have many thoughts about the first episode of this one. Being most of them started with the word WHY or WHAT (and not the best kind of them). So, without further ado, let’s jump into it! (Small disclaimer, I haven’t played the game).

Small YU-NO Synopsys

With the chance that you don’t really know what I’m talking about, let me start with telling you what YU-NO is all about.

The Anime is an adaptation of the PS4 with the same name, YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world in English, and it seems to have something about time travel.

Right from the bat, we meet Takuya Arima, a young teenage student whose parents have just died and is now leaving with his forest mother. Takuya is a guy who doesn’t seem to take school very seriously and he seems to have a thing for older women, and for some reason which I can’t understand, he is actually able to score with many of them.

One night he gets a strange artefact in his mail, followed by a letter from his father in the following. It seems that his father is not, in fact, dead, but in a parallel dimension instead. In that letter, his father says for him to go to a specific place in a specific hour. When Takuya arrives a naked girl is there, kisses him and disappears in fin hair.

His forest mother as also one of Takuya’s father colleagues appear on the scene and this colleague askes for the artefact. However, a thunderstorm happens and Takuya awakes in the next morning in his bed and it seems that nobody else remembers what happened on the last day.

That’s the gist of it, so, let’s go for the whys!

Why Are People Comparing YU-NO with Steins;Gate?

Look, I can understand that, in the surface, YU-NO somewhat seems to make us remember Steins;Gate. Especially because the Anime seems to be about parallel worlds, something that also happens with Steins;Gate.

However, right from the bat, there is a slight difference. Steins;Gate is about time travel. It bases his plotline in the theory of parallel dimensions in a way to explain how changing events in the past will not destroy the present. Meaning, this theory is able to pass the “kill your grandfather” dilemma since it would mean that you won’t be born in that timeline, but you would still be born in the timeline you come from.

When compared to that, Takuya seems to only change to another parallel world. In other words, the time passes, or at least it gave me the impression it does. Even in a different parallel world, Takuya wakes up in the forward day.

But, that’s not where the difference is the biggest. Where Steins;Gate and YU-NO fall apart the most is in its execution. I see Steins;Gate as a more adult Anime. The characters are composed, most of the time, fanservice is very limited and all characters seem to have 1 neuron or 2. Moreover, Steins;Gate is mysterious and actually puts you in the edge of your seat wanting to know what is happening next, right from episode 1.

On the other side, YU-NO ends up being predictable right from the bat. The moment Ryujo-sensei, the antagonist appears you know that is the bad guy. The music completely changes to a darker tone and the animation goes for a slow down. To be honest, you don’t really need that in the first place, just look at its facial expression and you know that he is no good! So, of course, when he reaches for his gun at the end of the episode, nobody is actually surprised.

So, comparing YU-NO to Steins;Gate is overreaching in my opinion… By a lot! Just because a show decides to tackle a somewhat similar topic it doesn’t make the shows equal.

What Rules Have This School And Why Are Professors Ok With Such Behaviour?

Have you seen the image above? Look at it again? What do you think she is? Probably some kind of a host? Or maybe she is something like a heroine? Nope, she is a FREAKING professor! And no, this school is nothing like Prison School! Nope, this school is your ordinary school! A school that, if it wasn’t for the main characters could be the place for a Slice of Life type of Anime…

So, what kind of a normal school lets a professor dress like this? I mean, I understand the fanservice and all… It is a good pic for the ones who like fanservice… But in what kind of place does a professor dress like that? It’s just completely out of place!

And then, we have the general behaviour of Takuya. First, we have the teacher finding him skipping class… No s***ts are given. Then, in class, Takuya his with his feet on top of the table… Again, no f***ks are given. Then, an exchange student appears and Takuya welcomes her naked, with only his pants on… Again, the teacher says nothing? I mean, we get it, the main character is a douche? But, how can a teacher just don’t say anything to any type of misbehaviour?

But, that doesn’t end there! Remember when I told you that Takuya seems to go well with the older ladies? Well, right in the beginning of the episode, he makes a comment which is basically implying if the teacher will have sex with him. You know, what she does? She just laughs it off and says no. Later in the episode, Takuya finds another professor and, guess what? It’s implied they had sex with each other? Which leads me to the next question…

Why Are The Teachers Falling For Takuya In The First Place?

Look, I know it’s an Anime and that logic doesn’t always apply. Moreover, adult/teenage relationships are nothing new in the Anime genre. I don’t love it, but I can live with it. However, I just don’t get why mature women are falling for Takuya.

It’s not like he is really that cool, sexy or handsome. In fact, he is kind of a regular teenager… With a huge spoon of being childish and obnoxious. So, what a grown woman can see in him completely baffles me away! I mean, it’s not like it’s one teacher, no! He seems to try to make a move with every single adult women that appear on screen beside his forest parent. Being that he seems to be able to score here and there… The reason why though, I don’t know!

In fact, guys (and ladies), do not take any of how to make a move in someone from this Anime. Probably the only thing you will get is your face red and hard from the fast slap, kind of light speed fast, you just got!

But, Was It Enjoyable to Watch Though?

Well, I have to say that the fast pace of episode 1 was good to make me engaged throughout the episode! It’s not like I was bored to death or something like that. Moreover, from what I could read, it did a good job presenting the game introduction, so that’s good I believe.

However, if the Anime maintains the same tone, I won’t, for the love that I have for my mother, watch 26 episodes of this! I understand you were said that fanservice works and that girls like douchebags… Well, sorry to disappoint you, but more than that you need to have some kind of background that makes it understandable.

For now, Takuya seems a duche just for the sake of it! He doesn’t seem to actually feel that way. Especially because when he thinks that he got called to the principal he seems to be really stressed about it. Second, as I said many, many times, fanservice is good when it makes sense to have it! A girl falls down and we can see her panties, ok, that’s ok. A girl comes out from the shower and we can see her figure, yeah I can live with that! Now, just making someone attire completely off the charts just to make her sexier, no… Just no!

So, in the end, I would say that this Anime will end up being a complete wreck and will fall apart before the season ends. To be honest, I hope I’m wrong, I actually would like a good Anime following Steins;Gate steps. But, from this first episode, YU-NO just ain’t it!

Thanks for reading and see you next time! 😉