Savage...ABSOLUTELY SAVAGE!!!! What a savage love story...

Ah...what bluntness and clumsiness can we find in young hearts? May we find beauty in their hearts despite their bluntness and clumsiness...Oh? Hi, sorry, I got carried away. How is life? As for me, it's getting better. Oh, one thing, have you read my latest post about a certain anisong? Hopefully, you have read it. Anyway, back to the topic.

Time to get on with this anime...

I'm going to talk about a certain anime that I got from a friend on Discord. It is initially a list of anime that he recommended to another friend of mine. Then, after talking briefly about the anime that he recommended, he recommended it for me to watch it. It was shocking when I first watched it, but as I savour the plot, I felt that it's really interesting until I decided to have look at the drama adaptation. AHEM! This is getting too long so get to it, shall we? 

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT! This post is very likely to contain spoilers for this anime. So...if you are planning to watch the anime without any spoilers, you can either continue to read this post or move on and watch the anime.



P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

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The anime...

Ah, I should've told you that it's Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-Domo yo (in Japanese, 荒ぶる季節の乙女どもよ。). Well, it's usually translated as O Maidens in Your Savage Season or sometimes, as Maidens of the Savage Season or even as Draughty Seasonal Maidens in the Japanese drama version. The anime is also has a short form of AraOto. I got a bit too excited and have forgotten to properly introduce you to this series. Anyway, this series started as a manga by Okada Mari with illustrations by Emoto Nao that started on December 9, 2016, and ended on September 9, 2019. It is actually surprisingly short with only 8 volumes (of course, with a few chapters in each of them).

Manga volume 1...

As for the anime television series adaptation, it is done by Lay-duce and was broadcast on MBS from July to September 2019. Ah...the drama version that I talk about earlier was broadcast from September to October 2020. I watched one episode of it...well, it's basically a slightly different take and is probably a more compact version compared to the anime as it has only 8 episodes.

The live-action drama...

Plot

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The pure...?

The anime starts with the opening sequence, which is really rare nowadays. AHEM! Let's not stray too far from the topic. Anyway, the story starts in a room with a paper written with two characters on it that read 純潔 (which means purity, chastity). Ironically, the people who are in that room are reading a sex scene in an erotic novel out loud. Erm...WHAT?! What THE...?!

Reading that out loud...wow...

Chill, bro...chill...breath in...breath out...sigh...Anyway, after that reading session, they have quite a discussion and reaction, especially Sonezaki Rika. Ah...at least there is someone...ah, I've forgotten that she is the one who leads those girls to read these kinds of books. Ah, I've forgotten to tell you. That room is the literature club room and the members of the club are Onodera Kazusa, Sugawara Niina, Sudou Momoko, Sonezaki Rika, and Hongou Hitoha.

That gathering that changed their lives forever...

One day, as the girls gather in the club room, they got news from the club president, Sudou Momoko. During a discussion about what they would put on their bucket list, one of the girls says one thing: sex. This single word sends ripples throughout the five girls, as the thought of sex begins taking over their daily lives. When I said that "the thought of sex begins taking over their daily lives", I mean almost literally as they start to face it in the form of romance.

Erm...that was awkward.

One day, as Kazuha went to Norimoto Izumi's house to give the food that her mother prepare for him, she walked in on Izumi during a very private moment. Ah...he was masturbating to porn. Oh...that's awkward. Yeah, that was the only word to describe that moment. And then, Kazusa is sent into a spiral of emotions and madness. Ever since Izumi has grown up to be a handsome young man from the time when they first met as children, she felt uneasy to interact with him in public as the other girls despise and ostracized her for looking "too ordinary" to be with him. Wow...so disgusting from those people. Well, they are probably just jealous. But because of that, Kazusa had no choice but to distance herself from him going into high school, which is sad, given that they are really close as kids.

The confession arc that gotten stalked on...

Anyway, what is worse is that at one point, some other girl confessed to Izumi her love for him. The spiral of emotions from that moment after she saw Izumi at that moment all overflow instantly. After stalking the confession moment with Momoko and Niina and being found out by Izumi, the girls went off and talked about it. That's when Kazusa suddenly realised her feelings for him. Wow...what a mess this is.

That announcement from the principal

Oh, you think that is it? No, no, no. There is more madness. As they don't have a teacher as an adviser and the fact that they read aloud sex scenes from literary novels in the club room, the principal use this as an opportunity to disband the literature club. So, the five girls have to work hard to keep both their sanities and their club alive. Yep, so true.

Ah...poor guy.

They indeed did successfully get themselves Yamagishi Tomoaki as an adviser with Hitoha's help (and a bit of threatening). Well, from then on, things stabilized a bit until a sudden announcement from the school principal. OK, before I get into that announcement, let me get into the individual things that each girl goes through in the story. Why? It's because I need to talk about them individually before we get to the incident that once again implodes the feelings that are boiling under the surface.

The confused expression when Kazusa saw Izumi with Niina...

The confession arc...

Let's start with Kazusa. We know that she found out her feelings for him and the fact that they were very close with each other as kids. We also know that the other girls ostracized her because they are jealous of the fact that Kazusa looks very ordinary for someone close to Izumi who is quite handsome. The many thoughts and misunderstandings that happen between her and Izumi and even Niina (because she did hang out with him after the whole stalking fiasco). Anyway, Kazusa ended up being Izumi's girlfriend after the school festival but this is not the end yet. Why? That's because the final trial is on the way next as Niina fell in love with Izumi and would resolve that later in the story.

Izumi and Niina hanging out...

Hand on Izumi's chest...

As for Niina, she is a beautiful girl who catches attention wherever she goes including guys with unsavoury intentions towards her. She usually ignores the boys because of a harassment experience during her childhood until the incident with Kazusa and Izumi. She begins to hang out with Izumi from time to time. She did help to push Kazusa to the path of having a love relationship with Izumi but slowly, she found out that she had developed feelings for Izumi because of the care and kindness that he shows throughout the time he showed her. With that, her loyalty to her friend, Kazusa and their common love of one boy quickly becomes one of the main conflicts of the story. What made it worse is Momoko's love confession to her and the advice of Saegusa Hisashi, who is a famous director that works in acting classes for little children that she attended.

Probably the only sweet moment when they are together

Her confession to Niina...

As for Momoko, she got to know a guy named Sugimoto Satoshi in cram school. I don't think that they have started a love relationship with each other but that guy is overthinking things, which makes things very weird as she slowly resents more and more the time that they were together. The guy even got upset at her when she was at the train station about her show of disdain for him at the school festival. That guy...ah, such a pain. Anyway, as he grabs her hand when she is leaving, she screams out loud and got the crowd's attention, making Satoshi let her go. After that incident, Momoko contacted Niina and confessed that she is in love with her. Yeah...basically, she confessed that she is gay. Anyway, moving on.

That moment...

What a moment...

As for Rika, the president of a literary club, the reading of those erotic novels during club activities shows that she is definitely interested in the opposite sex. The weird thing is she is actually ashamed about it even as shown when she required the club member to think about another word of sex as part of the club activity. What the...? Nevertheless, despite her purism, she slowly accepts Amagi Shun's affection but she isn't willing to make it public because of shame. Over time she comes to realize that romantic affection and sexual attraction are not the same things, thus she begins to lower her guard and allow their relationship to be public.

This is the face of you knowing that you fucked up...

That moment in the hotel room...crying...

As for Hitoha, she writes novels, including erotica. Interestingly, she maintains a relationship as Hitoto-san with Milo-san in an online adult chatroom. Mmm...wait, what?! Anyway, she found out that Milo is one of the teachers in her school because of her publisher's comments on her erotica and she wants to gain sexual experience by meeting up with Milo. Well, he is Yamagishi Tomoaki. As she gets closer to the teacher, she found out that she fell in love with him. The sad thing is she found out that Tomoaki is actually in love with another teacher, Tomida Emi. The conflict of feeling eventually leads her to go with Tomoaki to the love hotel, which is tailed by Rika and Shun. Although they did not have sexual intercourse, only Hitoha broke down and cried, it became one of the reasons that Rika is expelled as she was tailing them and one of the reasons that the announcement is been made.

Oh, man...this ain't good.

That was rough...

Back to the announcement. It is basically about banning people to become couples in school. That announcement comes at a time when news of Juujou Sonoe, one of Rika's classmates who befriend her got pregnant and left school. What is worse Rika was later being expelled because she was seen nearby the love hotel that Hitoha was in. The whole endeavour made the rest of the girls from the literature club stage a protest and held their advisor hostage to force the principal's hand in taking back that new rules. Long story short, this protest becomes an opportunity for the teens involved to get their misunderstandings, feelings and thoughts over the line after Shun, Izumi and Rika sneaked into their midst. Before they put up the posters around the school to further protest the new rule, they released their advisor, Shun and Izumi back home.

This is probably the best way to express the whole madness that they have been through

Oh, did it work? I don't really know but I think it probably worked since Izumi and Kasuza are dating. With Rika graduated and went to university with her boyfriend, Shun. She is still in contact with Sonoe who had a happy life with her boyfriend. As for Niina, I'm not too sure but she definitely knows that Izumi deep down is in love with Kasuza after the whole endeavour back in the protest arc and is probably a little broken-hearted. And well, well, Niina and Momoka are hanging out together in the end. Both of them don't seem to dislike it nor show any signs of not wanting to be together. As for the question of whether they are a couple, I dunno as the show leaves us hanging on that one. I leave it for you to interpret yourself. There are numerous incidents and events that I didn't mention. You should watch it yourself. Anyway, NEXT! This part is getting way too long already!

Kazusa and Niina moment...

Anime Rating

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Story (Rating: 10/10)

The story plot is quite shocking for me initially but the interesting story plot continues to capture my attention. The story flows really well and has good pacing. It doesn't feel like it has missed something important in the story. The story is also pretty easy to understand, nothing much complicated.

The intense moment after getting news of Sonoe pregnant...

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

The art style of the anime is not really something that I like very much but things like consistency of the animation etc are pretty good. The animation is basically quite decent but the art style is not exactly my cup of taste.

The flower...

Sound and Music (Rating: 10/10)

The opening theme song is definitely one of my favourites. As for the closing theme song, it is pretty good. It is really cute but again, I still like the opening song better. Well, it's typical of me to like the opening song more than the ending song. BUT, this time, I give it a 10 out of 10. It's so good and cute that I can't deny it a full mark. Anyway, the BGM and sound effects are pretty good. 

What an opening...

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

Although I dun really have any character that I like in this anime, the character development is really the main point of the story and the strength of this anime and this story. The girls from the literature club changed as they were influenced by the word "sex" that Niina said that day. It's an interesting journey to know, understand and find themselves beyond the word "sex". It's an interesting one. I believe that the journey to knowing oneself is a journey that all (if not, most) people can understand.

Game time!!!

Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)

Do I enjoy it? The starting part in episode 1 was a surprise and shocker to me but as I continue one like what I did for Domestic Girlfriend, I started to enjoy and understand that the story is more than just a shocker like that. It's about growth and understanding oneself and also, an interesting love story.

The pillow fighting moment...

Overall Rating: 10 (10)/10

Screenshots

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Poor Kasuza...

Kazusa broke down

Niina...what?

Hitoha on the phone with her publisher...

The moment when Niina and Izumi got acquainted...

Asking the literature club to write a school romance legend...

One of the moments when Rika and Sonoe are together...

Sonoe introducing her boyfriend...

That moment ended any sort of relationship between Momoka and Satoshi

Niina...what are you doing?!

Meeting the principal...

What? Hostage?!

Rika's happy life...

Hitoha...this feels a bit bittersweet for her. Well, it's isn't like that a...O.O

Niina and Momoko...I seriously dunno what to say about this...

Kazusa and Izumi as a couple...

PV/Trailer

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Conclusion

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Finally, we are at the end. This anime is pretty crazy for me to take in initially (Oh, yeah, yeah, I have mentioned it a few times already). Oh, by the way, I'm gonna publish a post about this anime's opening song next. Stay tuned. And actually, I decided to write this because I wanna talk about the song initially but I can't just post about the song without talking about the anime first. So, this is why I wrote this post. Plus, it's a really good anime in my opinion. This post took me quite a while to finish. I dun want to rush this post even if I dun have the mood for it. I wanna enjoy my time blogging. Anyway, time for me to go...Oh, I hope that you enjoy reading and browsing this blog. Goodbye, and God bless you!

Izumi and Kazusa awkward moment...