Author: Eric Bone

I got my start watching anime, like many, by watching out-of-context fight scenes on Youtube. For a while, the exciting choreography and interesting strategies were, as far as 12 year old me was concerned, the only reason to watch anime. It’s not hard to imagine why, given the fact that a fight scene is the only conflict between 2 characters that you don’t need to know the reasons for the conflict to enjoy watching. Even though I didn’t have access to the full episodes, I found plenty of entertainment in things like the punches, kicks, powers, characters finding new uses for their powers, characters discovering their opponents weaknesses, and in ultimately finding out who wins the fight. 

The interesting part is, while there is clearly an art to crafting a good fight scene on its own, the best fight scenes aren’t fight scenes at all. They are simply a moment of storytelling. Whether it be special powers, fight choreography, the environment, differences in the characters strength, their mental state; all of the things that the characters use to defeat each other can be simultaneously used by the author to make that particular episode interesting in the short-term, as well as the add to the series’ themes and overarching story. Watching the synergy that occurs when the small details of a fight add to every element of the story is a truly magical experience. Those are the fights that I will always remember. One of the best examples of this magic is a fight I loved out of context and would later become one of my favorite fights of all time when I got to it’s episode in the anime, Hunter X Hunter’s Gon vs Hisoka.

The biggest difference when watching this fight in context was obviously knowledge of Hisoka’s challenge to Gon. After humiliating Gon in the Hunter Exams, Hisoka challenged him to land a full-force punch to Hisoka’s face. So even though Gon is fighting an adult man, his pride isn’t riding on completely defeating him, just on a successful hit. On top of that Gon is just coming out of a training arc where he learned about  the previously unknown Nen power system, and has gotten much stronger in the time since Hisoka last saw him. So, in theory, a single punch shouldn’t be out of reach for him if he tries hard enough. 

That’s what the situation looks like to both us and Gon as the fights about to start, but the exchange that takes place during the first minute of the fight changes all of that. See, the last time Gon was able to secure some kind of victory over Hisoka, he was waiting out of his line of sight and took advantage of an opening that presented itself. In the small open stage they are fighting on now, Gon has no choice but to attack him directly and we discover that Hisoka can react to every quick hit Gon throws at him. Not only that, but if Gon commits to a heavy punch, Hisoka counters him. Hard. 

In addition to Hisoka’s seemingly impenetrable defense, the fact that he isn’t only going to defend means that Gon has a limited amount of time to find a way to overcome all this. Even when Gon tries to dodge Hisoka’s next counter Hisoka keeps attacking and mixes in a feint to land a solid punch that knocks Gon across the stage. The referee announcing it as a “clean hit” means that the objective of his official match and Hisoka’s challenge line up. Everything Gon wants is right in front of him, and yet he simply isn’t strong enough to get it.

The sense of hopelessness that’s so firmly set in by fight choreography of this initial exchange makes the entire episode much more entertaining. After all the build up to this fight we’re smacked in the face with the overwhelming difficulty of Gon’s task. It sets the expectation that Gon is going spend the whole fight trying to land this punch, while also layering in the hints necessary for Gon’s turnaround victory. It’s Hisoka’s successful use of a feint and refusal to move that gives Gon the idea to use the broken stage floor as a dozen simultaneous fients and land the hardest punch possible, a punch that felt impossible just 30 seconds ago.

All that being said, the magic of this fight doesn’t come from it’s short term storytelling. See, it’s made abundantly clear that Gon is not a good enough fighter to land a punch on Hisoka. He doesn’t have strength, speed, or fighting technique to get the job done. But this anime isn’t named Fighter X Fighter. The circumstances of Hisoka’s initial challenge create the assumption that Gon is going to have to find a time when Hisoka doesn’t know he’s there and use a surprise attack, but that isn’t the only way to hunt. Gon analyzes his prey’s physical ability and temperament, and forces him into a situation where Gon is out of Hisoka’s line of sight. Gon sets a trap, and successfully captures a punch to Hisoka’s face.

The timing of Gon and Hisoka’s hunt is not at all accidental either. At episode 35 we are just getting out of the Killua and Gon’s discovery of the wide world of Hunter X Hunter and they have just scratched the surface of the Nen system. They were both forcibly reminded of how weak and ignorant they truly are and in the process of fixing that, the core theme of hunting could very easily be lost and forgotten. The purpose of this fight is to make it clear that this show is always going to be about the nature of hunting prey. Things like Nen and martial arts are simply some of the tools, along with the landscape and their prey’s behavior, that our protagonist uses. Gon ultimately redeems himself from the humiliation he received from Hisoka, not as a fighter, but as a Hunter.

If there’s one thing that anyone who’s read enough manga can agree on, it’s that no matter what genre you pick up, you can be sure that romantic love will be portrayed in a very familiar way. Romance tropes are a powerful thing, strong enough that when you see half a page dedicated to a girl smiling and thanking a male character who did something to help her, you have all the information you need on where that relationship is heading. This isn’t even limited to just anime and manga. These tropes are everywhere in some form or another. When you think about things like, how almost every romantic comedy movie ends with an airport chase or how you don’t ever see a male character falling in love with a woman because of how funny she is, you start to notice a very defined set of rules for how love is portrayed in stories. 

While the tropes themselves can vary based on what genre and culture the story comes from, the source of these romance tropes and ideas of love are all the same. The rules come from people trying to be reasonable. No one wants to be stuck holding out hope for an idealized fantasy of what love is, so they come up with “realistic” reasons to date someone and combine them with the gender roles they’re already familiar with. In anime and manga, what this thought process leads to is the assumption that you want to date someone because of what you think of them. Boys want to date a girl they think is cute and girls want to date a boy who is cool and capable. That’s just how it works. This approval is what drives the feelings of embarrassment, jealousy, and attraction that eventually lead to a romantic relationship. The interesting ingredients for a story are all of the foibles and misunderstandings that the couple encounters on their way to the relationship and the story’s drama comes from whether or not they will actually get together.

If these ideas are correct, then the most boring, unrealistic manga would be a romance set 9 months into a stable relationship between an adorable, “uncool” boy who always needs saving and a cool, incredibly capable girl. So Keigo Maki decided to make exactly that with Shikimori-san is Not Just Cute, a slice-of-life romance manga about the relationship between Izumi Yuu, a boy with incredibly bad luck, and his girlfriend Shikimori-san. As the title suggests, Shikimori is very cute at first glance but her appearance transforms into that of a Shonen-esque action hero when she gets serious about something. Often that ‘something’ is protecting Izumi from all the danger his bad luck throws at him.

 It’s through the use of this premise and the couples’ healthy, long-term relationship that Keigo Maki creates a believable and engaging love story out of a theoretically doomed manga. That being said, there’s a lot more to Shikimori-san is Not Just Cute than it’s reversal of romance tropes. It’s not really a flex on other love stories. See, all of those assumptions about what’s entertaining and realistic have created this giant wall. What makes this manga special is the way it explores the other side of that wall. 

Both Shikimori and Izumi represent uncharted territory when it comes to romance and gender roles. It’s not that manga has never had a cool girl or a cute boy before, but their cuteness and coolness are usually framed as a sign of the couple’s power dynamic. When a boy is called cute he’s usually frustrated by it and trying desperately to be seen as a real romantic possibility. In cases where the girl calling him cute actually does like him, she is able to fluster him and embarrass him easily whereas he isn’t able to do anything intentionally to fluster her. It’s assumed that her calling him cute puts her in a position above him. You can see this same focus on a power dynamic with cool girls too, because most of the time they start being seen as appealing when they get nervous or embarrassed by something and their “cool” facade breaks. The strong girl becomes attractive when you discover she has an unexpected cute side to her. 

Shikimori and Izumi aren’t anything like that. Izumi isn’t struggling to get the upper hand, he can tease and fluster her just as much as she can fluster him. There are even a few things he is better than her at, but he’s appealing because he frequently needs so much help. Shikimori doesn’t get done wrong either. She may be saving him over and over but the story never frames her desire to protect him as a flaw on Izumi’s part. Shikimori doesn’t think he is adorable because she’s above him, she thinks he’s adorable because she adores him. They have a completely even relationship. 

By omitting the power dynamics, Shikimori and Izumi are allowed to shine because of their cuteness and coolness, instead of in spite of it. And “shine” is really the only way to describe it. Particularly Shikimori. I’ve been talking about Izumi this whole time but Shikimori’s definitely the star of the show. Watching her have these moments of such bold direct affection for Izumi is just so endearing. She’s sometimes protective of him and slightly possessive, other times she’s teasing him or scolding him for not being careful, but always filled to the seams with a palpable love for him. Even when she isn’t being affectionate, she has this self-assured freedom of expression that radiates off the page. So much love and care is put into her different faces and outfits and all of it comes together to illustrate the simple, confident way this girl carries herself. 

So the manga art does a lot of the work in communicating Shikimori’s overall vibe but it manages to, in the same style, convey the exact opposite vibe with Izumi. With all of the emphasis and detail put into his hair and the look in his eyes, his close-up panels give off an impression that can only be described as precious. The art always emphasizes who he is just as much as what he’s doing, giving his features such a delicacy that no matter what he’s doing he is always the boy who should be protected at all costs.

So with characters as adorable and impressive as these, you’d think it’s only natural that they would find these traits attractive and want to be together right? But that’s where the title and main premise come into play. Because these two are not just cute or cool. When the characters interest in each other comes from a certain trait, no matter how strong of an impression that trait gives, it always makes the love at the center of the story feel shallow. In Shikimori-san is Not Just Cute, we see Shikimori and Izumi in all kinds of different situations and their feelings for each other never vary. They’re love isn’t a reaction to particular versions of each other, they are in love with the common denominator.

This genuine love driving the story means that we get access to an entirely different set of story possibilities than we would if their love was based on approval of each other. Now the story actually benefits from having a stable, long-term relationship at its center. The relationship doesn’t have to constantly be put in danger to keep things interesting, we can simply enjoy watching their relationship and be happy for them. Instead of focusing on external drama or misunderstandings, the plot can be driven by the feelings the couple have for each other. They can be wanting to impress each other, protect each other,trying to find out how to make each other happy, or seeing through each other because they’ve been together so long. We get to see how these feelings combine and compete with each other, how their feelings grew so much from being strangers at first, as well as how much more comfortable they are now compared to their nervous beginnings. 

All of that being said, there are a ton of things in this story that don’t have anything to do with the romance. There are arcs about youth and school life, familial relationships and friendships, and so many well developed side characters, but in spite of all the varying elements that make up this story, there is a common thread that runs through everything in this manga. See, if the characters and the manga itself followed the standard tropes all of these beautiful things would disappear. Shikimori would either just be cute or would have to hide everything else about her from Izumi. All of Izumi’s preciousness would go away and we’d watch them accidentally think the other is cheating for an entire arc. It’d be a waste. Every single panel of this manga is being used by Keigo Maki to show us the world that safe, pessimistic assumptions would otherwise keep locked away forever.