Happy Belated Sweetest Day all you Lovely Weebs If Im honest I have to tell you I still read fairytales and I like them best of all. Audrey Hepburn. I think this quote is a perfect preface to my relationship with this Hepburncentric work. Its very true to me. Each of my favorite anime can be said to be fairytales in some fashion and the same is true of Rec a 2006 romance anime. While Ill go on to praise the shows realism its still a fairy tale in the way that most romances are for me: it treats me to a story unlike that of the world I perceive. Love is unambiguous and wins out in the end theres a clearcut Happily Ever After. Its a testament to how much I love Rec that this is my second rewatch of the show. Its just so cute and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Rec follows Matsumaru almost never seen without a kun a salaryman working at a confectionary company and Aka a voice actress who dreams to one day be as famous as her idol the late and great Audrey Hepburn. After the two hit it off following a very meet cute Akas house is lost during a fire. Matsumaru decides that Aka can live with him until she gets back on her feet. Their daily lives and their burgeoning relationship comprise the episodes of Rec. The first bit of praise that Id like to heap onto Rec is just how real and mature it is. After Akas house burns down she and Matsumaru are swept up in the intimacy of Aka staying with him as well as their chemistry. They soon have sex. This is during the first episode and Im always taken aback at how bold this is. No beatingaroundthebush for an entire series Rec gets right into it. Furthermore the next day when Matsumaru tries to make a move on Aka she reveals that the two of them arent an item and their emotions were just running high. This feels very realistic people do sometimes have sex shortly after meeting someone if the mood is right and it doesnt necessarily mean theyre a couple. Granted this might not work for everyone but its a breath of fresh air when it comes to romance anime. It feels like Rec takes both itself and its audience seriously and it doesnt stop there. 520http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1803/1832/1600/vlcsnap15032443.jpg There arent dumb misunderstandings the characters dont get infuriatingly jealous and the few characters that are in the show dont feel like clichs. While Matsumaru can be a bit bland hes not dense and Aka feels quite defined in her personality. Even the characters youd expect to be stock characters are subversive. Tanaka hilariously always rendered as Tanakasan from Accounting is Matsumarus initial crush who stands him up before their theatre date in order to meet a toughlooking guy. Based on conventions youd expect Tanaka to be a total diva and attentionwhore flipflopping between treating Matsumaru with cold derision or using him when shes lonely and throwing a wrench in Aka and Matsumarus relationship. No the very next day she sincerely apologizes for forgetting she had prior plans. Later on shes really only a nuisance when drunk and actually assists in mending a potential rift. Theres also Matsumarus coworker Hatekeda a boisterous and somewhat dull man who has a crush on Aka. Youd expect him to be a bully and make Matsumaru erroneously believe Aka likes him. Nope theres never an instance where it seems like Akas interested in him and he seems to respect Matsumaru as both a friend and colleague. There also isnt a dere in sight though you could make a decent argument that Aka is a deredere. Recs lack of reliance tropes makes it feel more relatable and thus even cuter than it already is: it feels like it could actually happen maybe your drab office life will find some color you just need to find an Aka fittingly enough Akas name is literally a color specifically red. At the very least this more realistic approach along with the characters ages 26 for Matsumaru and 20 for Aka makes the anime more distinct. 520http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6693/1918/1600/REC2.jpg The art style is quite nice. While Ive heard it criticized as being simplistic I dont think anything is wrong with this. It is on the simple side but nothings wrong with the anime. The eyes arent stupidly big the characters what few there are look distinct enough and Aka with her lovely red hair and red eyes to match is beautiful. So while the art style isnt making my jaw drop to the floor its pleasant to look at. And even if the art style isnt anything too unique the art direction is nothing to sneer at. From the brightly lit and washed out dawn of episode 1 and 2 to the lamplit playground of episode 3 to the gray tone of episode 7 Rec isnt afraid to try something new and treat its audiences. The shot of the Aka and Matsumaru on the bridge on episode 9 is absolutely beautiful and after each viewing its one of the things that sticks with me the most. The music is similarly pleasant. Rec more often than not goes without music but when its there believe me it is there. The delicate piano keys the sad chords in part thanks to their scarcity are sure to strike a chord pun intended and pull on your heartstrings pun very intended. One of the most striking things about the anime is its format at 10 minutes per episode excluding the OP ED and next episode preview and 10 episodes total if you include the special which is listed as episode 7.5 youre looking at an hour forty minutes for the entire series. Rec is exceptionally short and we see bitesized snippets of their lives each episode. It might seem like this is too short to develop the characters and/or their relationship but I felt the anime did a remarkably good job with its allotted time. Theres no fluff not a moment is wasted and we see either the relationship or the careers develop each moment. Even more remarkably these episodes dont feel at all rushed. Things are generally wrapped up within the episode though there are a few twoparters to spice things up. While some viewers have expressed wanting to see more I can see it getting drawn out if given too much time or worse we fall into a rut where we see the same things over and over again. The ending begins to dip into this territory before it rights itself rising back into the sweet zone. Thats how Id describe it short and sweet. We have a snapshot of the beginning a relationship no more no less. It might sound odd that Im saying I dont want more of the thing I love but theres a beauty in its brevity like the bloom of sakura. That and I hear the manga gets repetitive 520https://i1.wp.com/aunatural.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/05/153567743899975046802126292439763232309829n.jpg?fit=8732C487ssl=1 I really enjoy how the story is structured around the characters personal lives mixing with their professional lives. For example Matsumaru having some goodnatured horseplay with Aka on the job leads to his companys snack Ha having a boost in popularity. Akas able to get over her embarrassment over an eroge game by practicing her lines with Matsumaru. Shes also able to nail the emotion of a character greeting her loved one by thinking of how she feels when she greets Matsumaru. Its really inspiring to see how the two aspects of the characters lives blend with one another the work aspect doesnt feel tacked on and its nice to see the characters grow and become better people thanks to their relationship. Speaking of their relationship its such a treat to see it develop. They dont really do anything crazy they just sort of...live together and develop feelings based on their mutual respect and affection. Theres a charm in how simple the whole thing is having someone to greet you when you get home drinking beer and yakisoba having someone to talk to during work. Its also nice to see how organically they realize their feelings arent just carnal and/or born from convenience. They slowly but surely realize how much they enjoy seeing each other how each others smile makes things not so bad. I wish that I had the words to express just how cute this anime is. It can be very very wholesome just seeing two normal kind of dorky people fall for one another. The fairytale element is how everything works out so smoothly in the end and indeed how their relationship comes to be anyway just a dice roll from the hands of Fate herself. 520https://i.yt.com/vi/oDiBNsNb2PU/hqdefault.jpg And while I keep going on about the cute romance I must add that Rec breaks up the dramatic cute and romantic elements with some funny bits of comedy. This very short bit of this drunk guy living his best life always makes me laugh. 520https://media.giphy.com/media/fYBL9ngT5VepMGitmc/giphy.gif Everything isnt peachy in the land of Rec however. How would the romance be compelling and realistic if it were? Honestly even though I still love the anime dearly this is where it loses some points for me. I know it may sound like I just dont like conflict in my Cute Romance but the conflict in Rec just didnt do it for me in some ways. Its pretty strange because I remember being pretty fine with it last watch fine enough with it to give it a perfect score. Maybe my sensibilities are changing as I grow older though bear in mind my last rewatch of this anime was only two years ago or maybe I scrutinized it more knowing Id have to collect my thoughts into a review. Either way somethings amiss in Matsumaru and Akas relationship both in and out of universe. Recall in the beginning that I stated that Aka states that she only slept with Matsumaru out of grief? Thats fine. It could seem like Matsumaru is taking advantage of Akas trauma but I think the anime does a pretty good job of illustrating that this isnt the case. Their eyes lock for what feels like forever before Matsumaru gently kisses her. Aka stops for a moment to properly introduce herself before they proceed to make PG fadetoblack love. I think this is fine it doesnt really seem to me that Matsumaru is forcing himself upon her and Aka clearly demonstrates measured thought and later on the ability to advocate for herself. The next day Matsumaru makes a move and Aka assertively rebukes him telling him that theyre not a thing she was just swept up in her emotions. Thats also fine. She did have sex with him after all its perfectly understandable that Matsumaru would assume she wants more. So she clears that up and the two should proceed like adults right? Right Well no. 520https://i.yt.com/vi/V0knaYBExsA/maxresdefault.jpg Next episode we see Matsumaru try to kiss Aka followed by her shoving him away and huffing that shes not his girlfriend. Okay...shes told you that before dude. Thats kind of a dick move there. A few episodes later we see Matsumaru try to advance on Aka again followed with a predictable angry rejection. Okay dude what the actual fuck? This is just pathetic and gross at this point. Immediately after this his frustration about not being able to spend time with Aka lately boiling over he exclaims that he doesnt like living with a woman who isnt his girlfriend. Okay thats more like it it might seem shallow to some but thats a legitimate feeling that your entitled to. I just wish we got this earlier instead of unwanted advances that paint Matsumaru as a pathetic loser at best and an opportunistic wannabe assaulter at worst. I get that this feeling of a man advancing on his roommate because they have two different perceptions of their relationship is also probably realistic but its a very icky type of realistic. For Rec its an example of when keeping it real goes wrong. Whats worse is that these the advances were played for laughs when it just isnt funny. It may seem minor but it left a sour taste in my mouth. 520https://animewriter.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/rec753.jpg Anyway the two patch things up next episode and its cute. Everythings fine and weve gotten over the Rough Patch. Oh. We havent? Thats right the next two episodes are also about a rough patch. They just kind of blend together. It makes the last few episodes the saddest and can be a bit of a tone shift. Not to mention them patching things up only to have another problem feels a bit redundant since the way the episodes are placed if youre remembering the show in hindsight after a while it certainly feels like theres one problem that the two have to work through instead of two distinct ones. But anyway Matsumaru is having a rough time at work while Aka is doing well. They plan on going to dinner but Aka is held up in a meeting and thus misses it. When she returns Matsumarus angry at both her and his misfortune so he begins to berate her just because he can because it feels good even though he doesnt want to hurt her. Again I commend the series for being real for showing the ugly sides in relationships that hit close to home. Maybe a little too close because I had the distinct feeling of 520https://i.kymcdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/478/261/7a9.png And maybe the fact that I see myself in Matsumaru being angry at a loved one at things they cant control and wanting to make them suffer for it of having the feeling of knowing you shouldnt say something but being unable to still your tongue is personal to the point where you can ignore this section but it really really made the last few episodes uncomfortable. Okay so maybe Matsumaru isnt a fundamentally bad person but it certainly feels like he is when we dont really see Aka being mean in anyway. Some say she shouldnt have blown Matsumaru off but it was an accident and she did apologize for it. It really would have made the two seem a lot more balanced if this issue was born more from Aka than Matsumaru. As is it can feel like he really doesnt deserve her. Not helping matters here is that the next episode Aka tells Matsumaru that he doesnt need to apologize and that she was at fault. If a bad aftertaste was left in my mouth before I had to gargle some mouthwash at that point. Shes essentially saying no you dont need to be sorry for finding fault in something innocuous Im sorry for making you mad. And that really sounds like a manipulative relationship. The whole ordeal really docked some points. But at the end of the day I still love Rec. Its like finding out a loved one has a few less than stellar qualities. Sure you might not think theyre perfect but youre still fond of them and if you can love something despite its flaws doesnt that mean the love is true? Rec continues to stay with me years after I watched it. It introduced me to Audrey Hepburn and it was one of the first romances that truly warmed my heart. Its not perfect but its damn near up there. This is a prime anime to write a review on. I know it very well I know why I love or hate it and I can share my thoughts with the world in hopes that others will check the anime out for themselves. Rec is criminally underwatched and I hope youll give it a view to see what I see. People even more than things have to be restored renewed revived reclaimed and redeemed never throw out anyone. Audrey Hepburn I suppose then that Rec has become like a person to me. Because after all these years I wish to restore and redeem my love for it. 320https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/5/90690.jpg 200https://i.ur.com/mSegyxZ.png P.S. some say to skip the special episode 7.5 because it feels misplaced. I feel quite the opposite its a lighthearted episode to break up the dramatic final two arcs thus it feels perfectly placed alleviating some of my issues with the final few episodes. Not to mention we get to see more of Tanakasan from Accounting. 220https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/7/81010.jpg