The Dangers in My Heart

Episodes 1-3

Well, this show ended up being the exact opposite of what I thought it would be. I did not watch any trailers for The Dangers in My Heart and strictly went off of its description, which is very dark when you read it at face value, considering it just talks about a young boy having fantasies about killing his classmate. But then, less than five minutes into episode one, you realize that this kid is just an edge lord who probably couldn't even hurt a fly if he wanted to. In many ways, this setup is typical of a lot of romantic comedies; we have the awkward social outcast falling for the beautiful and quirky class idol. However, I was surprised at how invested I was in everything going on, and much of that had to do with perspective. The show has a solid grasp on subverting tropes for maximum comedic and emotional effect.

Kyotaro might be a chunni, but it's impossible for him even to take himself seriously when reacting to the antics of his love interest Anna. She is so air-headed and disconnected from everything going on, forcing him to drop his façade and act as her straight man. His reactions make even the most mundane things she does all the more interesting and comedic. I like how he over-thinks everything, but it all comes from trying to look out for people and be kind, only for him to feel embarrassed. I even like the added detail of showing Kyotaro's bangs on camera when we switch to his point of view and how it reflects his more secluded worldview. Everything is made better by this internal struggle to keep up an appearance. Still, before it gets old, I like that this façade gets dropped entirely by the end of episode three, which took on a more serious tone without feeling jarring.

So far, this show does a great job of portraying what dumb teenagers think in different situations. Some are prone to overthinking things, while others don't put much thought into things. Some are overly self-conscious, while others are just very openly horny. There's some objectionable content in here that I wasn't the biggest fan of, but I like the way the show doesn't try to fetishize anybody for the sake of the audience necessarily; it's just the characters fantasizing about each other which is something that a lot of teenagers going through early adolescence do. Teenagers also lie to themselves when they don't want to confront something embarrassing, but the first three episodes of the show were a pretty solid arc of Kyotaro discovering his feelings and weird draw to Anna. He doesn't want to kill her; he just likes her. So now I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with these feelings moving forward.

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The Dangers in My Heart is currently streaming on HIDIVE.