Ask John: Could Kasimasi Succeed in America?

Question:
I just read the plot for one of the most incredibly far-fetched anime series I’ve ever heard about: Kashimashi-Girl Meets Girl. To give you the Reader’s Digest version of the story: boy loves girl; boy confesses love to girl; girl turns him down cold; boy, while walking home from school is killed in crash of UFO; remorseful aliens bring boy back to life, but accidentally switch his gender; boy, now female, returns to school where girl comes on to him because she’s a lesbian. Like I said, incredible. What’s your opinion of Kashimashi, and do you think something like that would fly in the States?

Answer:
Before diving into an criticism of the Kasimasi anime series, I need to make a slight correction to your summary. While aliens do restore Hazumu to life and switch his gender from male to female, they don’t make the switch accidentally. The aliens seemingly knowingly and intentionally revive Hazumu with a different gender, but never explain their rationale. Oddly, throughout the series no one ever asks the aliens why they resurrected a boy as a girl.

The Kasimasi ~Girls Meets Girl~ series surprised a lot of anime fans because it was an uncharacteristically thoughtful and gentle romantic drama from creator Akahori Satoru, whose typical work is characterized by exploitive sexuality and slapstick comedy. Some of Satoru’s best known works include Saber Marionette, Sorcerer Hunters, Maze, and Raimuiro Senkitan. From its very first episode, Kasimasi established itself as a sweet, humane, and sincere romantic drama that was well written & animated, and very attractive to look at. The show superficially appears to be about a lesbian romantic triangle, but in fact, that’s not what the show is about at all. Sexual orientation is never mentioned in the series. No one questions or criticizes same-sex romantic relationships because the series is about relationships that transcend gender. Much of the conflict and humor in Kasimasi come from characters’ attempts to reconcile their relationships with other characters despite physical differences. Yasuna Kamiizumi does refuse male Hazumu then seduce female Hazumu, but the show takes great effort to show that Yasuna isn’t lesbian. Explaining in more specific detail is a story twist that I’ll refrain from spoiling.

As the series develops, Kasimasi reveals itself to be a story about the act of developing personal relationships and the necessity of suffering and causing emotional pain. Trying to please everyone ultimately satisfies no one. Isolating oneself to avoid suffering only creates a different kind of pain. The climax of the series accuses all of Japanese society of stunting its psychological growth out of a fear of suffering, a theme which resonates with the theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Shintaro Kago’s manga short story “Punctures.” Kasimasi eventually reveals that it’s not an exploitive or sensationalistic wish fulfillment fantasy. It’s a social critique that uses singular examples to illustrate a universal problem. Kasimasi doesn’t resort to cliché nor unbelievable fantasy, even though it is a sci-fi series. The beauty of Kasimasi is that its characters are intelligent and believable. The series avoids predictable sitcom misunderstandings because the characters are intelligent and rational. They talk out their problems rationally, and don’t over-react, which makes their confusion, sadness, and unrequited loves more believable and more heartbreaking for viewers. Simply put, Kasimasi is a touching and beautiful drama that’s much more intelligent and mature than viewers may expect.

While the three protagonists of Kasimasi are high school girls passionately in love with each other, the gender of the characters really isn’t important, and doesn’t affect the way the story develops or the themes the series wants to convey. America has already gotten anime with more overt and literal lesbian themes in the Utena movie and Kannazuki no Miko, neither of which have caused any controversy. The Koi Kaze anime series that has a somewhat similar tone to Kasimasi and deals with an incestuous romance was released in America without any controversy. Kasimasi sounds provocative in a brief summary, but the actual anime isn’t particularly shocking or taboo breaking. The girl characters in Kasimasi love each other, but their feelings for each other would be the same regardless of gender. If anything, I can envision Kasimasi possibly not performing well in America because it’s too temperate and romantic to appeal to average consumers interested in kinetic or stylish anime. I think that Kasimasi is a surprisingly gentle and compassionate anime that deserves an American release and greater recognition because it’s an excellent anime series. I don’t think that the series’ odd conceit precludes it from possible American release. I also don’t think that these series remains unlicensed because it’s potentially controversial or offensive. I think Kasimasi hasn’t been licensed yet because there’s just not much demand for this sort of romantic, dramatic anime in America.