Picture this, you’re a high school student and life is going fine. Sure you’ve got an unrequited love and you’re a tad awkward socially, but all that’s normal. You spend your lunch breaks on the roof working on your first novel. Oh and you just lost your virginity. Yeah that’s right the story starts as our protagonist, Natsuo, has just lost his virginity. It’s not with the one he loves, but life could always be worse than having a beautiful stranger laying next to you in bed. You go home one day and your dad tells you he’s getting married. Yes that could be inconvenient, but you’re happy for him. Your new mom has two daughters, that could get weird, but it should be fine. Right? Well do I have a surprise for you my friends. The two daughters, his teacher and the girl he just had sex with. Oh did I forget to mention the teacher is who he is in love with? That’s the setup for Domestic Girlfriend. God bless you Kei Sasuga.
Before I get into all of the reasons I love this series you gotta just let this absolute banger of an OP wash over you. (The closer ain’t bad either.)
The protagonist is Natsuo Fuji, an aspiring writer and a high school student. His two new step sisters are Hina, a teacher, and Rui, a student, Tachibana. Their love triangle is the impetus behind the story’s conflict. Natsuo has social awkwardness because he wasn’t particularly popular in middle school. However he snacked up going into high school and it is working for him.
The story is aware of its wild premise, but never lets the over the top drama distract from its characters emotional journeys. For someone like me that loves wild, messy stories and intimate, emotional character dramas you couldn’t ask for more.
Honestly the incest isn’t even that problematic. His relationship with the sisters predates their siblingdom. This ain’t Game of Thrones, they ain’t blood related. It just adds that sweet, sweet spice that we love so much. Of course there’s also the teacher student dynamic, which is much more wrong. But this is drama baby and that wrong feels oh so right. No one in this show knows how to close a damn door. How high are the spice levels? They’re over 9000!
Rui is quite blunt and lacks social graces. She can be a bit awkward due to her lack of social experience. She’s a book head. I’m a Team Rui, but I ain’t gonna fight you Hina people. You’re wrong and stupid, but we cool. I mean how can you look at that Rui face and not feel something? She’s a short blue haired, red eyed anime girl. How can I resist? Give me that Rui face!
Hina aight too. She’s a bit too flirty for a teacher, but she does have a passion for work. Throughout the story it’s clear that she cares about those around her and doesn’t want to cause them pain. Also she fine as hell.
The story is filled out with an eclectic cast of characters. You’ve got Momo Kashiwabara, a girl with a reputation for being easy, but who is actually just a nice, lonely girl looking for love. I mean she is very forward, but there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s Miu Ashihara, a shy girl who is the president of the Literature Club. Like Natsuo she also harbors feelings for a teacher. Fumiya is the best friend from a rom-com. There’s Alex, a half-American that befriends Natsuo and crushes on Rui. And my favorite, Masaki ‘Marie’ Kobayashi. He runs the cafe L’amant. He’s a cross dressing former higher up in the Yakuza. Read that sentence again. He loves all of the drama going on around him, but is also always there to lend an ear and give advice.
This story is an absolutely beautiful mess. At times funny, romantic, ridiculous, sexy, and surprisingly sweet Domestic Girlfriend has it all. Do you like forbidden romance? Yeah, because it’s got that in spades. Where else can you find a story that gives you incest (light, very light incest), a teacher student relationship, and yet still feel emotionally resonant and honestly, pure. I don’t know how it pulls it off, but it does. It’s an astounding balancing act that you have to experience for yourself. Also if you read the manga you get these .5 chapters and people, HOT DAMN!
This story has everything, love triangles, illicit relationships, stalkers, depression, horny on main, secret dads, yakuza, that thing where a guy and a girl trip and somehow his hands end up on her boobs, foreplay for the purpose of erotica, the .5 chapters (thank god for the .5 chapters, and of course a suppository. You’re missing out if you haven’t consumed it. If you have, leave a comment, let me know what you thought. Alright, just a little more of that sweet, sweet Rui face.
