One thing I have always found fascinating within anime is the meta-joke of an anime fan within an anime series and this is probably why I have had so much enjoyment in the past from anime like Genshiken, Lucky Star, Oriemo, and the more recent Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu. There is a cathartic satisfaction in seeing characters enjoying the medium we love within that medium we are enjoying ourselves. This brings me to this weeks review of Kiss Him, Not Me – a reverse harem series with a die-hard fujoshi right there in the center of all these pretty boys.
^This right here is my biggest issue with the series. Keep reading to find out why.
Premiering in the Fall 2016 anime season, Kiss Him, Not Me opening episode is what made me stop watching it at first if I am completely honest and a lot of it had to do with how the main character Kae Serinuma was presented to us as the audience. The stereotypical, not so pretty fujoshi girl and then I found myself rather annoyed with her quick transformation to a hottie as well. As someone who has struggled with my weight for the better part of the last decade, it was infuriating to see this transformation in her. That being said I found it amusing how quickly the attitude of the boys around her changed when she physically changed because this reaction from them did very accurately show the difference in how people of different weight and treated and seen by society. The only thing I really liked about this physical transformation in the character was that it was only physical. Even after she changed her appearance she was still the same hardcore, anime loving, boy shipping fujoshi.
Now I have stated before that I am not a huge fan of the harem genre of anime. I find many of the protagonists in them, one dimensional and boring, luckily Kiss Him, Not Me does not completely fall into this category, but I could be biased on this with this one series because I did at times find her more relatable than other harem leads. Unfortunately, all the other problems I have with the harem genre were present in this series. The boys side of the harem I found incredibly dull and predictable and the same went for a lot of the humor in this series for me, that being said I get the feeling that if this anime had come out a decade ago I would have lost it laughing and have been able to get a lot more enjoyment out of this series.
If you are a fan of the harem genre and want to check out something a little different but not completely groundbreaking then I can recommend this series to you. I can also recommend this series to fellow fujoshi who enjoy laughing at themselves because a lot of younger fujoshi will most likely find our main lead very relatable. What’s your favorite anime featuring anime fans? Let me know in the comments below!
Yaoi Playground 
I wasn’t a huge fan of this show, but it was quite watchable and there were some good moments in it. Like you, I probably would have enjoyed it more ten years ago if I hadn’t seen many other similar shows.Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Honestly, I thought Shima Nishina was end game because out of all romantic options, they had the best chemistry; shared similar passions and had a background between the two outside of “Derp, she lost weight and my dick is hard for her now”. I did enjoy the anime with my best friend though :p
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It is definitely one of those series that seems more fun when you watch it with others, thank you for the comment!
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Agreed that it’s a issue where usually the overweight character changes weight suddenly, like boom, and they become the most ultra popular. It’s just unrealistic smh.
That said, I do want to watch this because it’s by the mangaka Junko, who has done a lot of BL that I enjoyed. Hopefully I’ll still enjoy it 🙏
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