Norio Sakurai’s The Dangers in My Heart weaves a fascinating tale of two teenagers in their journey of love. The added conundrum of having to deal with teenage emotional conflicts, themes of loneliness, and despair only adds to its charm.
Add to that the beautiful storytelling and the antics of the protagonists Kyotaru Ichikawa and Anna Yamada in their adolescent naivete, and you’ve got an entertaining watch sure to make your heart flutter.
However, there’s a reason, or five, for The Dangers in My Heart’s overwhelming popularity these days. A look at them will tell you exactly why it is a better romance anime than most series in recent years.
1. Character development of the protagonist in The Dangers in My Heart
The Dangers in My Heart begins with Kyotaro Ichikawa, the quintessential loner and loser, wanting to kill his popular classmate, Anna Yamada.
However, as user Ryuuyami47 explained on the r/anime subreddit, as the story progresses, through their interactions and the incidents that take place, both Kyotaro and the viewers get confronted by the fact that the emotions he had been feeling towards Anna could be labeled as something else.
The fans are taken on a beautiful journey of self-exploration, through which Kyotaro turns out to be possibly the best romance anime protagonist in a long while. His character growth is natural and realistic, and his struggles are also evident and understandable enough that fans can’t help but cheer for him and his blooming relationship with Anna throughout the series.
2. A journey of loving oneself as much as another person
As stated above, one of the most prominent themes in The Dangers in My Heart is Kyotaro’s journey of self-love. We learn as the series progresses that the protagonist once used to be a positive and cheerful young boy, and his failure to get admission to a prestigious school drastically changed his entire outlook on life.
Moreover, for all the self-loathing that he projected on Anna, he is actually a very kind-hearted and genuine person who does have friends around him that he didn’t realize at first. In fact, his grades, too, are some of the best in his class.
As such, the idea the fans get first of him is nothing but a product of Kyotaro’s perception of himself. Thankfully, that slowly recedes to reveal his true character in the series when he learns to accept and love himself for who he is.
3. The anime is better than the manga
The Dangers in My Heart is one of those rare gems where the anime somehow surpasses the manga. While Norio Sakurai’s love and dedication to the story is visible in every panel of the manga, Shin-Ei, the animation studio behind the series, takes it and makes it better through their attention to detail and fantastic consistency.
The intricacies, nuances, minute expressions, music, and quietude add to the story while maintaining the flow needed for an anime adaptation, making it an entertaining and even unputdownable watch. Moreover, the consistency the studio maintained throughout the series deserves a special mention as well.
4. The story of The Dangers in My Heart is realistic
As stated above, one of the biggest selling points of The Dangers in My Heart comes from just how realistic the story is. It is a beautiful depiction of adolescence in all its messy, confusing, and heart-touching glory.
The series not only sparks nostalgia in fans but also provides them a chance for a fresh perspective on many things people deal with in their daily lives.
The character growth of not just Kyotaro, but also Anna, adds layers to it. In fact, the gradual progression of their relationship is one of the most realistic depictions of young love I have seen in a long time.
5. The structure of the series is a metaphor for the story
Lastly, the structure of The Dangers in My Heart series sort of acts as a metaphor for its story. At first, it seems like another insufferable story of a loser boy falling in love with a popular girl. However, as the story progresses, the audience realizes just how wrong they were in their initial perception.
It is an anime that gets better with each episode, just like how every incident makes the relationship between Kyotaro and Anna grow stronger.
This is where the studio has proven their worth in salt by portraying the progression of the story and the series both from an average teenage romance spiel to a masterpiece that every anime fan should take note of.
Romance anime series has been gaining traction these days by focusing on a blend of genres and breaking away from the stereotypes that used to dominate the category. Dandadan, The Apothecary Diaries, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, and A Sign of Affection are some of the biggest examples of that.
The Dangers in My Heart, too, has made its prominent place in that elusive list by bringing something to the table that makes it stand apart even in front of those masterpieces.
The Dangers in My Heart is streaming on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
