Each season, members of my Patreon get to vote on a retro anime review they want me to write. This time around, the winner is 2017 rom-com Masamune-kun’s Revenge. But is it just another rom-com or does the titular revenge aspect help it stand apart from the pack? Let’s break it down and find out.
First, the plot. As a child, Masamune was fat, rich, and a total coward–or, in other words, a bully magnet. However, one day, he was saved by Aki, a girl who was likewise rich but far more arrogant. Despite this, she went out of her way to befriend Masamune and help him with his bully problems. As they became closer, Masamune developed feelings for Aki. Yet, when he gathered his courage and confessed his feelings, he was rejected cruelly and given the horrible nickname of “pig’s feet” to mock his overweight appearance. That day, he vowed revenge.
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Now, years later, Masamune bears no resemblance to his past self. Handsome and muscled, witty yet kind, he is the most popular boy in the freshman class. However, this is all a facade. He has spent years making himself into the perfect man for one reason only: to make Aki fall in love with him just so he can reveal himself and dump her as revenge for breaking his heart all those years before. However, this is no easy task as Aki has become even more arrogant and cruel in the intervening years–making a hobby of giving self-confidence-destroying nicknames to all those who dare to try and woo her.
At the start of the anime, it’s no stretch to say that both our hero and heroine aren’t exactly good people. Masamune is so focused on revenge that it has ruled his life for years. Aki, on the other hand, has little empathy for those around her–be it the men she verbally destroys or her personal maid that she treats as a witless slave. However, both are far more complex than what they appear to be at first.
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Masamune has a major case of imposter syndrome. In his mind, he is still the fat, spoiled rich kid he always was. His muscled body, kind personality, and his way with women are all fake in his eyes. It is all a costume he wears in order to pursue his revenge and he is sure that the moment any of his peers learn of his past, he will once again be rejected and bullied.
What’s interesting is that this mindset leads to a deep, philosophical question. It’s an objective fact that Masamune is attractive and popular with women. He is also kind to an extreme degree–willing to do menial tasks for recent acquaintances and willing to brave physical harm to help someone in need. Now, of course, to him, he is just acting this way in order to achieve his ultimate goal, but on the external level aren’t “acting like a good person” and “being a good person” the same thing? Regardless of intention, the result is the same: everyone around him is treated well.
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On top of his imposter syndrome issues, Masamune finds that as he gets closer to Aki, not only does he remember why he hates her but also why he once loved her. While her edges have only become sharper, there are times that her inherent kindness–the kindness that once saved a bullied young boy–shine through. And the more of her walls he breaks through, the more he glimpses the girl he fell in love with.
Despite his best efforts, those feelings from all those years ago are still there–after all, the pain still hurts enough that it fuels his anger and need for revenge. This leaves him feeling more and more conflicted as time goes on. When it comes down to it, he will eventually have to choose whether to get the happy ending with Aki he once dreamed of or follow through with the revenge that has ruled his every waking moment for years. It makes for some great personal drama if nothing else.
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Aki, on the other hand, is much more of a mystery. At first glance, she seems to be the heartless girl that Masamune believes her to be. Her ways of rejecting the boys who approach her are comically large and painfully humiliating. It’s like she enjoys causing them pain but in truth, it’s a defense mechanism. She’s hitting them with such overkill that they’ll have no choice but to give up.
She rejects these guys because they don’t really care about her–none of them really even know her. They like some aspect of her physically or something in her reputation–or just want to increase their own rep by conquering the “Brutal Princess.” But it’s when Masamune starts making his play that things get interesting.
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On one level, he couldn’t be doing worse. His persona of “the handsome lady-killer” is exactly what she hates. What she longs for is a true personal connection–someone who likes her for her soul, not for her appearance or reputation. And yet, she never fully rejects him. Oh sure, she argues with him and makes a fool of him, but she never takes the final step: she never gives him a nickname.
While Aki sees the lies that Masamune surrounds himself with and is naturally weary, she does feel the connection between them. Beneath the lies and hatred, there is a part of Masamune that truly loves her for who she is–and unconsciously she can feel that. Despite all the warning signs he gives off, she can’t push him away completely.
On the other side of the equation, when the fake Masamune appears and starts to make the moves on Aki, everything on the outside seems right. He is kind, demures to her wishes, and fits her mental image of what Masamune should look like. And while she certainly seems lovestruck, something is holding her back. Because while the fake Masamune’s lie is exactly what she wants to see, the core of love beneath it is missing.
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Then there is the other issue. The more we see the way Aki acts around the fake Masamune, the more we see that something is off with the whole premise of the anime. Why does she treat Fake Masamune with such lovestruck reverence after rejecting Masamune so utterly many years ago? Why does she not know Masamune’s nickname “pig’s feet” when Masamune brings it up? Why does she seem traumatized by the past and what does that have to do with Masamune?
And here’s where we hit the main downside of the anime: it just ends mid-story. The main mysteries of the series–i.e., who is the fake Masamune, what really happened on that day when Masamune’s heart was broken, how will Aki and Masamune’s romance turn out etc.–are left completely unresolved.
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While there is a dramatic climax in the cinderella class battle, its aftermath is handled oddly. Instead of focusing on the direct fallout–which in the manga drops a major cliffhanger-style hint–the anime jumps ahead to make a jokey epilogue. What gravitas and importance the climax should have is undercut. By ending on a joke scene, it deflates the emotional impact of the arc and feels like a reset button rather than a solid step towards the eventual ending.
And then there is the Masamune-kun’s Revenge OVA.
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While the OVA is a sequel to the anime, it’s not a direct continuation like you’d likely expect. Rather, it actually takes place nearly a year later. You see, not only is the OVA a sequel to the TV anime, it’s a sequel to both the original manga and the epilogue manga series that followed.
Now as someone who has read both of those, I greatly enjoyed the OVA. It is a fun selection of completely original short stories about our heroes after they get their “happy end.” It’s an unexpected, but incredibly welcome, treat.
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However, if you’re coming directly from the anime, it is a spoiler-filled minefield. Worse yet, the characterization seems like complete nonsense as several characters have dramatic personality shifts in the final arc of the main story. It also serves to undercut the emotional impact of the events that predicate those changes if you go on to read the manga as you know how everything will turn out in the end.
So in other words, if you want the complete experience, watch the anime then read chapters 28 to 50 of the manga and all seven chapters of its sequel, Masamune-kun’s Revenge: After School, before you watch the OVA.
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As a TV anime alone, Masamune-kun’s Revenge is a rom-com with complex characters and a good set of mysteries marred by an ending that rewards nothing in the way of resolution. In other words, to truly get the most out of the story, you need to wait for a second season. However, if you don’t mind jumping into the manga as soon as the final credits roll to get your resolution, you’ll definitely feel satisfied in the end–especially when you top everything off with the OVA.
Masamune-kun’s Revenge can be seen on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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