Review: Boku no Yayoi-san -Anime-

I have already done a review of the Boku no Yayoi-san manga and suffice to say I adored it. It nailed down every part of what makes a strong NTR series strong. In this review I will be covering the anime adaptation to see if it holds up to the manga or it can exceed it.

Yayoi lives with her deceased husband’s younger brother Hiro who she decided to look after following her husband’s death. Five years on and the two have developed a real bond. Hiro though has a crush on Yayoi and he cannot contain his feelings any longer. Yayoi eventually yields to his feelings and decides to make a man of him and show him the joys being an adult can bring but when an old face from Yayoi’s past turns up her relationship with Hiro is in danger.

The setup is simple yet effective in the foundations it lays for what is to come. Straight from the off during the first few minutes you are taken with Yayoi who is portrayed as an incredibly caring and thoughtful person. This also means that her inevitable downfall and breaking is going to make you feel a lot for her as the mental and physical toll takes effect. You see her mind erode gradually into thinking of nothing but inescapable pleasure and tears begin to fall as she thinks of all the hurt she is causing. This is the strength of a great NTR series and the way it follows it up with the gradual degrading and mental attacks on her proves it was no fluke beginning. It knows what it is doing and you’ll feel all the worse for it.

Hebitsuka is the guy blackmailing and degrading Yayoi, he is a nasty piece of work who in the past used drugs to rape women and other horrible acts. He wants to humiliate, train and break her for the pain she caused him and that he could never have his way with her. His motivations are sleazy and his methods are cruel. You hate him without any doubt.

The sexual scenes here offer a varied selection in the 4 episodes. Initially starting off with vanilla sex it takes a darker turn with Hebitsuka. He forces her to strip, give oral and then moves onto her pussy all the while demeaning her with his words whilst threatening her. More shame inducing acts follow such as anal sex, piercings and exhibitionism. It becomes sordid and degrading as he teaches Yayoi the place of a woman, a stark contrast to the loving scenes with Hiro.  

The slow progression here with the training of Yayoi let it build up to a more heart breaking and painful end. Hebitsuka takes his time to submit Yayoi to humiliation and pleasure as he engraves his bump filled cock and his actions into her to the point where she craves it, he inflicts further humiliation on her by making her beg to let him cum as she cannot take this pleasure any more, she is at the brink and cannot contain herself. These actions along with sustained nights of full on sex to the point where becomes like an addiction. It is executed and paced to perfection with the gradual changes in Yayoi coming at the right times.

Now let’s talk about the changes this adaptation has made. The anime is split up into 4 episodes. The first DVD release that contains episodes 1 and 2 panel for panel follows the manga. The second DVD release features episodes 3 and 4. Instead of a straight continuation we effectively have a Bad End (episode 3) and a Bittersweet End (episode 4).

Episode 4 follows the path of the manga with Hebitsuka continuing his breaking of Yayoi into being reliant and addicted to his cock. He has sex with her over Hiro while he is sleeping, he fills her with his cum and keeps it in her by placing a large dildo in her that she has to keep all day and he has sex almost constantly to drive into her that he is training her, that she is his bitch and owned by him alone. It is a depressing yet lovely sight and shows the level of control Hebitsuka has over her as well as what she has become under his training. It leads into the finale of the manga which still makes me feel down.

I loved this episode and ending as it showed the finalising of the degradation and decline of Yayoi as she is mentally and physically humiliated and broken. It is also rather sad as we see this lovely, caring woman become this cock obsessed woman without a care in the world. There are a couple of changes here I wasn’t too fond of but they are relatively minor such as Yayoi not wearing stockings in the final scene in the park or some content being rushed slightly but these are minor quibbles and do nothing to dampen my enjoyment of it.

Episode 3 though is the biggest change and presents a very interesting ‘What If?’ scenario not played out in the manga where Hebitsuka is killed before he can complete Yayoi’s training. This I found was the more interesting of the endings as it showed a different direction that I had secretly hoped for. An even more degrading, humiliating and darker take on what has happened to Yayoi. We see her in excess of sexual pleasure and what Hiro is doing to her and for her. Seeing Yayoi bound with sex vibrators jammed into her, being taken by multiple guys and being treated as a pet (collar and all) who eats cum was basically my preferences coming to the fore and I loved every bit of it. It also fits in tonally with the series which makes it work well.

The animation here is good if not spectacular. Recycling of scenes is kept to a minimum and all the sex scenes themselves flow well. At times they can be a bit slow looking but it’s not a deal breaker. ZIZ know how to create good ero anime and they put their experience to use here. The camera angles used for certain shots were a nice touch as well going above what the manga could do and made it all the more seedier.

Jyogi Tsukinos art in the manga is exceptional and it transitions well into anime as Yayoi’s curved and salacious look is kept. Her facial expressions when she is in a state of sexual ecstasy, begging for Hebitsuka’s cock or the reluctant pleasure she feels as he is taking her all look even better animated and in full colour so credit to ZIZ for keeping this wonderful art intact.

My issues that pertained to the manga are still present here however minor they may be. Hebitsuka’s motivations for wanting revenge on Yayoi are fairly typical and don’t really stand out amongst its peers but the execution stops it from floundering. The suspension of disbelief element that is far more prevalent in NTR series like this again rears its head here as you have take some aspects as they come and not really question why Yayoi makes the decisions she does. One nitpick I had with the manga not taking the humiliation aspects further has been rectified here though with episode 3 and what is in it so that removes one small strike.

I was hesitant when watching the anime at first as I have a great love of Boku no Yayoi-san the manga and I wasn’t sure if ZIZ could do it justice but after watching my scepticism was unfounded, in fact this has actually topped the manga in my opinion due to the added content of the ‘What If’ scenario. If you want a good NTR series that will leave you reeling emotionally then I cannot recommend this enough.

Studio: ZIZ

Release: 2015 - 2016

Length: 4 episodes

10/10