English Dub Review: Hensuki: Are You Willing to Fall in Love with a Pervert, as Long as She’s a Cutie? “Cinderella Can’t Come Out?!”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Things have been silent between Nanjo and Keiki since she told him not to see other girls. Koga and Sayuki encourage Keiki to see what might be bothering her. When he does, Nanjo asks to prove his friendship to her by hanging out with her like they used to — with Shoma included. The trio goes to an arcade — where Nanjo seems mysteriously invested in Keiki and Shoma’s close interactions. When walking home alone together, Nanjo asks Keiki if he’d be okay with ditching “the trio thing” for a “couple thing.” In the rain, Nanjo also accuses Keiki of being a “perv” for having Sayuki and Koga draped all over him. Their bickering ceases when Nanjo sneezes and Keiki offers to get her hot cocoa from a nearby vending machine. When he returns, he sees her gazing at a picture she took of he and Shoma — specifically of Shoma. He asks Nanjo if she has feelings for Shoma, and she denies it and dashes off bashfully.

Keiki — unsure of what just happened — consults with Mizuha, Koga, and Sayuki about what Nanjo could be thinking. Nanjo avoids him at school, but he finally catches up to her and asks why he’s upset with her — including a promise that he’d do anything for her forgiveness. She then clarifies that she wants him and Shoma to date so that she can continue fetishizing them in her yaoi comic — hence, “ditching the trio” hangouts.

Our Take

The worst part of all this? This kind of person still exists.

Not that it needs to be said, but fetishizing gay romance doesn’t make anyone a good ally. It’s not supportive to go up to any two people — even if they’re married — and talk about how much you want to see the bone. It’s the same reason why straight guys who sexualize lesbians aren’t cool. There were no curveballs in this episode, at least, because it’s pretty easy to figure out what Nanjo is up to right away. Once she started taking a suspicious amount of photos of Keiki and Shoma, it was game over. But also, the fact that she’s the author of a yaoi comic that has a fan following means that Nanjo is in for a serious lawsuit if she doesn’t give Keiki (and Shoma) a cut of what she’s making — if she’s doing it for money, anyway.

Despite how undeniably stupid everything is, there is still a vague Doki Doki Literature Club vibe to the whole thing — minus the horror part (unless you count whatever the hell is going on here as horror — which, yes, you should.) Anyway, it’s all because each girl notably has their own theme music that plays whenever they arrive onscreen. Hate to say it, but there is something really charming about each girl having their own instruments/music genre that represents them as people.

Nanjo has one of those voices that seems to feel just slightly older than a high schooler’s voice — but obviously, it’s better than a baby voiced girl. As usual, Keiki’s VA seems to be memeing along with the rest of us.

In a show like this, it’s best not to take a role seriously.