Review of Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

There are few series that exist that I can say I do not like, but still finished because I willingly watched it. Nagatoro is one of these. On its own merits, the show is not that good. The characters are uninteresting, the male lead is frustratingly weak and the female lead is annoying to the point of eye-rolling cringe. Despite this, I found myself continuing to watch the series to completion because, for all of its flaws, Nagatoro is at the very least interesting with how they handle situations. The male lead can cause you to bang your head on the wall in annoyance, butI can think of several people from my time in high school who acted in a similar manner. So while his actions were something I found to be a weak point in the story, it was still within the realm of believability.

Nagatoro's strength comes from the use of its characters in specific situations. Much of what makes this show watchable is in the episodes where the characters are placed in some problem or obstacle that can be interesting in the conflicts between the cast, and/or how they go about dealing with the situation This is not the same as the cast of characters carrying the show on their own. I would argue of all the RomCom shows that I have seen Nagatoro has one of the weakest characters. Despite this, the series is smart enough to understand this shortcoming and write around it for the most part.

Where Nagatoro loses me compared to a show such as Uzaki or Toradora is in the rather one-sided relationship between the male and female leads. In Uzaki for example, while the female lead is also a borderline bully similar to Nagatoro, the fact the male lead can hold his own and is shown to stand on equal footing with Uzaki makes their interactions interesting to watch since we know it is just as likely for the male lead to come out on top when dealing with the female lead. Because of this relationship and the power dynamic that is presented, the back and forth between the male and female leads come off as fun to watch as we see them vie for superiority in the context of the episode. This relationship does not exist in Nagatoro. The male lead is too spineless and cowardly to outwardly confront the female lead (Nagatoro), so the series suffers because most of its content involves the female lead basically bullying the male lead with little to no legitimate resistance. The back and forth does not exist, so we already know how, why, and when the situation will play out.

The only thing that saves this lack of an interesting relationship is the inclusion of Nagatoro's friends. These three act as wild cards who are just as likely to tease the Male lead as they are to tease Nagatoro. This makes scenes where all five characters are present enjoyable and the main reason to watch the series. The back-and-forth power dynamic that I spoke of before is present in Nagatoro and her friends being together. This unfortunately also means that the show almost demands these five characters always be together, which also can potentially dilute the impact they have on the story.

All in all, Nagatoro is not a series really worth going out of your way to watch. If you like this genre, then it may be on your list, but I recommend only sitting down with this in-between more high-profile shows. It is decent enough to get through, but will probably be forgotten shortly after.

Did Not Like / Would Recommend