Review of Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

This show apparently made waves upon the time it aired and having experienced it myself it's pretty easy to see why. I've seen the way viewers have reacted to this show, some conflicted, some patiently awaiting further developments, and some who just outright gave up because they couldn't handle Nagatoro's bullying, and I can understand the views from either perspective. I watched this show due to hearing about the unique nature the series had from it's manga and felt I simply wanted to see what this series had to offer. The first 3 episodes had to be some of the most painful throughout the experience.The show just outright starts off with Naoto meeting Nagatoro and from there jumps straight into them interacting with another. Nagatoro comes across as a conflicting character because she harasses the guy obsessively making sure to remind him senpai that he is a virgin every chance he gets. This bullying isn't portrayed in a way that would indicate Nagatoro simply liked him or anything, she just comes across as kind of a bitch. Then to make it worse, Naoto is portrayed as a ordinary guy who was bullied during his childhood so it's like the show was trying to outright have Nagatoro and her friends be the antagonists because they had to have hit close to home for any actual people who've experienced bullying in real life. Feel like the real problem was how forced their relationship felt. Their very first scenes are awkward and uncomfortable moments for the viewer to watch because it's presented as bully & victim so it's like watching a sadist play with a masochist. A relationship with two alike people in real life would've had a worse outcome that it does in this show and taking all of this into account, I never waved from seeing it through to the end.

I've racked on it, but Nagatoro's antics are something I just come to get used to after a certain point. As it goes on, Nagatoro seemingly lightens up more towards him and Naoto seemingly just gets a kick from her toying with him. Where most romance series give provide standard story development, this one is more subtle in how its characters and plot undergo development. As it goes on we slowly see how these two begin to have more synchronicity as Nagatoro can be seen growing fond of being around him and Naoto slowly adjusts and adapts to her presence as time goes on. The two just have a particularly unique relationship. While their interactions sometimes boil down to just berating Naoto for being a pure virgin boy they're still kinda fun to watch.

Nagatoro's friends make for the supporting cast and in some sense they develop just the same as Nagatoro herself does towards Naoto, just to a lesser extent. They're basically like 3 more Nagatoros just as the side characters and not much development in general but they serve their roles well enough.

The OST is solid as well. I'd probably say it plays something of a pivotal role in creating the tone of the show because without the whimsy and transient moods it helps establish in some scenes especially early on, the show would probably have felt darker. If you stripped various moments of the soundtrack you're left feeling more uncomfortable with her antics than you would've been otherwise so I've no complaints there.

In parting, I felt like this was an interesting experience in that it provides a relationship that may not be easy to get used to watching for most. Perhaps making Naoto someone with a little more backbone and not so timid over every pervy remark from Nagatoro and her friends could've made for more interesting watch, but for what it is the show wasn't all bad to me.