Review of Taisho Otome Fairy Tale
What an incel fantasy... a pure maiden wife of some depressed man to save him... First of all, I cant stand the "a girl too pure for this world" troupe, which is what the FL of this anime is. However, the story concept sounded very similar to my favorite webtoon (yes talking about Happily Ever Afterwards), which also had this troupe. So with that in mind, I decided to give this anime a chance. However Taisho Otome was not an exception like I had hoped. First of all, the main couple has no chemistry - for good reason. They are two strangers thrown together through arranged marriage.FL was purchased to be a bride for ML, who was banished and currently living as a depressed shut in. FL appears as his savior, saying she feels sorry for him and takes care of him out of pity love. Thus the very basis of their relationship doesnt have romance. And just like the openjng says, "Too shy to ever speak of love or romance, she dares not allow herself to even dream of a kiss." Falling asleep yet? So when any romance moments happened, it was very empty feeling.
With that said, heres how the story went:
Story: 4/10
Just your average savior complex story. This guy was depressed and had no purpose until this girl shows up, and changes how he is by being happy all the time around him. Now his life is better. A lot of anime is based on cliches - and I dont have a problem with these as long as they are interesting. But I struggled to find ANYTHING of any intetest in Taisho Otome.
Characters: 3/10
WHY are there so many pointless characters???? Oh right. More people for the FL to "save." ML's sister was a great character addition and gave the FL a companion and brought ML closer with his family. FL and the sister bonded and encouraged eachother to become better, so this wasnt bad. Also ML makes a friend at school - while the character himself wasnt important, it was important to see ML creating those bonds for himself. Aside from those two side characters, the others end up adding literally nothing. Especially the nosy neighbor girl and famous local singer girl. Like why were they even there... oh yes, only to show how pure FL is to them...
Art: 6/10
The character designs for the girls is very cute. FL has a cute hairstyle thats rarely seen in anime and the kimonos are very pretty. However ML is your average bland self insert. Cue the eye rolling. However my main problem comes along with how FL is so clearly designed to look younger than she is - for clear fantasy purposes. This already makes me ick. She is 14-15 and he is 16-17. (In this time, the marriage age is 15.) And there is literally no reason to make her like this. While super short x super tall is a VERY cute dynamic, it just feeds into the incel fantasy part of the story with her being innocent and childlike.
Sound: 7/10
Its fine, the songs are enjoyable. Nothing special.
Overall: 5/10
With all that said, theres nothing really enjoyable I found about this anime. I wanted to like it, but this anime is already broken from the core. Instead of Taisho Maided, I reccomend Tonikawa (romcom based around two innocent teenadults falling in love and learning to live together as complete strangers) or My Happy Marriage (much more serious themed romance also with an arranged marriage and making eachother better concept). Both of these animes take what Taisho Otome is doing and does it 10x better.
Theres nothing horrendously wrong or hatable about Taisho Otome, and if you like it, good for you. However this is not an anime I would reccomend to anyone.