Review of Days with My Stepsister

I could not like this anime at the first 4 episodes. The number one reason being, the way our main characters talk, is very unrealistic for two person who just met each other, especially for two 17 year-olds. They completely discard the fear of misunderstanding or shame, lay their entire feelings out on the table and analyze them together like some kind of robots studying human emotions. This cursed style of dialogue only happens between our main characters and certain side characters throughout the anime. And it's not like this anime doesn't know how to write conventional emotional dialogues like Makeine. They literally have asenpai character(whatever her name is) who talks in a jesting manner very much like characters from Makeine or whatever traditional romcom anime you've watched. Funny thing is, this anime has huge amount of monologues, pretty well written ones too, which makes me wonder if the writer carried that style to its dialogue, because honestly, it does feel like the writer talking to himself with two self-inserted characters sometimes. However, as I finish the series, I believe that this cursed dialogue is beneficial for the story to progress in pace within 12 episodes. It also brings out more of the character's emotions as much as I hate getting used to it.

Second reason why I disliked the anime in the beginning is because of the confused tone between the story and the presentation. This anime plays around the lighting very consciously. But for whatever reason the first four episode looks excessively dark. Morning light could come out of the apartment's window from the right and dies out before it even reaches half the screen. The character sprites are always shaded a little dark even when they are inside a well lit room. To make things gloomier, the entire anime uses this melodramatic ambient music with really slow and heavy piano tunes. Combine this with the cold speaking tone of the main characters and the abundance of silence during their lines, this show gives out a depressing vibe, which doesn't make sense for the story progression in the beginning, considering our main characters barely said anything negative. This depressing tone, however, would work better in the later stages of the anime as our main character develops their inner conflict.

One of the biggest selling point of this anime, is how it tackles the sibling romance theme. For me, this is my first anime that treats this sort of forbidden love or taboo with a solemn manner, so I applaud the originality. Yuuta and Saki are somehow reasonable and matured teenagers, so they have a lot of monologues revising the development in their relationship and emotions. They even go through denial stages, highlighting their inner conflict on the issue. Their progress on this topic is still in its early stage, so how well this topic is handle remains to be seen, in an uncertain season 2.

In summary, Gimai Seikatsu is an impressively unusual anime that approaches a controversial topic without treating it lightly. It has astounding focus on the main characters' development and emotions, using heavy amount of monologues. Saki is hot af and I literally watch this show for her. *vine boom* Unfortunately, the anime comes with jarring tones in its dialogues and atmosphere which lowers my enjoyment as much as they play into their own strength. If you can get past the weird tones, you might appreciate the distinctively solemn approach on sibling love this anime goes for.

Gotta say, it would be spicier if Yuuta and Saki weren't step siblings. Because you know, it's only good when they're blood-related.