Review of Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

Light spoilers review * Ahh yes, Nagatoro-san, one of the most controversial anime of the season, has finally come to an end. I'm also up-to-date with the manga, so this is a series I know quite well by now. The series started off with two very controversial episodes, in which Nagatoro, the female MC, "bullies" Naoto, her senpai and the male MC. The "bullying" in the first two episodes was used merely as a plot device to show who Nagatoro is and what the dynamic between the two MC's was going to be, because the rest of the series is.... Incredibly lighthearted, cute, fun, and much better thanmost other anime romcoms that we've had in recent times.

Now, to address the elephant in the room: Yes, the relationship between our MC couple is quite atypical. The author of the manga was previously a hentai author, and you can see it quite well here considering that Nagatoro is a sadodere and many of the jokes and humor in the series are based around sex and BDSM subjects. Nagatoro is constantly teasing her senpai and making jokes around his sexuality, and the two tend to tease each other while also constantly having cute moments together and clearly showing that they have feelings for each other.

The most important element in all of this is the fact that they are both ok with the relationship they have, they consent and are perefectly happy with being in love while doing this whole sado-masochism teasing thing. Beyond the first two episodes, there's never an uncomfortable moment or a moment where I ever felt that Nagatoro went too far with her teasing. Not only that, but Nagatoro is actually incredibly caring with her senpai, helping him out and helping him build a backbone for himself throughout the series.

Overall, their relationship is very wholesome, cute, built upon the support and the love that they have for each other and the whole teasing thing only helps to keep things fresh between them both as characters and as a couple.

The voice acting is pretty good, the animation is very good as well with beautiful colors and wonderful effects for a slice of life, the side characters all add to the dynamic of the show and make for one of the most interesting casts that we've seen in the genre in quite some time, and the show generally shows quality in every element of it.

I genuinely enjoyed this series so freaking much, and I think that anyone who's relatively open to BDSM relationships and topics and generally enjoys romcoms will absolutely adore this one to bits, like I did.

Sadism/10. Would definitely tease again.