WOLF GIRL AND BLACK PRINCE #1 -- Special Review

We're checking out all the newest pilots this season! Read our write-ups on other Fall 2014 offerings like...

• TERRA FORMARS *** TRIBE COOL CREW *** KAREN SENKI *** WORLD TRIGGER


• PSYCHO-PASS 2 *** WHEN SUPERNATURAL BATTLES BECOME COMMONPLACE


• YOU LIE IN APRIL *** PARASYTE *** MYSTERIOUS JOKER *** FATE/STAY NIGHT

I was ready to brush this off - - another “It’s cute, but it’s not for me” pilot - - but then it threw one hell of a plot twist out. Now, I still don’t know if I’ll have time to watch more, but I’m definitely intrigued about where this show could be planning to go. Weirdly enough, it makes me think of that one classic SIMPSONS episode where Homer's joined by a co-worker from ‘the real world' at the office.

It sounds like a tenuous connection, but bear with me for a sec…

See, sitcoms and romcoms basically ask us to indulge bad behavior in our leads because… it’s simply more interesting to watch. And it can be easy to forget that after a while. The SIMPSONS episode in question broke that conceit for 20 minutes by reminding us that, while it might be entertaining to watch Homer make an ass out of himself every week, he’d be insufferable to actually work with. And I’d argue that WOLF GIRL AND BLACK PRINCE does something similar.

== TEASER ==

Romcoms ask us to make the same sort of suspensions of disbelief (or suspensions of approval, or whatever). The boy or girl pursues a flimsy abstraction of love in ways that'd actually come off as needy or manipulative in real life. For the first half, this show looks like it’s shaping up to be all of that, once again. Then, our plucky little lead essentially turns left, instead of right, and she stumbles into the clutches of the exact sort of textbook sociopath who’d be preying on desperate ingénues like her.

They’re already hinting pretty heavily that this guy’s into S&M, as a dom, and if the show actually follows through with it in any significant fashion, then it could be a really fascinating deconstruction of this whole genre. How little does this sad girl think of herself? How far is she willing to demean herself in order to impress these mean girls, and keep up the appearance of dating the big man on campus (when he’s actually this huge creep)?

I’d say a romcom would never go ahead with that, but… this is anime, after all.

Watch this pilot, and decide for yourself. (And much thanks to Takashichea for the screengrab above).

from Anime Vice Site Mashup http://ift.tt/10dzQP8