When Ao was in kindergarten, she smiled ear-to-ear as she told her classmates how her father (a bestselling erotic author) chose her name: “A as in apple and O as in orgy.” That day still haunts her ten years later as she studies with a single goal in mind: get into an elite university and achieve independence from her father once and for all. She has no youth to misspend and no time to think about boys until her classmate, “King Normie” Kijima, approaches her with a shocking confession of love. She tries to lose Kijima, but he just can’t take a hint and as her mind runs wild with impure thoughts, she realizes her father has totally influenced her. – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll and HIDIVE
Episodes: TBA (13 min episodes)
Source: Manga
Episode Summary: Ao’s life changed forever once she realized that her name, chosen by her father (an erotic author), referred to an “O-face.” Having grown up in an environment where her one male role model was a lecherous old man, Ao decided to point her efforts toward her studying, thus providing her a way to escape her family once and for all. In school she does everything she can to earn top grades, avoiding any kind of socializing.
What she doesn’t realize is that Kijima, a popular boy and the only person who really tries to talk to her, has feelings for her – a fact she discovers after bringing Kijima his school uniform in the nurse’s office. Ao believes all men to be lecherous perverts with one thing on their mind, but despite her best efforts, she can’t seem to get her mind off of Kijima.
Content warning: this episode contains elements of emotional incest and sexual assault.
Impressions: It’s been a while since I’ve watched an anime episode (especially one with a shorter run-time), that was so marred by its inability to handle the type of tonal whip-lash that anime is often accused of exhibiting. One half of Ao-Chan Can’t Study! is a cute, comedic example of teenagers learning to navigate their first awkward romance. The other half is a vomit-inducing example of some of the worst parenting I can think of outside the latter portions of the Bunny Drop manga.
Ao’s father is reminiscent (in appearance and actions) to Happosai from Ranma 1/2. He’s a pint-sized, lecherous sex-maniac who’s turned his erotic energy toward his writing career. While not the worst thing in-and-of-itself, the “perverse old man” character, one whose continued existence seems to be the result of the misconception that old people are essentially harmless and are consistently losing control of their mental faculties, is a creepy archetype that has no business being framed as comedic, in my opinion. When I was watching Ranma back in high school, I could still giggle at Happosai’s panty-stealing antics; nowadays, having seen more of the realities of what our world has to offer, I wouldn’t dare.
The more unsettling element at play is that this father’s perversion seems to be targeted toward his daughter Ao, under the guise of facilitating her sexual awakening with Kijima. Dad stalks Ao, becoming her unwanted sexual cheerleader when she’s attempting to return Kijima’s uniform, and uses a fishing line to lift the front of her shirt, exposing her to the boy. This type of thing would be inappropriate no matter who the perpetrator was; the fact that it originates from someone who should be a trusted familial relationship is an extra level of gross.
I think perhaps what bothers me most about this whole scenario is the fact that Ao’s father has become a role-model for how she sees the other male humans in her life. She lives with a childish, breast-obsessed, predatory old man, one who writes fantasy scenarios about love and sex for a living – how could she possibly avoid coming to the unfortunate conclusion that “all men are pigs?” It’s this particular disservice, one which preemptively assumes the worst about a group of people perfectly capable of behaving respectably, that allows the few bad apples the permissiveness to act on their criminality (all in the guise of humor!). This really, really bothers me.
The other half of this weird Frankenstein’s Monster of an anime abomination is actually quite sweet. Though it’s so often featured as a pathway for “laffs” and “yukks,” I think the idea of teens navigating their new romantic feelings and first romances (and even sexual experiences) is a relatable story element for many of us (especially those experiences’ inherent awkwardness). I think that Kijima seems like an earnest, laid-back kind of guy, and perhaps a good foil for Ao whose defenses are always raised (for good reason). If I try to mentally-delete the barf-worthy scenes involving the father character, I think there’s the seed of a pretty decent romantic comedy here. Unfortunately, the “bad” scenes are so wildly inappropriate that they essentially wipe out any amount of good will the episode otherwise manages to develop.
I sometimes get accused of being “too uptight” about this type of content. Obviously I know that this story is fictional and no one is actually getting harassed by a 2-foot-tall pervert dad. However, as a reviewer I have to trust my gut, by which I mean my emotional reaction, to what’s put in front of me. It is difficult to properly describe the feeling of “squick” other than that I find it to be a very deep, very personal negative reaction to certain content, whether that content reflects past traumatic experiences or simply stems from an individual moral/ethical aversion to something. This episode squicked me out, and I hope that in itself serves as proper warning to the viewers who need to hear it.
Pros: The teenage romance story is the high point in this episode.
Cons: The father figure is a sex-offender with the maturity of a child.
Grade: D+