Senpai is an Otokonoko

Episode 6

After Saki's proclamation last week, you might expect a big follow-up where walls are torn down, confessions are made, and the status quo is irreversibly changed. However, anyone who remembers being a teenager knows that high schoolers are exceptionally good at avoiding big, scary emotions by pretending they don't exist. So, instead, this episode is a whole lot of deflecting from everyone involved. All three of our main cast know something is up and that, eventually, something will have to give, but none want to be the one to start that snowball rolling downhill. That makes for an episode that can feel rather frustrating, but strong ideas are at play here.

For one, the conveniently timed plans questionnaire was given to Ryuji and Makoto, pushing them to consider what life after high school might look like. For Ryuji, it's mostly about whether he's willing to be separated from Makoto for the sake of going to a promising school and how that could set a hard deadline for their relationship. Suddenly, there's a little clock ticking in the back of his head, counting down the minutes he has left to tell Makoto how he feels. Yet, at the same time, that end date makes it even harder to consider confessing because the last thing he wants is to spoil what time they have left together. Granted, any adult knows that going to different colleges isn't enough to tear a friendship apart on its own, but when you're a kid whose entire social life is built on seeing the same people every day for years, that distance can feel like a vast, impassable ocean.

Meanwhile, Makoto now has to consider what he wants to do about, well, himself. It's really sweet how his father assures him that he'll be there for him no matter how Makoto chooses to live his life. Yet it also quietly reinforces the idea that Makoto has to choose between being a man or a woman. Papa Makoto's trying his best, but you can tell he is approaching this from an outsider, and he almost views Makoto's gender struggles as trying to pick between the Boy or Girl PC in a Pokémon game. So I'm glad that Saki, through a hilariously blunt metaphor, helps Makoto realize he doesn't have to choose. He doesn't need to set his identity in stone and promises to present only in one of two ways for the rest of his life. One might hazard that identity doesn't need to be binary at all, but we'll see where this particular bead goes.

There's also an interesting moment in the middle of this when all three kids are separately watching the same romantic TV drama. Where Ryuji finds nervous inspiration in the main couple's confession, Saki finds yet more alienation. Makoto, meanwhile, contemplates what it means to be a boy or girl while zeroing in on the rather stereotypical portrayal of a cross-dressing/gender non-conforming character in the background. I don't know if it's intentional, but that strikes me as some quiet commentary on how media and representation therein can shape people's – especially young people's – self-image. How many other forms of romance have these kids been exposed to besides the standard straight ones like that show? How many – if any – examples of trans or GNC characters has Makoto witnessed besides stereotypes?

It's only a small moment in the episode, but it got me thinking, and those various small ideas keep this episode feeling substantive. That's key for an entry almost entirely built around the cast avoiding conflict and burying their feelings. I hope we get more eventful material next week, but for now, Senpai is an Otokonoko has earned itself time to build things up.

Rating:

Senpai is an Otokonoko is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.