DAKAICHI -I'm Being Harassed By The Sexiest Man Of The Year- Episode 1 Review: In the World of Show Business, It's Eat or be Eaten

Lo, what is this? A BL anime?! The fangirls rejoice!! That’s right, it’s not an OVA or a direct to DVD anime; we are getting another mainstream BL release!! *cue fangirl squeal* DAKAICHI -I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year- is a bit of a mouthful, but the series definitely hits the ground running in its first episode, ‘In the World of Show Business, It’s Eat or be Eaten’. Spoiler alert, someone gets eaten. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Plot

After five years of being the most desirable man in Japan, Takato Saijyo is enjoying his time in the spotlight. That is until a newbie, Junta Azumaya, dethrones him, taking his coveted Number 1 spot. Pissed at being outdone by someone younger than him, Takato is hostile towards Junta. But, when he is forced to spend time with Junta, Takato gets shitfaced and winds up naked in his bed. Junta doesn’t let the opportunity to get closer to Takato slip by, recording the incident and blackmailing him with it.

Episode Highlights

Sexy and I Know It: Takato Saijyo is the sexiest man alive, and he knows it. In his first few moments of screen time, he gives an extended monologue to this effect. This is accompanied by shots of his many assets (chest, face, smile, etc.) during one of his many photo shoots. He continues to exposit about his illustrious career as he rides off to another gig. Mind you, this is all before the episode hits the 2-minute mark.

Character Descriptions: When a new character is introduced, their name and occupation will appear on screen. Oh, and let’s not forget the bishie-sparkle effects that appear when the text is on screen. The first time we see this is with Takato’s manager, Takumi Sasaki.

Who’s the fairest of them all?: Takato finds out he is not the #1 most beautiful man in the world, but in fact the 2nd most beautiful man in Japan, which is a definite blow to his ego. Then to add insult to injury, the person in the #1 spot is none other than Junta Azumaya, a newbie actor.

That escalated quickly: Junta goes from harmless to blackmail to ‘fuck me’ in less than 10 minutes. He gets downright rapey with it, pushing my boy Takato down on the bed and demanding to let him have sex with him… He then chases him down and forces kisses on him. But, that’s not all; Junta has this elaborate confession scene, and it is beautiful with muted lighting and beautiful orchestral music in the background but it is all immediately ruined when Junta asks in his sweet husky voice to ‘sleep with Takato’…. Yeah… Zero to One Hundred…

Film mode: During scenes when Junta and Takato are filming there is a filter on the animation that gives the scene a muted look. It’s like looking at one of those old-timey films.

Themes & Trivia

Episodes Titles: Each episode is referred to as a ‘hug’, a callback to the series’s ‘dakaretai otoko’ ranking, which roughly translates to ‘most desirable man’ or ‘the man I’d most like to embrace (hug) me’. So, Episode one is ‘hug 1’.

Manual v. Automatic: Takato uses a car metaphor to help teach Junta about the different types of actors. A manual transmission uses a clutch, giving the driver the ability to change between gears, while an automatic transmission allows the car to automatically shift between gears. In his explanation, manual actors work out their roles in their head before their performances and automatic actors use their instincts.

Ending Theme: The series’s ending theme song, ‘Chuntaka!’ is sung by the VA for the two male leads, Yuki Ono (Junta) and Hiroki Takahashi (Takato). The song is even accompanied by a cute idol style dance routine done by both Junta and Takato.

Adaptation censorship: The original manga, Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. is a straight up yaoi, with each of the sex scenes on full display. However, for the anime adaptation, they decided to go with the safer, more generally acceptable shounen-ai moniker. So, any and all sex scenes will be heavily edited and or outright censored, not enough that you don’t know what’s going on but enough to not piss off any of the executives.

Comments

Okay, that was something… I’m no stranger to BL/yaoi media; in fact I have quite a few BL manga on my bookshelf right now, but, I’ve kind of stayed away from some more trope-y titles these past few years. So, Dakaichi is definitely a return to some of my BL roots. There are a lot of the usual over the top BL cliches and tropes… A LOT, but, that doesn’t make this a terrible watch.

This was a lot of fun, I will even admit that I kind of miss seeing lighthearted BL works, and coming on the heels of my BANANA FISH reviews, I need something light to keep me entertained. I also happened to read a bit of the manga a few years back, so it’s nice to see the story being brought to the animated medium.

I am disappointed that they chickened out and went for shounen-ai instead of full blown yaoi, but I suppose that if you wanna make money, you gotta make something you can show in that sweet primetime spot.

I Only Wanna Be With YOOOOOOOU~

Episode 1 was entertaining enough with fun enthusiastic characters and plenty of traditional BL tropes to keep any fujoshi, fudanshi, or casual BL fans happy. The premise is pretty by the book too: younger guy wants to pork his idol, hilarity ensues, but, that doesn’t stop this from being a cute, light watch nonetheless. So, all in all, a pretty solid debut episode!

I’ll be back next week with another DAKAICHI review, but in the meantime, be sure to check out MANGA.TOKYO’s other amazing Fall 2018 reviews!!

NEXT TIME: Hug 2: Is He Sick of Me Already?