When bad frames happen to good people.
When I learned that this season’s new anime, WorldEnd (or SukaSuka), was based on a light novel about an adult man becoming a caretaker for a group of under-18 girls, I was understandably wary given anime’s less-than-glowing track record when handling age gaps and power dynamics. Fortunately, WorldEnd’s leading man, Willem, is (so far) completely uninterested in romancing the local teens. While 15-year-old Chtholly does have an obvious crush on him, Willem sees her and the rest of the girls as students, patients, or younger family members. He uses his power to help and guide, never to take advantage.
These are all good things, and a large part of why the pensive found-family story at the heart of WorldEnd has been so compelling to me. It’s also a large part of why a particular scene in Episode 2, “late autumn night’s dream,” stands out as so uncomfortable and out-of-place. Willem may not be a creeper, but some of the people creating him sure seem to be.
The Josei Next Door 
Well said Dee … and I must admit that when it first showed up onscreen my first thought was “Did they really need to go there?” And yes, in the comparison/context with the source material the answer is pretty much “no” in my opinion.
For me, though, Shuumatsu Nani is still one of my most anticipated series of the season (together with Natsume s6 and Tsuki ga Kirei) – I very much appreciate the fact that it even got an adaptation. More “serious” content like this, that head to darker and thought provoking areas without either revelling or wallowing in despondency, angst, wrath, wanton destruction and the rest are quite welcome for me.
For the record, deep tissue massages DO hurt to the point that one cries and arches various parts of the body like that, but it is definitely totally devoid of sexual arousal teasings for most people … speaking from my own experience here. It is more often than not pure agony while it is going on and can hurt the day (or two!) afterwards.
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