Wolf Girl and Black Prince

Summary: >

Erika found it hard to make friends, so when she finally fell in with a pair of girls seated next to her in class, she's hesitant to give it up. The two go on and on about their boyfriends, and going with the flow Erika mentions she has one too. Except she doesn't. She took a picture of a hot guy she saw one day, and presents that as her boyfriend. Her friends recognize Kyoya as a boy attending the same school, and are impressed she landed such a guy. Erika is in deep trouble now, so faced with no other solution, asks him if he'll pretend to be her boyfriend.

He refuses at first, but then decides maybe he will if she acts like a dog. Vanity overcoming her pride, she complies. Kyoya is interested now, so agrees to the pretend relationship, on the condition she'll be his pet (since he always wanted a dog). Is the facade really worth the torment this sadist will put her though?

Thoughts: >

For me, shoujo anime is like chicken nuggets. You may never get totally awesome chicken nuggets, but they're never bad and always the "safe" choice on the menu. So you can imagine my expression when eating a chicken nugget that actually tastes bad, which is probably how I looked while watching the first episode of this one. Even though it's not what I expected, I figured maybe this would be different enough that it could be a good thing. Well, that didn't happen.

This anime embodies much of the crap I hated in high school, but instead of ignoring it as I did, I'm thrust in the middle of it with my eyes taped open. The petty plot of pretending to have a boyfriend to fit in with shallow bitchy girls is very much a mystery to me. This would suggest esteem issues with Erika, but watching the show it's pretty clear it's because she's an idiot.

Wolf Girl and Black Prince (better titled Masochist Girl and Sadist Hunk) tackles the simple question: what does a girl do when she falls in love with an asshole? "Dump him" isn't an option, because that would make sense. Over time I was okay with Kyoya though. He's a jerk but he's honest about it, and at no point does he make it seem like he'll be otherwise. In fact I liked the consistency of his character, which is always dark and moody. That sounds weird, but it's what makes this show unusual and interesting, so "fixing" him would be a bad thing.

The main heroin Erika makes this anime annoying. Sometimes she's enthusiastic like a dog, which can be cute (or pathetic), but most of the show revolves around her depression due to Kyoya treating her badly. She often wonders "maybe he really doesn't like me". Does it matter?!? Kyoya is always upfront he won't treat her well, and refuses to do things just because she's his "girlfriend". Yet she keeps expecting to, then agonizes about how he doesn't. Most will paint Kyoya as the bad guy, but he is who he is; meanwhile Erika is the idiot who keeps expecting different results.

I think some of the characters come off the wrong way at first, particularly Erika's classroom friends who obsess with boyfriends aren't as bad as they initially seem. The characters lack depth, and that problem extends to the story as well. Resolutions to problems struck me as shallow. It's like Wolf Girl and Black Prince lacks the creativity and thoughtfulness needed for a good story, so it goes through the motions instead of doing things properly.

Wolf Girl and Black Prince has a slew of problems and I'm being pretty forgiving in the rating. It's rare, but it's occasionally funny, and sometimes even cute. I found Kyoya somewhat interesting love interest. He's an ass, with his better virtues hidden under his cold exterior, but he stays a jerk. He's nowhere near capable of carrying a show in this state however, so I'd probably skip over this one. An interesting concept poorly implemented.

Screen Caps: >