Makura no Danshi: The Anime That Takes Self-Insert Fantasies To A Whole New Creepy Level

At first glance, the anime Makura no Danshi, translated literally as “pillow boys,” seems harmless enough. After all, those who’ve read my previous article on the otome gaming industry know the idea of pretending to be a protagonist that twelve different “flavors” of boyfriend are wildly in love with (and there’s really no other way to think about it) isn’t particularly shocking or new. I mean, if anything, it’s got to be statistically safer than dating non-virtual men. But then, when your love interests are randomly selected and given response times that would make even Dora the Explorer cringe, things can get a bit… well… creepy. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Surprisingly I’m not a big fan of Makura no Danshi’s animation style, despite possessing this crow-like fascination with shoujo anime that leads to watching anything remotely sparkly. Almost reminiscent of Sailor Moon Crystal, there’s an odd tension between the hyper-realistic backgrounds and the very shiny boys that just feels unpleasant to look at. Due to the style of the eyes, too, most of the characters come across as staring at you really intensely, which I suppose is nice from someone you like but hella nerve-wracking from a complete stranger presented with one line of context. I found myself feeling like I was always being kidnapped by a human-shaped glitter bomb whose motivations I was unsure of. Admittedly, this might work for some people’s fantasies, but I tend to like to know at the very least wher…