Otaku USA Magazine
Welcome to the Weird World of Masamune-kun’s Revenge
by Brittany Vincent September 26, 2017

If you’ve ever been made fun of, you’ll immediately gravitate to Masamune-kun’s Revenge, the show that pits two very different individuals against each other because of a childhood argument. Masamune Makabe and Aki Adagaki are forever at each other’s throats, thanks to Masamune’s decision to take his revenge on Aki after she made a rather rude remark about his appearance when they were both children. Masamune dedicated his life to becoming a “handsome” guy, all with the goal of embarrassing Aki when she falls in love with him.

By the end of the show’s raucous run, you’ll have a deep appreciation for pettiness that goes this far. It’ll also make sense why the characters treat each other like garbage. Welcome to the weird world of Masamune-kun’s Revenge, where nothing is as it seems.

Here Piggy, Piggy

Masamune Makabe, the star of our show, grew up a bit overweight. He was a chubby kid, but who wasn’t? A fairly friendly child, he suffered harsh treatment at the hands of others because of his weight and therefore was bullied as a young boy. He spent a lot of time with Aki Adagaki as a child, and the two played together quite a bit.

As it sometimes happens when children play together often, Masamune ended up getting close to Aki and confessed his true feelings to her. After doing so he was rejected in a very brutal manner, as she bestowed the nickname “Pig’s Foot” on him. This absolutely crushed Masamune, who vowed from that day on he would change his family name, train hard to improve his physique and his looks, and take total revenge on Aki for shattering his heart in such a cruel and unjust manner. He’s committed to a lifelong goal of breaking Aki’s heart and completely humiliating her, hell bent on exacting the “Dead or Love” plan — having her fall in love and then cruelly rejecting her.

Masamune grows up a very self-centered, selfish guy who’s great looking on the outside but rotten to the core because his obsession with getting even with Aki has truly turned him into a horrendous person. It’s certainly not healthy, and watching the show produces several cringeworthy moments from the disorder he’s grown into alone.

But then there’s Aki Adagaki, who’s no better off than Masamune. In fact, she’s even worse than him. Aki is a detestable person in general—despite the idea that she may have spurred on Masamune’s change. Completely unlikable (unless you’re a sucker for girls with no redeeming qualities), she’s nicknamed the Cruel Princess, and she shoots down every potential suitor she comes across. Masamune believes she rejected him and called him a “Pig’s Foot” when they were children, when weirdly enough it’s Aki who loves food, eating several entire meals at lunch and showing a preference for “chubby guys.”

In general, it seems Aki has a hatred toward men that can’t be quelled, especially since she believes that Masamune, her childhood crush, up and disappeared one day. According to Aki, she’s never heard of the nickname “Pig’s Foot,” but it’s hard to believe when she treats everyone who expresses their love for her so badly in the first place.

But there’s another character to keep an eye on, and her name is Yoshino Koiwai, or Aki’s maid. She’s shy and slightly clumsy, but beneath that is a very cold and steely interior that hides some pretty intriguing secrets. If you watch the show long enough, things will come together in a way you may not have expected.

Getting Even Feels Good

As previously stated, this is a show that’s all about revenge. You may cringe a bit through the several different ways each party tries to go about ruining the other’s life, like when Aki deems someone a “Pudding Prince” in a derogatory manner, or publicly tears down a potential suitor while referencing the gender-swapped fanfic and empowerment fantasy novel he wrote. It’s the kind of escapism many of us have secretly dreamed of in our heart of hearts, like when someone has wronged us. Who hasn’t tried to turn around a situation like that into a completely empowering scenario?

Watching Aki and Masamune go at it like that is just like trying to escape your everyday problems by worrying about someone else’s. It’s entertaining to watch Masamune attempt to screw Aki over at every single opportunity because she (seemingly) totally deserves what’s coming to her, at least we think. And it’s not like Masamune is totally in the right either, so it’s fun to see what pitfalls he has to deal with on the path to “righteousness.” Both of them are in dire need of sitting down with each other and talking things out and possibly getting to the bottom of the situation that turned them against each other in the first place.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge makes it feel good to think about being able to exact revenge, especially in the context of this anime world where there are no lasting consequences that we have to worry about in real life. Seeing these things happen to these characters is awesomely cathartic, as you’ll discover throughout the course of the show, with Masamune acting as a master manipulator. He even saves Aki from having her hair cut off simply to appeal to her pride and have her fall in love with him in the name of his revenge. It’s unhealthy, but it’s all so exciting to watch, and I think you’ll agree!

Love Conquers All

In the end, Masamune-kun’s Revenge can be considered a love story, albeit one of the weirdest ones out there. It’s utterly twisted and bizarre, heartbreaking and relatable, and yet downright detestable in some situations. One thing’s clear: We’ve all been there, wanting to get back at someone, just … we probably haven’t all been in the same situation where we were concerned with getting with someone romantically as a result of all the jealousy we wanted to cause. But if that’s you, and you’re interested in seeing all that happen, you’ll want to watch Masamune-kun’s Revenge. It’s truly hate-watching at its finest.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge is available from Crunchyroll and Funimation.

This story appears in the August 2017 issue of Otaku USA Magazine. Click here to get a print copy.

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