Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway

 Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (ひげを剃る。そして女子高生を拾う。) is a 13 episode slice of life series based the light novels of the same name by Shimesaba and illustrated by booota.  The anime originally aired over the Spring of 2021.

     Salary-man Yoshida stumbles upon a runaway high school girl in a drunken stupor.  He wakes up in the morning with no memories of the previous night to find said high school girl in his tiny apartment, willing to repay his kindness with her body.  Abhorred by the idea he rejects the vulnerable Sayu outright.  Given that her time on her own has lead her to live with an unknown number of guys who use her for sexual gratification he can't bare to throw her back to the wolves.  Instead he agrees to let her stay for a while, in exchange for her cooking and cleaning his apartment.  Yoshida, fully aware of the potential risk he is taking, letting the runaway stay at his place, tries to hide it from those around him.  It doesn't work out too well, as those who pay attention to him notice a drastic change in his professional attitude.  Slowly people he is close to at work are brought into the secret, for better or worse.

    The longer Sayu stay's with Yoshida the more the risk grows for both of them.  Tokyo is a large city but its not unreasonable to encounter people that know her in time.  At the same time both knew this couldn't be a permanent arrangement.  Sayu struggles to come to terms with her situation, not understanding Yoshida's unwillingness to abuse her like those before him.  Yoshida struggles with why he is being as generous as he is with this complete stranger.  Her existence in his life begins to seriously complicate any chances he has of an adult romance as well.  What has lead Sayu down such a dark and desperate path and how long can she seek shelter under Yoshidas arms?

    With the name one would think this is some sort of lecherous comedy, perhaps akin to Homeroom Affairs, but that can be excused.  The obviously light novel title betrays the rather serious and respectful story about a man with more compassion than sense who puts himself in a problematic situation by trying to give sanctuary to a vulnerable runaway.  The story, while somewhat outside of reality, handles some rather realistic problems and does it in a compassionate way.  There is a lot of drama and some difficult topics, but its definitely worth the time.

    This series was way more enjoyable than I thought it would be solely based on the title.   Its a well done and grounded mature story about vulnerability and loss.  The character designs and animation are decent if average.  There's not a lot of setting change in the series so no opportunities to shine with exotic expositions.  It moves from urban street to apartment to office building pretty regularly.  But the valuable thing, probably due to its nature as a light novel aimed at a more mature audience, is the personalities of the characters and the situation they find themselves in for this small window of time.  Definitely worth a watch for a change of pace from the deluge of high school romances.

    The series was simulcast and is still available in dub and sub format on Crunchyroll.