Scums Wish (クズの本懐) is a 12 episode dark romance anime based on the manga of the same name by Yokoyari Mengo. The anime originally aired in the Spring of 2017.
Yasuraoka Hanabi is a lonely and detached first year high school student who is in love with an older neighborhood friend named Kanai Narumi. The idea of her love being her homeroom teacher fills her with joy until she realized that he has his eye on another new teacher, Minagawa Akane. Fellow first year student Awaya Mugi recognizes that Hanabi is in love with Narumi. He tells her that he is in the same position, having fallen in love with Akane in middle school while being tutored by her. He suggests to Hanabi that they use each other as a stand in for their unrequited love, to help with the loneliness and helplessness. Desperate for relief she agrees and the two begin a relationship of physicality, devoid of attachment.
Unfortunately it remains hard for them to continue their farce as just a substitution for their true loves. While the outside world sees them as a perfect couple, they only use each other behind closed doors. They set a limit to never have sex, but everything else is possible, hoping to keep that final sanctity intact for their loves. Akane puts on a mask of innocence and purity when in reality she is a woman driven by control and desire. She understood Mugi's feelings from the days of tutoring him. She recognizes Narumi's naive feelings for her and Hanabi's feelings for Narumi as well as venom for herself. Akane is a predator, only satisfied when she can control her relationship with men, only interested when they are a prize to be taken from others. She challenges Hanabi for both Narumi and Mugi's hearts, only wanting to win, not interested in being fully involved in either. To further complicate Hanabi's heart and life, her best friend, Ebato Sanae confesses her love and tries to persuade Hanabi to use her as a replacement instead of Mugi.
This is a story about people trying to overcome unrequited love by abusing others who are willing to be abused. The biggest difference is that Akane acts this way with intent while the kids in the story regret their choices once they have made them, struggling with their impulses. In the end, everyone wants to be wanted and needed. Mugi, Hanabi and Sanae struggle to overcome the love they know is impossible, desperate to get anything to fill the void. While the three kids intentions and motivations are explained, Akane's is more vague. We don't get a deep dive into her history to find an excuse for her behavior. It has been too long since I read the manga that I don't recall if that was brought up there either. She is purely driven by a desire to be wanted, but a want that requires competition. She recognizes, or at least tells some people whether its true or not, that her drive is something to be despised. She doesn't offer any sympathy, regret or concern for her actions, only intent on manipulation and self gratification. But its difficult to understand the real her when everything is said and done. It's rare for a romance, if you can call Scums Wish a romance, to have a legitimate antagonist, but Akane is absolutely the villain in the story. Her actions, whether they be direct or not, cause the conflicts between all of the main players in the story. Those conflicts she is aware of bring her nothing but satisfaction and amusement.
This is a really well done story about regret and desperation that may not be for every audience. The only complaint I have for the anime adaption is the voice acting, both the Japanese and English voices are over the top in their delivery, between cartoonishly sullen to flamboyantly excited. Particularly with a childhood friend of Mugi, who happens to have a one sided crush on him. But I didn't let the voice acting bother me for too long as I was reminded of how enjoyable, if depressing and uncomfortable this story is at times. I need to revisit the manga, which I read as it was being released as well as the follow up after story. Scum's Wish is one of those tales that you need to binge, to stay in the mindset that it creates, to fully appreciate it. Glad I waited this long after the anime came out to ingest it. Well worth the time.
The anime is currently available for streaming in North America on HiDive in both Japanese and a brand new English dub.
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