Sing 'Yesterday' For Me

 Sing 'Yesterday' For Me (イエスタデイをうたって) is a 12 episode slice of live dramatic romance based on the manga of the same name by Toume Kei.  The anime adaptation originally aired in the Spring of 2020.

    Uozumi Rikuo has failed in life, or better yet, not attempted to do anything with it since graduating college.  He finds himself working part time at a convenience store, unsure what to do with himself.  A strange girl named Nonaka Haru begins to stalk him at his job, annoying him with her persistence and energy.  Rikuo is perpetually depressed and resigned to his own lack of ambition so the spunky teenager annoys him every time she shows up.  His life becomes complicated when his friend from college and the woman he was unable to express his love for returns to Tokyo for work.  Morinome Shinako had rejected him before he was able to express his feelings, when she told him she would be returning to her home of Kanagawa after graduation.  Instead she has accepted a teaching position in Tokyo and has returned to his life.

    Haru had dropped out of high school and for a short time, Shinako was one of her teachers.  She lives on her own and works part time for a cafe and bar.  She realizes that Rikuo has feelings for her old teacher so challenges the older woman for his affection.  Haru had run into Rikuo before he entered college in a chance encounter and had been struck with strong feelings for him.  She has been able to cross his path in the following years, unknown to him and has taken advantage of his job at the convenience store near her work to see him more frequently.  Rikuo has no interest in the quirky girl, instead renewing his efforts to express his love for Shinako.  Shinako is unable to return those feelings, burdened with love for a childhood friend who passed away while they were in high school.  Her feelings for him and the power of his loss overwhelm her, leaving her unwilling to grow close to anyone, clinging onto her past.  To further complicate the matter, the dead boys younger brother has moved to Tokyo for college prep and is trying to make Shinako understand his feelings for her.

     This is a hell of a love triangle+ drama, which might have been better served as a live action series, which surprisingly does not exist.  To recap the way the emotions travel; Rikuo loves Shinako.  Shinako loves a dead boy.  The dead boys younger brother loves Shinako.  Haru loves Rikuo and was a student of Shinako's for a brief period of time.  Everyone opens up to the object of their affection causing most of the tension in the story.  No one is willing to relent in their emotions.  What complicates things is Shinako's desire to not push Rikuo away, even though she is unable to return his affection.  Haru realizes that she is, at best, the fall back option and struggles with being able to accept that position if Rikuo ever develops feelings for his young stalker.  Uncertainty and personal doubt force the characters into large states on inaction, perhaps needlessly dragging out the story.  As it nears its conclusion we do begin to see some resolution but I am not sure if audiences are receptive to the way things pan out in the end.

    The animation isn't bad for a slice of life drama, so don't expect much in the way of details and dynamic directing.  The character designs work well for the story and their expressiveness helps to convey their feelings well.  This is a subdued and monotone story however, lacking an opening theme to distract from the air of depression and tension.  The only character that doesn't continually exhibit a subdued existence is Haru, who is labeled as strange and out of the ordinary.  The story is told from the perspective of the main characters but Rikuo does feel like the primary focus, with the two women orbiting him as expansions of his story.  In the end the anime was worth the time but might have been better served as a live action drama.

     The anime simulcast and is available in Japanese or English on Crunchyroll.