The Dangers in My Heart Season 2

Episodes 13-14

In slice-of-life media, children are often portrayed as wanting to grow up as soon as possible or being deathly afraid of the idea. The Dangers in My Heart is a charming slice-of-life romance about two middle schoolers slowly opening up to each other, but on top of that, it's also about coming to terms with the childish tricks that you would rely on to avoid the more challenging aspects of social interactions aren't going to work anymore.

Kyotaro continues to come up with excuses to avoid any awkwardness or confrontation. But his journey throughout the story is about accepting that is impossible and confrontations are necessary for him to live a happier, fulfilling life. If he stayed so wrapped up in himself, he wouldn't have discovered the feelings he had deep down and made the social progress he has. This is one of my favorite slice-of-life shows because the romance between the two leads is believable and makes many worn-out tropes feel fresh and new again because everything is contextualized from a very relatable place.

Yes, Kyotaro is the awkward and quiet recluse, but he doesn't feel like a bland self-insert. There's a reason for his insecurity; with every episode, he takes another step closer to overcoming it. Yes, Anna can fall into the category of the quirky dream girl you see in class, but as we see in episode 14, she has her own fears and insecurities. She's afraid of people hating her and wants to constantly meet the expectations of others, which is why she was terrified when she blamed herself for his broken arm. While she is "weird," you get the sense that she rarely opens up to people; she's just naturally charismatic, unlike Kyotaro. The two have a kinship where they probably understand each other more than they were initially willing to admit. Seeing them slowly chip away at their walls to get to each other is an enriching experience.

My heart feels full when the two connect in the snow over the keychain incident and have a sweet heart-to-heart over a hotpot. Everything is directed in a way that helps us experience the moment as much as possible, and I love it. The distant sounds of the ambient soundtrack perfectly capture that feeling of anxiety, but there's an innocent, hopeful charm to it as well. It's comforting but in a way that feels earned, and I think that sums up our character experiences with growing up perfectly.

The show isn't above some of the standard clichés, and it can be surprisingly horny at times, like we saw in episode 14 about the clothes changing and crotch shenanigans. But even when the show does use fan service, it makes it a point to always show it from the lens of an awkward horny teenager. If anything, I feel like I'm supposed to cringe more than I'm supposed to be turned on by the wacky antics. Besides, the whole clothing situation had a fantastic payoff at the end, with Anna's dad showing up and immediately noticing Kyotaro wearing her gym clothes. I'm sure that's going to come back to bite everybody in the butt, and I can't wait. I missed this show so much and miss talking about it with all of you. So, look forward to that unbridled enthusiasm for the next few weeks because I'm not holding anything back!

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The Dangers in My Heart is currently streaming on HIDIVE.