Season aired: Fall 2024
Number of episodes: 12
Watched on: HIDIVE
Translated by: ?
Genres: Romance, Comedy
Thoughts: Crossdressing anime boys are famously common in anime, but the reverse is rarely seen. How I Attended an All Guy’s Mixer shakes up the paradigm by introducing not one, but three girls who crossdress as guys and their romance with three men. Tokiwa is a college student who was invited to a mixer by his beautiful classmate, Suo. He invites two of his best friends, Hagi and Asagi, to accompany him. To the boys’ surprise, three other boys are waiting for them at the mixer. It turns out Suo and her two friends, Kohaku and Fuji, work at a drag king bar. Hilarity ensues when the crossdressing girls easily hit it off with the confused yet interested boys.
How I Attended an All Guy’s Mixer works well as a romcom largely because of the boys’ reactions to the girls’ jobs. It would’ve been too easy to pull the usual anime plot of shock, denial, and overall degrading of the characters for “tricking” the protagonists until the crossdressers prove themselves. Instead, all three of the boys are not only accepting, but genuinely interested in what the three do with distinct reactions that immediately distinguish their personalities and establish different romantic dynamics with the girls.
What I appreciate the most about this anime is that it allots equal time for each pairing. While Tokiwa and Suo are arguably the main characters and the main couple who started this whole mixer mix-up, Fuji and Asagi as well as Hagi and Kohaku have many episodes dedicated entirely to their relationships. It makes all three couples feel equally important to the story. It also allows the viewer to connect with all of them, providing different dynamics in the same way one can choose food in a buffet line.
A lot of this series is carried by the chemistry of the voice acting, and the girls winning over the boys.Tasked with acting as both their characters in everyday life and their drag king personas, all three voice actresses understood the assignment and nailed the subtle performances. Aoi Yuuki, again, manages to pull the wool over my eyes as I fail to recognize her voice for the nth time as she played Fuji. However, Mikako Komtasu deserves praise for her smooth, suave, and graceful portrayal of Suo, who carries herself with such grace when not crossdressing and, without changing intonation, suddenly carries herself with such masculine confidence when crossdressing. Nao Toyama, who is known for her airy voice, is also unrecognizable as the sweet tomboy Kohaku.
Admittedly, the chemistry between the cast is required to make up for a lot of the series’ weaknesses. The first is that this romcom doesn’t have a theme, a consistent setting, or any conflicts. It’s episodic, following one couple at a time for their shenanigans. If the cast didn’t have chemistry, there would quite literally be nothing left in the story and nothing for the characters to hold onto.
The second is the production values. How I Attended an All Guy’s Mixer joins the fray of the increasing number of anime whose relative art, animation, and direction are bland at best. This series manages to squeeze by largely because of the unassuming plot, so unlike other series where the practically nonexistent animation becomes a genuine eyesore, How I Attended an All Guy’s Mixer’s animation exists just enough for the characters to plod along to their next story. The background and visuals are completely non-descript, and I would argue that only the first episode has any actual directional intent with visual cues and angles to enhance the comedy of the series.
My one praise on the technical aspect would be the character designs. While the boys are okay and distinct enough, the series clearly put a lot of thought into the girls. When not crossdressing, all three women are attractive in unconventional ways. Suo’s sharp eyes and angular face make her look mature and look like an actual adult — compared to the typical big-eyed female anime character designs — and her clothes also speak to her eye for fashion, opting for classy tops and graceful high-waisted neutral skirts. Fuji with her messy, short hair, tank tops, and shorts teeters on the line of female characters in anime who are usually portrayed as ugly. Because of her confidence, her deadpan face, and her curvier body, Fuji is still considered, and in-universe commented as, equally gorgeous to the fashionable Suo. Kohaku fits the conventional attractive anime girl design the most, but her character is grounded by keeping her long hair in messy hairstyles and wearing sportswear, embodying an actual tomboy character design versus anime girls who claim to be tomboys yet wear everything to show off their boobs and butts. The character designs of the girls are critical, as their more human-like features make the boys’ attraction to them feel more real and less like wish fulfillment seen in a lot of romcoms.
All this to say, I actually had a great time with the series! The comedy is just right for me. In the series, the girls hold power over the boys, and the times Suo had Tokiwa squirming beneath her delighted me. Fuji and Asagi have this unspoken master and servant dynamic, in which both are equally committed to their roles, leaving me tickled every time they come onscreen. In moments where the boys turn the tables on the girls, it’s their unrelenting kindness, fearless curiosity, and emotional sensitivity that elevates the romance.
However, I do think enjoying this anime comes down to a matter of personal taste. Without any greater conflict or theme and no unique aesthetics to boost, your deciding factor of enjoying or getting bored is wholly dependent on how much you like what the couples offer. I would recommend watching just the first three episodes to determine whether to continue or drop the series.
Rating
Plot: 7 (Multiplier 3)
Characters: 7 (Multiplier 3)
Art/Animation: 4 (Multiplier 2)
Voice acting: 7
Soundtrack: 5
FINAL SCORE: 62
