Between Delicious in Dungeon’s feral cat girl Izutsumi and The Apothecary Diaries’ weirdo poison taster Mao Mao, I’m absolutely thriving with current-wave chaotic little anime gremlin girls.
It’s very common for shonen anime to feature heavily sexualized female characters. Yes, there are exceptions, but it’s such a regular occurrence that boob close-ups and panty shots almost become background noise. So, seeing characters who could otherwise fit in those tropes do a total 180 to be completely nonsexual — and, in fact, repulsive — is so damn satisfying.
Izutsumi and Mao Mao aren’t the only characters to ever fit this bill, but watching the two shows in succession really scratched a good itch for me, kicking off the summer anime season with a growl. They join the canon of freaky gremlin gals with Skip and Loafer’s Mitsumi, an ambitious but totally awkward and kinda cringe high school student; the trio of budding animators at the center of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!; and Ouran High School Host Club’s Haruhi, the tired scholarship student who puts up with all the host club’s extravagant bullshit.
Image: Science Saru/Crunchyroll
None of these characters are designed in a traditionally “sexy” way; in fact, they’re aggressively unsexy. They get to be little weirdos, delighting in their interests and ambitions, without thinking about being appealing or pandering to their crushes (and in the case of Mitsumi and Haruhi, that’s exactly what gets their love interests’ attention!). It’s vindication for weird girls everywhere!
Izutsumi and Mao Mao take the trope from the slice-of-life genre to fantasy and historical settings, where female characters typically suffer from hypersexualization.
In the fantasy world of Delicious in Dungeon, none of the female characters are really sexualized at all. But Izutsumi stands out — because in any other show, she would be turned into a sexpot. Izutsumi is a cat girl, but not in the traditional sexy feline person way. She’s not purring up against other characters or seductively twitching her tail. And she doesn’t have any logic-defying cleavage. Even when she strips down in front of the group as they all enjoy an impromptu sauna, her body is remarkably nonsexualized. Instead, she acts like a feral cat: She’s distrustful, angry, and will claw your eyes out if you get too close. She’s slowly learning to trust the group, but like with a stray cat you leave food out for in your backyard, it will be on her terms.
Image: Trigger/Netflix
The courtesans and concubines living in The Apothecary Diaries’ Imperial China are women who are very specifically using their sexuality to make a living in some way, shape, or form. Mao Mao, however, is an apothecary who loves to try out new medications and poisons. She tests them on herself, which means her arms are bandaged up with the results of her experiments. Nothing makes her happier than rare medicinal herbs and ingredients (except maybe poisons). When she’s not absolutely feral, she’s cold and calculating, an analytical mastermind who must switch gears from medical mysteries to political machinations. Either way, she’s not concerned about being sexy or likable, even when handsome head eunuch Jinshi flirts with her.
Izutsumi, Mao Mao, and the rest of these grubby anime girls are just the refreshing dunk of water I needed. Delicious in Dungeon wraps up this week, and The Apothecary Diaries ended in March, but I’m going to be bringing this freaky little chaos demon energy into the summer with me. No need to look hot in a bikini if my beach plans involve running up and down the shoreline, pretending to be a sandpiper. Mao Mao would be proud.