#OPINION: SANRIO BOYS Tells Men It's OK To Be True To Themselves
“#OPINION: SANRIO BOYS Tells Men It's OK To Be True To Themselves”
SANRIO BOYS is overlooked for many reasons — perhaps because it's a slice-of-life series with an all-male cast, which is often rare, or maybe because some think of it as an anime for advertisement purposes. Either way, the series holds many life lessons that are still relevant today. One of the best ones it has to offer has to do with toxic masculinity.
In both anime and the entertainment industry, the issue of toxic masculinity is still prevalent. Thankfully, it's becoming easier to talk about what you like without being made fun of, no matter your gender, age, or social status — but that doesn't mean people have completely stopped teasing others for enjoying what they like. Let's dive into what makes this hidden gem shine so much and how it deconstructs toxic gender norms.
When Kouta Hasegawa was a child, he received a Pompompurin plush toy from his grandmother on his birthday. From teddy bears to toy robots, children tend to be pulled toward what they enjoy playing with — and the fact that his beloved grandmother gave it to him made him carry around Pompompurin all the time. Noticing this, the other children around him began teasing him for liking "girly" things, causing him to resent the present.
He even began distancing himself from his grandmother. When he decided to apologize, she passed away, and he tucked Pompompurin away in a box until he reopened it again in high school. Kouta carries regret from never being able to apologize to his late grandmother together with the thought that still liking Pompompurin — especially now that he's a teenager — is weird.
Kouta spends his days suppressing his love for Pompompurin until he meets Yuu Mizuno and Shunsuke Yoshino, two other boys who love My Melody and Hello Kitty so much so that they openly talk about it and have merchandised towels, aprons, and mugs. Shunsuke even carries a Hello Kitty charm around because he thinks of it as a good luck charm to win his soccer games, while Yuu adores My Melody because his sister gave him a cookbook with the character on it.
Their experiences are the same. Yuu's sister calls him childish because he likes My Melody and others think Shunsuke is odd because he treats Hello Kitty as a goddess of victory — but the difference is in how they don't allow it to bother them. There's nothing wrong with liking what you like and no one can truly stop you from doing so no matter how hard they may try.
When Kouta's Pompompurin was mistakenly thrown away, he freaked out because the plush toy held memories of his grandmother within it. If that's the reason he likes Pompompurin, then so be it. Even if others tease him for liking something society brands as "girly," they'd never know the reasons why he adores him so much. As the series continues, the reasons each boy likes a character are delved into deeper each episode, making it understandable why they love each mascot.
With each reason and backstory being more heartwarming than the next, it sends the message that liking what you like — especially if that thing "isn't supposed" to be liked by you — is totally normal. Just as girls can like "manly" things, guys can like "girly" things. You can like plush toys if you're male and enjoy battle anime, too. That doesn't make you any less of a man.
The pressure society puts on people — especially what gender norms should be — has caused people to think that liking something "weird" means there is something wrong with them. However, throughout the series, the fact that all of the characters have some type of connection to Sanrio characters and mascots and like them because of it is explained well.
Even the backlash that some of the characters receive for liking the characters is shown in a believable way in how Yuu's sister, Yuuri, thinks of him as childish because he loves My Melody so much. It shows how difficult it can be to like something you love so openly and the difficulties of getting your family — and even friends — to understand.
Of course, there's no need to explain why you like something. As long as you like it, that's fine — and that's also one of the key points in the series that is connected to each character.
SANRIO BOYS teaches us that liking what you like publicly is a double-edged sword. You may be teased for it. You may have bad memories because of it. However, there are people willing to accept you if you be yourself. You're you, after all — and you have a right to like what you like, no matter what society has to say about it.
Brianna Albert is an author, writer, reader, Japanese translator, and seasonal anime watcher. She has been watching anime since before Naruto became Hokage and trying to figure out how to bend air since she was in kindergarten. You can follow her and her witty conversations on Twitter or watch her content on YouTube.
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