Yes, they’re not blood-related, and yes, they didn’t grow up together. Those are fairly valid points depending on the setting, but most stories take that concept and somehowmanage to frustrate the viewers. Yes, drama is very popular, but it’s meant to draw you in, not induce stress or hate what’s supposed to be a sympathetic character.
Boy likes a girl, or girl likes a boy. Then one of their parents get remarried, and they have a kid that is either a competing love interest, or the very person they liked. Now they have to keep their relationship a secret. Alternatively, a brother and sister fall in love, but at the last second, the story tells us they’re not blood-related, so everything’s okay. There are some anime that could have taken this concept and made a compelling story out of it.
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The Domestic Potential
Domestic Girlfriendhas Natsuo crushing on his teacher, but knowing she’s too old for him, he seeks out someone at a mixer and sleeps with them. Turns out that “someone” was actually the teacher’s sister, andnow they’re step-siblings thanks to a remarriage. Well that is certainly awkward - but rather than letting the story take its course, it turns into who Natsuo can sleep with the most. You could argue that Natsuo is just a naive teenage boy, but teenage boys do in fact, possess degrees of intelligence and have other hobbies. Essentially, he’s one-dimensional. Despite what some may think, playboys aren’t very likable, even among teenagers. If we want to look to an “accurately” depicted teenage boy, there’sDenji fromChainsaw Man. He has a high drive, but that isn’t his whole personality.
Domestic Girlfriend’s concept at its core isn’t a bad premise, and it did have potential to be an engaging drama with likable characters. So let’s say rather than Natsuo’s teacher, Hina falling into the soft and innocent, dandere trope (and this back and forth “he said she said” narrative), she maintains a very strict position. All of their conversations are school related, and she wishes to only support him as her student. Meanwhile, Rui and Natsuo try to keep it on the down low that they know each other. But as they spend more time together,Natsuo comes to fall for Rui insteadand accepts Hina as only his superior.
However, as their relationship progresses, Hina finds out. Happy that her student found love, but protective of her sister, she finds herself in a complicated position. Her sister and student (now step-brother nonetheless) are her responsibilities after all. The story could become much more fleshed out, and perhaps even a bit more romantic, now that girls aren’t all being pinned against each other. Proposing this happened instead, the “step sibling romance” trope is still being played here, but with a much more steady direction.
Changing The Formula
Let’s come up with a hypothetical plot. The main character’s prodigy older sibling moves away and is happy about their new-found freedom. But just before they can celebrate, their parent gets remarried, and now they have a new step-sibling. They didn’t have the best relationship with their blood sibling, and so this realization that they may have to potentially live in another’s shadow, upsets them. Perhaps the sibling is somewhat attractive to the main character, but that quickly goes out the window when the annoying feeling becomes mutual - similar toDenji’s and Power’s relationshipfromChainsaw Man.
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But over time, as they live together and bond more, they begin to have each other’s backs. Even helping them with their love lives. Maybe at one point one of them tries to write a good confession to practice, and the other gives feedback. Finally, by the end of the series, the main character has thesibling relationship they’ve always wanted- no longer seeing them as competition. A familial bond not formed by blood.
Fiction Is Still Fiction
Step-sibling romanceisa cliché, and it can be a bit over the top and dramatic, but that may just be part of the appeal. There is always room for improvement, and to look at our favorite franchises through a critical lense can be beneficial. But it doesn’t hurt to deconstruct something you love andturn it into something completely new.
