TRAPS (read at your own discretion)

TRAPS

Literally this means a device to capture wild animals, poachers or enemies. But there is another meaning to TRAPS and this one is from Anime Terminology.

Traps in anime means a boy that looks like a girl rather than a boy. Vice versa there is also a Reverse Trap which is the counter-part of the Trap which is a girl that looks more like a boy rather than a girl. A common term for this in layman’s term is Androgynous, having a physic that can give other people a hard time to determine if a person is a boy or a girl, in real life these people who have these physics are commonly mistaken for being a homosexual mostly male homosexuals who wants to achieve a feminine body and not a masculine body which is often what males achieve in their teens and early adulthood where their bodies start to fully develop.

In anime these Traps are often the ice breakers of the series or the ones that just want to put more confusion in the story. There are anime series where the Traps are the main characters for the series rather than just being in the background and supporting the other characters in the series.

In my list there are some notable Traps and Reverse Traps that dates back to early 80’s anime series or maybe older.

The Traps or Reverse Traps are often crossdressing characters

At first, I was not aware of the term Trap or even the word anime when I first encountered the first Trap in one series that I have watched titled Patalliro! Saiyuki. The notable trap in the series was Maraich Juschenfe. Basically, the character designs for the anime were seemed too feminine and during that time I thought Maraich was a female character who fell in love with a male character named Jack Barbarosa Bancoran until around year 2000 I found out that Maraich was a male character as well. Maraich was not the main character for the series but rather someone who can be either a villain or a supporting character for the main character.

 

   

                                                              Maraich Juschenfe

Maria Holic another series that has a crossdressing Trap but as a main character for the series. The main character who pretends to be a female student due to the circumstances of their family. He has a twin sister who is in a similar situation enters an all boy school and pretends to be a male student. Vice versa he pretends to be female and both of them must avoid getting caught and their secret must never be exposed. A family inheritance is at stake and the condition for who will inherit it will be decided on who will be able to graduate without anyone finding out their secret.

                                                                  Mariya Shidou

Princess Princess, this anime is about a school where students are exclusive for boys. Since the school has no girl students the moral of the school has been fluctuating. In order to keep the moral of the students up they have a program known as the Princess Program where three students are chosen to become Princesses. The three chosen students are to dress as females, this program is no secret to all the students except for those who are new to the school. The male students know that the princesses are also male students whose mission is to raise the moral of their schoolmates. The program chooses three students or just to fill the three slots for the duty, graduating students or those who have bodies that has started to become too obvious to be male are replaced with someone whose body is more feminine or less developed to that of the male. The weird part of this series is that even though all the students are aware that the three Princesses are also males they are still head over heels with all three members of the Princess group.

  

 Princess Princess

HAPPINESS!!!

An anime that was aired in 2006 with 12 episodes and 1 OVA in 2007. The anime is a mix of magic, fantasy, romance and comedy. The series follows two main characters Yuma Kohinata the main male character and Haruhi Kamisaka the main female character who can use magic. The trap in this series is one of the supporting characters that helped mold the series and the main characters. The name of the trap in this series is Jun Watarase, also HE is the most beautiful female in the series. The real female characters in the series does not even mind that they have been defeated by a male student when it comes to beauty and figure.

Jun Watarase

BAKA TO TEST

This is another series where the trap character is not a main character but rather a side character much like Jun Watarase in Happiness. Hideyoshi Kinoshita is the trap in the series but he is not one who is willing to become a trap or be treated differently from the males. In this series he has been considered as a UNIQUE character wherein the character Hideyoshi has been made as a GENDER in this series. One scene here when a group was on a trip and was about to change for bathing the girls entered their change room and the boys entered their own but when it came to Hideyoshi he was given his own HIDEYOSHI room to change his clothes. This was one of the comic relief for the series making Hideyoshi so unique and a character that can stand between males and females because of this stature and built. He also has a sister with whom he looked very similar to except for their hair styles.

  

Hideyoshi Kinoshita

ROBOT GIRLS Z

Robot Girls Z is a series from 2014 based on the super robots made by Go Nagai and given forms of females. Among all the characters in the series there is one character from the enemy group whom was based on Minerva X the female version of Mazinger Z in the classic series run of the Mazinger series. Well since the characters in the series are all females and the Minerva X was supposed to be the female version of the Mazinger, they end up making it into a TRAP the only male character in the entire line up of the series. Minerva X does lewd stuff for the Z-chan.

  

Minerva X

BLEND S

A series that came out in 2013 with 12 episodes following the main character Maika Sakuranomiya who has a very sadistic aura even though all she wants is to show her cheerful side. She works part time in a café ran by a foreigner named Dino. He has a fetish when it comes with anime girls in which I think was the trigger why he wanted to run a café as a business in Japan. He ended up having 5 waitresses to work in his small café with different personalities which perfectly blended on what he always wanted. Except for one waitress who at first wanted to be a popular idol and wanted to make the café her starting line but in the end, it was more than that. Hideri Kanzaki who wanted to be a top female idol was a MALE. Too cute that all members of Stile café was surprised by his secret.

  

Hideri Kanzaki

ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM

Assassination Classroom is an anime series which came out with 2 seasons which aired on 2015 and 2016 with total of 48 episodes including OVA. The series came out with a game and a film as well as a live action film. In the series the main character is not a trap but rather a very good-looking male that can be used to disguise as a female student in some situations. With his small and female like physique combined with the beast that thirst for blood within him it became clear that he can be a perfect assassin if he chose to be one. The character is Nagisa Shiota.

Nagisa Shiota

RE:ZERO

An insane anime series that came out in 2016 with 25 episodes. The main character was suddenly transported to another world while buying some stuff at the convenience store. After being transported to another world he also acquired the ability to return to life once killed and repeat the same sequence until he finds the right path for him to continue. But he is not the trap here the trap is later introduced in the series and he is Felix Argyle a Beast Human. He wears clothes that can easily tell that he is a female instead of a male character.

 Felix Argyle

FATE/APOCRYPHA

One of the series from the Fate Series Franchise, this series came out in 2017 with 25 episode, similar to the Fate/Night series there are seven chosen mages to become masters but there is a twist in this series, it has become a team battle of two factions. Seven masters and seven heroes for each team and one of the heroes summoned is the trap. Astolfo a hero based on a fictional hero from France. He does not wear female clothing but from how his clothes are shown in the series it does show that he female. In the series he is one of the heroes summoned by one of the mages to become a pawn in a game where two sides with seven heroes battle it out for the Holy Grail. He became famous to the fans of the Fate series as well as to those who are into characters who look more feminine rather than masculine.

 Astolfo

GET BACKERS

An anime series from 2003 with 49 episodes where the title itself is almost literal to the story of the series. Two characters named Ginji and Ban are a duo of what seemed to be detectives that can be hired to retrieve items that has been taken from the one who requests their services. The trap in this series is one of Ginji’s former teammate of Ginji when he was still part of a group known as Volts. Kazuki Fuuchouin who at first glance would be thought of as a female due to his outfit and personality.

Kazuki Fuuchouin

HIMEGOTO

A series from 2014 with 13 episodes and this series is filled with traps all over the place. Main character Hime Arikawa who was first seen what seemed being harassed by two men in black, he was rescued the student council president. It was later revealed to the student council that he was a male dressed in female clothing. He was later forced to cross dress in order to repay the student council after his family’s debt was paid in full. At first hesitant but later on loved what he was doing. He is not the only crossdressing trap in the series there are two or more characters in the series that are male crossdressers.

Hime Arikawa

NARUTO

Naruto one of the longest running anime series that I know. Aired since 2002 up to 2007 with total of 220 episodes for the first run when he was just a ninja in training and later for the Shippuden series in 2007 to 2017 with 500 episodes with a total of 720 episodes in total plus some movies to boot. For those Naruto fans they all know that there are some possible traps in this series but one stands out and that is Haku the partner of Zabuza. Naruto thought Haku was a female when they first met, heck I also thought that was a female character until they revealed that he was a male.

  

Haku

YUYU HAKUSHO

A classic series from 1992 this series also got themselves a trap for an opponent during one of their missions to rescue Yukina the twin sister of Hiei. They come across an opponent named Miyuki who is one of the guardians of the mansion where Yukina is being kept. Kuwabara was supposed to fight her but hesitated since does not fight against women and was defeated. Yusuke defeated Miyuki with one strong attack to knock her out. Yusuke was able to determine that Miyuki was a male to note a transvestite after he groped her chest and the jewels to be sure. Defeated and secret revealed.

  

Miyuki

VANDREAD

Sci-fi battle of the sexes anime, the series came out in 2000 and 2001 with 13 episodes each season plus two OVA which are both summaries of the series run plus some new scenes to fill some gaps from the TV series. The trap in the series is one of the supporting characters but just like Miyuki from Yuyu Hakusho BC or Buzam A. Calessa is a man who changed his body to look like a female in order to infiltrate the female planet and gather intelligence to be used against them once he returns to the planet of the males. Yup females have their own planet and males have their own planet, watch the series. Unknowing to the entire crew that he was originally a male one of the male captives fell in love with BC and still confessed his love after knowing the secret.

  

Buzam A. Calessa BC

RUROUNI KENSHIN

A popular series that came out in 1996 to 1998 with total episode of 95. A movie in 1997 a film series in 2011 to 2012, two OVA 1999 and 2001. This series also got a live action trilogy 2012, 2014 and 2014. The series was popular world wide that fans has been requesting for one more film. The trap in the series is from the opponent and one of the soldiers of Shishio named Kamitari. A skilled assassin and the secret was revealed by Yahiko after he was offered to be trained and rejected the offer and saying “why would he be trained by someone that will turn a guy into a girl” which shocked both Kaoru and Misao.

  

Kamatari

MOYASHIMON

An anime series which came out in 2007 and 2012 with two seasons with 11 episodes each. The main character of the series Tadayasu Souemon Sawaki has the ability to see microbes with his bare eyes only. In the series he has a close friend named Kei Yuki an heir to a brewery of sake later in the series he suddenly appeared cross-dressed in black Gothic Lolita stating that he has found his calling. A trap of his own decision.

  

Yuki Kei

OREGAIRU

Anime from 2013 and 2015 with 13 episodes each season this series follows the main character Hachiman Hikigaya a troubled teen who is on the brink of becoming an outcast of society. One of the characters that supported the change of this character is Saika Totsuka a fellow male student but has been most of the time been treated as a female due to his looks and attitude.

 Saika Totsuka

  

For now, these are the traps that I can list down from those that I know. But there are some traps that has really made an impact to anime viewers and has become a stigma to most anime viewers and at the same time a nightmare to most as well. These traps has become quite an icon to some “veteran” anime viewers specially those who has seen and finished all trilogy of the series.

The most infamous anime titled Boku no Pico thus the character named Pico along with two of his companions Coco and Choco. This series is no ordinary anime as well as this series has become a forbidden series which has been the first title to be given to those asking “What anime can I watch” or to those unknowing new to anime. This is a series which I can say it is up to you to watch and you cannot blame anyone since you asked for a title. Some of those who has seen this anime is most likely those who just want to pass on the experience on watching the trilogy. This is not an anime for minor viewers.

Coco, Pico and Chico

The forbidden trio

Another series is Shounen Maid Kuro. A character forced to dress up as a female due to being in debt and in order to pay up the debt he has to work as a maid at a mansion whom they have a debt with. This is another anime not for minors.

  

Kuro

 These traps are just some that I know of and there are some that I have not included in this blog due to, well while drafting this blog it has become an 11 page review so next time I will be making a review on individual series from what series these traps are from.

Oh yes this review was a request by someone I know so here it is.

credits to the owners of the pictures.

WOTAKOI

WOTAKOI: Love is Hard for Otaku

A serialized manga that came out from 2014 up to now with currently 8 volumes. Written by Fujita and published by Ichijinsha. An anime adaptation of the manga came out in 2018 with 12 episode..

An anime about Otakus of their own fields of expertise who try to hide their being otakus fearing that they will be rejected. Just like how real-life otakus are that some are rejected by people who cannot understand them and their hobbies.

Basic story flow follows four main characters of the story, mainly the main female character Narumi Momose an office worker who changed jobs after her former co-workers found out that she was an otaku at the same time her boyfriend during that time broke up with her after finding out about her hobby. She is a Fujoshi She later meets and reunited with her childhood friend Hirotaka Nifuji a gamer otaku who works in the same company where she transferred. Narumi was hiding her otaku nature but Hirotaka was able to expose her being an otaku when he greeted her and mentioned about the upcoming Comiket event.

Hirotaka Nifuji the childhood friend of Narumi Momose. He is a gamer otaku or was dubbed on him as a Specialized Gamer Otaku. He is somewhat a tech otaku as he exclaimed in episode 2 that he buys his books as e-books. A hardcore gamer as well and can play games as if it was second nature to him. He never had many friends so having to meet Narumi again and becoming a couple was big thing for both of them. Also having two of their co-workers as a couple of otakus as well was an added bonus having co-workers with similar hobbies to hang out with after work. Hirotaka was also ready for anything that Narumi throws at him making them somewhat of a perfect otaku couple for the series. Despite Narumi’s desperation to hide her otaku nature Hirotaka did not fail to expose her since for him there is no need to hide his otaku nature.

Narumi and Hirotaka

Hanako Koyanagi is a female co-worker of both Narumi and Hirotaka and their senpai in their work place. She is also a fellow otaku as well as a fujoshi. She is also a famous crossplayer and cosplayer who dress as a male character and very famous to female fans. She was the first to recognize Narumi’s otaku nature after Hirotaka mentioned about Comiket when they first met in the hallway of their office building.

Taro Kabakura the male office worker of the same work place and often hangs with Hirotaka when they drink. He is also an otaku in his own way and into much more into manga. He is also the boyfriend of Hanako.

Koyanagi and Kabakura

The series follows four individuals who became a couple at the same time both couples are almost similar other than being otakus in their own fields of expertise. Koyanagi and Kabakura both went to the same school with Kabakura graduating first and later end up working in the same office and became a couple. The next couple as Nifuji and Momose childhood friends who later met again after several years and became a couple from which at first was just because Momose was not being able to be herself during the time she was former boyfriends who broke up with her after finding out she was an otaku and worst she is a fujoshi, an otaku who is more into boy’s love type of manga or anime. Nifuji and Momose became a dating couple who often drink and play games on weekends and later playing games with both Koyanagi and Kabakura who were also a couple and also both otakus.

This anime is almost close to real life since there are people who are not into anime that are in a relationship with anime fans and not just anime fans but fans of different media. The most amazing for me are those who can accept the hardcore fans, the kind of fans whose lives are no longer complete if they cannot satisfy their hunger for the stuff they love.

In the anime they showed the struggle of the two couples not only they seem to hide that they are otakus but also, they decided to keep their relationships as couples a secret from their co-workers which was a challenge since both Koyanagi and Momose have their own charms towards he male co-workers. Koyanagi was a voluptuous and mature female office worker that has attracted younger male office workers in their department which was shown in one of the episodes while Momose though petite and clumsy in her work has also attracted a number of male office workers but were automatically turned down after hearing her mention to another female co-worker that she spent her Christmas with her boyfriend which made Nifuji happy after hearing it as well.

Not only is that the challenge for them but also their difference as being an otaku of different fields. Koyanagi is a cosplayer who cosplay the male characters and is famous to female otakus and fans in anime events. This was one of the challenges for Kabakura since Koyanagi wanted to share her likes to her boyfriend as well as passion for cosplaying the only problem is that she wants her boyfriend to cosplay as the female character which was the major problem for Kabakura. Wherein for Nifuji who seem not bothered by Momose’s fujoshi fanaticism, he was of to put on a wig and some makeup and pose with Momose for a picture which she showed to Kabakura and Koyanagi who were convinced that Momose was with another female friend and later found out that it was Nifuji after Kabakura mentioned he wanted to be introduced to the female she was with, in the picture.

Kabakura x Koyangi ,  Kou x Nao , Narumi x Hirotaka

The anime series of 12 episodes got me hooked from start to finish and made me want to watch it twice after finishing the first run.

I would recommend this to anyone asking me what to watch for their first anime or for those who just want to watch more anime which will entertain them to a point.

The only downside for this anime is that it made me want more. Rumors for season 2 has been going around and according to some anime forums, there is a chance for a season 2 the only thing that seems to be hindering it is the manga version. The anima adaptation caught up with the manga version, up to the event where the younger brother of Nifuji was introduced as well as another character named Kou who in turn was a reverse trap a female who looks like a male. In the manga it would seem that Nao Nifuji and Kou Sakuragi might end up as a couple. Kou is a gamer otaku who often is by herself and only Nao has not noticed that Kou was female until that one moment seen in the manga. Nao was not into any otaku stuff until he met Kou and started getting into playing online game not because he found out that Kou was often by herself but also, he wanted to be friends with her, during this time also in the anime only Nao’s friends knows that Kou is female and never mentioned it to him. So hopefully the second season comes out anytime soon.

 The only thing that seems to come to a reality is that an OVA is to be released any time so hopefully the second season will come right away.

A live action film will be released some time in 2020. Not sure if I will watch this but maybe I will give it a go just for the fun of it. Will be waiting for more details for this one.

credits to the owners of the pictures and video

MIRAI NO MIRAI

MIRAI NO MIRAI (MIRAO OF THE FUTURE)

A film released on July 20, 2018 by Studio Chizu in Japan and later August 23, 2018 outside Japan. The film is written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda.

The film is about a family a mother who works as an executive and a father who works as an architect. They son Kun who was loved by the couple and four years later the couple had a second child a daughter named Mirai.

Everyone, each one of us who were the first born of our parents felt their love and care all the time whenever we wanted their attention. But all this change once a younger sibling later joins the family and all the attention that was once centered to once the only child is now divided between siblings.

The movie is basically about the boy named Kun who was the first born and was once the center of attention of his parents and his grandparents. Later he is introduced to his new younger sister whom they named Mirai.

The story is very much close as to how real-life siblings feel for each other. There are those who gets jealous because of the unequal attention the siblings get from their parents and grandparents. The feeling of excitement because of one having a younger sibling that also turns into jealousy because of the attention being divided making one feel that the love given to him once is slowly fading away because a new baby has arrived and she is taking it away from him.

In this film the young Kun meets not only his new baby sister but also given his new duty as an older brother. Out of jealousy of the attention being given to his baby sister and the thought that he is no longer loved by his parents and those that surround him.

Because of his frustration and craving for the attention he once had when he was the only child, something magical happened, he meets the human version of their family dog who also had the same experience when he was born and said that his food which was once always delicious became cheap and was never again given the best of all dog foods given to him. He later meets the future Mirai who seemed to have been able to travel through time to correct a mistake that their father made so that she can marry the man whom she fell in love with in her timeline.

Not only did the young Kun met the future version of his baby sister but he also met a number of people who were related to their family.

Other movies will make the main child character have an imaginary friend due to their loneliness and craving for attention from their parents which has been directed to their younger siblings or for some the elder siblings due to favoritism of the parents. But in this film, it showed time travelling and what also seemed a fantasy story since the family dog suddenly gained a human body which he used to communicate with his young master and tell him that he too once went through similar stage of jealousy since he was the first to gain the attention of the lovely couple before Kun was born.

The story ran 1hour 37minutes which only covered the relationship of the family of four and how they adjust to their everyday life as a couple, as parents, as an older brother and a baby who in the eyes of the older brother takes all the attention of their parents. The challenge to cope and adjust as a family was a wall for them to get over and tackle down because of the daily tasks that each of them need to fulfill,

Kun who goes to preparatory school was used to his mother taking him and caring for him each day has changed ever since the day his baby sister even the attention given to him has been divided between him and Mirai. His father who is an architect has become a freelance architect who works at home in order for him to take care of the baby while his wife continues to work in an office as an executive. The couple divides their duties as parents for their children specially for the new born baby girl.

The movie itself was also part fantasy and part sci-fi, this implies to the parts where the characters like the family dog suddenly having a human form and communicating with Kun, his younger sister’s future version suddenly appearing and talking with him. This also applied each time he gets depressed the family tree that stands in the middle of their house would glow in front of him and made him meet people to help him realize his worries would pass and that he will learn how to get by.

The movie might also give off implication that the adventures of the young Kun may have been just his imagination out of desperation of getting attention from his parents but it would seem that there was a force in their house that allows the siblings to travel through time.

As per the future Mirai mentioned in the movie tree connects their family through time. But also takes them back as if nothing much else happened making it look like that the young Kun was just imagining things as they happened in front of him. The best part for the movie for me was when he and the past version of his mother met and realized that their personalities were not that far off from each other.

Acceptance was also a big part of the movie, for Kun to accept that he is now an older brother to his baby sister was one of the story plots in the movie as well as giving viewers a message that choices we make in real life will not only affect us but also those around us. Being selfish is just part of human nature but also it is a trait that shows to other people we crave for something and we want it just for ourselves.

Me as an older brother with two younger sibling can relate to this film not only because I did experienced that I did enjoyed all the attention from my parents and grandparents when I was the only one back then, but after my brother was born 5 years later the attention given to me was divided in order for my parents to care for my brother also not to mention I was not very much spoiled by my parents back then specially when my little sister was born  years later and I have to be a big brother to my two younger siblings. It did not really take me long to accept that I am a big brother back then but of course having the attention that was once only to myself was later divided between us three siblings but as I grew older, I have to be more mature and be an example for my younger siblings.

The movie will relate to other viewers as well specially those who were born the eldest and have a sibling or two who are younger than they are. As well to parents who are new to parenting.

This movie I would recommend to everyone not to this film seems like it was designed so that younger viewers can watch it. The only violence here was that one time when Kun hit Mirai with one of his train toys, that hurst even future Mirai can still feel those moments.

A warm and soft story for all ages to watch.

Credits to the owners of the videos