Sing “Yesterday” for Me Review

I actually heard about this anime on Gigguk’s Spring Anime in a Nutshell video and with the way he described it, I decided to check it out. Right from the getgo, I fell in love with Sing “Yesterday” for Me as I felt that the dialogue was profound yet the characters seemed very relatable. I thought that I had found the perfect slice-of-life romance drama to fill the void after the disastrous ending to the Domestic Girlfriend manga. Did this anime succeed in providing that occupation of an empty void?

Let’s Jam!

The Story

Sing “Yesterday” for Me (or Yesterday wo Utatte for you lovely weebs out there), centers around a guy named Rikuo Uozumi who works part-time at a convenience store but doesn’t actually consider it a job. He doesn’t know, or more or less, isn’t really interested in doing anything in life but all of that changes one night when he goes out back to feed the crows some boxed lunches.

A girl by the name of Haru Nonaka shows up and wants to know if she can have a boxed lunch as well. She’s sporty, perky, a bit overbearing, but damn I’d be lying if I didn’t say she was lovable! Rikuo ends up feeding her lunch and the lesson we all learn here is that you never feed stray Harus because they will just keep coming back for more… and Haru does… every. Single. Day.

But she doesn’t come back for a free lunch, though. She comes back to try and get closer to Rikuo as she has a romantic interest in him. The only problem is that Rikuo’s friend wants to know if he’s going to the class reunion, despite graduating only 6 months ago. He makes mention that Shinako Morinome is going to be there and that catches his attention. As you could have guessed, Shinako is a former crush of Rikuo’s.

And thus, a tale begins where Rikuo tries to find meaning in life while wrestling with his feelings for Shinako all while trying to get Haru to go away despite the fact that she has feelings for him. I want to say this story is like a love triangle but that would require both girls to fight over one guy who has a mutual vested interest in both of them and I guess, to an extent, that’s what we got in the end (and hoo boy do I have a rant about that) but until that point, it just seems like Haru likes Rikuo but Rikuo like Shinako, but Shinako knows Haruo likes him but then there’s safety pin boy (aka Rou) who also likes Shinako because Shinkao liked Rou’s brother who is now dead and… yeah, this is getting convoluted.

Despite the convolution of the story, it was actually easy to follow. Every episode told a profound story about these characters. Speaking of which, this series was driven mainly by its characters so let’s take a look at them.

The Characters

Rikuo Uozumi

Rikuo is just drifting through life. He works at a convenience story with no real goals… that is until Shinako re-enters his life as she was a dear friend to him during their college days. Still, Rikuo had a crush on her all this time and when she resurfaces, he goes for broke and gets shot down. Imagine working at a convenience story with no direction and the single ray of light in your life sputters out before your very eyes? That was Rikuo in a nutshell up until this point.

That all changed; however, when Rikuo meets Haru but he only sees her as a nuisance more than anything else, despite the fact that he knows that Haru has feelings for him. Despite this, Rikuo finds a purpose in life when he enters photography. He quits the convenience store and pursues this new, full-time job. Rikuo only claims to be satisfied but it’s simply filling a void… or at least trying to. He still cannot get Shinako off of his mind.

It is this inner turmoil that makes Rikuo who he is. When you couple that with his personality, he seems really awkward. Rikuo was never good with women and seems to just want to be left alone. At the same time, he doesn’t exactly want to be alone but doesn’t really do much of anything to try and fix that for the majority of the series. As I said, towards the end, he does kind of fix things but it’s only when that situation falls into his lap. He didn’t exactly put forth tremendous effort in making it happen. Rikuo fits the moniker of Drifter perfectly because that’s all he’s doing… drifting through life waiting for moments to come to him rather than go out and make those moments himself. The only real time he took a huge initiative was when he switched careers but he only did so as a distraction from Shinako and Haru so, in essence, he was simply just running away from all of his problems!

Honestly, I can relate to Rikuo a lot. I’m not a confrontational kind of person and things are more convenient for me when they just happen. I only force things to happen if it is really required for me to do so. I guess, in a way, I’m a drifter just like Rikuo which is why I loved this show right out of the gate. I found it to be really relatable in that regard but despite that, Rikuo wasn’t my favorite character in this series.

Haru Nonaka

Haru is energetic and about as much of a tomboy as you can get. She pesters Rikuo daily at the convenience store and makes his life (in Rikuo’s mind) a living hell. Well, maybe that’s too harsh of a way to describe it but Rikuo definitely sees her as nothing more than an annoyance. He wants her to just leave him alone but the more Rikuo pushes her away, the more she wants to try and get his attention. You have to admit that if there is one quality about Haru’s character is that she has tremendous dedication to what she wants! I guess when you love someone enough, you just don’t want to take or accept ‘no’ as an answer and I think that’s what Haru is all about.

At first, I really thought she was just as annoying as Rikuo did. I didn’t want her to hang around either as I felt that maybe she had a screw loose or something. Instead, the more you got to know Haru, the more you kind of felt bad for her. You realize that it was a love at first sight moment given how the two of them ‘met’ but, at the same time, you kind of have to roll your eyes that it was love just from picking up a ticket he dropped and handing it back to him. I mean, I guess it’s not out of the realm of possibility but it is pretty far-fetched. Still, to hold onto those feelings for that long and to pursue them with the level of determination that she was, you couldn’t help but feel that she was a little obsessive to the point of stalker levels.

Of course, all of that changes the more you get to know Haru. Her personality shines through and you realize that’s she’s just a girl in love… a highly energetic girl who exerts herself in a bit of an overbearing way but still, she is a girl in love. She simply just wants Rikuo to acknowledge her feelings and return them in kind. The fact that Rikuo doesn’t like her (initially) and the fact that Shinako has his attention means that this is a tremendous uphill (almost impossible) battle for her. You have to admire her courage for fighting it despite knowing the odds! Her tenacity grows on you and when you mix that with her personality, you have a great recipe for best girl status… and that’s why Haru is my favorite character.

She takes rejection and spits right back in its face. She never gives up no matter how many times Rikuo pushes her away. No matter how brash his words are and how much they sting, she rolls with the punches and stays true to her convictions… all while holding onto the single thread of hope that maybe… just maybe… one day Rikuo will return her feelings.

Shinako Morinome

Shinako is Rikuo’s former classmate, best friend, and the object of his affection. Shinako, herself, though is a hot mess emotionally. There is another character I will detail in a bit named Rou, but Shinako was in love with Rou’s brother but when he passed away from an illness, Shinako couldn’t let go of her feelings for him. Even years later, it became the reason why Shinako couldn’t return Rikuo’s feelings. She was afraid to move on, thinking that it wasn’t okay to do so.

Still, she eventually learns to get over it but those feelings affect more than just Rikuo. In fact, when Haru declares Rikuo’s love as a rivalry between the two of them, Shinako doesn’t really care all that much because of those lingering feelings for Rou’s brother. Rou, himself, is even affected by it because he, too, has a love interest in Shinako. This reserved mentality makes it painful to watch for any character that wants to try and get close to her. In fact, now that I think about it… this is all there really is to Shinkao as a character.

I didn’t really like her all that much but even though I loved Haru, I felt that Shinako was the best match for Rikuo due to the way that their stories were set up. It was already established from the beginning that Rikuo saw her as his one, true love. Therefore, it was only natural for them to end up together. Once I get to my final thoughts, I’ll break this down because… well… I have some issues with this. Still, I didn’t think Shinako was all that much as a character. I felt she came off rather flat and one-dimensional.

Rou Hayakawa

Oh, where do I start with the issues I have with this character? Aside from wearing a safety pin as an earring being one of the worst fashion statements imaginable, this character was just not believable… AT ALL. First off, I get that Shinako was in love with his brother and she did a lot of things for him. Even Shinako said that Rou was like family to her and I believe that Rou felt the same way about Shinako. However, Rou took that a little further and actually developed romantic feelings for Shinako. You know… as a high school student.

He openly made his feelings to Shinako known and, yet, there wasn’t a problem with it from a moral standpoint whatsoever! Sure, by the time those feelings come to a head, Rou it 18 and has graduated high school and moved on to college but the fact of the matter remains that Rou professed his feelings for Shinako while he was still underage and Shinako’s biggest concern was ruining their family-like relationship and/or still holding onto feelings over his brother. The thought of pedophilia never cross her mind… at all.

Not to mention that Rou is COMPLETELY immature over this whole ordeal, only thinks of himself and his own happiness, and puts his feelings for Shinako above and beyond any rational thought. Rou clearly comes across as someone who doesn’t even consider Shinako’s feelings in this matter and acts like his love for her is the only thing that matters. Rou then spirals into teenage angst whenever things don’t go his way and we’re supposed to buy this as a legitimate love story between the two of them?

I mean, I get it. Big sister-like girl cooked you a dinner a few times. You want to be there for her in your brother’s place. We get it but good LORD he was so immature about everything that I just wanted to punch him into next week. Hands-down the worst character in the show… but it gets oh so much better.

Kansuke

Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that this show made a crow relevant? It may not be Brandon Lee, but keeping a crow as a pet was a pretty unique choice. The fact that a crow is the one animal that relates to and understands Haru’s plight just adds to the sympathy you feel for her character. Symbolic or not, that was pretty genius.

Art, Animation, and Sound

The art style of the show isn’t much to write home about. It is your typical seinen art style that you would expect from a slice of life anime. The characters were distinct to where you could point them out of a crowd and the use of lighting and backgrounds drew out the emotions of each and every scene. When the characters and dialogue set the tone, the art and backgrounds often accentuate that tone and I think that Doga Kobo did a great job setting the mood with each and every scene through the artwork alone.

The animation was also pretty standard but, then again, when you’re dealing with a slice of life show, you don’t need expensive CG, swooping/panning cameras, or anything else of that nature. Levi isn’t flying through the city and busting into a bar to order a drink here. It’s just normal, everyday life that is being depicted and while the animation was average, it suited the needs of the show and got the job done where it counted.

The soundtrack… I wish I could comment on but I cannot recall a single track from this except for the little diddy they played at each episode’s title card. In fact, this show didn’t even have an opening theme song! The ending theme was okay at best. It’s nice for a first-time listen but it’s not something I’m going to rush out and buy once it drops on CDJapan (if it already hasn’t done so already.)

Overall Thoughts

And here we go.

I enjoyed this show up until the ending. I’ve been told that this adaptation destroyed the manga so I might have to go read it just to see what they are talking about but I can take a pretty big guess as to what they screwed up.

For the most part… I enjoyed the hell out of this show. As I said in the beginning, it was something that I could completely relate to and I loved a lot of the character work… especially with Rikuo and Haru. Still, I felt that Shinako was the best choice for Rikuo based on their history together. While I love Haru as a character, I still can’t ignore the fact that she was a bit of a stalker and came off highly obsessive and pushy when it came to Rikuo… especially when the whole reason why she fell in love with him is over picking up a ticket he dropped on the ground in passing one day. Sorry, but I just don’t see that as a plausible reason to instantly fall in love with someone and yet, here we are.

So, why do I have an issue with this?

SPOILER WARNING – SKIP THE PARAGRAPH IN BOLD ITALICS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING TO THIS SERIES.

Right when Rikuo and Shinako get together, it seems like they are going to finally build their relationship. Of course, Shinako wants to take it slow because, after everything she has been through, she wants to make sure that this is what she wants. Totally understandable. Then, Rikuo himself begins to feel like he’s the cause of her uneasiness. As soon as this happened, I had a feeling they were going to break up. They find a bench in a park and hash out their problems and both agree that there is nothing deep between them. They are missing that connection. While disappointed, I could completely relate to that kind of scenario. Sometimes the girl you like just doesn’t end up being the one for you. It’s realistic. It happens. I would have been content with the anime ending there because while it’s not a happy ending, it would have fit the entire mood of the show thus far.

But then Rikuo runs to Haru and confesses his love and Shinako goes to pay Rou a visit to (presumably) do the same but we never know for sure because she ended up crashing a party and we never actually got a confirmation as to what happens afterward. So, within the span of 12 tv minutes, the entire relationship between Rikuo and Shinako that was built from episode 1 is over and he ended up with the girl he could stand? Shinako (again, presumably) ended up with the teen boy that is the brother of her former dead lover and believes safety pins in your ear is a fashion statement?

All that’s missing is a 5-year coma after a car crash!

What in the hell was that ending!? Again, if it didn’t work out between Rikuo and Shinako, that’s fine! Depressing ending is depressing! We get it… but instead of ending it in a realistic way, it felt like a plot device just to get Rikuo together with Haru… which is something I’m sure a lot of people wanted. Then they realized they had nobody for Shinako so they just stuck her with a walking safety pin… or at least that’s what is they eluded to.

I swear… I can’t catch a break with romance series here in 2020.

All in all, I was fine with the show up until the ending. I was about to rate this show 4.5 / 5 because of it but the ending is truly paramount and that ended up dropping this show down to a 3 for me. Meaning that it was simply just slightly above average all due to a rushed and non-sensical ending.

We need redemption. Can we have a remake of Toradora?

Please?

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