To be honest, I'm struggling to understand why on earth this so-called sequel to the lovely and delightful Karaoke Iko! was written in the first place, because I find it almost impossible to reconcile the light-hearted, endearing note on which the prequel ended with the utter misery and gloom that pervades FamiRes Iko.
Remember how Satomi, despite being a moody brat prone to some truly spectacular temper tantrums, was centrally characterised by the sheer joy he so clearly gained from Kyouji's presence in his otherwise painfully ordinary life? Remember how Kyouji, despite maintaining what would on the surface seem to be a highly questionable relationship with a boy twenty-five years his junior, still somehow managed to charm us all and be scrupulously moral at the same time? Yeah, well, if those are the things you loved the most about Karaoke Iko, then do yourself a favour and don't read this sequel, because both main characters have - at some point in the mere year's gap between Karaoke Iko's ending and FamiRes Iko's beginning - been reduced to mere shadows of their former selves.
Now Satomi seems to be desperate to "escape" from Kyouji, a sentiment which makes no sense whatsoever because they have the easiest, most no-strings-attached (and, for the record, completely platonic) relationship I've seen in a long time. There's literally nothing to "escape" from, and yet for some reason the very sight of Kyouji seems to cause Satomi endless annoyance. And Kyouji is no better; gone is his outrageous charisma, the way he was so smooth and yet somehow not the least bit slimy. Now he's a depressed old man who acts like a subservient puppy in front of Satomi, to the point that he completely avoids specifying what he wants from their relationship, further precipitating Satomi's anger and confusion. I'm frankly astounded at Wayama Yama for choosing to make such enormous changes to the two MC's without so much as a single explanation or warning.
Now, I'm aware that relationships can sour, that people can burn out on both life and love, that it's very possible for both an immature 18-year-old and a jaded 40-something man to suffer from internalised homophobia. And if FamiRes Iko had, at any point, made even the slightest allusion to one or even all of these things being the reason behind this sudden drastic shift in tone, I would actually appreciate this story for bringing up serious relationship issues in what is essentially a romcom. But, no. There's nothing; no buildup, no foreshadowing, no flashbacks. We're supposed to make up some kind of reason in our own heads as to what could have brought such a wholesome relationship as was seen in Karaoke Iko to the point where a permanent breakup seems like the only possible answer to both participants' increasingly evident unhappiness.
Another complaint, though this is a personal gripe of mine, is how Kyouji is barely present in the story. Instead, the second male lead position has been taken up by a new character, a mangaka, whose wacky shenanigans now fill the void left by Kyouji being a nonentity and Satomi acting like he's going through a messy divorce. I have no objection to side plots being developed in a story, nor to side characters being given their fair share of page-time, but when it comes at the expense of the supposed deuteragonist (and my personal favourite) ... Needless to say, my disappointment is immense.
Edit: So, in the end, it kept bothering me how FamiRes Iko is practically a Downer Ending AU fanfic of Karaoke Iko, and I went in search of an explanation. And this set of interviews finally provided me with answers: (1) Karaoke Iko was always meant to be a stand-alone, and its ending was intended to be the ending of Satomi and Kyouji's tale, but (2) Later, Wayama Yama felt that "a normal law-abiding person could never be happy being in a relationship with a criminal," so she decided to write a sequel in order to undo the happily-ever-after that she herself wrote, since it seemed unrealistic to her. I am, of course, paraphrasing, but that seems to be the take-away. Make of it what you will.
Tl;dr - If you've just finished watching/reading Karaoke Iko and are planning to read this sequel because you want to see more of the characters you've grown to love, then I recommend you either give up on that idea completely, or at least wait until this series has reached its conclusion so you can simply take it all in at once and be done with it. Because I, for one, thoroughly regret reading FamiRes Iko fresh out of watching the Karaoke Iko anime - it completely killed my joy and hope re: this delightful pair's future.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to rewatch Karaoke Iko! episodes 1-4. Fingers crossed that that masterpiece of an adaptation can fully wash away the horrible sour taste FamiRes Iko left in my mouth.
(-49)
(+538)
