Who Is Days with My Stepsister For, Exactly?

When the Days with My Stepsister anime was announced, I had a very similar reaction to everyone else. I chuckled at the “Sweet Home Alabama” jokes and decided I wasn’t going to touch this one with a 10-foot pole. It wasn’t until I saw a few comments on YouTube claiming the series to be more than what it seems that I decided to give it a chance. They were right. Days with My Stepsister was a surprise I wasn’t expecting and an anime that anime watchers should give a chance.

They Knew the Trope & Threw It Out the Window

The taboo romance between brother and sister leading into a borderline (or even over-the-line) incestuous relationship has been a trope in the anime genre for decades, appearing in anime and manga like Marmalade Boy, My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute, and the infamous Vampire Knight. I expected Days with My Stepsister to fall somewhere between these titles. To either be a romance comedy slice-of-life anime between stepsiblings or a drama-filled series that stresses the relationship as taboo. However, from the very first episode, the series acknowledges the trope and people’s expectations and then throws them right out the window.

At the very beginning, Days with My Stepsister establishes that two teenagers whose parents marry are nothing but strangers. There isn’t a magical sibling bond or any kind of relationship that forms the moment their parents get married. This fact is something I have often thought about as someone who used to have stepsiblings myself but thought of them as bullies I was forced to live with, not new siblings. It was a refreshing take to see, especially in anime where the sibling romance trope is always looming.

When the main characters, Yuta and Saki, meet for the first time, Saki tells Yuta not to expect anything from her and that she’ll do the same for him. Yuta quickly agrees. They both realize they’re just two people becoming roommates because of circumstances they have no control over. Saki and Yuta establishing no expectations gives them the freedom to choose how their relationship forms, if one forms at all, instead of forcing the “sibling” label on them.

Once Yuta and Saki start living together, Yuta’s coworker learns of his new brother status. She makes jokes about the start of a taboo romance happening between him and Saki, but Yuta immediately shuts it down in a calm manner that implies the whole idea is ridiculous. Again, the show emphasizes that Yuta and Saki are just two strangers navigating a situation they had no say in.

It’s by repeatedly establishing Yuta and Saki’s “strangers” status and by dismissing the trope outright that the anime completely dissolves the notion of a “taboo sibling romance” ever happening and eliminates the expectations that many people have when seeing the title and summary.

It Gets You Thinking & Asking the Big Questions

As Days with My Stepsister progressed, it continued to touch on heavy subjects that anyone could empathize with. At one point, the anime surprised me as it elegantly weaved in the nature of human morality, defining the line between what makes a person wrong or immoral while accurately portraying two teenagers navigating their new situation.

At various points within the first three episodes, Saki makes small but noticeable comments degrading her self-esteem and self-worth. Through a conversation she has with Yuta, we learn that her opinion of herself is based on the misogynistic perceptions society has forced onto her. She tells Yuta about the double standard in which women live, showing that no matter what she did she would be viewed negatively. She tells Yuta that she uses her clothes and her appearance as armor, a way to weed out the negative people in her life.

In another episode, the topic of gender norms and assumptions is brought up after Saki and her mother assumed Yuta wouldn’t know how to wash delicate clothes and women’s underwear. Later on, Saki apologizes to Yuta, explaining that she hates gender norms but forced them onto Yuta. The most surprising part of her apology was letting Yuta know that it’s okay if he likes to wear feminine clothes and use makeup, leading to the two discussing sexuality and the assumptions of society.

Days with My Stepsister continued to touch on these deeper topics one after the other. This is not a lighthearted anime, to be sure, but each heavy discussion is handled with care and in a healthy way that makes it easier to digest and enjoy. Ultimately, Days with My Stepsister can be enjoyed by anyone who decides to give it a chance. I think you’ll be surprised.

Days with My Stepsister can be watched on Crunchyroll.