I know it seems like people probably say this every year, but 2023 has not been a stellar year for anime. I had one or two favorites, but even the majority of anime I liked overall had some pretty serious caveats attached, particularly when it came to later or finale episodes (see: Heavenly Delusion, Oshi no Ko, probably several others I forget about until some blog post mentions it and I think, “Oh yeah, that anime was pretty good until…”).

So, what have I done to fill the void, you may ask? To which I will happily point you in the direction of Netflix’s selection of outwardly silly yet weirdly addicting Japanese love/dating reality shows, a couple of which I’ll talk about now because recent anime (romance genre definitely included) is mostly making me sad.

Love Village

Sure, you’ve seen snippets of or at least heard about shows where a bunch of good-looking young people are thrown together on a dating show or marooned on a deserted island – now how about one where a bunch of singles ranging from age 35 to 60, most of whom have been married once or more before, are given a big dilapidated house in the middle of the Japanese countryside that they apparently have to do up themselves while figuring out if they want to confess to someone or not?

Love Village has a fairly diverse cast in terms of people’s age, profession, hobbies, and family/marital backstory, some of which is genuinely moving. While a couple of the participants were clearly cast because they were just too kooky for the staff to pass up on (I see you, Anchovy), most are down-to-earth people who don’t seem to be in it for any kind of fame or social clout, especially since clearly, nobody here is about to live in the lap of luxury for 3 months. Watching a bunch of everyday “older” adults sizing each other up while sanding wood and replacing screen doors may not seem like a great time on paper, but I did find myself strangely drawn in the more I watched – plus, Becky is there as one of the hosts reporting from the reaction desk in her progressively wackier wardrobe to help liven things up. Cheers, Becky.

Is She the Wolf?

If Love Village is too tame and drama-free for some, Is She the Wolf? is the more traditional reality show watch in many ways, as its cast is all young and beautiful, and mostly made up of up-and-coming celebrities of one kind or another. The twist here is that while it’s technically a dating show, at least one (but possibly more) of the female cast is a “wolf” whose goal is to have someone confess to them at the end but is not allowed to do so themselves – regardless of whether they’ve fallen in love with that person or not. Drama of course ensues, fingers are pointed, and the audience is along for the ride since, although one person is revealed very early on to viewers as the wolf, the potential existence of more is always there.

While Is She the Wolf? may be a lot more interesting to some given the duplicitous nature of the love game, the show can also be a lot more divisive because these are all celebs who obviously know how to work the camera, so it all feels far more scripted and closely produced. That’s assuming you dig the cast at all, who are largely portrayed as confident, financially secure, professionally successful people with plenty of privilege to go around but perhaps not a whole lot of genuine charisma or interest. Having watched 12 episodes ranging from about 35 minutes in length to nearly an hour, I’m not sure I ever got to know anything about them as real people – we never see them at home or interacting much in the “real world,” whereas Love Village felt almost the opposite of that in many respects. There are some pretty funny moments though, and again, it’s one of those shows that had me rolling my eyes at the start but leaning in by the end, albeit mostly to see if my own assumptions based on various hints and red herrings had been correct.

TL;DR if you’re on the lookout for some more Japanese media but can’t stomach the thought of wading through yet another anime rom-com filled with stock characters falling back on tired clichés (and/or overdone fanservice), there are some pretty fun reality shows out there to give a whirl instead. If you have no idea where to start, Love Village or Is She the Wolf? could be pretty good bets.