Filthy Casual for Life

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Do age gaps in anime bother you?

In the case of I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History, the protagonist, Alicia, wakes up as a seven-year old reincarnated into a dating game she has played. If my math is correct, Alicia is a minimum of five years younger than her brothers and the other noble boys. The show quickly establishes that the noble boys, including the Prince, have developed a crush on her.

Is that weird to you?

For me, no. It’s not weird. Young boys and girls often develop crushes in elementary/middle school. It doesn’t mean they’re preparing to date, or are thinking of lewd acts. It is typically innocent crushes.

Fast forward to the second episode where Alicia is 10 and the prince is presumably 15 because he has started the Magic Academy. For some reason, it becomes a gray area for me. At 15, I was pretty aware of romantic feelings and what they meant. If we put that level of understanding onto the Prince, then it seems a bit sus to me that he is interested in a 10 year old.

Why the change of heart?

I honestly don’t know. I think it is a maturity issue. While the number of physical years are the same, the mental age is not.

Fast forward further in the show. It’s only an assumption since the show just started, but Alicia is going to turn 15 and the Prince will be in his 20s. Now I am back to the point where it doesn’t bother me. Their mental age is much more aligned. Not to mention, 15 in many periodic tales is old enough to get married and have children.

How do you feel about the topic of age gaps in anime? Do they bother you? Or are you able to chalk it up to fantasy and not even worry about it?