A hilarious anime recommendation gone wrong recently blew up on X (formerly Twitter) in Japan. Manga artist Shimabukuro Zen'yu shared how he once pitched Kaoru Hanayama from the Baki series to a friend who knew nothing about it. His description? Deliberately misleading: "a protagonist's fan who sends 'I want to see you' letters, cool short hair and glasses, lots of fan service scenes, a voluptuous figure, and a 15-year-old Kaoru-chan." This deceptive sales pitch quickly sparked a massive online discussion.
While almost all those elements are technically true about Kaoru Hanayama — "a protagonist's fan who sends 'I want to see you' letters, cool short hair and glasses, lots of fan service scenes, a voluptuous figure, and 15 years old" — the crucial difference was the "Kaoru-chan" suffix, which made his friend assume he was talking about a girl.
After actually watching Baki, the friend's only response was: "Don't ever call Kaoru Hanayama 'Kaoru-chan' again." And for good reason: Kaoru Hanayama is a hardcore yakuza boss-level tough guy in Baki, a far cry from any "cute girl" image.
▼ The real Kaoru Hanayama
Once the post went viral, netizens jumped in to share more of Hanayama's "gap moe" moments:
He once had both hands broken by Yujiro Hanma and had to write letters with his mouth.
He loves omurice with a little flag in it.
He once handmade rose perfume for his mother.
Despite poor grades, he's deeply trusted by teachers and classmates, with a perfect attendance record.
He always returns home for his mother's birthday, no matter where he is.
He's a man of few words, fiercely loyal, and has a gentle side.
▼ Imagine all these elements in a girl... pretty great, right? LOL.
After this hilarious anecdote spread, an artist took the challenge, using the "cute girl" description to draw a beautiful girl version of Kaoru Hanayama. Ah... truly a feast for the eyes! XD
When the artwork dropped, netizens absolutely lost it! Putting all of Kaoru Hanayama's traits into a girl clearly hit the sweet spot for some fans, LOL.
This "recommendation fraud" incident just goes to show: sometimes, if you don't know a manga character's gender, even hearing their personality traits might not give away their true form, huh?
via： togetter