The Winter 2024 Anime Preview Guide

The Dangers in My Heart Season 2

Middle-schooler Kyotaro Ichikawa is shy and has low self-esteem. Prone to reading disturbing books about murder, his dark thoughts threaten his ability to empathize with others. Anna Yamada, his tall, quirky, and upbeat classmate, becomes friendly towards him, and gradually, they develop a close friendship that may one day blossom into romance... if Kyotaro can step outside of his own head for a minute.

The Dangers in My Heart Season 2 is based on a manga of the same name by Norio Sakurai. The anime series is streaming on HIDIVE on Saturdays.

Had I judged the first season of The Dangers in My Heart based on only its first couple of episodes, I'd have never in a million years guessed it would end up as my top anime rom-com of 2023. Sometimes, giving a show a little extra time to settle into its premise works wonders – and Dangers is wonderful.

Part of Dangers initial problem is that POV character Kyotaro Ichikawa isn't an instantly relatable protagonist – he's a socially awkward chuuni edgelord middle-schooler who lives in his own head. However, once he interacts with the sugar-fuelled ray-of-sunshine-in-human-form Anna Yamada, he gradually leaves his shell, and with her gentle encouragement, begins to question his negative assumptions about himself and others.

Towards the end of last season, Kyotaro broke his dominant arm, and when his teacher asks which classmate he'd prefer to rely on for help, he's too embarrassed to admit his first thought is of Anna. Anna overhears him claiming they're mere acquaintances who rarely interact and is understandably upset. She still secretly arranges for Kyotaro's male friend to take notes on her behalf. Lesser rom-coms might mine such misunderstandings for manipulative drama, but Kyotaro quickly owns up to his mistake, admitting he wants to rely on her. Anna's beaming smile is worth watching the episode for alone. This is a collection of loosely-associated vignettes like most Dangers episodes. Due to Kyotaro's injury, Anna uses every excuse to get close to him – such as turning book pages and helping him with cutlery. Their every interaction is utterly adorable, from Kyotaro's flustered expression at Anna's physical closeness, to Anna's satisfied smiles when he expresses genuine emotion.

Kyotaro's male friends excitedly show him a magazine with Anna's photos prominently featured (she's a part-time model), and he doesn't know how to broach the subject of her work with her. It doesn't matter, though – Anna takes him to a newsagent and "accidentally" flips open the same magazine to the exact same page. She's so proud of her work and is desperate to share that aspect of her life with him. When she says the photo shoot was hard work because she was told to "act naturally," Kyotaro inadvertently gives her a huge compliment – that the "natural" Anna she shows him every day is the best version of her.

The episode is full of so many other little heartwarming sequences, such as when Anna accidentally loses "Akiba Kentaro," the dog-shaped keychain Kyotaro bought her last season. It's not so much the keychain that Anna values, but the meaning she's imbued it with – the emotional link with the boy she so obviously loves. Anna's orange-haired friend Moeko wins the award for best wingwoman of the season so far for helping Kyotaro find the missing keychain.

It's amazing that Dangers is so tightly packed that it can fit so many delightful scenes into a single episode, plus it looks gorgeous while doing so. A particular sunset scene with an orange filter, lens flare, and bloom evokes a warm, fuzzy nostalgic feeling, effectively juxtaposed against other more sharply-defined cold, blue, winter scenes. There was no need for the animators to go this hard animating a simple rom-com, but they've made one of the most beautiful anime episodes I've seen. Plus, the new opening sequence looks amazing, especially the dance segment. I can't wait to see more of this.

It's finally here, my most anticipated show of the year, and right off the bat, we're showcasing everything I liked about the previous season. The Dangers in My Heart is about opening up and coming to terms with the desires you try to bury deep inside. Kyotaro constantly overthinks things and comes up with excuses for why he shouldn't engage with things that are not an absolute certainty over fear of being hurt. It's all a defense mechanism, and this show is about him allowing himself to be more selfish and direct with his desires. Season one ended with him affirming as such, but realizing that and following through with it are two different things. However, season two shows that even if Kyotaro trips up in expressing himself, he's going to do everything he can to make it right immediately.

We see this when he tries to pass on Anna helping him take notes at the beginning of the episode and later on when they are searching for a little keychain. He wants to do nothing but indulge himself in her, stare at her all day, and express how much he wants to get closer to her, but he still struggles to get to that point. Thankfully, The Dangers in My Heart doesn't stretch any of these conflicts out to a ludicrous degree. The conflicts are believable and rooted in character insecurity, but genuine growth exists. You can feel Kyotaro and Anna getting closer each episode, and I am here for it. This first episode of season two reaffirmed my love for the series with its character-building, ambient soundtrack, and gorgeous presentation. Don't be surprised if this show ends up being my entire personality moving forward for the next few months.