Chastity High – Episode 1 “My Life Started The Day It Ended” Recap & Review

“My Life Started The Day It Ended”

Episode 1 of Chastity High (i.e. Love Battle Royale) titled “My Life Started The Day It Ended” starts with Ichica Arisawa narrating how she had to turn to blackmailing her classmates and extorting money from them. Ichica narrates how she had a life of struggle and was not born into privilege like the other students who studied at the elite school where she was enrolled in.

We see Ichica appearing in court for a hearing but the episode moves back in time to the second year of Ichica’s high school – Asuran Academy when the girl’s faction was merged with the boy’s. Ichica mentions that this was because of inflation and the school could not afford to run two factions independently.

Ichica’s friend, Ema, tells her that the boys are here. Ichica recalls meeting a boy named Ryougo in the past when her mother was admitted to the hospital after suffering a back injury at work. Ryougo tells Ichica that he was here to visit his mother who had a broken bone. Both Ichica and Ryougo talk to each other as they spend the night waiting for their respective mothers.

Present-day Ichica is the hot jock who plays basketball at school and flirts with girls. During the assembly, Principal Yoko Ikujima greets the students and informs them about the new “No Romance” rule.

The students are shocked when Ikujima reveals that the students are not allowed to have any kind of romantic relationship with the opposite sex on campus as well as outside the school premises. She warns that if the students are caught, they will be expelled without a warning.

After the assembly, Ryougo invites Koharu and her friends to the Karaoke bar. Koharu’s friend – Ayami asks if Ichica wants to join them but the latter refuses. Ryougo recognises Ichica and is excited to see her. At the same time, Mr  Ryougo, the governor and the school’s trustee visits the school. He is shocked by Ikujima’s new rule and chats with her about the new merger of the two schools. 

Mr Maki introduces Ikujima to his older son – Haruto who will be working there as a teacher. He also watches his younger son, Ryougo, play basketball and is embarrassed by his attitude during the game. At the same time, Ichica’s father shows up at her mother’s workplace. He asks her to take Ichica out of the elite school so she can start working to support the family.

Ichica’s mother gets upset and kicks the man out, asking him to pay for child support instead of trying to impose his opinions on their daughter. Instead of going to the Karaoke bar like the rest of their classmates, Ichica and Ema spend the evening hanging out with each other. At the Karaoke bar, Sawa tries to kiss Yuzuki but the latter pulls away and Sawa is embarrassed.

At his house, Mr Maki beats up his wife to punish him for acting like a brat at school. He warns Ryougo and asks him to keep his behaviour in check. Meanwhile, Ichica’s mother apologises for not being able to give her the life that her other rich classmates have. The next day, Ryougo and Ichica share a moment at school but Ichica pulls back.

The students of the school get a shocking notification in which they learn that two students have been expelled from the school for hooking up outside campus. After the notification, Ichica starts avoiding Ryougo which he finds odd. Haruto notices Ryougo’s affinity towards Ichica and tries to warn him. 

At the school, a male student, Yuma, is elected as the President of the Student Council which upsets Sawa who gets demoted to the position of vice president. She tells Yuzuki, the secretary of the council that she is demoted only because she is a girl. Ichica and Atsushi introduce themselves as the joint heads of the accounting department while the other members of the council also introduce themselves.

After the meeting, Atsushi overhears the teacher asking Ichica to get her mother to pay her fees that are due. Ichica is embarrassed in front of him but tries to play it off. Atsushi apologises to Ichica for snooping and the two chat for a bit. As Ichica leaves, he snaps a photo of her as we see more photos of her that Atsushi has saved on his phone.

On her way out, Ichica spots Ryougo making out with Koharu. She tries to alert and save them from being caught by the teachers. Koharu thanks Ichica for the gesture and offers to pay her for her help. Ichica states that Koharu was offering to pay only because she is poor and refuses to take the money. However, upon going home, Ichica learns that her father had taken out a joint loan with his mother.

The loan sharks warn Ichica and ask her to get her mother to pay them back in full. The lawyer tells Ichica’s mother that she will have to pay the loan sharks back as she had signed the loan documents without reading them.

That evening, Ryougo hosts a party for the kids from his class. Sawa watches Yuzuki dance with Yuma and attacks him. Haruto arrives home and tries to stop the party but he gets distracted by Ayami. Ayami takes her teacher – Haruto to the powder room and makes out with him.

Meanwhile, Koharu takes Ryougo to the meeting with Ichica as she pays her for keeping their kiss a secret. Ryougo is shocked to see that Ichica is trying to extort money from them. Atsushi also watches Ichica take the money from the couple as the episode comes to an end.

The Episode Review

The show is based on a very interesting concept and who would not want to make some money out of horny teenagers trying to hook up at every chance they got? We know that this show is inspired by true events and I am excited to see how this ends. It goes without saying that the rule imposed by Ikujima is inappropriate considering how the school is trying to stop the students from getting into a relationship outside the school premises as well.

It would be interesting to see how these sophomore high schoolers process this “No Romance” rule that prohibits teenagers from falling in love. We can already see how this rule will be broken more than once because there are so many couples that were exposed in this episode itself. It is funny how this rule excludes same-sex relationships and we will hopefully see more queer characters other than Sawa in the episodes to come.

The characters are already doing questionable things and we can already see a teacher – Haruto hooking up with his student – Ayami. I wonder what will happen when their secret is exposed. We also see how Maki and Haruto’s father is abusive towards his wife. I hope the show eventually shows him being punished because there is no redemption for such a character.