コタローは１人暮らし / Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi

 

Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi tells the heartwarming every day life of Kotarou, a mysterious kid living completely alone in an apartment complex. His past is shrouded in mystery. How he can afford to live alone? How is it even possible for him to pull this off, since he's only four years old? Little by little we get to know more about Kotarou and his rather unusual circumstances.

Most of the stories is not about Kotarou's past however, but his daily life and the relationship he develops with his neighbors, in particular with struggling manga artist Karino, Mizuki, a hostess at a pub and Tamaru, a rather eccentric individual that really like kids. This is one of those stories where the adults are trying to take care of this child but little by little realize it's Kotarou who are fixing their lives in one way or the other, and it's a delight to watch it happening.

The chapters tell stories that are usually self-contained and they're usually funny or emotive. There are many chapters out there showing Kotarou struggling with the fact he's an orphan. I think the hardest thing to get used here is the art. It's... unique. In fact there's a chapter where Karino is getting flak over his rather unique art and I'm pretty sure that's based on the author's personal experience. Once you get used to it though, this is a really nice read. I feel this manga is like Yotsuba's crazy ugly cousin.

ReLIFE

 

Another anime about high school students. What an anime can possibly offer that's new with this setting? Seems like it's impossible, yet ReLIFE manages to do it. Imagine a school romance that is not developed by a series of misunderstandings, students that can actually express themselves and accurately describe and have conversations about their feelings and problems. That's what we get to watch here.

Kaizaki Arata is a guy down on his luck. After facing serious trouble in his job, he quits and becomes sort of a recluse. One night he meets Yoake, a mysterious character that offers him a lifetime opportunity; an one year contract where he gets to be a high school student again with everything paid and the chance of having getting a full time job if everything goes well at the end. Looks shady but Kaizaki is so drunk and desperate he accepts. Good thing Yoake was actually speaking the truth there.

And thus begin a series of nice character studies that are both interesting and fun to watch. Little by little Kaizaki goes around helping everyone around him. He finds himself in a odd, advantageous position, being 10 years older than everyone. He tries very hard to keep balance between lecturing people and just being friends with them. Fortunately he uses his insight and experience with great sensitivity and care.

It's all the more interesting when we know, and Kaizaki knows, his ReLIFE is only for a year. This rather fleeting moment in his life both makes him feel dejected and the necessity to appreciate and use the little time he has the best way possible. ReLIFE has a very interesting mix of teenage problems and more mature concerns about life in general.

A very wholesome watch. Engaging plot, interesting characters and a nice positive, soothing atmosphere. I'll make sure to read the manga soon.

Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru!

 

This Art Club Has a Problem! is not a romance show exactly. A love interest show more like it. Usami likes Uchimaki, but Uchimaki only likes 2D girls. They both meet at the art club and after Uchimaki helps a lost girl on their way back home, Usami begins to like him. Problem is, like I mentioned, he doesn't like 3DPD. Comedy ensue. 

Along with this ride we have the club's president, a senior highschool student that really enjoys sleeping at the club's sofa. I think he might be homeless. We also get Collette, a vibrant, energy-filled girl that we're not sure why she's there but she's pretty funny so they keep her around, and Imari, an otaku and transfer student that is kinda crazy.

It's hard to point exactly why this show is such a nice watch. The art is pretty good and the characters are really endearing. Even minor characters like the Kaori, Sayaka and Ryouko bring a lot to the little moments they come up. You could easily have entire episodes based on the minor characters alone. Same goes to Tachibana, the teacher appointed to be the club's supervisor. 

The show manages to keep up pace and juggle really well all its parts. The comedy, the love interest moments, crazy and nonsense scenes and so on. It's charming and quite entertaining. All characters manage to be quite likable and necessary in their own way. No wonder the manga is going strong for almost 10 years now.

Gabriel DropOut

 

Gabriel DropOut is one of those shows to make your brain go to standby mode. The stories are pretty self-contained and you could watch every episode in any order you like. You have a beach episode, a new year episode, a few school episodes, some dedicated to a particular character and so on, take your pick

Gabriel is an angel that goes to Earth but instead of learning more about humans get lost in an endless session of gaming, slacking and eating crap. Vignette, a very nice demon tries to help her in anyway she can but Gabu is quite a slacker. Satania just wants to beat every angel she meets and acts as the more comedic part of the group. Raphiel is just there to see the world burn and enjoys every second of it.

It's interesting to notice how there are quite a few shows where you have a slacker, hopeless character that is actually very well adjusted. Same happens on Himouto!. You have a character that cares about nothing but ramen and gaming, and yet has friends, a job and goes pretty well in school. Of course this is entertainment and not a critical assessment of anything, but I like how the industry want to depict NEETs and hikikomori people but don't want to follow any of the consequences. Nothing wrong with that though, serious. It's all fantasy, besides, one should NOT be thinking about this, it's a show to make your brain stantby.

It's fun, colorful, silly. I really enjoyed all the characters and most of the situations they find themselves in. Endearing and soothing. 大西さん does a great job playing Vignette here, easily my favorite character. The manga is still ongoing, I might check that out, too.

High Score Girl

 

It's 1992, arcades are booming and Haruo really, really likes Street Fighter 2. His entire life revolves around him waiting to get the chance to go to the arcades and play a whole lot of Street Fighter. One day he's defeated by Oono, the genius, beautiful, perfect student from his class. As they continue to play games together a relationship develops but since this is an anime, neither can fully acknowledge their feelings, nor they can properly express it. You seen this before I'm sure.

High Score Girl has three fronts to speak. It's a slapstick comedy, which I didn't particularly like or dislike, it's just there. Then you have the games. There's a lot of talking about gaming here, which is nice. I happen to be old enough to have visited arcades a lot in the mid 90s so there's a lot of content here for someone like me. 

Then there's the romance part, which starts really well but it gets quite repetitive fairly soon into the series. Oono is kinda of an one-note character. Actually more like a no-note character. She never speakers. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason they introduced Hidaka into the mix, so Haruo has someone to talk to. Oono is the weakest link in this plot. She's not very captivating. In fact she's gone for a few episodes and there's absolutely no loss. If anything, it's better when she's not in it. It's just that when she's around the whole thing becomes very formulaic.

My favorite character is probably Namie, Haruo's mother. She's the only funny character in this and whenever she appears the enjoyment factor goes way up. Overall a nice series and I plan to watch the second season, but I'm glad it's not 12 episodes long this time.