I don’t think I’ll be covering this. Christ, I don’t think I could be covering this – cringe humor makes my teeth hurt, and comedies generally have a hard time impressing me in the first place. But the buzz is going in the right direction and it’s kind of our version of Event Television, so I’ll at least be checking it out. Plus, it kind of amuses me to think that this is OreImo as a blunt satire instead of a wish fulfillment fantasy. Not that I’m expecting this to compete with Welcome to the NHK or OreGairu or anything, but… well, we could always use more of that genre. And I’ll also try to avoid unfairly comparing it to OreGairu, which I’ll admit is made slightly difficult by the fact that I still think OreGairu deserves more credit and apparently zero other critics actually got the intent of that show and seriously do I have to explain the very concept of an unreliable narrator and Okay maybe getting off topic here a little bit but

Anyway.

Let’s get to it.

Episode 1

2:46 – This VA is pretty perfectly chosen. Her voice sounds… scruffy

3:01 – Also, this OP is so perfectly EveryxTragicxHighxSchooler it’s kinda scary. Great choices so far

3:55 – I’m also just always in favor of meta-jokes that don’t have to explain themselves, like that OP. Though I guess this entire show is inside her head, so there never really is gonna be a straight man to tell her how ridiculous she is. Which is probably one of the core differences between this and OreGairu, in that Ore wanted you to empathize with their position by having it explained and then shaken, while this will probably be more concerned with either cringing or pointing and laughing

But again, the very existence of so many totally unironic shows proves that OP’s point is a very relevant one

6:22 – “Can’t this school be occupied by terrorists?” Man, she’s like the very worst of my most adolescent thoughts all rolled into one continuous wave of vile awkwardness (well, I didn’t wish terrorists upon my classmates, but still)

7:43 – “Well, I can talk normally with my mother…” This is actually pretty frank stuff. Was it really us that got this show produced? Good job, us. We need more of this

10:43 – Hey, anime? This Death Note thing is how you do a parody. You don’t just mention another show, you fit in an element of that show where it’s both relevant and highlights the absurdity of the source material. I just… I wasn’t sure you were aware of that

Granted, it also helps that Death Note was directed by Japanese Michael Bay…

11:22 – Is there a single person in the known universe who actually finds duckface attractive? WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT?

12:59 – “You wanted me for something, right?” “Converse with me.”

Comedic timing and direction are both nailing it – this show is really killing my expectations. Apparently they’ll be using her brother as the straight man, which is all kinds of amusing

13:07 – “So talk with me an hour each day for rehab!” Oh come on Watamote. No audience would put up with such a contrived device as that

16:57 – “While I’m on a roll…” Oh god, she’s doing so just-short-of-normal. What horrible thing is going to happen to her?

More props to this VA, by the way, she’s doing a lot of work here

17:36 – “A place like this where everyone’s worse off than me isn’t so bad.” Must… shake… her…

19:35 – OH GOD HERE IT IS CLASSMATES PANIC PANIC

And Done

That was remarkably better than I expected! I think stringing the various skits into a full narrative/day made it seem a little less mean-spirited, though obviously our protagonist is a sad little brat. But a lot of the jokes landed, the overall satire is very sharp and true, and the direction was surprisingly excellent. I’m on board.