Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I think I’m gonna treat myself to another episode of Skip and Loafer, a show whose premiere proved delightful in basically every respect. Our protagonists Mitsumi and Sousuke are already demonstrating themselves to be both inherently charming and satisfyingly multifaceted characters, endearing apart and adorable as a unit, each with clear lessons to learn from the other’s example. Rather than simple, formless infatuation, it feels like we’re moving towards that “each provides what the other lacks” sort of relationship that tends to define the best anime romances, from Toradora to Spice and Wolf to Oregairu.
And alongside the show’s strong writing and characterization, director Kotomi Deai’s production is providing a perfect aesthetic compliment to the show’s narrative fundamentals, offering art design and animation flourishes as nonchalantly accomplished as the show’s character drama. The color work is light and inviting, the character acting is playful and expressive, and even the sound design is working hard to accentuate the key emotional moments. Skip and Loafer is proving itself as charming and skillfully realized as I could hope for, and I’m eager to get back to it. So let’s do that!
Episode 2
We open right on the next day of school, with Mitsumi’s classmates performing their introductions. It feels like this shouldn’t be a hard standard to live up to, but I nonetheless appreciate that even the secondary characters here seem to have personalities, not just fixations. Far too many anime characters are either defined by a single variable, or are simply into all the same otaku fascinations their creator is into. If you want your characters to feel substantive and investment-worthy, you gotta dig a little deeper than that
Mitsumi rises with bloodshot eyes and a determined expression, once again demonstrating the self-defeating nature of her demand for perpetual excellence
“To battle!” And even this small phrase demonstrates her envisioning of all these moments as make-or-break thresholds, which she must triumph over to remain on the correct life path. She has to learn we all stumble sometimes, and that wandering idly often brings us to new realizations about ourselves
Even the OP dance articulates that process, with Mitsumi’s brief windmilling being cushioned by Sousuke, followed by the two of them dancing comfortably in unison
Nao looms over Mitsumi on the train. Two other students whisper about her masculine features, and Nao briefly becomes distant, but is drawn back by Mitsumi’s encouraging dependence on her advice. So it seems Nao is actually trans
Both unusually thoughtful yet gentle in its approach to articulating the struggles Nao deals with, seemingly the Skip and Loafer special
An efficient flourish of desaturated colors for Mitsumi’s joke utterly bombing. I appreciate the quick pacing of this sequence – manga humor is often lost in animation’s drawn-out pacing, but this is as snappy as the light gag requires
Sousuke declares “I don’t have a dream, but I wouldn’t mind working for Iwakura.” Honest and confident in his carefree approach to life
Damn, even Mitsumi can’t help but recognize him as a golden retriever
Mitsumi immediately volunteers as class officer, with Sousuke swiftly following
The rest of the class are already dazzled by their immediate chemistry. It’s all so effortless that Mika immediately assumes Sousuke is a natural player – surely she can’t actually be witnessing some fanciful love-at-first-sight meeting. Ah good, at last someone with at least a touch of cynicism
Man, Sousuke is just entirely at ease announcing his desire to spend more time with Mitsumi. It’s quite refreshing
We get a slow pan of our last presumed lead, the angelic Yuzuki Murashige
Mika warns Mitsumi not to take Sousuke’s words too seriously, as guys who are that attractive tend to be nice to everyone in order to avoid unnecessary tensions. It’s honestly not bad advice, but it’s based in a cynicism about social interactions that Sousuke seems to lack entirely
With Mika’s words in her mind, Mitsumi maintains a little distance as Sousuke continues to be helpful and casually intimate
Multiple cuts indicate Yuzuki keeping a close eye on the conversations between Mitsumi and Mika. Seems like she’s already identified Mika as a potential bully or bad influence
Yep. Yuzuki catches Mitsumi in the hallway and announces her findings, asking Mitsumi if it bothers her to be used in order to get closer to Sousuke. Seems Yuzuki’s the type to take on “projects,” perhaps owing to some bad experience in middle school. I could see her current look being a deliberate reinvention, and her current behavior being based on what she wished someone did for her
“Let me know if you want to leave. I wouldn’t mind bouncing either.” And a very kindly offer, letting Mitsumi mitigate the awkwardness of leaving alone by joining her
“This is hard. There were only eight people in my middle school class, so I never thought building relationships would be so difficult.” Mitsumi is essentially being asked to speedrun the self-consciousness of adolescence, having gotten a late start due to her total, effortless familiarity with everyone from middle school. Her first day was actually a lot easier socially, because she wasn’t even considering the motives potentially underlying her classmates’ smiling facades – now she’s aware they might be lying, but possesses neither the Yuzuki-like experience to divine their true intents, nor the Sousuke-like confidence to act like her authentic self regardless of present company. It’s a tough place to be!
It’s funny, adolescents run through these terrible cycles of attempting to adjust their behavior to the temperature of their surroundings, and suss out the hidden meanings behind everyone else’s actions, when the healthy end result of all this self-consciousness tends to look a whole lot like the preceding era: simply acting with confidence in your expression of self, and letting the chips fall where they may in terms of who that attracts or repels
Mitsumi hesitates before reentering the room, but a call from Fumi restores her confidence and sense of pride in taking all these brave new steps
Fumi can instantly tell she’s having a tough time
“How am I supposed to tell? I’ve only known her for two days. There’s no point in overthinking this stuff.” A swift and eminently healthy revelation. You’re not the kind of person to overthink social interactions, Mitsumi, so just don’t do it! You’ll be much happier just saying what you mean, and attracting the sort of people who appreciate your authentic self
Her choice of a children’s show anthem goes over swimmingly. See Mitsumi, you’re already a plenty charming person
After karaoke, Yuzuki asks to exchange numbers with Mitsumi. She seems like the thoughtful type who doesn’t actually make friends that easily, both because she’s not particularly social and it’s hard to earn her trust
“Egashira-san, maybe you should loosen up a little. You’d have more fun that way.” Oh damn, some sharp analysis from Sousuke here! He immediately sees through Mika’s artificial cheer, and gently encourages her to be more honest in her affectation. It makes sense – it was Mitsumi’s fearless pursuit of the things she desires, in spite of how it may look to others, that first caught his eye
Speaking of people who always speak their mind, Mitsumi then accidentally calls Sousuke by her family dog’s name, which he finds delightful
They’re so comfortable together! Given the layers of social awareness informing everyone else’s behavior, it’s becoming more obvious by the second why Sousuke finds Mitsumi so refreshing
Kinomoto, the girl who enquired about Mitsumi’s panda clip, now has a clip of her own. You’re a trendsetter, Mitsumi!
Mika arrives only to see Sousuke has reached a first name relationship with Mitsumi. Total defeat
Suddenly a newcomer arrives: Kanechika, a second-year who’s the next drama club president, seeking out Mitsumi
He’s quite tall, and made all the taller by his red heels. Clearly a guy who likes to make an impression, which seems right for the drama club president
Apparently he’s also a playwright
“Do I know you from somewhere?” “No, I don’t think you do.” Sousuke seems uncomfortable for the first time. I wonder what shared history he’s not keen on revisiting
More excellent sound design, convincingly realizing the subdued bustle of distant clubs after school
Ah, apparently Kanechika’s wearing the heels because the drama club doesn’t have enough women for the female parts in his play
In spite of not totally getting the play, Mitsumi is inspired by Kanechika’s determination to realize his vision
Even Mitsumi can tell Sousuke has some kind of issue with Kanechika
“I tell myself that the things I’m undecided on were never that important anyway. There are only so many important things you can’t compromise on, right?” Mitsumi would obviously disagree. But this is an interesting philosophy – the amount of thought he’s put into his laid-back outlook indicates it might be a deliberate response to being burned by passion in the past
Mitsumi can’t pick up on all that, but she does recognize a sadness beneath his smile
And here it is: Sousuke was actually a child TV star, and seems to have terrible memories of the experience
And Done
Thus the plot thickens, and we discover a hint of regret underlying Sousuke’s carefree lifestyle! It seems like he may well have gone through Mitsumi’s whole cycle of passionately pursuing the One True Life’s Path back in his childhood, and had his passion for acting burned out by his professional experiences, thus precipitating his current disposition. But given his fascination with Mitsumi, it’s clear he still holds a candle for the passionate road, in spite of his skillfully maintained current persona. All that plus the deliciously tangled karaoke trip made for a real feast of psychological drama, without abandoning the production’s charming and energetic overall tone. I greatly enjoyed this show’s first episode, but now I see why so many friends were insistent this was my kind of show. Bring on the drama!
This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.