2013-12-27

Yuyushiki

Yuyushiki is a 12 episode slice of life comedy series that aired in Japan in the middle of 2013.  The series is based on the comedic 4-panel (yon-komi) manga of the same name.

    Yukari Hinata, Yui Ichii and Yuzuko Nonohara are best friends and classmates in an all girls high school.  They decided to take over the club room for the member-less Data Processing Club and start up their own loosely guided club in its place.  The series follows the girls through about a year and a half as they randomly research things on the internet, try to out do each other in word games and lovingly harass peers and teachers alike.

    This series was OK, there's been much better from the goofy yon-komi genre, like Azumanga Daioh.  This is just another series of unrelated odd ball antics following the mundane lives of high school girls.  The two things that stand out with this series is the prevalence of word games and semi lesbian humor.  The girls are obsessed with breasts and who has the biggest pair.  They also love going off on syllabic tangents, trying to see how off topic they can force their conversations.  In many ways the series seemed like an homage to classic Kansai humor.  Yui plays the straight man to Yukari and Yuzuko's idiot characters.  I kept expecting every punch line to end with nanda ya nen!!

    The series is meh, there have been better in this genre over the years.  But, given the lack of really enjoyable titles in all facets of anime, it was a welcomed distraction.  While not original or 'roflol' funny if you enjoyed Azuanga Daioh, Minami-ke or Hidamari Sketch  you would probably enjoy this series too.

    It is currently available on Crunchyroll.  The manga, which I feel would be the better format, is not available in English commercially yet.


No comments: