Himoto! Umaru-chan (干物妹!うまるちゃん) is a 12 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga by the manga-ka known as Sankaku Head. The anime originally aired in Japan over the summer of 2015.
High school student Doma Umaru is the ideal person. Beautiful, graceful, pleasant, athletic, intelligent, humble...the modern day yamato nadeshiko. Everyone adores and respects her but few people are close to her. Her only real friend is a transfer student named Ebina, who happens to life in the same apartment building as Umaru and her older brother Taihei. Yet even Ebina, who lives in the apartment below Umaru has no idea what she is like in the privacy of her own home. Once the door to her apartment closes Umaru turns into a spoiled, bratty otaku. She wiles away her time playing games, watching, anime, reading manga, surfing the web and eating junk food. She constantly complains, makes unreasonable demands on her brother and strives to slack off as much as humanly possible. Her brother, who supports them both at his office job, tolerates his sisters behavior only so much. Ebina's secret personality though is in danger of slipping out as she continues to run into classmates outside of school. Luckily her himoto personality is so severe that it makes her virtually unrecognizable...though most of the people around her tend to be morons.
Aside from the obvious moe aspects of this show and some very mild and infrequent fan-service this show was one of my favorites for the summer anime season. The character designs and facial expressions were highly entertaining. Himoto Umaru is entertaining in every way, from her over the top laziness to her constant pursuit of slack. Bob Dobbs would be proud. The series focuses on telling the story of Umaru and her brother, hinting from time to time at their past and the situation that brought Umaru to live with him. Mostly though it focuses on their day to day lives and the antics Umaru engages in. There is a small cast of supporting characters and in one way or another they are related, yet, even in the end, many of the characters don't even realize those relations. This is a comedy through and through, poking fun at otaku and pop otaku culture. The episodes are made up of small vignettes that generally share a commonality between them. The artwork and presentation is what really makes the show as entertaining as it is. Umaru constantly transforms between normal mode and himoto mode, depending on the situation and people involved. The transformations are entertaining and unexpected sometimes. Character facial expressions go far in enhancing their emotions and actions. While simplistic the artwork does very well to match the pace and styling of the show.
In the end, fantastically entertaining slice of life comedy. It was simulcast by Crunchyroll and was licensed by Sentai Filmworks so we should expect a disc release in North America followed by related merchandise. I might have to pick up some of the Umaru figures...
High school student Doma Umaru is the ideal person. Beautiful, graceful, pleasant, athletic, intelligent, humble...the modern day yamato nadeshiko. Everyone adores and respects her but few people are close to her. Her only real friend is a transfer student named Ebina, who happens to life in the same apartment building as Umaru and her older brother Taihei. Yet even Ebina, who lives in the apartment below Umaru has no idea what she is like in the privacy of her own home. Once the door to her apartment closes Umaru turns into a spoiled, bratty otaku. She wiles away her time playing games, watching, anime, reading manga, surfing the web and eating junk food. She constantly complains, makes unreasonable demands on her brother and strives to slack off as much as humanly possible. Her brother, who supports them both at his office job, tolerates his sisters behavior only so much. Ebina's secret personality though is in danger of slipping out as she continues to run into classmates outside of school. Luckily her himoto personality is so severe that it makes her virtually unrecognizable...though most of the people around her tend to be morons.
Aside from the obvious moe aspects of this show and some very mild and infrequent fan-service this show was one of my favorites for the summer anime season. The character designs and facial expressions were highly entertaining. Himoto Umaru is entertaining in every way, from her over the top laziness to her constant pursuit of slack. Bob Dobbs would be proud. The series focuses on telling the story of Umaru and her brother, hinting from time to time at their past and the situation that brought Umaru to live with him. Mostly though it focuses on their day to day lives and the antics Umaru engages in. There is a small cast of supporting characters and in one way or another they are related, yet, even in the end, many of the characters don't even realize those relations. This is a comedy through and through, poking fun at otaku and pop otaku culture. The episodes are made up of small vignettes that generally share a commonality between them. The artwork and presentation is what really makes the show as entertaining as it is. Umaru constantly transforms between normal mode and himoto mode, depending on the situation and people involved. The transformations are entertaining and unexpected sometimes. Character facial expressions go far in enhancing their emotions and actions. While simplistic the artwork does very well to match the pace and styling of the show.
In the end, fantastically entertaining slice of life comedy. It was simulcast by Crunchyroll and was licensed by Sentai Filmworks so we should expect a disc release in North America followed by related merchandise. I might have to pick up some of the Umaru figures...
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