Tanaka-kun is Always Listless (田中くんはいつもけだるげ) is a 12 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga of the same name by Uda Nozomi. The series originally aired in Japan during the spring of 2016.
High school student Tanaka embodies the ultimate level of slack, doing as much as possible to do absolutely nothing. With the help of his friend Ohta he is able to survive at a minimal level, frequently being carried by Ohta around town and school. Ohta also does well to shield Tanaka from external stress. High school life provides some new challenges as Tanaka is exposed to more people who aren't used to his way of living. Through a series of new encounters Tanaka's group of friends grows, sometimes much to his annoyance as they impede on his slack. As he adjusts to the interruptions and the new people in his life accept his uber laziness life begins to fit into new levels of satisfaction
On the surface there isn't much to this anime. Its a slow moving and low key slice of life comedy about a kid taking teenage ennui to its pinnacle. Yet its rather enjoyable and funny when it gets wacky. It doesn't bring anything really new to the over crowded world of slice of life high school comedies. What it does bring is enjoyable and smile inducing. One Week Friends should have had the same feel as this series based on the atmosphere of the manga, which was more comedic in delivery. The characters in Tanaka-kun are some of the more enjoyable that I have seen in quite a while, even if they fall neatly into the stereotypes typical of the genre. What I came away form the series is that I would have really enjoyed friends like those when I was in school.
The artwork fits well with the tone and delivery of the series, simple line artwork that sometimes goes into the weird world anime/manga comedy fans are familiar with. At times the artwork is washed out like a water color, enhancing the feeling of it being a dream world. Overall it's an enjoyable series even if it doesn't really bring anything new to the genre. Plot wise there is only a moderate amount of progression and in the end there is no real arc of character development or story progression. It wasn't hard to say goodbye to the series though as 12 episodes seemed long enough.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and will probably see some form of video release. I would be more interested in access to the manga though.
High school student Tanaka embodies the ultimate level of slack, doing as much as possible to do absolutely nothing. With the help of his friend Ohta he is able to survive at a minimal level, frequently being carried by Ohta around town and school. Ohta also does well to shield Tanaka from external stress. High school life provides some new challenges as Tanaka is exposed to more people who aren't used to his way of living. Through a series of new encounters Tanaka's group of friends grows, sometimes much to his annoyance as they impede on his slack. As he adjusts to the interruptions and the new people in his life accept his uber laziness life begins to fit into new levels of satisfaction
On the surface there isn't much to this anime. Its a slow moving and low key slice of life comedy about a kid taking teenage ennui to its pinnacle. Yet its rather enjoyable and funny when it gets wacky. It doesn't bring anything really new to the over crowded world of slice of life high school comedies. What it does bring is enjoyable and smile inducing. One Week Friends should have had the same feel as this series based on the atmosphere of the manga, which was more comedic in delivery. The characters in Tanaka-kun are some of the more enjoyable that I have seen in quite a while, even if they fall neatly into the stereotypes typical of the genre. What I came away form the series is that I would have really enjoyed friends like those when I was in school.
The artwork fits well with the tone and delivery of the series, simple line artwork that sometimes goes into the weird world anime/manga comedy fans are familiar with. At times the artwork is washed out like a water color, enhancing the feeling of it being a dream world. Overall it's an enjoyable series even if it doesn't really bring anything new to the genre. Plot wise there is only a moderate amount of progression and in the end there is no real arc of character development or story progression. It wasn't hard to say goodbye to the series though as 12 episodes seemed long enough.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and will probably see some form of video release. I would be more interested in access to the manga though.
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