Aharen-san wa Hakarenai

 Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (阿波連さんははかれない) is a 12 episode slice of life comedy anime based on the manga of the same name by Mizu Asato.  The anime originally aired during the Spring of 2022.

    Raido has a hard time gaining friends based on his outward appearance.  He decides to change that on the first day of high school by working to be friends with the person sitting next to him.  Unfortunately his neighbor is the diminutive and incredibly soft spoke Aharen Reina.  Aharen speaks at barely audible levels leading Raido to assume she was ignoring him at first...sometimes even being hostile towards him.  He realizes pretty quickly that she speaks unnaturally softly.  Once he recognized the barrier he tries to come up with ways to communicate with her, knowing she's not actively avoiding him.  After a series of failed and over complicated attempts he settles with just being more receptive to her words and expressions.

    The odd couple begins to spend a lot of time together, forming a close bond.  Raido has determined he will do whatever he can to help his classmate succeed in her studies, given the roadblocks her stature puts before her.  Even though Raido has succeeded in making a friend in high school it doesn't come with out its perils.  Another girl in their grade, Oshiro Mitsuki is strongly protective of the small girl, having been friends with her for years.  Unfortunately Oshiro is incredibly nervous and struggles to confront the man she sees as both a rival and a threat.  Is there something deeper that can blossom with their strange friendship?

 

    Every once and a while a story comes out based on the concept of interactions between the main character and their closest neighbor in the classroom.  A lot of them are presented as oddball comedies with some slice of life and romance qualities to them.  This definitely falls pretty well into that description.  The main characters are both subdued, with the entire premise being Aharens' unnaturally meek voice.  Over the course of the series it doesn't rely completely on this gag, expanding the characters interactions well outside of the confines of their classroom.  Aharens' other quality is her incredible level of competitiveness and her severe lack of respect for personal space.  Raido doesn't let any of this bother him, completely bypassing many instances of unnatural embarrassment on his part.  He touches the diminutive girl without hesitation or after thought, understanding that she doesn't care either way and disregards modesty.  Even though the story lacks a lot of familiar tropes about embarrassment and uncertainty, it still falls into some other tropes, particularly with Aharen and Oshiro's extreme personalities.

    The art is subpar for this day and age, with the character designs being plain.  The story doesn't plod around rehashing the same premise each episode though and over it's course progresses in a forward narrative.  There is an amount of romance involved as well, but it doesn't really become a focus until the very end of the story, making me consider this series not a romance.  Over all the series isn't bad but becomes tedious at times.  It ends on a pretty good note but some continuing aspects of the story are annoying.  It's not a bad series but it's not exactly good either.  If you enjoy mundane and slightly oddball slice of life stories that primarily focus on a particular trait this will slot in with a lot of other shows.

The series is currently available in dub and sub formats on Crunchyroll.