What’s this?
Shikimori seems like the perfect girlfriend: cute, funny, sweet when she wants to be, but she has a cool, dark side that comes out under the right circumstances. And her boyfriend Izumi loves being around her when that happens.
Shikimori is not just a cutie is based on Keigo Maki‘s romantic comedy manga and airs on Crunchyroll Saturdays.
How was the first episode?
Nicholas Dupree
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Man, of all the shows this season that ended in such a big disappointment, I didn’t expect this to be it. Granted, the premise isn’t exactly comedy golden, but it was at least a novel dynamic for a romantic comedy anime, and he hoped that with doga koboThe A-Team in charge of this could be a fun addition to the other romances this season. Instead, I got 20 minutes of boring characters telling jokes that are conceptually funny, but totally stifled by pacing and lifeless timing.
There really is… something missing here. Perhaps it’s the languid pace of each scene, where the characters seem to need a moment to get going before they start moving and talking. Maybe it’s the strangely lifeless use of music that only serves to undermine the jokes rather than punctuate them. Either way, despite being the world’s biggest brand for even the goofiest rom-com anime, I sat through this episode stone-faced. I knew when jokes were happening and I understood the punch line, I could even imagine a version where it made me smile, and yet that never happened. It just wasn’t funny, which destroys half of the rom-com moniker and left this episode a tall order to beat.
More than that, though, it also undermines the romantic angle of this whole endeavor. Especially poor Izumi, whose trick is that he has cosmic bad luck that results in falls and comedic accidents that his elegant girlfriend must save him from. So when those jokes backfire, he leaves it as a boring blank slate that mainly exists to tell us how cute and/or cool Shikimori is. That’s on top of the buddy character just expressing the point of any scene out loud, proclaiming “Looks like we’re going to be best friends” when everyone goes bowling. Shikimori herself is easily the most interesting character, both because she is the most active and because she obviously has a secret side that she is trying to hide from her boyfriend. The closest this episode comes to being convincing is when she wholeheartedly assures her unfortunate baby that he doesn’t need to worry about being worthy of her: she likes him and wants to stay by her side, and that’s it. what matters. That’s a nice sentiment, but it also gives one half of our central couple permission not to be interesting, and that hinders any chance of romance being attractive.
That might work if we get one more look at “Cool” Shikimori, or if the jokes drop with more than just a deafening thud. But as it stands, this is easily the least entertaining rom-com of the season. Aharen-san wa Hakarenai he’s similarly understated, but his jokes are designed for that delivery. Love after world domination it has a much stronger premise with a more active central couple. And even with a big production, this show isn’t going to stray. Kaguya-sama. In a weaker season, I could continue this one, but there’s too much competition to bother with a disappointing race too.
Rebecca Silverman
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This is a bit tricky for me to (p)review, because I know the story gets a lot better from here. Not that this is bad, mind you – Shikimori is not just a cutie is, even in this first episode, about the cutest couple in all of anime, and while it has a bit of a foam, rinse, and repeat feel to it, once the characters become more than themselves as the plot unfolds , it just gets more, and this comes from someone who felt the first volume of the manga was intensely boring. The problem is, knowing what I know about the subsequent events, I’m not sure if I’m any more up for the anime’s first episode than I otherwise would have been.
But my likely bias aside, this is still pretty cute. Izumi and Shikimori are already a couple when we meet them, and a very established one at that. It’s a good thing their initial meeting and exit were left out of the episode, because we don’t necessarily need to know how this all started; the important thing is that they clearly care a lot about each other. And trust me, Izumi needs someone who loves him as much as Shikimori, because he’s a danger magnet that can’t be overstated. If it wasn’t for his quick actions, this might have become an isekai (thanks to an encounter with everyone’s favorite motor vehicle on his way to school) not to mention him taking a blackboard eraser to the face and being strangled by a missing page. of a newspaper carried by the wind. Essentially, Izumi is Shikimori’s Prince Charming’s damsel in distress, something she sometimes feels a bit uncomfortable with.
Not that he intends to stop. Izumi’s continued presence in her life seems to be something she is willing to do anything to protect, as we see demonstrated over the course of the episode; it’s just that she wants him to think she’s “cute” too. Fortunately, she’s not dumb enough to follow her friend Neko’s advice to pretend to be bad at bowling, because I think a part of her realizes that she likes Izumi no matter if she’s “cute” or ” brilliant”. The opening theme implies that she has a past that makes her worry more than necessary, but also makes her a bit more human: she’s not a superhero, just someone with less danger and better motor coordination than Izumi.
Although the almost aggressive pastel colors can seem too precious at times, this is basically a good episode. Izumi and Shikimori are not joined at the hip despite their mutual adoration and maintain friendships with other people, the story is smooth and the ending theme, with Shikimori trying to protect Izumi framed as a game of obstacles, is a great way to resume. things up. It’s not exciting, but it’s sweet, and it should only be more from here.
James Beckett
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propaganda in Crunchyroll he described our boy Izumi as “naturally unlucky”, but that’s a bit disparaging. This poor child is directly cursed by the universe itself; his whole life is as if the Grim Reaper of
Final destination it made it his life’s purpose to immerse himself in a sweet-natured Japanese boy for years, and the boy just learned to deal with how reality itself will seemingly warp and defy all logic or reason simply to embarrass him in front of all humans. on earth. Fortunately for us, this is the kind of comedy cliché that really never gets old. Charlie Chaplin was banking on the same material a hundred years ago, and now Izumi’s casual suffering can bring us oodles of comic joy here in the Roaring 20s round two.
That’s not the whole trick Shikimori is not just a cutie, however, and it’s the main character that transforms the anime from a strong premise to a bona fide hit. Izumi is too meek and resigned to care about his cruel fate, but the show would honestly lose a lot of its charm if it were nothing more than seeing this nice kid have a bad day, every day, for an entire season. That’s where Shikimori comes in. You see, Izumi may be a living joke for the running joke of the universe, but his consolation prize is that he literally has the coolest girlfriend in all of anime. That’s not me just being hyperbolic, either; that’s canon. Shikimori is the kind of idealized cartoon love interest that really works because she still feels like a real person, despite having superhuman reflexes and genuinely terrifying levels of charm and charisma (not to mention some wicked game-playing abilities). bowling). This girl loves her boyfriend very much, and since Izumi also feels like a genuine character instead of a bland self-insert, her relationship is both healthy and fun.
Seriously, who among us hasn’t dreamed of having a partner who kicks some ass, is hot as hell, has a sweet side that melts your heart every time they go out, and yet is vulnerable and empathetic enough to make you? his love for you is evident? in all possible ways? I mean, I already found out that my wife is literally the coolest woman in the world, after all, and she may have to do some research. Keigo Maki for ripping off his life story, but that means everyone else on Earth can only imagine how amazing it is to have a Shikimori for a girlfriend. Until now, that is!
Spring 2022 seems to be the season for rom-coms, as our collective cup is packed with the likes of Kaguya-sama, Love after world dominationand now we have Shikimori is not just a cutie to add to the list. Drink deep from the well of “Dawwwwwws,” my friends, and revel in the cuteness of it all. This show looks like another Guardian, in fact.