An old season ends, and a new one begins. The Winter 2019 season actually didn’t seem like that long, so this Spring 2019 season feels like it’s just arrived out of nowhere. Or maybe it’s just that 2019 (as a whole) just feels like it’s flying past for me. Well…I have a total of 5 shows to watch for The OASG this season, and some people have also given me some other show recommendations, which I might well check out mid-season. As I usually do, I ignore all the big-name shows, so I’m afraid there will be no coverage of the new One Punch Man season, or the new Attack on Titan episodes, or the reboot of Fruits Basket. I think Justin or some of the others here might be watching them, though…
From the newbie studio behind one of my top 5 shows of 2018 (Harukana Receive), C2C. Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu begins with the titular character, Bocchi Hitori, starting her first day at a new middle school. I’m sure that some of us weren’t too thrilled with the thought of meeting new people and having to confront the unknown in a wholly new environment, but Bocchi has Social Anxiety Disorder, which only amplifies her dread and terror at a new school.
I’ll be keeping one eye on how the show portrays Bocchi’s condition – I was diagnosed with it as a school child, and it became something that ruined my time at high school, so this is a topic that is very close to my heart. It is a debilitating condition, yet it remains so incredibly misunderstood, misinterpreted and dismissed by the public. Sufferers can take years to recover, as it becomes something that goes deep into your psyche, with decisions you make in life (no matter how big or small, positive or negative) remaining in your head for ages, and forgiving and forgetting becoming nigh-on impossible.
I am quite relieved that the show chose not to ridicule the disorder so much. I anticipated that the story would largely be told from a first-person perspective (Bocchi’s), with Nako, Kai and others speaking from the outside. The task of befriending Nako would appear, at a first glance, to be something that wouldn’t take too long, but the show devotes the entire first episode to this – from Bocchi being scared off by Nako’s initial aloofness to the two of them walking home together. It’s also worth noting that the impression is given that Nako may have had some social issues of her own at her previous school, with her aloofness possibly being a key factor. Knowing this, it’s possible that the two of them can use this one thing in common in order to get close to one another.
If I had to critique one thing here, it would be Kai’s decision to cut herself off from Bocchi until she befriends the people in her class. This is neither a logical or practical way to help those suffering from SAD. Sufferers need support and guidance, not to be given outlandish tasks they feel are impossible for them to do. Kai’s decision has left Bocchi feeling alone and abandoned, and while it’s good that she’s found some comfort in befriending Nako, this is something I feel is too harsh a thing to do.
Hitoribocchi (I will shorten the show to just this from now on) has started well in my eyes. I’m glad that it is treating the issue of social anxiety disorder with relative care, while at the same time keeping a theme of ‘cute-girls-doing-cute-things’.
Moving on to our next new school-set show, Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai, which has the shortened name of We Never Learn. The show begins with introductions to the three main characters, who are all third-years. Nariyuki Yuiga is a devoted student despite not being the best one; he strives to become a useful person as this was some advice his late father passed onto him whenever he came home with poor grades. Fumino Furuhashi is seen as a literary genius at school, excelling at all forms of literature, but despite this she is committed to study astronomy at university, and needs help with science. Rizu Ogata, on the other hand, is seen as a mathematical genius, who looks at everything in life from a scientific and calculated point-of-view, however she is committed to study psychology, as she wants to learn more about human emotions…something she is not too familiar with.
Just as he is accepted to a special scholarship that pays for all his university tuition, Nariyuki is asked by the school to tutor both Fumino and Rizu in the subjects they are devoted and committed to study in the universities they want. As they are both laughably bad at them, this becomes no easy task.
At first glance whilst watching this opening episode, this show has the appearance of a no-nonsense harem. Both Fumino and Rizu are immensely grateful to Nariyuki when he understands why they want to study astronomy and psychology respectively, and it’s pretty easy to predict where all of this ‘after-school tuition’ would be going…especially as there are a couple more girls to come in future episodes.
I don’t particular see anything outstanding here though, and We Never Learn have just left me shrugging my shoulders. I’m hoping to persue the career of teaching myself, so I can understand how it can feel so incredibly frustrating to want to persue the career of something you are hopelessly bad at, and so in that respect, I feel Fumino and Rizu’s pain. But this certainly does not look like the best school harem show I’ve seen so far. Then again, this is only the opening episode, and with many more episodes to come, we’ll see.
My other new show, Sarazanmai, hasn’t begun yet, so coverage of that will have to wait until next week. Moving on though, to the two classic/out-of-season shows I’m covering this season…and while these two are more ‘out-of-season’, some viewers are already labeling these as classics…of a sort.
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai was something that surprised everyone in the Fall 2018 season, and I kicked myself for not choosing it when I covered that season – I think I was probably hyping too much over SSSS Gridman instead…
Some viewers have already compared the lead male protagonist, Sakuta, to Haruhi Suzumiya‘s Kyou, which I think is a little incorrect. This guy has his own issues at school, but just because the two of them have similar apathetic attitudes, that doesn’t mean they are alike. I have yet to see the rest of this show though, but the first impressions have left me extremely happy, and I already understand why this show was so well-received.
I understand that this is an adaptation of a light novel series (by Hajime Kamoshida & Keeji Mizoguchi), so I don’t know if this will go down some kind of episodic plot route. I know there are more characters for Sakuta to meet; we have already met Mai, Kaede and Rio, after all. I don’t think that this ‘puberty syndrome’ was highlighted as much as I had hoped in this opening episode, which leads me to think that it won’t go down some ‘episodic plot’ route, and instead operate on arcs (which I hope it will). I’m sure that, in episode 2, we will understand more about how the public are no longer able to see Mai, and we will see what can possibly be done about it. I’m also very curious about any arc that centers around Kaede as well, as she appears to be a very prominent character here.
My other out-of-season show is last season’s Kaguya-sama: Love is War. The truth is that I only heard about this show when I saw that Chika rap scene that Crunchyroll (and many others) were hyping up. I had made the choice to cover this at this time instead of just adding it to my Winter 2019 list. The show has surprised the heck out of me, though.
The plot’s concept isn’t too difficult, but its execution is just masterful. I didn’t think I’d be laughing so much over a simple love story. Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya both have feelings for each other, but it’s the massive amount of pride that these two high-ranking members of the student council that makes this so good. Miyuki, as the student council president, can’t let his immense pride as a commanding man go, as he disguises his own feelings and shrugs off any comments that his vice-president, Kaguya, has…who feels just the same. There are several times when you just want to shake these two, to make them show how they really feel towards each other, but that would just be no fun at all. Watching these two fight each other over the silliest of things, like who should invite who to a movie theater, or who should get the octopus-shaped wiener sausages, is something I wouldn’t think would be so funny, but this show has surprised me…and I look forward to seeing these two bicker over the stupidest of things.
I guess I’m a busy guy this season, watching 5 shows at once (I still have to wait for Sarazanmai to start). How about you? How are you starting this Spring season, and how are first episodes for you? Are they what you hoped, or are you contemplating dropping shows? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below…