I am a huge fan of schoolgirl anime comedies, but man, there are too many of them. The market has become over-saturated with anime comedies that are just girls in high-school or middle-school being like, “uwu, we’re being clumsy,” or “uwu, we’re eating pastries.” Stuff like that can be entertaining, but a lot of these series, especially short form ones like Wakaba Girl, are largely forgettable. If you’ve seen one, you get the gist of about twenty other ones.

Damn. I sound like one of those crotchety old anime fans, don’t I? I promise I’m not one of those anti-slice-of-lifers or moe haters…it’s just that, well, it’s the tropes of the genre can get real tired, real fast. A lot of these comedies are hell-bent on playing it safe and don’t provide any real laughs. But there are still shows out there getting it right.

Like, take this summer’s Asobi Asobase. The opening sequence, promotional artwork and, okay,  yeah, even the summary makes it look like just another basic cute girls doing cute things show – it’s a story about three girls who get bored and start the Past-timers’ Club where they hang out and play games. It takes this basic, seemingly done-to-death plot and injects it with enough energy and ridiculous humor to make it work again.

Continue reading “ Asobi Asobase and Other Schoolgirl Comedies That Get It Right” →