Adachi and Shimamura

Shoujo Ai/Yuri is a rather unpopular and controversial genre. Most people I have seen are quite indifferent when it comes to Shoujo Ai and often try avoiding it; partly because same sex relationship has always been a sensitive topic, but mostly because of the fact that a lot of Shoujo Ai anime have been very ineffective lately.

I am not a big fan of Shoujo Ai either. While I am definitely not against the concept of lesbian relationships being depicted in anime, among the few Shoujo Ai anime I watched, not a single one managed to appeal to me. Rather, because of poor storytelling and especially bland characters, I thought they were mediocre to say the least. Suffice to say, my experience with the Shoujo Ai genre hasn't been very pleasant.

Until I found Adachi to Shimamura, that is.

I won't lie, I was a bit skeptical about watching Adachi to Shimamura at first. Having had a bitter experience with the Shoujo Ai genre in the past, my first impressions of the show weren't very promising. I thought it was just going to be another typical Shoujo Ai—it didn't seem like something I would enjoy. I probably couldn't have been more wrong, though, as I fell in love with the series right from the get-go.

Adachi to Shimamura, or shortly AdaShima, is built on the relationship of two high school students, namely—you guessed it—Adachi and Shimamura. The story of the anime is told from the perspectives of these two girls, as they spend precious time together trying to figure out what they truly mean to each other. And I have to say, this show does such a beautiful job at portraying their relationship.

Adachi and Shimamura are introduced as typical buddies who merely hangout with each other during class time. We are given the early impression that they don't see each other as more than close friends. However, as they spend more time together, they begin to realize that their relationship may not be as simple as they initially thought. When I'm saying "they", I'm mostly referring to Adachi. I'll get to that in a bit.

Adachi and Shimamura are rather unalike, I would say. On one hand, we have Adachi, an unsociable and shy girl who prefers avoiding any social interaction and skips almost all of her classes. On the other hand, we have Shimamura, who also skips classes; but unlike Adachi, she seems sociable and outgoing (which isn't entirely true). Shimamura, in many ways, is vastly different from Adachi. However, when they are together, their dissimilarities cease to become relevant and don't matter at all.

Since AdaShima explores the minds of both Adachi and Shimamura individually, we get insights into their thought-processes and what they genuinely think of each other. Because of this, we are quickly informed of any sort of development in their relationship, even if it might seem minor or insignificant to most. This is one of the many aspects that separate AdaShima from other Shoujo Ai anime, and this is also where Adachi's excellence really shows.

Adachi is easily the shining star of the show for me. Don't get me wrong; I love Shimamura too, but Adachi is truly special. Her prowess as a character probably lies the most in her relatability. Yes, she might be very reserved, timid and unsociable. Yes, she might even be a little clingy, jealous and possessive at times. But knowing her circumstances, pretty much all of it is justifiable. Adachi, just like any other person, wants to make a lot of friends. She wants to talk with them, hangout with them, go to various places with them, and simply have lots of fun with them. And Shimamura is just the person who can help her do that.

Insightful explorations into Adachi's mind is another aspect that makes her such a great character. Through these explorations, the anime lets the viewers know more of Adachi's thoughts, internal struggles, insecurities—or to put it simply, Adachi herself. This greatly fleshes out her character and makes her a nuanced person. Her monologues about herself and her feelings toward Shimamura are also nothing short of beautiful, making her even more appealing as a character. Adachi's seiyuu Akari Kitou's contribution here is undeniably vital.

In a way, among the two, Adachi plays a more—for lack of a better word—mature role in the relationship. Despite rejecting her feelings toward Shimamura at first, she gradually learns to accept it. While Shimamura stays kinda oblivious of her feelings for considerably a long time, Adachi becomes aware of her feelings rather quickly and tries her best to advance their relationship, even if she doesn't always succeed. This explains what I said a few paragraphs ago (about "they" mostly referring to Adachi).

As I said earlier, though, Shimamura is not a bad character by any means. She is rather one of the most essential parts that make AdaShima so great. She seems ordinary upon first impression, but it is soon apparent that there is far more to her than meets the eye. Shimamura keeps up the appearance of a normal, friendly and outgoing girl, but in reality, she is a self-aware person who has built an imaginary shell around her that most people, including her "friends", can't get through. She always stays cautious of others when she interacts with them and never puts much trust in them, which explains her oblivious nature at times. Again, adeptly dissecting Shimamura's mind through monologues like Adachi is very effective in this regard.

Shimamura's contribution in Adachi's development is irrefutable. It's because of Shimamura that Adachi is starting to change for the better. Like Adachi said, Shimamura is her sun—someone who makes her everyday life a lot brighter and a lot more exciting. Because of Shimamura, school has turned into something Adachi now looks forward to everyday. Contrary to her past self, she has become a lot livelier and a lot more cheerful. And that truly is a remarkable achievement.

That isn't to say Adachi didn't have any affect on Shimamura at all. In fact, she did. Shimamura may not have realized it right away, but Adachi is one of the few people who have broken through her shell and have directly affected her. While some viewers might say that Shimamura's change isn't very apparent, it isn't negligible by any means. Rather, Adachi's arrival is a very crucial event in Shimamura's life that helped her change herself for the better.

Some people may have complaints about the slow progression of Adachi and Shimamura's relationship, but I don't think it's an issue at all. It's true that their relationship progresses at a rather slow pace, but the progression is indeed steady and consistent for the entirety of the series. In most romance anime, this slow progression would get annoying after a while, but here, it's completely believable if you take their personalities and their circumstances into account (for example, the fact that both of them are girls).

Another aspect that is worth looking into is how their relationship progresses—or more specifically, what helps their relationship progress. As I said earlier, the romantic advancement in AdaShima is rather slow-paced, but it is purposeful and not done in an unrealistic way for the most part. A lot of thought and consideration has been put into almost all of their interactions and dialogues to make them meaningful and relatable to the viewers.

An example of this can be found in episode 4. At the end of the episode, Shimamura buys Adachi a juice can, which Adachi decides to keep to herself instead of throwing it away and cherishes it as a gift from Shimamura. This may seem stupid to others, but I think every person who has ever been in love, irrespective of their sexuality, can relate to this. Yes, it is stupid. But that doesn't make it wrong or meaningless any way. No matter what others may say, it is in fact meaningful.

This, again, shows how much care has been given to make Adachi and Shimamura's relationship genuine and convincing. Even seemingly trivial things are actually impactful on them, but it is almost never unrealistic. As time passes on like it always does, Adachi and Shimamura grow closer to each other as, to simply put, things happen between them. And we, as the viewers, can't help cheer them on for their ever-budding relationship. At least I couldn't.

Although the main focus of the series is Adachi and Shimamura, other characters do get a fair amount of screentime. The most notable one of all is, of course, Yashiro Chikama.

I find Yashiro's role in the show to be rather bizarre and ambiguous to be honest. Early in the anime, she is seen wearing a full-body spacesuit and introducing herself as an "alien" who has come to Earth from outer space to look for her compatriot. And even after 12 episodes, that's basically all we get to know about her. Though her physical appearance is shown later, her actual identity is never revealed, which makes you doubt the plausibility of her character. Despite this, though, Yashiro is mostly a charming individual. While her antics might come off as weird to a lot of viewers, and there are times when she can be slightly irritating, it's pretty hard to dislike her.

Aside from Yashiro, Hino and Nagafuji appear regularly in the anime. They are introduced as childhood buddies who are friends with Shimamura since middle school. However, later in the series, it becomes apparent that their relationship may involve romance. While Hino and Nagafuji aren't nearly as nuanced and developed as Adachi and Shimamura, they are given enough screentime to make the viewers actually care about them. Some might argue that removing these two entirely would have no effect on the story, but I don't think it's true. Hino and Nagafuji are, in some ways, impactful on the relationship of Adachi and Shimamura, and thus they are impactful on the overall story as well.

Moving on to other supporting characters, they are all likeable and, more importantly, behave in a consistent and reasonable manner which makes them all believable. Occasionally, they help the story move forward, but it doesn't feel redundant at all. Adachi's mother, Shimamura's sister and mother—everyone plays their role consistently and contributes to the progression of the story when needed. (There is one problem, however, which I'll bring up again a little later.)

AdaShima doesn't fail to impress me in terms of its production quality either. The animation is very beautiful. The artstyle is rather distinct, colorful and vivid, immediately leaving a memorable impression on the viewers' mind. What is more noteworthy, though, is the clever use of visual metaphors and how helpful they are in regard of subtly depicting Adachi and Shimamura's thoughts and emotions. Though, there are a few fanservice scenes involving some of the characters (specifically bath scenes), which are quite unnecessary and can feel a bit bothersome. But other than that, there isn't much to complain about.

The soundtrack of AdaShima is easily one of the best this year has had to offer. The background music is mostly upbeat, resembling the rather light-hearted nature of the show. There are a few melancholic tunes as well, that are played during the more serious scenes and add more immersion to them. The opening song "Kimi no Aeta Hi" is quite cheerful, while the ending song "Kimi no Tonari de" has a sort of sombre tone to it. Nonetheless, both of these songs are very remarkable. The voice acting is also impressive. Notably, the seiyuu of Adachi and Shimamura, respectively Akari and Miku, performed extraordinarily well and added more depth to their respective characters through their voice acting.

Now, although AdaShima is mostly brilliant, there are a few issues....

The first issue of the anime, as I mentioned earlier, stems from Yashiro. While she herself is not a bad character, the ambiguity and vagueness surrounding her may make it difficult to find her presence in the show significant. This can be overlooked in some cases; however, the second problem is rather severe and problematic. It won't be hard at all to notice that there isn't a single named male character in the cast, which alone makes the secondary cast kinda weak and vigourless. There are also occasional bath scenes, a few out-of-place plot elements (the fortune teller, for example), and the random appearance of a lolicon in episode 4 which was completely unnecessary and devoid of any logic whatsoever.

What perhaps will irk the viewers the most, though, is how the show concludes.

Many people probably won't be fully satisfied with the ending of AdaShima, as it feels sort of incomplete and leaves you wanting for more. This isn't inherently a flaw of the story, though, considering the light novel of AdaShima is still being published and a lot of it is yet to be adapted—giving hopes for a second season. But the problem is, the anime industry has a tendency to leave anime adaptations incomplete. Simply, many anime adaptations are never given a second season. Unfortunately, this is even more likely to be the case with AdaShima taking into account that it hasn't gained much popularity. But still, I will be waiting patiently.

It's not often that you find a genuinely compelling Shoujo Ai anime, which is why Adachi to Shimamura is truly special. It isn't free of flaws, and it isn't the most serious portrayal of same sex relationships, but it's nonetheless a spectacular anime. Adachi and Shimamura are simply outstanding. They are greatly nuanced and realistic characters that I believe almost anyone can find relatable. Combine this amazing main cast with consistent and likeable supporting characters, well crafted story, alluring artwork and beautiful soundtrack, and you've got yourself a marvelous anime.

It's just a shame that not many Shoujo Ai anime are like this.