IT'S AMAZING HOW AN OFFICE CAN BE SO WARM
From my point of view this has been a much more satisfying season for comedy/romance/slice of life than for other genres. So this season I bring 2 reviews of the 2 anime that surprised me most positively. In particular, however, I want to reward "My Senpai is Annoying" for how it really managed to warm my heart in the last 3 months.
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PLOT:
Very little to say about the plot being a very classic slice of life with stand-alone episodes. The anime mainly tells of the relationship between Igarashi Futaba and his senpai Takeda Harumi but like any anime of this type, goes on telling in parallel the events of a 2 'couple, the one formed by the 2 work colleagues of Futaba and Takeda, Souta Kazama and Touko Sakurai. In a very superficial way, however, he seems to want to take a third path that intrigues me a lot but I still don't know if it is actually possible to reach a satisfactory phase of their relationship (Natsumi and Yuto). Being the protagonists, Futaba and Takeda's relationship develops much more slowly than the other one and, in addition to telling how the two of them are trying to be more intimate, it gives us more than a moment of absolute bliss. Because this is what this anime gives to each episode, a deep sense of tranquility and comfort thanks to small scenes that alternate between funny and cute. Instead, the relationship between Sakurai and Kazama is much more direct for a simple reason: it has the task of interspersing with that of the protagonists to break a narrative rhythm that could otherwise be slow. Precisely because of this many (including myself) have so far preferred the couple formed by the 2 secondary characters but who knows that in the final parts Futaba and Takeda will be the ones to give us the greatest satisfaction. The only criticism I feel about these 12 episodes is the presence, perhaps a little too excessive, of scenes in which the girl (Futaba / Sakurai) is harassed by some strangers on the street. I respect and share the purpose of these scenes but I think I've seen 4-5 in 12 episodes and I think it would have been better to cut at least a couple, although I don't think it is a serious mistake anyway.
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CHARACTERS:
The characters are, given the simplicity of the plot, the driving force behind the series. They are very variable as personalities and the relationships that exist between them (not just the love ones) are very satisfying and contribute to giving the series that cuteness and calm that I always recommend to see every once in a while, perhaps after seeing a particularly intense series. The protagonist is Igarashi Futaba, a girl who has been working in an office for some years with Takeda (her senpai with whom she is slowly falling in love, thanks to his very affable personality and the support that he always gives her in any situation). Both members of the secondary couple of the show works in the same office, Sakurai (a beautiful girl and courted by numerous other colleagues) and Kazama (very reserved but with the passing of the episodes he manages to melt more and more in the presence of Sakurai). While their relationship demonstrates mutual interest, Futaba's is currently one-sided as Takeda sees her, at least for now, simply as a kohai or friend to protect and help, acting as senpai. As written above, there are also 2 other characters, Natsumi (best friend since Futaba's middle school) and Yuto (Sakurai's younger brother) who could give us very welcome surprises (at least to me) later in the story.
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ART/ANIMATIONS:__
Doga Kobo (Maojou de Oyasumi, Dumbbells), an animation studio that is now very well established in terms of slice of life, was in charge of the series. Their designs are truly splendid, defined but above all they always manage to bring out the maximum cuteness and sympathy from the characters of the show, thanks to the color and liveliness of the type of graphics. The graphic aspect was in fact another of the leading elements that helped to give us such a nice series. Note of merit also for the splendid illustrations at the end of every episode that have always been drawn by different artists, even very popular ones (those who have seen the anime in question can only recognize the illustration below by eye).
P.S. I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any mistakes