Do it Yourself!! is an extremely aesthetically pleasing anime and the quintessential example of the CGDCT genre. In fact, it is LITERALLY Cute Girls Doing Cute Things. The series follows a group of girls each with their unique cutesy quirks exploring and improving their passions and skills in the hobby of DIY.
Our main protagonist of the series is the charming dolt Serufu. She has a creative and imaginative spirit that is interested in arts and crafts from a young age. Unfortunately, due to her immensely clumsy nature, she often hurt herself when using cutters and other sharp objects when cutting paper and the sorts in handcrafts. For this reason, her mother banned her from doing crafts as a kid and instead encouraged her to focus on the arts part of arts and crafts by giving her a set of crayons. Impressively she still manages to hurt herself with crayons…
Serufu have a close childhood friend and neighbour she calls Purin who through a really silly but nonetheless cute reason have a disdain for her ever since entering high school. This will be revealed in the final episode of the series. She is absolutely clueless about why Purin is being so distant with her. But she remembers how they used to be really cutesy and friendly on a bench when they were younger in her backyard.
And through really simplistic reasoning she believes the key to reviving their friendship is to make a bench. And that is the reason why she joined the DIY club!
Purin (not her real name but it's way cuter) is a really interesting character in her own right. Being the very definition of a Tsundere in the cutest way possible. She is mad at Serufu for the aforementioned silly reason but still obviously really cares about Serufu and what she does. Her petty and childish Tsundere antics persist throughout the series and it is the silliest yet cutest squabble between girls I have seen in a while.
Other than the two characters described there are also several other supporting casts that each bring their own quirks and charms that really add to the charm of the series. Another tiny rich foreigner tsundere, an Indian ninja cat, a sheepish nerd, a tomboy that is more feminine than expected. Each was given screen time and development to a certain extent.
Do it Yourself!! is definitely a series that is designed and focused on a pleasurable viewing experience just like many in similar genres ie: Slice of life, CGDCT & Iyashikei.
As evident from all the screenshots I have shared here there is a heavy emphasis on visual aesthetic in an exaggeratedly cute and fantastic way from its unnaturally calm pastel and bright colour palette and its contrasting art style of the background art and its characters; making them pop out from the world instead of blending them in. Creating a surreal contrast to emphasize the adorable aesthetic of the characters and the background art.
The music really matches the mood of the series with its calming acoustic tracks which true to the DIY spirit have no noticeable electronic music. The tempo of the music and the series constantly takes its time as it rightfully at a leisurely stroll pace and is absolutely quirky and cute which is just a perfect match of the series' mood and feel.
From a sound design aspect, this series definitely understands the satisfying feeling from the mundane sound effects of everyday objects: the sound of a blade opening a taped box, a screwdriver successfully driving in a screw, tightening the bicycle chain with a wrench, etc. Something that was done extraordinarily well, reminiscent of another of my favourite Iyashikei series: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō.
From my point of view this series don’t seem to have any weakness for what it was designed to be. Silly and cute characters, a simple and beautiful visual aesthetic, crisp sound design, and a charming soundtrack to match. I love everything about it and would recommend this to all that is a fan of this genre of anime.