At some point in everyone's early school life, they experienced the feeling of agony, dread, and uncertainty as well as excitement and anticipation when they first entered this peculiar realm known as high school. A realm within the larger school system that’s often branded with much importance in the eyes of many as it’s the stage in one’s early life that marks many transitions: The transition phase from a teenager to an adult and becoming a part of society, the transition phase of preparation for further education in Universities, and in some cases, it’s a transition phase of life-changing events that define who one can be later in life. This emphasis is felt throughout various people’s lives and it’s certainly presented heavily in media such as anime.

Skip to Loafer, to its basic premise is about a bright rural Japanese girl who got into a top high school institution in Tokyo. With such an institution, she wants to use it as a platform for her dreams: Fantasizing about working in the law and governmental sphere as a career with great ambitions, she has already mentally planned out her bigger goals in life of changing her rural side of Japan forever. Brimming with absolute confidence, she steps into the greater Tokyo headstrong but only to get lost on her first day of school.

When inspecting such ambiguous plot synopsis of Skip to Loafer, the ever so easygoing promotional cover for the anime, and even the standard character designs, one can mistakenly simplify Skip to Loafer down to a generic, run-of-the-mill, slice-of-life high-school drama. While there are dramas in the anime, it’s very minuscule as much of the focus is on the characters and social dynamics. And the drama that takes place is never too overbearing that it becomes silly, exaggerated, and unreasonable. Instead, the dramas in the show are there to foster competent writing of its characters and storytelling.

What Skip to Loafer does best is the exploration of its cast at a basic human understanding in the most organic and purest ways. Each of the characters in the show has their own motivations, insecurities, flaws, strengths, and tenacity for themselves and each other. What’s so fascinating to watch is that the anime often put them all together and have authentic interactions that highlight the individual traits that ultimately define them. And this way, they learn not only about themselves but also about each other—just like a small but close group of friends in any typical high school environment. When putting such a focus on this particular group of characters, the anime gets the opportunity to go in-depth on each particular individual too. And because the anime is really just about them, when a character is fully explored, the things that we learn about them have a direct connection to the rest of the cast.

Take Mika Egashira for example, the purpose of her character at the very beginning of the anime was, at first, to be the drama queen of the show. A very confident, manipulative, and very self-aware of social dynamics for a high schooler. Unlike the plain old drama queens of her type, however, she doesn’t just fall into that single category and is strictly confined to it. What the series presents at first is very much a glimpse of her character. An insight into the motivations of her acts and thinking. Rarely does an anime such as this ever give depth to what it’s trying to convey through a character. Skip to Loafer does. What the viewers first see of Mika is not the same at the end of the anime. Through its runtime, the anime understands that to beat outside of its usual set-up, there needs to be more than just a simple flashback for Mika, it needs to first construct and assemble these characters with authentic human emotions and thoughts of high schoolers. The trials and turbulences, and the emotional growth that come with this particular age group. Mika, despite her unlikable attitude at the onset of the anime, she did still have a caring and vulnerable side of her—which is revealed by the time that they all spent together at Karaoke. The point is, the anime took the time to show it to the viewers just enough for us to grasp her thoughts and personality. And when the anime finally did expand on her, we are more inclined to empathize with its presentations.

One particular highlight of the anime that nails it home is the trials of the high school experience in terms of misunderstandings and communication. In those particular situations where one wants to resolve conflicts, teenagers often struggle to find words to express their thoughts, emotions, and conflicting feelings about themselves and others. In fact, it is a common struggle among all people. The anime not only present these situations from the perspective of infuriation for anyone who’s ever gone through it but also pushes the only known concept to confront these misunderstandings is head-on. To talk. To speak one’s mind. One’s better off being understood than being left in a state of limbo where all the anxiety and guilt-driven feelings reside and the breaking of connections, bonds, and friendships occurs. This is particularly important as the anime expresses it is part of experiencing high school life where forming long potential long-term bonds and friendships materialize and transpire.

Skip to Loafer offers more insights into the minds of broader high schoolers. The past, present, and future experiences that the characters form in the anime are often presented with much detail and reflections of an authentic experience. The subject that the series tackles are never to preach to anyone. But merely a presentation with an alluring and charming group cast with plenty of depth to themselves.