[SPOILERS ARE MARKED AND HIDDEN]
#Overview
Skip to Loafer is a nice, wholesome slice of life (I think I’m using the term correctly? I don’t actually know what the SoL genre is…) anime. I was mostly curious to check it out after I saw some manga readers getting hyped up about it before it aired. While it’s not the favorite of this season nor am I as excited about it as some people, I agree that it was a good watch.
Mitsumi is a quirky country bumpkin sort of gal who’s quite unathletic; she’s always tripping and falling. But she always dusts herself off and stands back up again (in more ways than one). Mitsumi decides to leave her tiny remote town to attend highschool in Tokyo, where she meets some new friends.
We mostly see how her highschool life unfolds as she discovers new things.
It’s heartwarming to see how much she believes in herself and others, how she helps some of the characters, such as Shima and Egashira, feel better about themselves and inspire them.
It gets quite deep at times, really.
Skip to Loafer doesn’t have a dramatic, exciting plot or anything like that; it’s one of those shows that makes you feel really wholesome and lightens a bad day or mood.
#The Good/Positive
The characters have layers and feel like they could be real people with their depth. Even characters that seemed like bad people had humanity in them. I personally couldn’t relate to any of them (what can I say, I’m a unique soul), but most people probably could. This makes the story hit deeper, in my opinion.
A bit more on this below:
Spoiler, click to view
I don’t recall exactly which episodes, but I noticed this, particularly in the episode where Egashira’s true thoughts were revealed, about how she only remembers the names of people who wronged her instead of who was good to her as Mitsumi does. I don’t remember what she said, but it’s around this episode and scene where I really felt that she had layers like a real person.
Now, I very literally just finished watching episode 12 when I’m writing this bit…
It’s in this episode where Ririka seemed less of a bitch and more like a girl who let her emotions get the best of her. This makes it harder to hate on the character because you can’t say she’s evil, but at the same time, the depth makes this hit deeper. (yes I know I repeat myself but I can’t help my speech patterns, can I?)
The interactions between the characters were also nice to see.
Another thing Skip to Loafer pulled off particularly well is not showing explicit romance but at the same time, it doesn’t feel frustrating. Most who’ve watched this could agree that it’s implied and subtly shown, that Shima has feelings for Mitsumi and that she kind of likes him too. It’s never actually said in the anime, never actually acknowledged directly, but hinted at.
I’ve seen another show do this, where there’s no actual romance intended, (just hint, hint, hint) and felt irritated at how it’s done. Yet in Skip to Loafer, I don’t feel that. They make it seem more natural, in a way.
Overall, this anime felt a bit like a breath of fresh air.
#The Bad/Negative
There’s not really anything bad about it or anything that bothered me, in particular.
It’s a nice show for relaxing and brightening a sour mood, good for what it is.
I’m just not super excited or hyped about it, nor do I extremely love it.
Now, this is purely just my personal opinion, but the art style wasn’t my favorite, I’m not really in favor of it. This still works well for it though. I haven’t seen any anime (yet) with this style of drawing, so it gives it another unique bit.
In the end, I was generally satisfied with the show and what I saw, nothing more, nothing less.
#Do I recommend?
In the mood for some mellow wholesomeness? Got an itch for some school slice of life? Maybe felt like watching some highschool life play out without forced love or odd tropes? Or even just been having bad days lately and wanted to cheer up by watching anime (which is the best way to cure bad moods apart from tasty food, in my opinion)?
Go ahead, watch Skip to Loafer!
Gonna break my usual review layout just this once, not gonna add the bullet point thing here cause I’d literally be repeating my earlier sentences.
