In 2009, Shaft created the best selling TV anime on blu-ray of all-time, Bakemonogatari. In 2011, they nearly topped themselves with the 2nd best selling TV anime on blu-ray of all-time, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Between that in 2010, they released several shows of course, one of which were Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, which was a bluray flop. For studios like Shaft and Kyoto Animation at the time, which were pushing the envelope of consistent quality well into the big boom of the digital animation era, they had some great gems that didn't see the same return as others. For Kyoto Animation, it was Nichijou, and I would liken the situation to Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (which I will shorten to Soredemo for the rest of the review).

I don't really know the story behind Soredemo's sale woes, I'm not sure why the anime looks as great as it does. It was well documented how the airing versions of Bakemonogatari and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica had some awful quality and were majorly rehauled for their bluray releases in response to their massive success, but I'm not sure if Soredemo was the same story. Did they get a lot of funding from the publisher, or were they on a high from the massive success of Bakemonogatari? Either way, we were left with one of Shaft's highest quality TV anime ever in their catalog.

Before I talk more about the animation, I want to address the writing quality. Soredemo is a skit comedy, usually averaging between 2-3 skits per episode. I addressed this in my Gabriel Dropout review before, but for me the consistency of the writing quality is extremely important for the momentum of a viewing experience for skit comedies, as its one of the most, if not the saturated genres in anime, ESPECIALLY when it revolves around teenage girls. It is in my personal opinion that Soredemo stands above them all, considering its my highest rated of the genre as of right now. There is not a single scenario/skit in this anime that is worthless or forgettable, the absurdist nature of the comedy is a match made in heaven for Shaft.

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru is literally translated as And Yet the Town Moves, which is incredibly apt for this adaptation, because when Shaft wrapped up the 12th episode with a bow they left the medium of anime with one of the best displays of character animation ever. The expressions and fluidity of the character movement is good on a baffling level, and I hope anyone who gives the show a try doesn't take it for granted. The level of expression makes the comedy very effective. The atmosphere of the anime at the same time has a relaxing nature despite the absurdist comedy, the dichotomy between the two is such a perfect chemistry that it is entrancing to watch. If I didn't have a life or things to do I could probably soak into a marathon of the 12 episodes in one sitting because the momentum of the viewing experience is very well-crafted from episode to episode. The soundtrack is also perfect for the show, and the sound directing to match.

I think because of the financial failure of the anime, this show got buried among all the great TV anime that came out between 2009-2011 or so. I still think the people involved with it worked exceptionally hard on it and made overall a great product. As far as TV anime go, this is Shaft's highest quality in terms of visuals that I can think of and its probably only below the likes of the Madoka Trilogy or the Kizumonogatari Trilogy. I recommend it to anyone who likes character animation. I personally consider it an underrated gem, and with that I leave it with a score of