There is NO BETTER representation of love. THIS IS IT.
An unruly sea of emotions through which YOUR SHIP MUST SAIL
SO BEAUTIFUL, SO FRAGILE, SO FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS!
Watashi no yuri wa oshigoto desu -- Schwestern in liebe (henceforth watayuri) is so good it should not be legal.
Simply put,
They work in a concept cafe. The concept? A yuri school.
It's romance between girls.
The simple premise is ripe for exploitation. The multiple layers of the real, the performed, the doubts, the convictions, all mesh together in a delicious blend found only in the confines of this humble cafe. When you think the plot is finally settling down, A NEW UNEXPECTED UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS POPS UP OUT OF ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE to the tune of a suspenseful piano score and a cliffhanger ending that leaves you counting the SECONDS until the very next episode. I can't recommend this enough.
Sound (music): Competent -- Playful tunes, suspenseful hooks and that simple yet fantastic piano score that brings the tension to the highest it can go. And that harpsichord! The OP is so overly saccharine that it loops into bittersweet, and an ED that's filled with the ennui of two people trying to understand their own feelings. Delicious.
Sound (seiyuu): Exquisite -- Industry veterans Yui Ogura, Uesaka Sumire, Yukari Tamura and Asami Seto play their roles pitch-perfectly. This is an anime that is carried on the virtues of its seiyuu work, scene direction and sound design. This is the type of story that doesn't need to rely on elaborate animation.
Animation: Conservative -- Outside nice character animation in the OP, you'll be seeing walk animations, talking heads and, on occasion, a nicely crafted moment. These usually coincide with the presence of Mai-san, the cunning cafe owner whose thoughts and motivations are covered in an impenetrable mist of macaron pink.
Presentation: Foundational -- nothing extraordinary, but the anime knows how to establish scenes and how to thematically improve the dramatic impact with simple, highly effective techniques. The character-driven romance formula is used to perfection
Art direction: Ordinary -- it does no more than it needs to do, nor is it ever required to go any further. It's an anime set in modern times, so there's not much room to be creative.
Subtitle quality: more ups than downs -- I applaud the use of terms like gyaru, kabe-don, kouhai. Honorifics are treated with the respect they deserve, giving the subtitle industry a glimmer of prestige, even if the opportunity to re-introduce "imouto" back in mainstream lingo is squandered. Nevertheless, loaded fauxweb terminology rears its ugly head at times. "Hard pass", "trigger", "they" as a singular pronoun. It's sad to think that an insidious brain rot is settling in someone whose heart is in the right.
Story: -- the one thing that matters the most in this anime. It's a crazy rollercoaster filled to the brim with melodrama. The plot and characters whimsically waltz along the line of credibility. When you think the plot is going one way, it suddenly takes an unexpected turn, but then you wonder if the mispredicted course would be as interesting. Perhaps the mangaka worried about getting axed and introduced plot points abruptly, but that only contributes to the feeling of unpredictability that makes the peaceful periods all the sweeter.
Ideal seasons to watch in:
SpringEarly summer
The rekindling of old feelings, the blooming of love. As unpredictable as weather that struggles to leave the coldness of winter behind. But no matter the windy storms and sudden downpours, the sunny days are sure to pile up.
This anime will put you in the mood to stroll through the gardens during the sunny spot of a drizzly noon.
My pride and joy
At a later date, I might come back to this review page to fangirl all over it.
My despise for the modern "romcom" is no secret. However, my tolerance drastically increases if it's a non-conventional romance. In the past, I was coming to terms with it being a kind of defense mechanism, but "Shin no nakama ja nai to yuusha no party wo oidasareta node, henkyou de Slow Life suru koto ni shimashita" proved otherwise. Even if we don't consider that it's about cute girls doing cute girls, watayuri still proves itself unconventional by virtue of its plot progression. No wishy-washy, beat around the bush tripe -- The dramatis personnae act upon their feelings. It might be ripe with melodrama, but watayuri never considers stooping to the lows of trash like "Kaguya-sama wa kokurasetai".
The maturity in execution can be debateable, but it can't be denied that the characters all have a depth beyond their archetype.
One day I will give Miman-sensei a piece of my mind about this masterfully crafted web of romance.
I can relate a lot to all the girls. That probably means I'm an awful human being, considering what I've seen some diehard fans' opinions of these girls' characters. But who hasn't had to pull a Hime and kill their own ego and put on a mask to keep the peace, go unnoticed or further their goals? Sumika and Hime have a lot in common in their endeavours to keep everyone happy. Kanoko is wholly understandable if you consider she's at the end of her rope. Seeing the parallels between her and Yano, I'd really love to take a peek at Yano's years estranged from Hime. The way things are left in the anime and considering all these parallels, the chips could fall anywhere...
In my opinion as a hopeless crack shipper.
