Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san

Are you tired at your unloved job? Do you want to take a vacation? Or maybe you also want to relax watching anime? Then Mr. Villain's Day Off will be a real silver mine for you, and if you also like pandas, it will even become a gold mine.

The Slice of Life genre has been changing the concept from anime to anime for years, but the essence of the genre remains the same - to relax the viewer and take his mind off the murders, fights and other elements show's on which you need to focus and turn on your brain. There are works ... such as Tanaka-kun, which are full of everyday routine, and in their center of attention are the most ordinary schoolchildren, and around the "plot" reigns carefree school atmosphere and various funny situations. However, some authors have picked up on a detail that makes Slice of Life even more comedic, as was the case with Great Teacher Onizuka. The detail lies in the conflicting image of a bully or villain and everyday life with the same funny situations. So starting in 2018, a manga started appearing on the Pixiv website with the title Mr. Villain's Day Off and its writer was Yuu Morikawa, a young mangaka who loves quiet stories, such as his work The Night and Noon's Delicious Time about two different people living together.

Back to Mr. Villain's Day Off, it's pointless to write about the plot, it's not important. The protagonist is Warumono-san and he is a general of the evil forces that seeks to destroy all mankind and take over the Earth. But not today! After all, the forces of evil also have days off, and even the most badass villain needs a rest. The show itself is a "situation comedy", a show consisting of a large number of short films unrelated to each other in terms of plot and meaning. It is a set of cute stories that make Warumono-san gradually realize the beauty of human society, its love and happiness, and the villain himself becomes comfortable with it. In addition, the villain's heart is enslaved by...PANDA PANDA PANDA PANDA. Watching this show be ready to die from the cuteness of pandas, the abundance of which is many times more than the number of animals on Discovery. Even the absolute evil will melt at the sight of pandas, and this is a fact. The humor here is quite the opposite, so if you expect the same humor as in the famous Gokushufudou manga, you won't find it here, because Mr. Villain's is just a nice show with a calm atmosphere and cute pandas.

In addition to Warumono-san and the pandas themselves, Yuu Morikawa gradually introduces us to three types of secondary characters. These are villains like Warumono, such as the jolly Rooney or the powerful Trigger with a talking name. There are also people called rangers, referring to the Power Rangers series, and these guys live a peaceful life but do not forget to fight evil, their names are based on the color of the suit Red, Blue, Black, Pink and two little Green. Also in each episode there are ordinary people, thanks to the influence of which Warumono becomes more human.

The duo of two studios Shin-Ei and SynergySP turned out to be quite good, which is to be expected. The director of the anime adaptation is Yoshinori Odaka, a man who started out directing some episodes of Naruto and Teacher Onizuka and ended up with the abysmal work on Bem and the Mr. Osomatsu parody. Let's consider it a redemption of sorts, though it doesn't take much talent to create an adaptation of a show of this format.

The music in the adaptation is fairly calm. Ivudot's opening Yūho splash screen is too quiet, unlike Glasgow's Kyūsoku Jūden closing splash screen, as if, lol, they were really confused. It's also notable that the opening splash screen starts right at the beginning of the episode, which is consistent with the content of multiple short films in one episode.

I'll finish my review with an interesting fact about pandas: The panda's main occupation is eating. This process takes about 12 hours each day. If, while eating, you want to watch a quiet show and just relax without getting into the plot, I'll re-recommend Mr. Villain's Day Off.

This was one of my favorite anime of its season if not my most favorite. Every week I looked forward to watching the next episode and I'm really sad that it's finally come to an end. The characters are engaging and I liked the way by making the theme of the series everyone's day off, we got to see elements of the typical Power Rangers/Magical Superheroes shows that we don't get to see as much of in the proper genre. I also liked that the series focused on one of the main villains of their universe because it also broadened what the audience got to ... see and experience.

The series was mostly a comedy but it did have some heartfelt and dramatic moments at times. It kept everything in balance and didn't get boring or stale. I liked that because all the characters were a little weird that makes them feel believable. I would definitely watch more of this anime if we get future seasons.

If you like the slice of life episodes when you watch super power shows or you like slice of life with a bit of fantasy, then you'll like this anime. It was a genuinely fun and funny watch.

Mr. Villain's Day Off - Even villains do need their days off of rest time as well.

Slice-of-life comedy series are easy to do, but when you have Iyashikei series (like Yuru Camp) doing the same, it becomes hard to separate the truth from fiction. And in the Winter season, boy, do I have the perfect couch potato show for you: mangaka Yuu Morikawa's Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san a.k.a Mr. Villain's Day Off.

Do you desire rest from the world's never-ending troubles of work? Well then, how about the work of good vs. evil? These two things never ending clashing that well, and this is the problem for ... Mr. Villain, Warumono-san. All day and night long, he's the General of an evil organization with their headquarters in space, thwarting the peace of the everyday life, only to be stopped by the everyday heroes of a pseudo–Super Sentai a.k.a Power Rangers-style hero vs. villain plotline. However, all Warumono wants is a life of calm and collectedness that he's able to to do the things he really wants to do...like seeing animals in a zoo, which captures his attention and starts his obsession on these cute furry black-and-white creatures we call pandas. And not even the everyday Rangers can stop Warumono on his evil deeds...from the passing of time seeking pandas, going to convenience stores to hunt for panda-like food, to fully resting on his well-deserved day off.

I have to give applauds to VA Shintarou Asanuma for nailing Warumono's character, even if the voice doesn't really fit his devilish thematics. For a character who is constantly on and off about good and evil, Warumono may look like a pure villain character from the outset, but his heart is ever that pure, understanding and ironic like a mockingbird. Being impressed about the life of Earthlings and threatened by the cuddliness of the pandas at the same time, Warumono experiences Nirvana like he's never experienced anything of the sort before, and vows to get revenge...by going for more panda-licious treats, all while letting his trusty assistant Rooney do all of the backend work. The Rangers too are like your typical everyday people, from the caring Akatsuki Red who easily loses his sense of direction, to the standards of Green being the twins of Mugi and Sora, Shinonome Pink serving as the titular girl within the all-boys group, as well as Yoiyami Black, the founder of the Rangers who is mysteriously unseen most of the time.

Everything else about the anime gets its simple job done: the usual collab of Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP coming to produce the show with minimal but glowing effort, and if anything exemplifies the Iyashikei vibe, look no further than the music itself, with its serene OST and the theme songs (though I see a debate there). Ivudot's OP is just that: a calm walk/stroll in the park against the quietness of night life, and Glasgow's ED a contrast to a cheerful song with hope for the future. People complained that the former's song doesn't sound like an actual opening, but whatever, it perfectly complements the feeling of the anime and its source material.

At the end of the day, whether there are heroes or villains, the desire to one day have a rest is a monumental task, and Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san a.k.a Mr. Villain's Day off exemplifies that fact so well. Now, if you please excuse me, I want to go to the zoo and see pandas now to be fantasized in their fluffyness and aloof characters, chilling the life away in a chip without a heck care in the world.

"Oh? Sit back and enjoy the sight of pandas?" That sounds good, like a chill pill.