The anime series is based off of a 4-panel manga written by Komata Mikami. The details for the show is rather simple. You see that promotional poster with those three adorable girls? Yup, Yuyushiki is what the series is all about – three girls who are members of the Data Processing Club. They have fun in their lives and I'm glad alive to see them in this show.
At first, I wasn't too keen on checking out Yuyushiki. In fact, the show wasn't even on my radar until I saw this trailer a week before it aired. In that very trailer, there were three girls, Yuzuko Nonohara, Yui Ichii, and Yukari Hinata. I'm not a big fan of slice of life series especially involving Chinese cartoons with girls doing cute things. However, when I watched that trailer, I noticed this strange sense of nostologia that bought me back to when I was in school. In fact, this show is more than just about cute girls doing cute things. It's about enjoying the life at school with your friends and making the most of it. There's no battle shounen sequences, gory violence, or shock fan service. Rather, it's adorable in its own way and that's something I am thankful for.
The show is a little different from what I usually watch. I'm not sure exactly the right word to describe but adorable is definitely one of them. The show has this feeling of charming magnet that hooks you more and more. For the main characters, this is focused on the activities the girls do in their everyday lives. Indeed, we have three main characters who are girls. In fact, the majority of this show is made up of girls. Their names seems to be some sort of parody or reference to the title, Yuyushiki as all their names begin with the two letter “Yu”. Together, the girls forms a club known as the Data Processing Club. The club itself isn't any special but the girls sure takes their names to make the most about their school lives. Among the cast, there's Yukari and Yuzuko. The duo makes up the majority of the awkwardness but of course fun part of the series. Their fun gags often comes into the opposite of Yui who seems to be more of a serious person. The trio seems to be best friends and makes the most of their time in the club doing random things on the Internet. Oh wait, I thought girls aren't usually into this type of stuff. The stuff they do “research” on the web also seems to be random and for little purpose. It doesn't really matter though since the show is random in its own right.
There's many fun gags and later on implied yuri vibes. In fact, most of this seems to be aimed at Yui, the cool chick of the trio. It's hard to tell if they're really serious or not considering the show itself is marked by comedy. However, it's quite amusing to watch as Yui often acts indifferent or even at times perplexed during various situations. Yui herself also seems to be one of the major points in the episodes as her figure seems more dominant with her eye features and gestures. As the target of Yukari and Yuzuko's teases, she has to endure most of it through her ways. They all end well and good though as the trio are friends anyways.
Throughout the series, I also noticed that there's a lack of adolescence dominance. The show is entirely dominated by the younger casts. In fact, one of the only teachers who gets screen time in the show is Matsumomo (Oka-san). Among other cast members who gets screen time are Chiho, Fumi, and Kei. They seem to be more in the backgrounds though as the the majority of the series is dominated by the three Yu's.
Yuyushiki follows a slice of life format so don't expect any sort of significant story building. What you should expect though are the everyday antics that are employed in each episode as we see personally though the eyes of the Data Processing Club and what they do. Although lacking a true purpose, the show sometimes raises eyebrows related to questions related to 'death'. It creates a strange tension on whether if the show has any sort of purpose beyond just random fun. Whatever the case though, it sure achieved curiosity; a good well job done at creating that to say the least.
The dialogues of this series might not be so memorable but watching the girls talk about their daily lives sparkles a smiles to my face. This could have different results for everyone but sometimes, it does drag out quite a bit. It seems to be repetitive and some of the jokes gets old. Additionally, the amount of yuri vibes gets stronger and stronger later on in particular with our adorable Yui. Her reactions is always predicable though as given her more straight out personality. But perhaps a problem of this show is the dragged out conversations. It's rather difficult to watch a random show such as this with it being length of 22 minutes each week for some people. Also, some of the jokes makes no sense. For me though, it's enjoyable but I'm not sure about others. Needless to say, the pace and randomness of this show might not be an appeal for everyone.
As for artwork, Yuyushiki adapts a lighthearted dose of comedy. The characters' designs are obviously designed to look adorable. Their moe eyes features reflects on the cuteness of the main characters. The backgrounds of the school and other areas are simple and straight to the point. In fact, some of the backgrounds are designed to reflect that silliness with cartoonish patterns and aesthetics.
The soundtrack is also simple. Both the OP and ED songs shows our main trio doing fun activities while making various silly poses in silly outfits. The voices of the characters showers the fun that the characters have. In fact, most of them are hardly ever angry or emotional. Rather, their laughter brings joy and that puts a smile on my face as well.
All in all, Yuyushiki is not just adorable but a show to relax and enjoy for viewers of all ages. Don't take it seriously. The show doesn't so there should be no reason to. What I do advise to do is watch Yuyushiki and think back when you had random fun with your friends at school. Maybe it won't be about randomly searching for stuff on the Internet, but it definitely brings back some nostologia at least for me. The series should be a crime to be this cute and adorable at many cases. At other times though, it does feel a bit more dragged out. Regardless though, this show was an enjoyable ride and I think one to at least give a shot at. It's not just cute, it's Yuyushiki.
