Yuru Yuri

Yuru Yuri is dedicated to the Slice of Life genre, and while that may account for a lack of story depth, it isn't an excuse for a show such as this to have no depth whatsoever.

It pains me to say this, as the show is really quite charming and likable, but essentially... There is no plot, it's just a "pleasant" 12 episode series of (very) mild Shoujo Ai, Comedy and SoL filler.

In terms of Art and Sound, as i expected from Pony Canyon, it was top notch! The animation style and audio couldn't be more fitting for presenting the unfortunately uneventful subject matter.

The ... characters, though some very typical anime stereotypes are all well introduced, and somehow without lots of back story, they're easily likable, acquaint-able, and... kawaii. What does this DO for Yuru Yuri? Well, this combination of top presentation and likable characters, with decent dialogue makes for a pleasant viewing experience. That's pretty much it though.

I've JUST finished watching and apart from a few glimpses of drama, it was all a bit of a blur, as there's nothing really to hone in on.

The comedy is a bit bland and rehashed throughout, contrary to popular belief the show doesn't make any kind of moving/touching statement about homosexuality, it just utilities it as a tool to make up mildly amusing scenarios.

Who would want to watch this?
Well... If you're looking for something relaxing, something stress-free, a touch of humor and "cute girlies doing cute things" - BINGO! you've found your anime!

Yuru Yuri is one of those shows I was curious about, wondering why it was so popular. I decided to give it a go, and I can't really understand why so many people like it so much.

My biggest issue is two things: The characters are incredibly bland and annoying, and it's not very funny... At least to me.



Honestly, it was difficult finding any of the characters likeable. The only two I enjoyed throughout the whole run were Kyoko and Akarin. Everyone else is basically a walking stereotype like Ayano, Yui, or Chitose. Ayano is your textbook tsundere and really loves Kyoko for no real good ... reason. Sakurakou and Himawari are just there for the breast jokes. Chitose only exists to impliment some yuri fanservice... Do you see what I'm getting at here? Everyone feels like they're simply pawns to make an unfunny and predictable joke. It was so one-note and by the book that I had a hard time laughing at anything.

I really disliked Chinatsu in particular because she ended up being so unlikeable. A very stuck-up and pretentious girl who's only defining trait is hating Kyoko and being madly in love with Yui. I'm not exaggerating when I say that's what happens when the show tries focusing on her, one of those two things happen. Or maybe both. There also was a part in episode 11 that made me dislike her even more, but I won't spoil it. Nothing about her is a good character to me, and the show would have been much better if she wasn't part of the main cast.




Now for the jokes, which unfortunately don't land well most of the time. Like I said earlier, a lot of the comedy stems from the characters which are all very stereotypical so you can see what's coming a mile away. What's worse is that they like to really hammer in the same jokes over and over across the entire season. Was Chitose getting a nosebeleed and fantasizing about Ayano and Kyoko being together not funny the first time? Well too bad, because it's going to happen many, many other times! You can really tell what's going to come up just because it all is painfully predictable. There were a few times were they threw curveballs and made me laugh, but it was very few and far between. There's one joke in particular which just felt way too mean spirited, which is Akarin barely having any screen time despite being the supposed protagonist. It's a cute funny joke at first, but overtime it just ends up being kinda hard to watch because it feels like the world is against her and nothing goes her way. There are even times where she doesn't appear for an entire episode just because of a short gag in the beginning. Maybe I'm looking too deep into it, but I really didn't find that funny and just became grating after a while.


So overall, I really wanted to like Yuru Yuri, but just ended up really bored and wanting it to be over near the end. The characters did absolutely no favors as they made the show very bland and predictable, and hardly any of the jokes landed for me.