Orenchi no Furo Jijou

On his way home from school, Tatsumi sees a man collapsed near a lake. When he approaches him, Tatsumi notices something strange: the person in need of help is actually a beautiful merman named Wakasa! Because Wakasa's home has become too polluted to live in, Tatsumi graciously offers his bathtub as a refuge.

With a boisterous merman as his new roommate, Tatsumi's normal life won't be returning anytime soon, not to mention Wakasa's aquatic friends—Takasu, Mikuni, and Maki—often show up uninvited, making them all quite a handful for the high school student. As he humors their curiosity for human life, Tatsumi sometimes finds himself enjoying their childish antics, but he will have to keep his cool if he intends to keep up with his daily life and newfound friendship.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Wakasa Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou Japanese

Tatsumi Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga Japanese

Maki Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Takasu Supporting

Suzuki, Tatsuhisa Japanese

Mikuni Supporting

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Kasumi Supporting

Kido, Ibuki Japanese

Narrator Supporting

Kawahara, Yoshihisa Japanese

Matsuhashi, Atsushi Producer

Suzuki, Kimitaka Producer

Kanno, Hayato Assistant Producer

Aoi, Sayo Director, Episode Director

Reviews

Dec 29, 2014

somaisbatman

Recommended

Orenchi no Furo Jijou is a 4-minute-per-episode anime about a guy who finds a merman, and their completely heterosexual adventures that all take place in a bathtub.

Story: 5/10
As minimal as it gets. Each episode has some central problem or event and it's always something very light. Nothing special, but this setup is pretty normal for shorts. You can watch it all in under an hour!

Art: 7/10
Decent but never astounding, not too much to talk about. Although, they did a good job animating and drawing the merman's muscles, those stand out as quality parts of the show.

Sound: 6/10
There was background music? I hate to keep ... playing the nothing-special card, but this really applies to the sound. The OP sounds nice but feels completely out of place.

Characters: 8/10
Now we're talking! The main character looks like a yellow eyed messy hair edgelord, but is actually a pretty nice guy, just not very talkative. His merman buddy is far more outgoing and flamboyent, creating a classic comedy duo. The merman's also got some monsterboy buddies that show up in a few of the episodes, they're all diverse and enjoyable for the brief times they appear. The one character I dislike is the MC's sister. She fits every annoying little sister trope imaginable, has a gross onii-chan fetish, and just adds loli to a show that doesn't need loli at all. She's only around for 2 episodes, so it's tolerable.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Sometimes the show is funny. More often then not the attempts at humor fall flat or just don't seem to exist, but the show always ends up being absolutely adorable, and it's never a chore to get through episodes (partially because they're so short).

Overall: 7/10
Orenchi no Furo Jijou ends up being an absolute fluff-fest starring some extremely straight characters. It's not groundbreaking, but hey, there's nothing wrong with cute boys doing cute things together.
You can get through the show in less than an hour, so it's a pretty low-risk investment even if you're not the biggest fan.


Did I mention how heterosexual this show is?

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 9, 2020

uchiha-hime

Recommended

I had been looking for an anime like this for a very long time, something with a wonderfully soothing and calming vibe, so I was very glad when I stumbled upon this gem of an anime. If you're someone like me who's also looking for a quick pick-me-up that's not plot intensive but nevertheless has the capability of making you feel the most relaxed you've been in quite some time, look no further.

Orenchi no Furo Jijou is a slice of life comedy with episodes that span for only 4 minutes each, featuring the life of a boy who has a merman living in his bathtub ... (quirky, right?)

Story: 9/10
In all fairness, this is NOT a plot-based anime so there is no plot progression and definitely no plot twist. Each episode features the main characters (and their friends, who're introduced in subsequent episodes) going about their daily life and facing small, mundane day-to-day issues. It is very common to come across overused tropes in slice of life shows, so I was pleasantly surprised at the absence of any boring, cliched tropes. Then again I guess it is pretty hard to use the generic slice of life tropes in an anime with a story as unusual as this one.

Art: 8/10
Keeping true to the manga, the art of the anime adapts the same dual style, seamlessly switching between its normal realistic style and its cute chibi style. For an anime that has a bathroom as the main backdrop, the color palette is pretty warm, which goes a long way in adding to that idyllic, soothing vibe the anime gives off. The chibi forms of the characters, especially the merman Wakasa, are incredibly cute and I kept wanting to see more of the chibi style than the actual normal style, which is a first for me (lol)

Sound: 8/10
Considering this is an anime with episodes that span only 4 minutes, it would be tough to establish a recurring musical theme/background score. The OP is very dramatic and intense, and feels a little misplaced in a slice of life anime, but I have to say that I actually grew quite fond of it by the 4th or 5th episode and didn't feel like skipping it. The voice acting was very consistent, with each seiyuu's voice perfectly fitting the character they played. I personally loved Wakasa's VA the most, it was the PERFECT casting.

Character: 10/10
The main reason why this show shines, and why I loved it as much as I did, is because of the characters and the characterization. Due to the brevity of the episodes you don't really get any deep background story for the characters or some kind of astonishing character development but somehow none of that matters because you still get attached to them anyway. I don't think words can express how LIKABLE the characters are. All the characters - starting from the VERY lovable and cheerful merman Wakasa to the somewhat quiet but very thoughtful guy Tatsumi whose bathtub Wakasa lives in, to Wakasa's buddies who show up in some episodes - each and every character is very distinct and very original and very funny. Wakasa and Tatsumi have a dynamic that's very refreshing and somewhat reminiscent of The Odd Couple. They're the perfect foil to each other, and the hilariously funny situations resulting from their attempts to learn to live in harmony together is what makes the show what it is. The only character that I somewhat disliked is the MC's sister, who fits into quite a few of the annoying little sister tropes, and is also pretty annoying herself. Thankfully though we only get to see her for 2 episodes, and she's so forgettable you won't even think of her for the rest of the episodes which she doesn't show up in.

Enjoyment: 10/10
With slice of life anime, more often than not, there's a huge chance of the jokes falling flat or failing to hit the mark, but Orenchi no Furo Jijou has none of those issues. Not once does it feel like a joke is put there for the sole purpose of trying to draw out a laugh from you. All the humor in the show is completely organic, and it flows so well it actually feels like there's zero effort to try and get the audience to laugh, but you end up laughing anyway.

Overall: 9/10
Orenchi no Furo Jijou is a very light-hearted, feel-good show that by the end of its 13th episode will, no doubt, leave you feeling a lot calmer and a lot de-stressed than when you started watching it. I kept wishing the episodes were longer, just so I could have kept feeling happy for a little while longer. 13 episodes didn't feel like enough, and I sincerely hope they decide to make a second season someday.
So if you're looking for a quick, light-hearted show to cheer you up when you're down and/or to unwind after a long day, look no further than Orenchi no Furo Jijou.

Oh and if you're wondering if it's BL/shounen ai-ish, then all I have to say is that this does have BL-ish undertones, but that's only if you squint :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jan 3, 2015

Catsrcutest

Mixed Feelings

Orenchi no Furo Jijou is another of those anime with annoyingly short episodes. However, this show really makes the most of it and is actually an enjoyable watch.

Story:
Near non-existent. Read the two first sentences of the summary on MAL, and you wont be surprised. At all. The story is really that simple, following the life of a teenage boy with a merman living in his bathtub. No plot twist, no anything, just the characters solving their small everyday problems. The pacing of the story is fine, introducing new characters once in a while and the show never grows boring. Still the story is poor, and ... I can't give it more than 3/10.

Art:
The art is one of this show's good points. While it is in no way great, the character design is really cute and quite unique, all the characters being quite handsome. The style fits the show well. There aren't really any changes of setting and the bathroom looks rather plain, but in episode one, 'outside' looks good, the water being sparkly in the sunset and all. The opening is quite pretty as well, even if the video doesn't really fit the show. Art gets a 7/10.

Sound:
The sound is all right. The voice-acting is quite good, the background music sounds funny and fits well. I see a lot of people complaining about the opening being dramatical and thus unfitting. And yes, it is dramatical. But that's the hilarious part! I really think they made it like that on purpose, to be ironical. Sound is ok and gets a 6.5/10.

Character:
The characters are definitely largely why anyone would watch this show. The show is very short, so we don't get really close to any of the characters, like their backgrounds, how they really feel and such, which is a shame. Still, all the characters are really funny and very original! Wakase and Tatsumi make the perfect pair of mains, Wakase's bright and cheerful personality bringing out the best in Tatsumi, who is rather dull. The side characters are funny and very different from each other, spicing the show a bit up. Characters are a 7.5/10.

Enjoyment:
I usually don't take enjoyment into account, but for such a short show, I think it's necessary, especially since it's comedy. Of course, most shows wont be able to send an important message with only about 3:30 minutes of plot (not including opening) and neither does Orenchi. However, I still really enjoyed watching it. This show is a sweet, feel-good comedy and it can definitely cheer you up! I thought it was quite hilarious and definitely a good 4-minute break. 7.5/10

Overall:
Orenchi is definitely a show aimed at girls. While it does have homosexual hints, this is not of importance. It's merely a bit of fanservice. I think anyone could watch orenchi and enjoy it, if they were looking for a short moment of hilariousness. The show scores an overall of 6/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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