Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san (Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san)

Honda is a skeleton, but more importantly, they are a bookseller. And they will tell you from firsthand experience that the job of a bookstore employee is more challenging than it may seem to the average customer.

Alongside their equally eccentric coworkers, Honda constantly deals with the stressful requirements of the bookselling industry. From the drama of receiving new titles without their bonus material to the struggle of providing quality service to customers who speak a different language, the work of a skeleton bookseller never ends.

Nevertheless, despite the hardships they face, Honda thoroughly enjoys their job and strives to bring the best book selections and service to their customers.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

No background information has been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding background information here.

Episode Videos

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san
Side story:	Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san OVA
Other:	Honda-san x Taka no Tsume

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Honda

Main

Saitou, Souma
Japanese

Kamibukuro

Supporting

Sanpei, Yuuko
Japanese

Okitsune

Supporting

Itou, Shizuka
Japanese

Pest Mask

Supporting

Hikasa, Youko
Japanese

Houtai

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Azarashi

Supporting

Murase, Ayumu
Japanese

Gas Mask

Supporting

Hatano, Wataru
Japanese

Armour

Supporting

Okamura, Akemi
Japanese

Kendou

Supporting

Nishiyama, Koutarou
Japanese

Majutsushi

Supporting

Nakao, Ryusei
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Yoshie, Terushige

Producer

Yang, Guoxiang

Producer

Fujii, Takahiro

Producer

Masaki, Daisuke

Producer

Edit

Opening Theme

"ISBN ~Inner Sound & Book's Narrative~" by TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND feat. Honda (Souma Saitou)

Edit

Ending Theme

"Book-end, Happy-end" by TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND feat. Hiroshi Takano

Reviews

Jan 14, 2024

DIE-LET-DOWN

Recommended

This short anime is a real underrated gem. A fun journey that will make you learn a lot about how bookstores work and that will inform you of the general mood of the workers at such stores. I was so enamoured by the daily struggles of Honda and co-workers, as they deal with publishers, wholesalers, foreigners and obsessive manga fans. The animation is super good and original in the way it presents the story and the gags. The writing is hilarious, you can tell the author knows how to ironize his experiences properly.

Maybe the one complaint i have is that the pacing is incredibly fast. ...

Open

Gift

Oct 30, 2023

Cayusashi

Recommended

I never thought a skeleton could be so cute and wholesome. This short slice of life anime is exactly what you'd expect and I'm here for it.

Honda-san works at a bookstore and the series follows his daily adventures. Helping customers, stocking shelves, making book recommendations, and more are all here. Every task is given a comedic spin for the show, really displaying the chaos of the retail environment and how coworkers can support you through the long days. If you currently work in retail, fast food, or other customer service jobs you'll feel represented and if you no longer work those jobs you'll feel almost ... nostalgic for those times. Honda-san is great at highlighting the good in these jobs and how fulfilling they can be for the right people.

Honda-san and his coworkers provide a light, fun hearted vibe to the show. Since there are so many people and only 12 half length episodes it's hard to keep track of everybody's names and personalities. However, every character brings their own fun, unique dynamic to the group. The straight man Honda, energetic supervisor Armor, assistant manager Majutsushi, and everyone in between are all people you would actually see working in retail. The characters are aided by Honda-san basing them off of his real life coworkers. While they're entertaining, nobody is particularly memorable beyond their character design.

The art style is cute, almost chibi like, but the animation is obviously cheap being more like a slide show. The character designs are reliant on the masks; everybody who doesn't work at the bookstore and some of the customers are white blobs with paper over their face. For the short and quick nature of the show the art style works well.

The music is pretty forgettable but the voice actors did a good job in their respective roles. The opening is a metal song completely different from the rest of the show. It's good but I don't think it fits the vibe. The ending is much better in that respect. It's soft and chill without loud or heavy vocals. The soundtrack isn't memorable but it doesn't need to be so long as it fits the scene at hand. I liked the voice actors since they really brought the chaotic energy the show was trying to portray especially with the broken english. The show even brought in one of the real people portrayed to do their own voice which was nice. There were only some moments where the energy was too much but it was good for the most part.

I enjoyed this anime about as much as I thought I would. The obvious appeal is cute mask dudes working in a bookstore and I was given what I expected: a funny slice of life. Despite the chaos it's still relatively chill show nice for ending your day. Enjoyers of the genre will have a good time with this. It's also a good option for something wholesome during the spooky season.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Art: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Overall: 7.4/10

Open

Gift

Oct 1, 2023

uptoolate

Mixed Feelings

To be honest, I almost gave up on this anime around episode 5, as at that point despite the good vibes of the show in general, none of the jokes had really landed. I'm glad I stuck it out, and really when the episodes are as short as these it wasn't any real struggle.

The strongest point, for me, was how visually interesting this anime ended up being, despite how few setting changes there are. I really enjoyed the styling of the various booksellers and employees. I also tend to like episodic structure, and that was no different for this anime.

The main sticking point for me ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

One Main Character (2)

by Gino99

50 Entries · 11 Restacks

Shoujo Anime with Male Protagonists

by Sparkletopia

50 Entries · 9 Restacks

ISFJ MCs

by zhuumie

39 Entries · 4 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

More news

Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for March. Week 1: March 1 - 7 Anime Releases Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? Bloom (Is the Order a Ra...read more

Mar 3, 2022 11:25 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (2 comments)

Q4 2021 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/21]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime and manga licensed in the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2021. Fall 2021 anime which were licensed before...read more

Sep 24, 2021 5:10 PM by Snow | Discuss (17 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Oct 7, 2018	101 replies	by CDHP »» Jan 6, 12:48 AM
Poll: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 21, 2018	36 replies	by snowykevin »» Aug 6, 2023 9:39 PM
Poll: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 23, 2018	42 replies	by Occupyingmyeyes »» Jun 20, 2023 6:43 PM
Poll: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 9, 2018	23 replies	by kihel »» Apr 20, 2023 9:08 PM
Poll: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 2, 2018	22 replies	by kihel »» Apr 20, 2023 9:05 PM

Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Honda

Kamibukuro

Okitsune

Pest Mask

Houtai

Azarashi

Gas Mask

Armour

Kendou

Majutsushi

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-