Asobi Asobase

During recess, Olivia, a foreign transfer student who doesn't know English, plays a game of "look-the-other-way" with Hanako Honda, a loud-mouthed airhead. Their rowdy behavior spurs the ire of Kasumi Nomura, a deadpan loner constantly teased by her older sister for her tendency to lose games. Not willing to compete, Kasumi declines Olivia's offer to join the fun, but eventually gets involved anyway and dispenses her own brand of mischief. Soon, a strange friendship blossoms between the peculiar trio, and they decide to form the "Pastime Club," where they are free to resume their daily hijinks.

Whether it be failing to learn English, trying desperately to become popular, or getting caught by teachers at the wrong time, school life will never be boring when the girls of Asobi Asobase are up to their hilarious antics.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Honda, Hanako Main

Kino, Hina Japanese

Olivia Main

Nagae, Rika Japanese

Nomura, Kasumi Main

Kohara, Konomi Japanese

Maeda Supporting

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Aozora, Tsugumi Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Fujiwara Supporting

Uchida, Shuu Japanese

Oka, Ruu Supporting

Kanazawa, Mai Japanese

Baby Supporting

Iwata, Mitsuo Japanese

Olivia's Brother Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Sharekoube, Tokuko Supporting

Kanazawa, Mai Japanese

Tanaka, Shou Producer

Higa, Yuuji Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Reviews

Mar 10, 2025

treskatay

Recommended

I originally rated this a 9/10, but over time I've actually come to appreciate it even more.

I'm not big into school life anime. I've been watching anime for over two decades now, so I've seen the setting so often that it's mostly worn out its welcome for me. I'm also a bit of a comedy snob in that I don't like a lot of comedy that makes its way into mainstream media (although that seems to be less and less these days), but the comedy that I do end up enjoying usually becomes some of my favorite stuff of all time.

So it should be considered ... no small praise when I say that Asobi Asobase has left a lasting, positive impression on me. It truly is more than the sum of its parts. Almost lightning in the bottle. The art, voice acting, tone, comedic timing, and music work together in such a way that I probably wouldn't be able to rate it as highly if any one of those things fell short.

There is no real plot to speak of, so for one looking for a narrative to follow or complex character development this might be disappointing, but these aren't things we typically expect of comedy anyhow. What really sets Asobi Asobase apart is its genuineness. Sometimes it's easy to forget these are fictional characters. It presents a view of the life of Japanese school girls that we don't often see: one where the cast is as awkward, unsure, and inadequate as most of us probably were in high school. None of the three main characters are academic geniuses or particularly athletic. They're just normal people (who happen to be exceedingly funny) hanging out and trying to have a fun time. The authenticity and passion of the creators seeps through.

I said at first I'm not into school life anime, but I think the most important thing is this: any story can be interesting if you tell it in an interesting way. Nichijou and Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou have both proven that in the past, and I'd gladly place Asobi Asobase alongside those two series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 29, 2021

AnshulGoyal

Mixed Feelings

The story was funny sometimes and other times it was ok.
Butt lazer butler Maeda was great and i really enjoyed all the scenes he was in.
Foreigner who doesn't speak foreign language added a hilarious flavor to this anime.
you will enjoy this anime, but at same time you will feel that it is dull too.
the rich grandpa was also hilarious.
The student council vice president was damn hilarious.
overall it was good timepass.
Coming to main character, I thought that the girl Kasumi Nomura was innocent, but she actually was very naughty and had knowledge about sexual matters.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 27, 2024

sinirlelestirmen

Not Recommended

I found asobi asobase in the list of the best comedies and it caught my attention and...

Comedy: of course we all know that comedy is a subjective concept, but the humor of this anime is very weak in my opinion, why is it? The humor of this anime basically consists of showing an event with exaggerated characters loudly and with strange facial movements, and it is not clever or unintelligent, as if it does not have any source material It's devoid of jokes. and yes that's why it makes all this absurdity boring and annoying for me

Characters:Olivia is one of the main trio. She claims ... that her English is good and her Japanese is bad because her family is foreign. Although this is good at the beginning, it becomes annoying as she repeats this joke over and over again.
Kasumi fulfills the series' need for a shy, quiet, sometimes scary girl.
Hanako is the best character to watch in the series.

Pictures and Animations:Here is the part where the series screwed up. Yes, this element is not very important in series whose main focus is comedy, but since the producer of this series, Studio Lerche, probably spent almost all of its budget on Assassination Classroom and COTE, we have pictures and animations that are much below average compared to 2018.

Overall:If you like this type of comedy, it's an anime that you can watch. If you don't, you should stay away from it.
But I recommend you give priority to better works, even if they are in the same style.
Watch only one episode because it's the same at the end as it is at the beginning. If you like it, start it. If you don't like it, don't start it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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