Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia

High schooler Ganta Nakami has trouble falling asleep most nights. As a result, he is irritable at school, always searching for an opportunity to find a secluded place to doze off. On the other hand, Isaki Magari is a free spirit who is well liked by her friends, but no one is aware of her sleep disorder. She makes use of the school's abandoned astronomy club observatory as her secret sleeping bunker when she needs to get some shut-eye.

As fate would have it, Nakami finds Magari napping in the observatory. When Magari discovers that she and Nakami have something in common, she offers to share her secret sleeping spot with her fellow insomniac. As the two find warmth in each other's company, the struggles they face start to become easier to confront.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Magari, Isaki Main

Tamura, Konomi Japanese

Nakami, Ganta Main

Satou, Gen Japanese

Shiromaru, Yui Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Ukegawa, Tao Supporting

Yamashita, Seiichirou Japanese

Kurashiki, Usako Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Kanikawa, Motoko Supporting

Lynn Japanese

Anamizu, Kanami Supporting

Fujiwara, Natsumi Japanese

Magari, Haya Supporting

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Nono, Mina Supporting

Morohoshi, Sumire Japanese

Softball Club Advisor Supporting

Soumi, Youko Japanese

Sasaki, Reiko Producer

Nishikawa, Kyouhei Producer

Sasaki, Yuusuke Producer

Kashimura, Emi Producer

Reviews

Jul 3, 2023

Marinate1016

Recommended

Few series have ever captured the struggles of youth as well as kimisomu does. It’s a a beautifully rendered and tender story of growth and self-acceptance.

Anime often tends to exaggerate adolescence, romanticising it and making it out to be this adventure that’s constantly exciting. The reality is that being a teenager sucks. There’s the stress that society and your parents put on you and the desire to fit in and find who you really are. It’s such a challenging and sensitive time. This anime handles that stage of life with such realism and authenticity that it blew my mind.

I absolutely loved the use of ... insomnia as a shared bonding experience for the two main leads. Both of their conditions stem from trauma that they’ve been holding in for years. While many teens don’t go through insomnia, most do have things they’ve repressed and bottled up which can lead to anxiety, depression other mental conditions. The characters in this show reflect that. They behave as actual teenagers who are stressed would. The interactions are simple yet poignant.

There’s so many small intimate moments that just blew me away in this show. Whether it’s singing on a beach, simple nighttime walks or the type of banter between the two leads, it just has a degree of genuineness to it that’s hard to come by in anime. I really appreciated seeing the small details that make the characters who they are. The side characters are also very enjoyable and added some depth to the story. I particularly loved the astronomy club senpai who acts as a mentor to the two leads.

The romance may be a slow burn in this, but it’s a very rewarding one. Starting as club mates, then friends and so on. It feels like a believable natural progression. The two leads find solace and serenity in one another and really feel like two halves of the same coin.

The art in the show is pretty solid. It’s not the best in the world, but LIDENFILMS did a good job of bringing the story to life. I liked the art direction for all the big emotional scenes and the OST was solid throughout as well.

We’ve all been teenagers once and can relate to the pressures it brings. It’s a delicate time where we think we should have everything figured out, but we just don’t. It’s frustrating. This show gets it. If you’re tired of watching the same old high school stories and want something different, this is the one.

Kimisomu gets 9, out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 11, 2023

PixelB

Mixed Feelings

Insomniacs After School is much, much better than the likes of Your Lie in Apil. Why? Because it's much more grounded in reality and much less reliant on melodramatic scenes that "pull on your heartstrings" to create a compelling romance and slice-of-life show.

That's right: this show is much less melodramatic than I ever expected. Is this a good depiction of a person with insomnia? I can't say, since I don't suffer from it. What I can say, however, is that the genre of this show is mainly romance. The main couple being insomniac is more of a subtheme and a way for them to ... come together rather than the main point of the story. You're not going to be seeing crippling levels of insomnia where it takes a huge mental toll on both characters. It's not a dark and edgy story like that. It's more like a rather manageable amount of stress in their lives that they mitigate through companionship than anything else.

The show is also much less dramatic. No, nobody is dying in 24 days, and nobody's parents are murderers or something stupid. It's again, a bit unfortunate circumstances, but a realistic amount. Why yes, I know people who have suffered pretty harshly in life, but if the goal is romance, why bother with all of the over-the-top suffering and drama? There's a manageable and realistic load of depression, anxiety, and angst that comes along maturing and puberty that Ganta and Isaki both go through.

The problem is, does that make this good? Hmm, I think you're going to have to be the judge of that. I'm not the biggest romance type of person, so if the genre is down your alley, I'd say you would enjoy it. It certainly holds a sense of realism when it comes to dialogue, pacing, interaction, and character development.

Well, I guess realism doesn't mean too much when it's boring to watch. The entire show is Isaki and Ganta. Yeah sure, there are a few side characters, but let's be honest here, the entire show is carried by the main couple and the side characters barely contribute to the story very much. There are only two characters in the astronomy club, so it's basically a love nest. There are basically no relevant side characters, and the show knows that too, for the lack of focus on them. I think if there were a relevant cast of side characters that aren't clearly there as a supporting cast role, then the show could have been much more enjoyable than the lacking variety that you get from the scenes. In the end, you would have to decide whether or not the payoff is worth it. For me? I'll read the manga to decide. I, however, was not very impressed with the final half of the season for the lack of variety.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 25, 2024

Tiago_Vaz_007

Not Recommended

Watching just one or two episodes, one may not realize how monotonous it can be, especially due to the quality of the characters and their relationships. However, the problem arises when watching more episodes, as the work seems to lose its momentum and offer nothing new.

There is a lack of elements to hold the viewer's attention and encourage them to watch the next episode, making the narrative somewhat monotonous. Although it didn't bother me directly while watching, sometimes it feels like we already know everything that will happen. Although it avoids clichés, the absence of cliffhangers at the end of episodes could make a difference. ... The true cause of this problem in this work, which has its merits but is also tiring in some aspects, is not clear.

I believe it would have been a better experience if I had watched it dubbed. For this particular anime, I also recommend watching several episodes at once, which makes it less exhausting than watching weekly. It's regrettable, as it's such a beautiful work in so many ways.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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