Mono

Enraptured by her upperclassman Makinohara's passion, Satsuki Amamiya joins the Photography Club along with her friend, An Kiriyama. Enthusiastic, Satsuki makes Makinohara the primary subject of her photography, taking several pictures of her daily. However, once Makinohara graduates and leaves the club in her hands, Satsuki decides to start fresh and purchases a 360-degree camera from an online auction.

Although Satsuki and An's mutual passion blossoms with each new experiment, their club is in danger of dissolution due to a lack of members. They convince Sakurako Shikishima, the president of the Cinema Club, to join the newly formed Cinephoto Club. Accompanied by Sakurako and with the encouragement of their friend and manga artist, Haruno Akiyama, Satsuki and An continue to explore new places and capture precious memories they will never forget.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shikishima, Sakurako Main

Tono, Hikaru Japanese

Akiyama, Haruno Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Kiriyama, An Main

Koga, Aoi Japanese

Amamiya, Satsuki Main

Mikawa, Haruna Japanese

Komada, Kako Main

Kawase, Maki Japanese

Kurokuma, Torayo Supporting

Youmiya, Hina Japanese

Makinohara Supporting

Abo, Maria Japanese

Inomata, Fuuka Supporting

Amaki, Sally Japanese

Taishou Supporting

Abo, Maria Japanese

Haruno's Grandmother Supporting

Arai, Satomi Japanese

Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Producer

Fujita, Kisei Producer

Matsuoka, Kouhei Producer

Tanaka, Akira Producer

Reviews

Jun 28, 2025

Marinate1016

Recommended

So, has enough time passed for me to be able to say I like Mono more than Yuru Camp? I know that’s sacrilegious to say with Yuru camp’s prestige among CGDCT series, but I really had such an awesome time with Mono and connected with its characters in a way I never did with Yuru camp. Part of that’s because this follows a photography/videography club which I can relate to way more as a photographer than camping trips, but I also just think the cast is simply better here. An, Sakurako, Sacchan, Haruno sensei and Kako just have an amazing dynamic. Every interaction is ... comedic gold and they truly feel like a group of best friends trying to see the best that Japan has to offer. This was such a cozy watch and I’ll miss my girls.

Obviously everyone’s opinion will vary on whether or not this is better than Yuru camp, probably depending on how much you enjoy camping, but it really doesn’t matter. The show’s amazing and they both have their strengths. This season we actually got two travel oriented shows in this and Zatsutabi, while this one didn’t lean into the preparation, planning and execution aspects of travel like ZatsuTabi, it did take us to some really cool places around Japan where the girls got to experience a lot of the local culture, food and of course take some awesome photos. I really could just watch 100 episodes of the girls going to a different place every week and just trying new foods or making a video of them skating down a mountain. It’s such seemingly mundane situations, but they feel so fun because of this cast.

The supporting characters outside of the main trio were a riot too. Haruno sensei is basically a big sister figure to the girls, and her friends like the totally not Kuroneko ™️ influenced Kurokuma and the free spirited Kako, stole the show whenever they were on screen. I actually wouldn’t have minded a few more episodes focusing on just the side characters. Especially Kurokuma, whose recurring ghost gimmick was funny as hell. You have your obligatory Afro-sensei yuri teasing between Kako and Haruno which I enjoyed, they have a really sweet relationship and encouraged each other a lot. They’re both mentors to the girls as well and motivate them to pursue their dreams which I enjoyed.

My only complaint with this one is that for a series that’s supposed to be following a photography/videography club, there’s little focus on camera stuff! The first episode sets it up, the girls get an action camera and then it just sort of becomes an after thought. The girls will go to a place and explore and then at the end, if we’re lucky, they’ll remember to record it, but until the final episode of the season I feel like videography/photography wasn’t as big a part of the story as I’d have liked. Even with that though, I loved this show because of how good my girls were. They truly brightened my day every Saturday.

I have to give a special shoutout to studio soigné for the job they did here because this show had NO business having the levels of sakuga it had at times. I mean why the hell are some of the best animated scenes of the season, coming from MONO of all things! People often think of battle shonen when we talk sakuga, but don’t sleep on the wholesome slice of life stuff, there’s some great direction here that takes the show to the next level. The character designs look great and the voice acting is top notch with Koga Aoi’s An performance being my highlight.

We truly ate good this season with all the slice of life CGDCT series and Mono was a huge part of that. I’ll never be able to thank Afro sensei enough for this series, I think it connected with me on the level that most people connected with Yuru camp. I always felt kinda compelled to force myself to like that series as much as everyone else because of how loved it is. Not saying it’s bad or not good, but it didn’t hook me like Mono has. This was a special watch for me and I’ll definitely miss it.

Mono gets 9 cups of shaved ice, out of 10

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 3, 2025

FlowMAL

Mixed Feelings

Mono started with tremendous promise, captivating me with its distinctive premise centred around a “cinephoto club” (cinema and photography) and exploring intriguing photographic techniques such as 360-degree cameras and timelapse photography. This fresh concept, combined with occasional slice-of-life and comedic moments, initially set it apart and offered a unique and engaging anime.

However, as the show progressed, it gradually shifted its focus away from this promising concept and instead leaned heavily into generic slice-of-life territory, using photography merely as a backdrop rather than the main theme. While the slice-of-life content still had its charm, it lacked the spark the show originally promised. It felt like there ... was a significant missed opportunity, considering how strongly the anime had initially established itself in the opening episodes. I found myself wishing they’d returned to the creativity of the early episodes, which felt genuinely inspired.

This shift also impacted character development. The five main characters had distinct, lovable personalities with potential for depth, yet the show didn't fully utilise this. Conversely, the supporting characters were disappointingly two-dimensional and forgettable, significantly detracting from the overall appeal.

Comedy-wise, Mono generally offered average humour while occasionally providing genuinely funny moments. Many of the slice-of-life scenarios were enjoyable, although certain scenes, such as an overly drawn-out video call in episode 7, felt unnecessarily tedious.

Despite these shortcomings, the anime did excel in its music. The opening song was nice, and the ending song was great, complementing the overall mood of the series. The animation and art are also excellent, especially for such a new studio.

Overall, Mono is a decent watch if you're looking for a casual slice-of-life anime, but it falls short of its initial promise. Perhaps my expectations influenced this disappointment, but it remains hard to shake off the feeling that Mono could have been something truly special; it teased greatness but ultimately played it safe.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 5, 2025

Firechick12012

Not Recommended

Man, I really wanted to like Mono so bad, especially since it was created by the person who made Laid-Back Camp, a show that I never expected to like as much as I do. Laid-Back Camp was the type of rare show that knew what it wanted to be, even if season 3 was a bit of a downgrade compared to previous seasons. Now, I knew that the creator Afro made another manga, Mono, before this, but seeing as I'm still reading a bunch of other manga right now, I don't want to take on too many ongoing series at once. But an anime for ... it came out this year, so I figured watching it might be a good way to gauge whether I want to read the manga or not. Surely, since Laid-Back Camp was so good already, Mono would be just as good, right? Unfortunately, I might have set my expectations too high, and that's entirely on me. But even beyond that, Mono as a show is...mediocre, and I found it to be so frustrating to sit through, not just because it feels like it's trying to piggyback off Laid-Back Camp's success rather than establish its own identity, but many other things as well.

Upon starting high school, Satsuki Amamiya joins the photography club for one reason: The club leader, Makinohara. She spends her days constantly taking pictures of her like a creepy stalker, but when Makinohara graduates, Satsuki finds herself without purpose, and if the club doesn't recruit new members soon, it'll shut down. Through mere coincidence after a camera that Satsuki won in an auction didn't arrive on time, both she and her best friend An encountered Haruno Akiyama, an aspiring manga artist who wants to write a manga with high school students acting as the protagonists. Then, the duo encounter Sakurako Shikishima, the president of Cinema Club. When both clubs are on the verge of closure, the girls made the decision to merge two clubs into one, birthing the Cinephoto Club. Together with Haruno and the motoblogger Kako Komada, Satsuki and her group have a new goal in mind: to take pictures across real-life tourist spots in Japan to help Haruno out for her manga.

Honestly, I think it's best if I just get all my grievances out of the way right now, and unfortunately, there will be a lot of comparisons to Laid-Back Camp, though not for the reasons you think. For one thing, for a series that promotes itself as being about photography and taking videos, the actual photography aspect is completely ignored after episode 2, and even when photography and recording videos come up, it only happens on a couple of occasions. 90% of the show consists of the characters just visiting places, and only because Haruno keeps dragging them or ordering them around. Because of this, Mono as a show feels aimless and directionless, like it has no idea what it wants to be. Had it leaned more into its photography angle like Tamayura, it might have been able to establish its own identity and step out from Laid-Back Camp's shadow. Or if it wanted to just be about the girls visiting restaurants and tourist spots, that's fine too! Oh wait, Zatsu Tabi already did that this season. Because Mono can't decide what show it wants to be, it lacks focus, a problem that Laid-Back Camp avoided by not just focusing on camping, but having all the girls' travels and shopping trips revolve around it, so nothing in that show felt wasted or thrown to the side. Not to mention that sometimes Mono shoehorns in a bunch of weird horror/supernatural elements that not only feel completely out of place, but just feel like filler to pad out the show's run time, further adding to its complete lack of focus.

Speaking of Laid-Back Camp, the characters make cameos here and there in the show. Actually, let's talk about the characters. Unlike Laid-Back Camp, the characters in Mono are basic stock archetypes who never change, evolve, or develop whatsoever. Satsuki is the level-headed one, Kiriyama is the genki girl, Sakurako is the quiet snarker, Haruno is the walking disaster fail-girl, and so on. Unfortunately, they all lack the charm, nuance, and tight writing that made the characters in Laid-Back Camp so good. LBC actually cared enough to flesh out its characters beyond their initial personality types across its many seasons and movie, whether it be showing what they're like outside of school or camping (Which Mono doesn't. Seriously, where are these girls' parents?!), or adding subtle touches that make them feel like people rather than just moeblobs, like how Nadeshiko, in spite of her airheadedness, actually gets good grades in school and in the movie somehow manages to be good at doing construction work. Granted, Mono only has one season, but it completely fails to make its characters interesting or fun to follow whatsoever. Satsuki has such little presence that she might as well be a side character, and Kiriyama's constant high pitched screaming made me want to put duct tape over her mouth.

The biggest black mark on this show, I feel, is Haruno. The show really wants you to love this pathetic little girl failure of a mangaka, to the point of giving her so much undeserved screentime that she might as well be the main character. However, she often spends a lot of time causing problems for other characters and just being an annoying pest. Show, you promised high school girls partaking in photography. I did not come here to watch a grown-ass woman throw a temper tantrum, drag people across several cities, and wasting both their time and her own just to satisfy her curry craving, which results in her missing a deadline that day. This is especially bad when the episode ends with her getting it by going to the convenience store, which was close by, so she not only drove everyone to a bunch of far away restaurants for nothing, she basically screwed herself over and suffered no consequences. She could have just gone to the fucking convenience store the first time and she would have made her deadline! Not to mention the episodes that puts her or her mangaka friends into focus are all mediocre and don't really add anything to her character other than that she has friends. At least it's funny to hear Reina Ueda go full screechy gremlin mode sometimes.

With all that said, what does Mono actually have that's good? A few things. The animation is shockingly good, especially considering it's done by a new studio, Soigne. The backgrounds are stunning to look at, character motion is dynamic and kinetic, and it does a decent job capturing all the different locales the characters visit. Seriously, this is what Laid-Back Camp season three should have looked like. The music is also pretty good as well, almost as good as Laid-Back Camp's soundtrack. The voice acting is fine too, Kiriyama's constant high pitched screaming notwithstanding, and Sakurako's antics could be funny at times. Unfortunately, none of that comes close to saving Mono from being anything but just another generic moe show that's clearly trying to ride Laid-Back Camp's coattails rather than establish its own identity. If you want a moe girl show that actually goes into how photography works, has much more of a focused narrative, and stronger characters, just watch Tamayura! It may be more sugary and saccharine, but that actually bothers to explore photography in more depth than Mono ever tries to do!

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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