Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

SoreMachi taught me that an electric bass, a drum set, a violin, and an accordion go surprisingly well in a band together.
I wasn't impressed at the start, with the pretty basic SHAFT comedy setup and multiple characters having deliberately unappealing designs, but the more I watched the more I appreciated how charming and loveable SoreMachi is. Compared to shows like Paniponi Dash or Maria Holic, it's much more restrained and doesn't have many references, but it's still goofy and rowdy compared to something like Hidamari Sketch. And the closer you get to the end, the more the show will surprise you with unexpectedly touching ... moments, and they hit harder thanks to the show's normally grounded, silly nature. It all culminates in a really memorable finale that reminded me of Disappearance. It's a shame that the show has been forgotten, but that makes it all the more satisfying to discover and watch all the way through.

The best way to enjoy this anime is to be a fan of either SHAFT shows or a fan of wachy episodic comedies. If for example you demand a story with a plot, evolving characters, or artsy visuals ain’t your thing, then you better not head this way.

As far as SHAFT works go, this one seems to look a lot better, with a lot more actual animation and a lot less bizarre imagery and real life photographs that border hollowed pretentious nonsense. The camera does all sorts of motions and the sequence of scene transition is almost frenetic, while occasionally zooming in to cute faces ... and naughty female parts of the body, which is SHAFT’s trademark and recipe of success. It is a fine way to help the viewer visualize how awkward and troubled the minds of the characters are, and to spice up the jokes. They even try to change the formula as the episodes move on, from slightly changing the gimmicks to even adding more info about one’s inner self. There is still weird imagery, symbolisms, and trademark punch lines, albeit in a lot less degree than in, let’s say, Sayonara Zetsubo or Arakawa Under the Bridge. I must say that makes the characters to feel a lot less like caricatures defined by a few sentences or personality gimmicks.

At the same time, I must also say that the cast of this anime is a lot less memorable because it does not follow a theme in its setting. Although the first episodes will make most think it is a comedy centering on maids in a maid café, after awhile it becomes just random shorts of practically anything the characters do in their everyday life. With this in mind I say that although Soredemo is a lot more down to earth than most comedies by the same studio, at the same time it also lacks something to make it distinguishable amongst any other similar show. I am not a fan of episodic comedies and in most of them the characters start to become boring fast without some development. When that happens it is the theme of the setting that can keep me interested for more and in this case there is nothing to pay attention to. The whole maid café is nothing but a minor element (perhaps yet another troll joke by the producers) so you end up looking at random people doing random things in hope of laughing. They are the usual “unusual” bunch of misfits and typical of SHAFT most of the humor is based on their total lack of common sense that helps the jokes to work better and the characters to be memorable. As usual, their appeal is mostly based on quirks and bizarre personality and not character development. They may not have punch lines (at least not lines that remain for more than a few episodes) but are still quite simplistic as personalities and basically all follow some archetype. I am not saying the comedy is bad; it’s actually very good in overall; but the interest drops considerably without a hook to keep you interested for more. I can even say that you start to get used to the jokes and that their volume of boldness drops a lot later on. It becomes tiresome after awhile.

Something similar can be said about the music. The music score is funny and artistic but not memorable for any given reason. Voice acting is very good in overall although at times you feel like some actors are not as passionate as they should be. Especially for the main heroine who seems to scream 90% of the time yet her actress is just trying to make her sound as stupid as possible.

In all, it is a good comedy but it definitely is not going to be remembered for most, plus any continuation of the same setting would be pointless since the humor has already run thin and there is no theme or development to excuse another season. Very good at first but loses steam fast and becomes quite bother towards the end.

And now for some excused scorings.
ART SECTION: 8/10
General Artwork 2/2 (artsy)
Character Figures 1/2 (generic)
Backgrounds 2/2 (basic but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Animation 1/2 (basic)
Visual Effects 2/2 (artsy)

SOUND SECTION: 7/10
Voice Acting 2/3 (silly but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Music Themes 3/4 (not great but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess)

STORY SECTION: 2/10
Premise 1/2 (typical)
Pacing 0/2 (episodic)
Complexity 1/2 (not much)
Plausibility 0/2 (none)
Conclusion 0/2 (none)

CHARACTER SECTION: 6/10
Presence 2/2 (funny/sexy)
Personality 2/2 (cheesy but well founded)
Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there)
Development 0/2 (none)
Catharsis 0/2 (none)

VALUE SECTION: 3/10
Historical Value 0/3 (none)
Rewatchability 1/3 (low as there is very little to expect from a second watch)
Memorability 2/4 (besides being a SHAFT show, I see no other reason to remember it)

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 4/10
Art 1/1 (looks artsy)
Sound 1/2 (sounds meh)
Story 0/3 (what story?)
Characters 2/4 (funny stereotypes but that is all)

VERDICT: 5/10

The best way to enjoy this anime is to be a fan of either [b] SHAFT [/b] shows or a fan of wacky episodic comedies. If for example you demand a story with a plot, evolving characters, or artsy visuals ain’t your thing, then you better not head this way.

As far as SHAFT works go, this one’s on the better half of what they have made, with a lot more actual animation, a lot less bizarre imagery and real life photographs for some pretentious nonsense symbolism. The camera does all sorts of motions and the sequence of scene transition is almost frenetic, while occasionally ... zooming in to cute faces and naughty female parts of the body, which is SHAFT’s trademark and recipe of success. It is a fine way to help the viewer visualize how awkward and troubled the minds of the characters are, and to spice up the jokes. They even try to change the formula as the episodes go on, from slightly changing the gimmicks to even adding more info about one’s inner self. There is still weird imagery, symbolisms, and trademark punch lines, albeit in a lot less degree than in, let’s say, [b] Sayonara Zetsubo [/b] or [b] Arakawa Under the Bridge. [/b] I must say that makes the characters to feel a lot less like caricatures defined by a few sentences or personality gimmicks.

At the same time, the cast of this anime is a lot less memorable because it does not follow a theme in its setting. Although the first episodes will make most think it is a comedy centering on maids in a maid café, after awhile it becomes just random shorts of practically anything the characters do in their everyday life. Soredemo is a lot more down to earth than most comedies by the same studio, while at the same lacks something to make it distinguishable amongst any other similar show.

I am not a fan of episodic comedies since the characters start to become boring fast without some development. When that kicks in, it’s the theme of the setting that can keep me going and in this case there is nothing to pay attention to. The whole maid café is nothing but a minor element [i] (perhaps yet another troll joke by the producers) [/i] so you end up looking at random people doing random things in hopes of laughing. They are the usual [i] “unusual” [/i] bunch of misfits and, typically of SHAFT, most of the humor is based on their total lack of common sense. Their appeal is based on quirks and bizarre personality, not character development. They lack punch lines [i] (since they keep changing them every few episodes) [/i] and are simplistic as far as personalities goes, following archetypes you have seen plenty of time.

In all, it is a good comedy but it is also unmemorable because of how fast it becomes aimless. Because of that my interest evaporated early on. I got used to the jokes and their volume drops considerably later on, becoming more tiresome than entertaining in the second half. Thus it’s very good at first, then loses steam fast, and eventually becomes a chore to complete.