So what is Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai?
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai is a lovely slice of life anime based on a Japanese light novel series by Yomi Hirasaka about a group of teenagers coming together for the sole purpose of making friends. Along with this anime adaption, this series also has manga adaptions, a visual novel and a live-action film. It revolves around the life of new transfer student Kodaka returning to his childhood hometown for high school and not being able to make any friends due to his unusual dirty brown with a ring of blonde hair, which makes everyone believe he's a delinquent. Filled with comedy and a little romance, this series follows the common idea of creating friendships, yet it also isn’t just as simple as that as it's mixed with both comedy and harem themes. Each character that joins the club has their own reasons for not having any friends and has their own very different personalities.
Neighbors Club: the club for people who can't make friends on their own.
After Yozura’s first encounter with Kodaka she decides she wants to become closer to him, while also taking notice of both of their lack of friends. She decides to create a club named the Neighbors Club for other people seeking real friendships that will last, rather than only slight social interaction at school. Soon more people begin to join this club and the seeds of friendship begin to sprout while the members seem to constantly deny their forming friendships.
The Members of the Neighbors Club and Why They've Joined
Kodaka Hasegawa is the main character this series revolves around. He is a 17 year old transfer student at St. Chronica's and has been completely unable to make any friends after being there for a month. The reasons Kodaka cannot make any friends is due to his dirty brown with a ring of blonde hair which makes him look like a delinquent. This is also accompanied by how his actions are often misinterpreted by all the students and staff at the school, leading to rumors being spread about him.
Yozora Mikazuki appears to be the deuteragonist of this series and is a black haired girl with a rough personality. She is abusive, manipulative, intelligent, and has a rather anti-social personality in general. Due to this, she hasn’t been able, nor really desired to make any friends during her high school life.
Sena Kashiwazaki is the tritagonist of this series and is known at St. Chronica’s to be the beautiful blonde genius who constantly has a flock of boys around her who only want to date her or worship her, not be her friends. She is also the headmaster’s only daughter and so has a rather high view of herself. The reasons Sena has been unable to obtain any actual friends is due to her arrogant personality and the fact that she is already really popular with all the males. Because of this, the females in her class treat her as an outcast.
Kobato Hasegawa is Kodaka’s younger sister who is still in junior high and has a large brother complex. She has naturally blonde hair and is always dressed in gothic clothing because she’s cosplaying "Reisys V. Felicity Sumeragi", her favorite character from the anime series “Kurogane no Necromancer”. she believes she doesn’t need anyone if she has her brother and she gets largely jealous if Kodaka is paying more attention to someone OTHER than her. She is quite popular in her own class and her classmates have tried making friends with her, but she constantly denies their attempts.
Yukimura Kusunoki is biologically a female but believes he is a male. He has short brown hair and a rather feminine nature and wants to become manlier, due to this he becomes obsessed with Kodaka as a male icon. Yukimura doesn’t have any friends because he is female but believes he’s male; this can lead to rather awkward situations such as undressing in a room full of her male classmates, which leads them all to flee the room. Despite his gentle and sweet personality, this is why his classmates avoid him and he doesn’t have any friends.
Rika Shiguma is a genius in the sciences and would spend most of her day creating inventions and experiments. She has a rather anti-social personality and thus would spend all of her time alone. She is always seen wearing glasses, having her long brown hair in a ponytail and wearing her white lab coat. Even though this appearance makes her seem like a serious character, she actually makes constant sexual themed jokes to her fellow club members and is also a self-proclaimed Fujoshi. The reason she doesn’t have any friends is due to her nature of hiding away in her own personal laboratory within the school.
Maria Takayama is only 10 years old and already a nun and the Neighbors Club adviser who is extremely easy to bribe with snacks. Due to her age, she has a rather childish personality and is also rather gullible. She used to use the club room as her nap room, but due to her gullible nature Yozura was easily able to trick her into letting the Neighbors Club use her nap room and for her to become the club’s advisor. She doesn’t have any friends due to her rudeness and childish behavior.
Who should watch it and why?
This series is perfect for almost anyone to watch, but should only be recommended to those from the ages 13+ as there are a large amount of sexual references, especially once Rika Shiguma debuts within the series. Since it’s about making friendships and helping each other out, it’s a good influence on young minds and older minds while also being more than entertaining enough to make you addicted after only the first episode.
Similar Anime
1. Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru
Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai revolve around a lead male character and female main characters and is filled with humor as the characters go about their lives. Both series have the lead character becoming a member within a club and gaining valuable friendships through all of their struggles and dramas together.
2. Toradora!
Both series revolve around a high school boy whose actions are always misinterpreted due to their delinquent looks. There are struggles, friendships, a little romance and comedy all mixed into these entertaining slice of life series.
3. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.
These two series are both full of comedy and friendships. Where Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai starts as being lighthearted, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru is a rather fast paced series which has a lot more sexual references. Both leading main characters are surrounded by their female club members and develop friendships and possible love interests as the series progress.
4. Clannad
Both series revolve around a male and female character starting a class together. Unlike Boku wa Tomadachi ga Sukunai, the characters within Clannad already have friends, but as their clubs grow so do their amount of friends. Both series start as lighthearted slice of life anime with a mixture of comedy, friendship and slight romance pushed into it.
5. Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!
The two anime revolve around a leading character who doesn’t have any friends. They have slice of life themes, comedy and the leading character developing friendships as the series progress. Whereas Boku wa Tomadachi ga Sukunai has a male leading character, this series has a female lead character, but both leading characters have appearances that make them misunderstood.
