STORY
The story is rather simple. Umaru moves in with her brother, and she is a secret otaku. Although that is the overall story, each episode is split into several different mini-stories that usually contain many laughs and parodies of Japanese culture. Speaking of parodies, there are a lot and you may come across many parodies throughout your time watching this anime. One parody that many people might not catch is that the famous Japanese department store Aeon is named Nyaon. Nya is the sound a cat makes in the Japanese language. Besides these things, don't expect to have a full blown story with plot elements. The parodies are what makes this show so great and I think many people will like The Grudge parody.
ANIMATION
The animation is typical of any shoujo anime, so don't expect any awesome cgi. I will say that I love how the characters are dressed and drawn and it really fits there personality. Whether Umaru is wearing her hamster hooded coat or her cute attire, it is fun to see how cute she really is. That brings up another good point. In my humble opinion, the Japanese have some bad fashion taste that I have seen so to see these anime characters dressed so nicely, it was another one of those special treats.
SOUND
Let me start off by saying that the opening and ending theme songs are really great and whenever I think of Himouto! Umaru-chan anime, those are the first sounds to pop in my head. The OST is not that bad either, but don't expect a Clannad OST here. It's just your typical shoujo anime OST, except slightly better.
Characters
There are five main characters: Umaru (indoor and outdoor mode), Ebina-chan, Umaru's brother, Kirie-chan, and Tachibana. Each character has his or her own personality that I think people will rather adore. Some anime fans I know or at an impasse when it comes to Umaru. Some think she is selfish and stuck-up while others don't care and say it's part of the show. I, for one, like both personalities that Umaru presents to the anime. I, like everyone else, wish that her brother would put his foot down sometimes, though.
VERDICT/ENJOYMENT
I thoroughly enjoyed Himouto! Umaru-chan and think that fans of comedy or the shoujo genre will like this anime too. My only real complaint is that I wish we would have seen more of Umaru's outside mode more because she is so freaking cute. Also, I think that we didn't get to see enough of Ebina-chan and Kirie-chan. Besides those two things, the anime was great and followed the manga panel by panel.
