Wow, that was quite the dark opening, wasn't it? Let's...Let's try that again (cough cough).
This show makes me want to find the nearest kitchen utensil and then locate the nearest plug socket so that I will never have to look at this orange football ever again...(that's better!)
If you can't yet tell from my terrible jokes I really do not like this show. What started off a harmless comedy with some fun little jokes stays as such throughout the entire show with no character growth while repeating the same gag over and over again. When this anime was airing last year there was no escaping the orange tic-tac since she was used for every single reaction image and post on every website forum. She was everywhere and unfortunately is still around now. Every Comic-Con I go to, not only am I surrounded by about twenty overweight Narutos, seventy-two Rems and six-hundred Deadpools but also about a million Umarus. As far as the eye can see, all I witness is a shitty waifu. Even in my porn this annoying sister is beginning to show up...and that creeps me out.
The plot of this anime is pretty paper thin and the crust of each scenario and joke is centred around the little sister character being an absolute cunt to her big brother. Teaching kids everywhere that it's fine to throw a tantrum and cry if you don't get your own way just to get your pussy of an older brother to go buy you some potato chips and some cola. Rinse and repeat every episode. Umaru, as a character, is both selfish and annoying in her lifestyle. She has two sides to her life; one in which she is a model student at her school and one in which she shrinks down and becomes the useless slob that she is at heart. While this can provide some comedy for the show most of the comedy is derivative of Umaru crying to get her own way or simply watching her play games and eating food.
Umaru's main problem is that she doesn't grow as a character in the slightest. She stays exactly the same throughout the show and the fact that the show hints at her realising that she is a little too selfish is a kick in the balls to the audience as they never do anything with it and she devolves back into the cunt that she is. Many little sisters of this nature have the same problems in anime. Take for example Kirino from the anime 'my little sister can't possibly be this much of a cunt'. She too is a selfish prick and never changes in her narrative but to be fair, Umaru is not as much of a bitch as she is...she is just annoying. Umaru, in a way, glorifies the lazy and self-entitled lifestyle that some kids are living today. You can call me cynical, and perhaps I am for thinking about this show in this nature but the entire show comes across that being a worthless member of society is okay as long as you can get someone to buy you stuff while you remain a selfish asshole.
The older brother is a character whom I want to reach through the computer screen and slap. As someone who has three little sisters myself, one of which is about the same age as Umaru herself I feel embarrassed by how much of a pussy he is. He never actually stands up for himself or tries to make Umaru see the error of her ways. He is just there and that's it. In terms of the supporting cast, they're a bit more lively and interesting and have more in the way of comedy. I liked Ebina the most...especially her boobs. Yes, it's shallow but if the show is this shallow, I might as well be too. The comedy is kind of hit or miss for me. While there were some moments that I felt were generally well executed there were plenty in which I couldn't care for and most of the time the writers constantly repeat jokes throughout the show. The narrative is pretty bare-bones and I'm not expecting anything remarkable out of a slice-of-life show's story but when the cast is this boring and the comedy is this stale I lose interest fast. The music was okay at best but the wooden train flute got annoying really quickly. The animation and art design was decent and get the job done but is nothing remarkable as a whole.
Overall Umaru is a show with weak comedy and one of the worst main characters I have ever seen. Umaru was just too much of a dick for me to properly enjoy myself with this show and every time she was on screen I wanted to punch her through the monitor. One may argue that I am taking the show too seriously and that I should enjoy it for what it is. That's fine, but the show's comedy is so awful that I find that impossible. If you want to learn how to be the ultimate useless member of society, then watch this show. Awaken the Umaru in you...
