Reviews

There is a very fine line between “Relaxing” and “Boring.” Rokuhoudou constantly switches between the two. Some episodes give off the perfect feeling of peace and relaxation with a quiet atmosphere and characters taking time off from their hard lives to have dessert or drink some tea. Other episodes can get borderline sleep inducing. Not because of the peaceful premise, but out of sheer boredom. It’s not particularly enjoyable whenever the anime tries to be anything besides calming. The humor never lands and the character development isn’t interesting. Most episodes tend to focus on new customers visiting the tea shop with their own personal issues. Almost all of these personal issues end up being solved by good food or a good drink. It’s not exactly the most dynamic or engaging, but some episodes still manage to be very calming when it handles each character embracing the peacefulness of the tea shop. I kind of wish it stuck with being episodic, as some customers get multiple episodes or segments. Most of them end up feeling like they are overstaying their welcome. As for the actual main cast, I don’t really have much to say. None of them were very interesting or memorable, but none of them were bad. They played their roles adequately. There was a big subplot that the anime built up throughout the entire 12 episodes surrounding one of the MC’s and his brother, but that did not go anywhere. Nothing was really gained from it, it wasn’t interesting, and it didn’t even deliver any character development so it felt like a waste of time. Still, the anime was calming and peaceful when it really tried. While nothing was amazing, memorable, or engaging, Rokuhoudou is still a decent watch for those looking to relax with something easy.