Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! does exactly what is says on the tin and all the comedic hijinks it goes along with it.
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! or Uzaki wants to Hang Out is about Sakurai Shinichi voiced by Kenji Akabane who just wants to have the loner life in university but Uzaki Hana voiced by Naomi Oozora however thinks otherwise and gets Sakurai to be less of a loner and stoic type and more outgoing and thus starts a brilliant yet funny relationship between the two with many a smug smiles, innuendos and teasing to go around.
The basic premise is nothing but that, Uzaki getting Sakurai to go out and "have fun" but it's how Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! executes this and goes ALL THE WAY with it is what makes this anime VERY good.
Before LA begins LA KNOWS this anime has some unwarranted controversy about it and to that once again it's just people who barely looked at the anime itself and judges as so, no Uzaki is not 14 or something, the anime itself makes it clear she's in university thus 18 or so and yes the anime itself does bring in some fanservice jokes about Uzaki's "SUGOI DEKAI", but that's more or less them screeching for the sake of screeching, this comedy anime in itself revolves around Uzaki and Uzaki makes Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! what it is and "changing" it just ruins the anime in it's entirety.
"You can hate whatever you want, but don't diss what someone else likes."
Ok with THAT out of the way, Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!'s primary focus is towards it's comedy and bringing Sakurai into funny situations and his quips towards Uzaki that's one of the best selling points of this anime is IT'S GOLD, to the point it's pretty much lampshaded and used as a running gag with the bystanders of Ami Asai voiced by Ayana Taketatsu and her father along with Itsuhito Sakaki voiced by Tomoya Takagi "eating rice" off those situations.
Now Ami and her father more or less have this bystander approach into nudging Uzaki and Sakurai into a relationship whilst Sakaki takes a more forceful approach, something Ami doesn't like, same goals, differing methods.
Nonetheless the main focus of the anime is Uzaki wanting hang out with Sakurai with MANY comedic hijinks ensuing.
Now the comedy itself does seem refreshing what with the setting of Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! being in university thus what Uzaki wants to do for fun though mostly in the anime template still has it's REALLY funny moments at times and along with the MANY innuendoes both visual and verbal and the great amount of character jabbing at the expense of Sakurai and the awkward settings Sakurai gets into thanks to Uzaki (sometimes Sakurai's own doing), the comedic timing of Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! was just on point and better yet we have audience surrogates of Ami and Sakaki for those who wants to just see as a bystander (Ami) and those who wants to push their relationship (Sakaki)
Speaking of which, Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! does nudge the relationship angle between Uzaki and Sakurai alot and though in a meta-sense that Ami and Sakaki also wanting to push that in their own way, the anime DOES dive a little deep into Uzaki and Sakurai's relationship including why Uzaki even wanted to help Sakurai have a fun university life thus instigating the entire "plot" of Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! in the first place which was in itself a nice touch in their relationship.
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! may be minimalistic but what it lacks in "plot" it adds itself to the execution of the premise and it's lovable characters.
The animation done by Studio ENGI and really for their SECOND animation job, it pretty standout, sure it's not exactly action packed and it's more or less a comedy but the comedic timing for the animations to it's vibrant character designs especially with all the outfits the cast goes through. Nonetheless ENGI's animation was juuuust right for this anime and rightfully so.
The voice cast though as minimalistic as the "plot" the voice cast of Naomi Oozora and Kenji Akabane pretty much carried the anime, what with Naomi's smug but genki as all hell cadence to Kenji's one liner quips towards Uzaki was on point and to that end, Ayana Taketatsu also bounced VERY well between Kenji and Naomi's roles in this anime as well with finally Saori Hayami rounding things up as Uzaki's mom bounced off VERY nicely with the rest of the cast as the oblivious "out of the loop" ojou mother to Keni Akanae and Naomi Oozora's antics in their respective roles. Really as minimalistic as this voice cast is, it's bulk and greatness comes from the seiyuu's themselves and the great comedic timings of the cast only made this anime WAAAAAY better.
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! is but a simple anime, but a simple anime that executes itself VERY well for what it does with it's characters. Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! being one of the more memable animes of Summer 2020 at that and with a lovable and funny main cast such as this akin to Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. This was probably LA's favourite comedy anime for Summer 20202 with Uzaki and Ami being waifu material at that to boot and better yet since a second season has been announced, more antics await us with Uzaki wanting to hang out even more~!!!
SUGOI DEKAI, SUGOI DEKAI INDEED.
