Reviews

Dec 25, 2021
The title is misleading. Well, sort of, just not in the way you think.

When I first glanced at the promotional picture of My Senpai is Annoying, along with its anime title, I instinctively thought the “annoying” part was applied to the big, muscular guy in the promotion picture: Futaba Igarashi’s senpai, Harumi Takeda. I thought this show was going to center its gags, plot, and moments around Takeda actively teasing and annoying Igarashi to no end. I was proven wrong. The “annoying” part is really from the perspective of Igarashi. In the office space that she has been working in for the past two years, Igarashi wants to impress her co-workers and her senpai. It’s the natural thing to do. But given her unusually short height, cute, and charming personality, Igarashi’s co-workers and her senpai often make fun of her in a light-hearted demeanor. They, including Takeda, appreciate Igarashi’s driven personality and dedication to her work, of course. So one of the ways they acknowledge Igarashi is by interacting with her in a manner that makes her think they’re just teasing her. And the anime emphasizes this in clever ways. But as the series progresses, Igarashi also realizes this and plays along. The bonding moments between Igarashi, Takeda, Touko Sakurai, and the other co-workers make up the large majority of the wholesome moments.

What I like about this show is that the moments of wholesomeness, interactions, and developments feel natural. The chemistry between Igarashi and her supporting cast is just right. Their personalities and quirks play off each other nicely. When all these elements play well together, it makes the romantic pieces between Igarashi and Takeda, Sakurai and Kazama, feel genuine.

An anime isn’t complete without a great cast of voice actors who fit the personalities of the characters in their roles. As Japanese voice casting normally goes, the voice castings are more often than not fit the characters up to a T. Take Takeda, for example. Takeda has the voice of a deep, raucous, yet gentle tone. The multi-tone shift that the voice actor of Harumi Takeda can convey gives more liveliness and affection to the big guy that Takeda is. The same goes for Igarashi, Sakurai, Kazama, and so on. Each of the character archetypes is accompanied by the right voices. My Senpai is Annoying is episodic, which adds another positive aspect to this anime because the series utilizes this structure in a crafty way. While each of the episodes is structured individually to continue its episodic entertainment, there are still threads within the narrative that connect one episode to the next. Because of this type of presentation, the characters, and narrative have a feeling of progress rather than being stagnant.

My Senpai is Annoying is one of those shows in a season that can’t go wrong. It’s a fairly conventional series that follows the formula of its predecessors, and just like them, it’s a blast to watch this anime.

Score: 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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