Hai! Yuru Yuri review, hajimaru yo~!
“Meh, here’s another god damn moe blob slice-of-life. I don’t understand why people like shit like this…”
If this is your mindset, then even without saying it, you know you should pass up on the offer; however, if you have do have an interest in slice-of-life anime, comedies, or shoujo ai (You should note that shoujo ai is not a major genre. It doesn’t have as much yuri as you would expect from its title), then go for it. I started watching Yuru Yuri thinking it would be fantastic, and do you know how it turned out? Yuru Yuri absolutely amazed me by how it was more than fantastic, it was glorious! I do not even remember the last time I have laughed so much. I know that I laughed in every episode and I loved every minute of it. Do you know what else? I am actually quite sad that the show is over, but as they say, “all good things come to an end.”
What is anime? Anime is a form of entertainment. If you find anime unentertaining, maybe you should pick up another hobby (I’m looking at you, Mister “I rate everything 5s and below”) and think about it. Next question: Does entertainment need things like “plot”, “development”, or “climax”? The answer is no. Entertainment is something that entertains you. It is most does not have to have any of those things. Recently, many anime watchers are too stuck up in their ideals that all slice-of-life shows are bad because they lack a plot. I can only reply by saying that slice-of-life entertains me to no end. Tying this all back to Yuru Yuri, I can clearly say that Yuru Yuri gave me such an abundance of enjoyment that I can only agree that Yuru Yuri is indeed a good anime.
So does Yuru Yuri have a story? Does Yuru Yuri have development? Does Yuru Yuri have a climax? It probably does not more than it does, but does that stop it from being entertaining? You can bet it does not. If you think you could enjoy Yuru Yuri, if you are not a slice-of-life hater, you will enjoy Yuru Yuri. If you watch the beginning of the first episode, you may think it looks exactly like a stereotypical slice-of-life, but don’t be fooled! That opinion will change very quickly! Every episode made me laugh. Some episodes made me surprised, some episodes left me shocked, and some even left me sad. Yuru Yuri can definitely bring out all of these emotions and more, but still have you smiling at the very end of each episode.
Opinions are always hard to form on art style and quality. You can hate it, love it, or don’t mind it. If you’re like me, art doesn’t play that big of a role and you’re excepting of most art styles. So how is the art style for Yuru Yuri? It’s fantastic to me. The character designs are pretty darn cute and the animation flows nicely and sometimes reminds me of Gurren Lagann. Art actually takes a big role despite being your typical anime. The art switches to fit the mood, and in one episode in particular, the art is definitely interesting… I won’t explain though, as I don’t wish to spoil the fun, but it definitely left me laughing. Bottom line? The art style is cute and definitely fitting (The facial expressions always make me laugh), and the animation certainly flows smoothly.
And what do we have for characters? Surprise, it’s your typical four cute girls doing cute things, right? Yes and no. If you continue to watch the show, there’s only three main characters… no wait… uh… In any case, there are more than just your four main characters. We also have the four members of the student council that frequently (almost every episode, so they might as well be main characters) appears and interacts with your four main girls who are members of the Amusement Club. Our lovely protagonist is Akari, who appears at the start of each episode, actually has the least amount of presence. You may think it’s a bad thing, but it’s not because that’s the joke. It’s referenced to in every episode and it’s a genius joke that never ceases to make me laugh. If we were to name the true main character, it would most likely be Kyouko, our hyperactive and fearless leader. She’s hilarious and makes everything enjoyable. Yui, her close friend, plays the straight man and gets embarrassed easily leading to very laughable situations. Chinatsu, our typical pink haired character, has a somewhat nasty personality, but her cosplay and hilarious art makes up for it. Finally, we have our student council members who are recurring characters for each episode. Ayano, the vice president, has a love interest, the most prominent source of Yuri in the show, with Kyouko. Ayano’s a bit of tsundere making her a likable character, but she also has a hilarious way of speaking where she will put the first syllable of the word at the end. Next, we have Chitose who has nosebleeds and is fond of KyoukoxAyano. Her twin sister, Chizuru has a drooling obsession for ChitosexAyano. Chitose has much more of cheerful personality in contrast to Chizuru who is cold. Chitose has much more aire time than her younger sister does, though. Finally, we have the two first year members of the student council, Sakuraku, who is a “baka” tsundere, and Himawari, who is the breast/ojou-sama factor. Hilariously, Sakuraku and Himawari are tsundere for each other leading to endless hilarity. Furthermore, the creator of the series went as far as submitting a marriage proposal under their names. Truly, that’s genius!
Yuriyurarararayuruyuri~ The OP and ED are hilarious and are more of an acquired taste. If you don’t like them, you’ll either end up finding them annoying or end up loving them. I personally find the use of the anime title in any OP genius. The soundtrack was fantastic, there wasn’t any piece of music that made me want to kill myself; furthermore, the music smoothly fits each scene to ensure the viewer receives the right emotions. And how about that voice acting cast? First, we have the pro, Toyosaki Aki (Chitose), returning for another voicing role as well as another well-known voice actress, Fujita Saki (Ayano), who is famous for Miku’s voice if you didn’t know; however, the four main characters are all voiced by fairly brand new voice actresses who are only taking on their first or second roles. And how did it turn out? These girls did a fantastic job. Their voices were brilliant. I can absolutely see them, Ootsubo Yuka (Kyouko) especially, rising to the top in the future because she did a marvelous job.
So did I enjoy this series? You can sure bet I did. And you know? If you have any interest at all, you’ll enjoy it too and end up laughing hysterically! I promise. To those of you who have actually stuck around to the end of this review, I thank you graciously for taking the time to read it. To those of you who are reading this after finishing Yuru Yuri and disagree with me, I only wish you tell me a few things:
Tell me you didn’t laugh when you saw what was in Akari’s sister’s room in episode one.
Tell me you didn’t laugh when Akari is totally blocked/loses her presence in the beginning of the episode three.
Tell me you didn’t smile at the Higurashi reference, or tell me you weren’t shocked at the sudden development in episode five.
Tell me you weren’t scared as hell in episode six.
Tell me the presence jokes don’t continue to make you laugh in episode ten.
Tell me you didn’t almost cry in episode eleven.
Tell me you didn’t enjoy Yuru Yuri.
