Part of why I have been hesitant to even attempt a review on this anime is due in large part to how little there is to actually talk about. It is easy to list of all things that make a terrible show terrible, however it is fairly difficult to properly explain why a boring show is boring without becoming redundant, and to put it bluntly, Shikimori-san is really freakin' boring. Super boring, and it does not offer anything new to table when it comes to romcoms. Now this is perfectly okay. Not every show needs to provide completely unique content to be considered good. However, if an anime is not going to add anything new to its genre, it needs to provide high quality material that one would typically expect to see to make it worthwhile. Sadly, there is nothing remarkable about this anime. The characters are all largely forgettable, including Shikimori herself. The plot is simple and extremely repetitive. And the humor (which is sub-par to begin with) relies very heavily on the same few gags multiple times every single episode. The only notable thing about this anime is the art, which is its only saving grace. I love the vibrant color pallet and every character at least stands out upon first glance. Unfortunately, a great art style is not enough to save Shikimori-san from the rest of its issues.
Now of course all of this could be forgiven if the couple we are following are at least interesting in some respect. Unfortunately that is not the case here. The dynamic between Shikimori and her boyfriend Izumi is tired at best, and only grows more stale with each passing segment. It is simple, Izumi is cursed with abysmal luck that effectively makes him a walking hazard, while Shikimori is your 'perfect girl' of sorts that can basically do it all. This pairing is supposed to highlight just how cool Shikimori is, thus making her more attractive and likeable to the viewer. Instead, all it does is create a strange dynamic between the two that does not at all resemble boyfriend and girlfriend, but rather a mother and her clumsy son. And this is not at all helped by Shikimori's treatment of Izumi coming off as weird, rather than cute. She's sort of like a yandere, but just not obsessed to the point of wanting to inflict bodily harm on others to keep her man all to herself. This is not helped by the fact that Izumi's attempts at flipping the script are pathetic compared to what Shikimori does for him. It was kind of cool watching Shikimori save Izumi once. It stopped being cool the third time around, and we're only on episode 2.
Unsurprisingly, I did not enjoy watching this show, and ended up dropping it fairly early on in its run. While I do not believe that it deserves the intense amount of hate that it has received, I certainly cannot endorse it as something that's even worth a watch. The thing about bad anime is that they at least provide a viewer with something memorable to think about. Boring anime provide nothing except for wasted time and effort spent finding some valid reason to continue watching. Give this one a skip. There are plenty of better romcoms out there that are worth that time and effort.
