-- the following is a brief paragraph or two on my overall thoughts, followed by a conversation on how this show feels lifeless. reader discretion advised. --
Shikimori was one of those shows that felt like nothing right out of the floodgates. No pointless three episode rule or anything - completely dead on impact and a perfect example of how a slice of life show can fail.
Hidden by good animation, character gestures and boring frames show an inherent laziness. Not everything needs to have references or obvert goofiness to spice up the visuals, but having a unique quality like that makes everything seem so much more alive. A nice OP and ED (the one thing that benefits from the paper-thin plot) sandwich a mediocre middle.
The reason I found Shikimori-san to be a test of endurance is how everything seems undeserved. Moments are presented in grand, spectacular fashion as if they're animation crescendos, important scenes that'll be engraved for years to come... yet they come with characters that haven't grown. Scenes don't feel like an excuse to let the audience learn to love the characters by simply witnessing them, but rather convenient set-ups without emotional backbone, all for payoffs that fall flat.
A terrible decision is to characterize Izumi and Shikimori late into the season. The episode showcases their lives before each other which makes their motivations and fears and their, well, characters, all that more lifelike. Hell, starting with them already dating was a fumble from the offset. The two act as if they're lightly flirting with each other, but they've actually been dating for a full year. Of course there's a cultural gap and every show doesn't need to have the same romantic elements and things vary from person to person, but when the central relationship isn't believable, that's a problem.
Hollow. The comedic efforts of bad luck and badass didn't work and following their school life didn't appeal to me. Probably my least favorite of the season.
