Skip and Loafer shows that you can excel with just the basics. The characters act like human beings. Words that end with -dere are abandoned in favor of writing actually good characters. Each character has their own colorful and interesting personality and they interact like real human beings would. The characters also stay true to their personality and act accordingly. It is great that a writer finally got rid of the stupid one-trait characters that only do one thing.
There is no crazy premise or story with time-travel or whatnot. The setting is just a normal high school setting. Life is chill and there are no crazy stakes like death, poverty or world ending disaster. There is just the normal high school drama and their usual social interactions like friendship, conflict, school and events.
However, Skip and Loafer skillfully makes this interesting to watch. You see the effort characters expend to connect with each other. There is sometimes friction due to misunderstandings, jealousy or malice. Other times, friendships grow due to positive experiences between people. There are no deadly stakes, but there are stakes which matter and are relatable. People aren't instantly friends but their relationships develop based on their experiences.
The main characters and their interactions specifically sell the show for me. This is not a story of boy meets girl and instantly they fall in love. In fact, the romance aspect is sparse here. Sousuke himself is very socially adept and knows how to deal with others. However, he is cryptic and hides his true thoughts. Of course, you can infer how he feels a lot of the time due to his behavior and tone, but he will always politely smile and try to hide his true self. He becomes friends with his opposite, Mitsumi. She is transparent, headfirst and a little socially awkward. She interacts with people in good faith and speaks her mind.
My personal analysis is that Sousuke becomes friends with Mitsumi because he feels comfortable speaking with someone who has no ulterior motives. Mitsumi becomes friends with Sousuke because she enjoys their time together and she learns more about social norms through him. It is a very interesting dynamic and it makes perfect sense why they would be friends.
Sousuke's cryptic personality drives the story forward due to the viewer's knowledge that he is hiding something, especially when he deflects some questions. On the other hand, Mitsumi drives the plot forward in a "hero's journey" kind of way. The viewer knows her goals and you watch her try to achieve them. In a sense, Sousuke is the "mystery" aspect of the show and Mitsumi is the "straightforward journey"
The show relies on "show don't tell". Sousuke doesn't say "My polite smile hides what I truly think." You see it through the changes in his voice, how he talks, how he behaves, how talkative he is, etc. In fact, it is impressive how they took a character who is supposed to be cryptic and they made him subtly change his behavior based on what he is feeling. The rest of the cast operates in a similar way. Sometimes you can infer their motivations just by how they phrase their sentences or how they act.
There is nothing crazy but the creators have made a great show. I hope there are more seasons. I gave this 8/10 in my personal list purely because I had to rate it lower than certain other shows and movies, but it easily deserves a 9. This is my favorite anime romcom.