Common Name: Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge
Alternative Names: Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
Score: 8/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes, 42 Mini-episodes
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life, School Life, Romance
Summary: For most high schoolers, life is all about running around and having fun with your friends, romance, and rushing through the day's assignments and studies so they can back to those other things. For Tanaka, that isn't the case though. While he does pay lip service to all those things, he'd much rather spend every second of every day napping and spacing out. He still cares about his friends and can be occasionally be seen doing things for them but, most of the time, Tanaka is content to make the most of his lot in life as the weakest, meekest, and most lethargic high school student the world has ever seen.
Review: Out of all the laid-back, chill shows I've seen in recent years, Tanaka-kun is Always Listless is and will always be the king. It's one thing when Yuru Camp or Flying Witch chills out with their premise episode to episode. It's another for an entire series to just fundamentally exist as the avatar of the concept of chill that I love so much. Now, just because this show exists as the avatar of an entire genre that I readily worship, doesn't mean I'm inclined to call it any kind of masterpiece. After all, as title of the "greatest chill show ever" naturally suggests, this show is nothing if not unambitious.
I'm sure Tanaka would be interested in trying his hand at world domination,
once he's achieved Cthulhu levels of listlessness.
Put plainly, this show is funny and amusing without particularly trying to force those laughs. The comedy that keeps this show going naturally flows from the interactions you'd expect from the characters that make up the main cast. While that means that the jokes can usually be seen coming from a mile away and occasionally grow a tad repetitive, it's kinda hard to fault the show for that issue since simplicity and repetition are all the main character wants in his life. Tanaka is, as the title suggests, fundamentally defined by his listlessness--his desire to live every minute of every day without needing to do anything. Yet, since he was unfortunately born into this world as a human being, he acknowledges that some minimal level of effort is expected of him if he's going to even survive in this world. That means finding the time and energy to get up, go to school, interact with those who are inexplicably inclined to call him a friend, manage his body's daily needs, and then head back home when the day is done. While Tanaka's mentality might sound horribly self-centered and arrogant, because it is, it is worth noting that he does take time out of his day to actually consider those around him. If he notices that a friend is having a rough go of things, Tanaka does at least try to offer some level of friendly interaction or commentary that might set things right for them. Granted, much like his spirit animal the sloth, Tanaka's perception and initiative skills are functionally nonexistent so he rarely ever rises to the challenge of being a particularly helpful or encouraging friend to the people around him.
To reiterate, though, simply existing is pretty tough for this kid so it's not like he can be blamed
for not living up to the standards set by every male protagonist in anime ever.
Considering that the nontraditional main character of this show functionally exists as either a weirdly philosophical child or a human-sized amoeba, the difference between the two depending mostly on how much you actually like Tanaka, you might be wonder how he and this show actually function. Well, the answer is rather simple. While Tanaka basically tries to nap his way through the entire show, the rest of the cast luggage carry him and the plot along as they run into various scenarios and conflicts that tend to be surprisingly emotional or quietly hilarious. First and foremost among this cast of actual characters is Tanaka's knight in shining armor and best friend, Ohta. Functionally speaking, Ohta is Tanaka's caretaker and someone who brings a lot of personality to the show due to his gap moe nature. Unlike the thin and frail Tanaka, Ohta is tall, strong, and a bit mean looking. In spite of his naturally intimidating looks, though, he's characterized as a generally good guy and an absolute sweetheart with a sweet tooth packed with more drive and ambition than Tanaka has in his entire body. Though it's never really explained how Ohta and Tanaka came to be friends, their relationship is strangely similar to that of an old married couple--in that it's a rare day when you see one without the other--without them actually being a couple or even remotely interested in each other romantically. So, on the one hand, you could simply say that they're two friends who get along really well. You wouldn't be wrong though to say that their relationship isn't exactly healthy.
Well, unhealthy for Tanaka anyway. I bet carrying someone around all the time
makes for great cardio and weight training.
Following these two lovebirds, we come a couple of characters who might actually be lovebirds or are just really good friends, depending on how accurate the translation for this show actually is. While that little issue is a point of contention for the whole of this show, the friendship shared between Miyano and Echizen mainly serves as a fair comparison to Ohta and Tanaka's relationship while being infinitely more reasonable and dynamic. Miyano, the tiny, genki-moe cinnamon bun of the show, basically always wants to be the best at anything she tries her hand at and puts all the effort she can into making that goal a reality. This, understandably, is a point of hilarity when she suddenly decides she wants to act more like an adult and tries her best to emulate Tanaka's personality, thinking Tanaka's listlessness as the height of maturity. Following a similar line of thought, Echizen also strives to be something she isn't, acting like a delinquent when she is, in reality, is a kind and generous person. As a unified whole, however, these two are great friends because they each see something in the other that they admire because they lack that something themselves. In other words, Miyano loves/admires Echizen because she's more "mature" and adult-looking while Echizen loves/admires Miyano for being so goddamn adorable.
Why are these two not the main characters again?!
As much as I'd prefer a show about those two doing their thing, this show is accurately and fairly labeled as being Tanaka's for two main reasons. Firstly, most of this show's plot and comedic gags just kinda happen to Tanaka against his wishes, which affords the show a near-constant layer of schadenfreudic comedy. Secondly, whether he knows it or not, Tanaka's listlessness is actually something of an inspiration to the rest of the cast. Strange as that might sound, this point comes to the forefront and really shines during the introduction arc for this show's last principle character, the school idol Shiraishi. Burdened by constantly maintaining the "perfect school girl" persona she created for herself in an effort to make new friends in high school, Shiraishi functions as an example of the consequences of trying to be something you're not. As the show goes on and Shiraishi watches Tanaka basically just be who he wants to be, consequences be damned, she comes to learn that there might not be any harm in letting her persona slip just a little bit. As her polar opposite, Tanaka's mere existence indicates that there might be some room for compromise between Shiraishi's two selves, a middle ground between her idealized self and her true self that will afford her some comfort.
Since this is kind of a teen drama for Shiraishi, though, learning to idealize Tanaka's listlessness
also means she starts idealizing him in a romantic sense which,
unfortunately, just causes her more undue stress.
When you consider how Tanaka unwittingly becomes Shiraishi's hero as the show goes on, it makes a weird kind of sense why he's the show's focus. Whether he wants to be or not, Tanaka presence does influence the lives of those around him just because he stands out from the crowd. In essence, Tanaka's listlessness is a well-meaning message taken to a comedic extreme. Consider for a moment how Miyano, Echizen, and Shiraishi all struggle with the drama and problems that are born of trying to be something they're not, eliciting varying degrees of self-harm along the way, while Tanaka and Ohta are seen living happy and fulfilling lives because they don't stress about trying to be something they're not. By blending that drama with their personal contentedness, the show effectively creates a message that emphasizes that you should "just be yourself." Yet, in creating this message, it's worth noting that the show never shirks from stating that Tanaka's way of living shouldn't actually be idolized since it isn't a healthy way to live. If anything, all the frustration Tanaka suffers in his pursuit of total stagnation does him just as much harm as the rest of the cast forcing themselves to be something they're not. So, in a weird, roundabout kind of way, this show actually manages to create a weird kind of Zen lesson that true happiness can only be achieved by realizing and balancing the identifies of the person we want to be with the person we truly are.
How does show manage to be so insightful and Zen while looking so fluffy and thoughtless?!
That kind of pairing just shouldn't be possible! And yet here it is, doing just that!
I suppose it's that weird level of thoughtful insight packaged in such an unassuming and chill package that makes me trump this show as "the king of chill anime." While it is definitely a cutesy, laid-back, moe comedy, it manages to be something more. It manages to become something unexpected and amazing while still sticking to the roots that undoubtedly inspired its creation--titles like Lucky Star, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, and GJ-bu. In doing so, however, I think it has placed itself up there with some of the titles I consider to be "The Greats" of this genre like: A Place Further Than the Universe, Non Non Biyori, and even Nichijou. While the visuals and even the show's brand of comedy are nothing to write about, it manages to stand apart from the crowd thanks to its overall message and the levels of chill this show emits. Through everything from the tone and pacing to the music, this is one of those shows that was made to just sit back and enjoy with as little thought as possible as it quietly imparts some Zen wisdom. Some people might call that boring and I can't really fault them for that feeling. For me and many others, though, this is the right kind of boring to make the end of a day quiet, funny, and enjoyable. In other words, give this show a shot in whatever means you prefer, since both the sub and sub are pretty darn good.