Anime Review: Asobi Asobase

Common Name: Asobi Asobase

Score: 10/10, 5/5

Length: 12 Episodes

Genre: Comedy, School Life, Slice of Life, Grimdark

Summary: Honda Hanako, a young girl who is just as lazy and naive as she is smart, isn't the best when it comes to making friends. Olivia, the beautiful daughter of foreign parents, is the kind of person who will taunt and manipulate anyone for a cheap joke, yet always ends up in trouble because of it. Her best and worst gag yet is convincing her class she can't speak Japanese that well, even though it is the only language she's fluent in, just to make Hanako dote on her. Nomura Kasumi, a shy and studious girl with zero language skills, comes upon these two in the midst of their usual antics when the idea strikes her to ask Olivia to help her with her English studies. And so, just like that, a strange and beautiful friendship is born atop a mountain of lies, selfish desires, and abject loneliness--a mountain they have dubbed the "Pastimers Club."

Review: While I have already discussed this show at length during one of my more recent Seasonal Stirrings, don't think for a moment that I've run out of things to say. That is precisely why I'm more than ready to declare Asobi Asobase a comedic "masterpiece." Though it struggles with the constraints of being both a sketch comedy series and one that is based on a manga that is still ongoing, this show manages to offer an incredible amount of well-thought-out and thoughtful comedic gags that people could discuss for some time. It sparks both comedy and discussion in a manner we rarely actually see from anime, including those that are intentionally meant to spark conversation through subversion like this one does. For example, as I noted in that Seasonal Stirring, it's all too easy to look at this show from a feminist lens and see something that is equal parts disturbing and affirming. For the sake of this review, though, I'll attempt to not repeat the points I've already made going forward. Rather, I'll try not to dive too deep and just skim the surface this time, just so I don't end up spoiling or explaining a joke to anyone who might not have seen the series just yet.

Apologies to anyone who actually wanted me to go super deep into this show's themes and

intentions, but I'll be more than happy to talk it over with anyone who wants that little extra.

On the surface, Asobi Asobase functions in much the same way every slice of life comedy does. We are introduced to a group of young and beautiful schoolgirls who spend the vast majority of their days toiling with their various levels of academic skill or lack thereof. Yet their classroom lives are obviously not the show's primary stage since that wouldn't really offer have much to work with. Rather, this show and its comedy feature the three main girls interacting during that oh so magical after school period when most other kids are practicing sports or having fun in their clubs and circles. This is, however, where the 1-to-1 similarities between this show and other slice of life/school life comedies end. Apart from those similarities in table setting, Asobi Asobase serves as a kind of grimdark lampoon on the very idea of a "cutesy, normal high school life." Despite being an absurd lampoon, though, there's a bizarre kind of accuracy to both the show's characters and overall tone. Like actual high school kids, the main characters of this show are rude, crude, mean-spirited, and cynical to the point of being so detached from both the world and their peers that they've effectively made themselves outcasts. Yet, in spite of that, they do form an unlikely friendship that is, like the girls themselves, equal parts believable, adorable, and unsettling.

What this show effectively did to anyone expecting a standard, fluffy slice of life series.

Like nearly every sketch comedy, Asobi Asobase's characters play to a particular trope or archetype that defines what we can expect of them in any given moment. For instance, the character of Honda Hanako is mainly built on the melding of two such tropes I call "the naive rich girl" and "the boy-hungry bitch." Throughout the show, Hanako presents herself as being so out of touch with the real world that she just cannot comprehend the things she lacks that would make her "normal" or "attractive." More to the point, though, she's the very image of someone who has always had easy answers or solutions handed to her and has never had to work for something she wanted. So, it's generally understandable that, upon reaching high school and learning that no one would just automatically want to be her friend or significant other, she would fall into a habit of pouting and resenting those who had the things she doesn't. Following this thread of characterization, the foreign-looking Japanese girl, Olivia, mainly serves the role of being the group's "trickster" character but is fundamentally built as a "willful idiot." What this boils down to, in her case, is that Olivia becomes the kind of character that likes to play tricks on others that often blow back in her face. Rather than owning up to her lies and taking flak for the problems she causes others, though, she stubbornly clings to her lies because she's determined to live and be regarded in a certain way that makes her inherently "special." Lastly, the character Nomura Kasumi can be easily identified as the "socially inept nerd" and the resident "sage of smut." What this fairly standard little combination means that she is far more knowledgable and grounded in reality than her friends but lacks any of the social graces or courage to make her thoughts, feelings, and desires known--particularly when it comes to members of the opposite sex. It is worth noting, of course, that these tropes that establish the characters do not totally define who they are and what they do. Particularly in terms of who they are as students, their roles actually see some amusing twists and turns that feel no less appropriate when considered against their tropes. Kasumi, for instance, is a generally good student except when it comes to English. While odd for a bookworm like her, this fits as a fun twist on her difficulties with communicating with others. Regardless of the twists, turns, or willingness to adhere to these tropes, the simple fact of the matter is that all these girls have, thanks to their own faults as well as those of society, grown into social outcasts that are generally united in their grudging acceptance of this.

Yup. That's real friendship right there.

As the show goes on, the main push of the comedy comes in two forms. The first and main source of comedy is the sketches in which the girls bounce their personalities off one another, melding and repelling one another in clever ways, as they work to address a particular concept. From that idea, the show can typically be seen bringing that thought to its conclusion as far as the girls are concerned, twisting to encompass a separate but no less valid issue, or devolving into a slapstick pastime exhibition that will eventually go horribly wrong. Alternatively, the show often takes a great amount of enjoyment setting up scenarios in which the girls and various other characters and groups clash until both groups end up out of their depths, making for some quality cringe moments. It's worth mentioning, however, that these side characters are rarely thrown into the show without reason and always have some kind of interesting commentary to offer regarding society at large, the role/nature of people like them in society, or their relation to the main characters. Among these outside characters, there are a few that particularly stand out in this way. First among these supporting characters is Hanako's butler, Maeda, whose dotage on Hanako speaks a great deal to her pampered ignorance as well as the reality of what happens when men try to worship and immortalize the innocence of childhood. Second, there is the character of the student council president who spends a good portion of the show sternly stonewalling any and all efforts of the girls' "Pastimers Club" to become an officially recognized, and thus officially funded, club. Yet, beneath her stony exterior, there are brief moments of interior monologue on her part that reveal that she's just as awkward and socially inept as the groups she puts down to maintain some sense of normalcy. This, of course, speaks to the nature of leaders in general who are, inherently, no different from normal people but are warmed by whatever political, ideological, or personal line they are determined to tow. Lastly, there is the character of Aozora Tsugumi, whose questionable gender and sexuality causes some considerable chaos at the all-girls high school they all attend. While the ultimate answer of what kind of person Aozora is doesn't particularly matter, it speaks to a kind of Schroedinger's competency--raising questions on whether Aozora being a boy or girl has any weight on why they are so much more competent than anyone else and that difference even exists. Yet, interestingly enough, this same kind of "are they, aren't they" question also gets some extra use a means of mocking the yuri undertones that usually exist in shows like this as Aozora becomes a potential love interest for one of the girls.

I'll give you a hint: it's the one who would be bothered the most by the possibility of a love interest.

While the show's characters and comedy do wonders to subvert, twist, and mock the all-female slice of life comedy genre, particularly since it does so with fantastic skill and intention, the comedy isn't the only thing that makes this show stand apart. Though that is certainly a large reason why, I personally gained a lot of enjoyment from how thoughtfully accurate the show is in spite of its bottomless wells of dark comedy and cynicism. While I spoke of this idea at greater length in my Seasonal Stirring for the show, takes great pains to be humorous but also honest. Throughout the show, we see the main characters and all the supporting cast show many different sides of themselves--the good and the bad. As troubled and troubling as they are, it's generally hard to deny that the main cast are beautiful young women. They all have something to their general design that makes them attractive on some level. Yet, that inherent beauty doesn't really define them; it's just yet one more truth to consider when looking at these characters objectively. While they are mean, gross, crude, and all-around terrible people, they are also caring, passionate, and funny. Once all those layers and qualities, both physical and not, are added up, you get something pretty damn close to human by my estimations. Yet, it's not just their designs and personalities that make them feel so believably real. Their interactions with one another--awkward, crude, and selfish as they are--make perfect sense. It's not hard to imagine such a group of weirdos and misfits coming together to give each other hell but still cherish each other's company. Recall back to middle school or high school when cliques and clubs became the key to popularity. Without a doubt, you'll recall a bunch of nerds who just kinda ended up together since they weren't in any "real" extracurricular. Heck, maybe you're like me and were one of those nerds. Absurdism might be the ruling principle of this show, yet there's also a lot of truth to the way in which it molds its characters, sketches, and interactions. There's an intentionality to Asobi Asobase that tries and, by my estimation, succeeds at capturing the idea of what it means to be a high school kid. What's more, I fully believe that it captures that multi-layered reality of what it's like to be a girl, equally capable of being as gross and offensive as their male counterparts as they are at catering to the ideals of beauty and sexuality society expects of them. Just look to the dichotomy present in the show's Opening and Ending songs and you'll see what I mean fully on display.

Man, there's a lot of stuff just floating on the surface of this show for me to skim.

I think it's fairly clear where I stand with this show. While I wouldn't necessarily call it objectively perfect, it obviously manages to do a lot with very little. In spite of the inherent constraints of being a plotless sketch comedy, it offers a kind of narrative and batch of themes that make it excel within those constraints. Generally, it should go without saying that this show is not for everyone. As I've harped several times now, it's a rude, crude, and downright filthy show that is just as fascinated with inappropriate language and selfish actions as the teenagers it focuses on. Yet, unlike a certain show I recently reviewed, it does this without reducing itself to being fetishistic in nature or tone. Yes, sexuality and the "male gaze" have a role in the show, but it is one that it openly mocks as the cast manages to turn even the show's lewder moments into something distinctly unsexy.

Here's a taste, just in case you don't believe me.

Honestly, so long as you're willing to put up with this kind of deliberately offensive humor, I think I can say this show's worth a shot. It offers a lot of food for thought in the most ridiculous package possible. If that's not enough to entice though, I suppose I should mention that this show is also generally perfect in execution. The music is funny, playful, and just as cringy as the show itself when it matters. The art and animation are playful in the best ways possible, switching between different styles, designs, and entire mediums just to create a kind of "wtf" reaction that obscures the genius intentionality behind it all. And it's that very intentionality and craftsmanship, I think, that carries this show up to the level of masterpiece and even makes it a strong contender for Anime of the Year. So, again, while this show definitely isn't for everyone, I strongly encourage checking it out of you're even mildly interested.

#Review #Comedy #SchoolLife #SliceofLife #Grimdark #PersonalFavorite