There are three high school girls: Tanaka, nicknamed “Idiot” for her low test scores; Kikuchi, nicknamed “Ota” for her obsession with boys-love stories; and Saginomiya, nicknamed “Robot” for being a genius but emotionless. Together with a colorful cast of characters, the hopeless girls live wasteful days of youth. – ANN
Streaming: Hidive
Episodes: 12
Source: Manga
Episode Summary: Nozomu and her friends are about to start their first day of high school, but even with all the big changes that are likely in store for them she really only has one goal – to become popular with boys. That might be an issue, since she’s only now realized that her high school is girls-only, she doesn’t have any childhood friends to hit up, and her two closest friends are a girl with a robotic personality, and an otaku – not exactly experienced in the romantic arts. Even their homeroom teacher immediately quashes any latent fantasies about teacher-student relations – he drastically prefers college women, especially those in business attire interviewing for jobs, and has no interest in getting fired for the sake of a forbidden romance.
Nozomu tries her best to troll for male prospects, approaching strangers in the hallway between classes and asking them to introduce her to their male friends. Of course, she doesn’t endear herself to anyone since she’s given most of them unflattering nicknames already. Still, she has vivid (unrealistic) fantasies about meeting boys and leaving an impression as an “interesting woman.” The difference between her idealized life and her reality earn her the nickname “Baka.”
Impressions: Anime is full of “idiot” characters. Characters who aren’t necessarily uneducated in the traditional sense, but those who are willfully and boisterously contrary to the reality that surrounds them. I think the Japanese word “Baka” actually does a better job of summarizing why these types of characters are entertaining than any word in English – the kanji for the word (馬鹿) are the two characters for “horse” and “deer,” and that’s a very ridiculous image indeed. They’re the type of character who approaches life awkwardly but without shame, and there’s just something inherently funny in that.
It makes sense, then, that Nozomu earns the nickname of “Baka” by the end of this first episode, because she’s a prime example of what makes these characters entertaining (or not, depending on your tolerance level). She’s absentminded (not realizing that applying to a “girls school” means that there won’t be any male students), unconcerned about doing any actual schoolwork, and has a one-track mind regarding her major life goal – becoming popular among high school boys. She clings to the high school image that she has in her mind rather than accepting the reality that’s right in front of her. That, in theory, makes her an entertaining protagonist.
Whether or not she’s actually entertaining, rather than irritating, is really going to be up to the tolerances of the viewer. I wouldn’t call myself an anime fan who seeks out slice-of-life nonsense comedies, but I’ve certainly enjoyed them in the past. The tropes, including the ones surrounding the requisite goofball characters, don’t tend to bother me just on principle. On the other hand, I think “baka” characters can be especially grating to some people, because by design they say and do stupid and contrary things that seem to defy basic logic, and for a lot of folks that can be really frustrating to watch. Nozomu has a big personality and a big mouth, even going so far as to argue with her teacher during a supplementary lesson. I thought this was funny just because “Baka” was being so utterly baka-esque, but I can feel just how borderline this behavior might seem to someone who’s not able to “buy in” to the series’ inherent lack of reality.
This is apparently an ensemble comedy, but Nozomu takes up so much of the featured time throughout the episode that the other characters don’t receive a lot of development energy. Shiori and Akane are the other two members of the central trio, but beyond Shiori’s strange affinity for different bacteria and her distinct lack of emotion, and Akane’s latent otaku interests, we don’t get much sense for how their different personalities play into one-another. The characters don’t even seem to like each other that much; their relationship seems to be one built on convenience and proximity rather than any kind of mutual bond. There are also a few more peripheral characters who show up a few times, though the one I remember the most clearly is a blonde girl with obvious chuuni (delusional middle-schooler) tendencies whose introduction makes full use of those types of stereotypes.
This episode gave me a few chuckles throughout, but I think part of the reason why I wasn’t a little more smitten has to do with how rote everything seems. There are plenty of comedies nowadays about teenage girls with garbage attitudes, and some of them are actually quite good. Whereas some of these series, like Asobi Asobase for example, distinguished themselves through amusing visual aesthetics and the interplay between teenagers who are naive about life’s details and adults who aren’t that much more educated about them, this episode looks pretty standard, plays pretty standard, and just doesn’t do a whole lot to distinguish itself from the pack. I’ve read it elsewhere, and I agree; in a season that’s already given us something like O Maidens in Your Savage Season, a series about adolescent girls that’s clearly very above-average, it’s difficult to look at a typical comedy series like this one and not feel a little bit let-down.
Unlike most anime comedies, this one did give me a couple of decent laughs, so I feel like it might be worthwhile to step away from it for a little bit and give it another go once the season has settled down somewhat. There was certainly nothing I found too offensive about it (on the contrary, the teacher character shuts down any notion of untoward relationships with his students within the first two minutes of his introduction, which is more than I can say about some series that are considered much “better”). I just think that this has already been a very good season for new anime, so mediocrity is likelier to put something on the chopping block.
Pros: The first episode is mildly funny, especially if you can deal with Nozomu’s antics. The teacher immediately shuts down any student-teacher relationship prospects. I kind of love the theme song.
Cons: Some may find Nozomu grating. The other characters get short shrift.
Content Warnings: One young-looking character gets the nickname “Loli.”
Grade: B-