A 2011 anime based on a manga starring four school girls who are part of a school club where they just do whatever they feel like.

Normally this premise would both bore and annoying the crap out of me, but there's something about this show that I just can't help but enjoy. Maybe because unlike the other dime-a-dozen moeblob slice of life anime I actually find this one funny? Maybe the characters are more endearing? Who knows.

None is more endearing than this precious baby by the name of Akari Akaza.



Cheerful, considerate and a bit of a dork, Akari is incapable of hating anyone. So one of the most frustrating things about the series for me is that she is the constant target of every kind of mishap imaginable. 

If she says she's proud of something she did, expect that something to be ruined. If she says she's happy, expect something to take that away. She's also the source of a running gag (and resulting meme) that she lacks presence. She doesn't seem to stand out much and people often joke about that like "Why did you post a blank picture with hearts?" and such. How could anyone not notice something so adorable?

Of course it's not all bad. The constant jokes about her actually end up making her one of the more interesting characters, even the writer of the manga acknowledged this.

Speaking of the manga, there's one big difference between the anime and the manga. The manga has NO concept of fourth wall. Characters will frequently reference the fact that they're in a manga and mention the writer and everything. 

One particularly noteworthy scene involved the student council elections coming up in September. The final day of August has passed, but when a character tears the page off the Calender... November? 

"Oh, the writer decided to skip over to November. Maybe we'll have the elections next time." The anime has only ever done one thing that comes to mind that shows it runs on Simpsons time, which was shown in episode 10 of both the first and second seasons. Even though a year has apparently passed, the students are still in the same grade.

You might have noticed the word "Yuri" in the title. Well don't get too excited, the title basically translates as "Easygoing Yuri" so don't expect to see stuff like girls kissing every episode. There are girl-crushes and tsundereness abound, but it never really progresses anywhere. It's just a fun, silly show where the male gender is apparently extinct.

Honestly, I think this is really one of the least enjoyable group-of-girls-hang-out-and-comedy-ensues shows I've seen. A lot of it is personal preference for more "atmospheric" shows I guess, like K-ON!, Hidamari Sketch, etc., but even still I think the comedy here was pretty repetitive and boring, maybe.

Or that's what I say, anyway. Though I think it's possible that the real reason I don't like it much is I really really really couldn't stand Chitose and Chizuru and they just sort of ruined the entire show for me. I haven't watched the first season since it aired though, so maybe I'd like it more on rewatching it.

Either way though, I did end up liking the second season more than the first. There was more Akari, more Kyoko, more Sakurako, and less of any of the characters I didn't like.

I do have to agree with the second season being more entertaining. The first season was almost entirely dedicated to Kyouko and she can be funny, but most of the time she's just obnoxious. 

There always has to be that one girl who has to be really obnoxious and stupid and get hit by the others. Looking at you Ritsu.

Also Ayano being tsundere for Kyouko and Chitose's nosebleed fantasies got pretty old. I'm glad the second season focused more on the first year students, and was less abusive to Akari.