So basically – Yuru Yuri is the latest incarnation of the numerous versions of the “four cute girls, doing cute things” premise that appeared after the huge success of franchises such as K-ON! or Lucky Star. But as its own series, was it any good? o.O
Characters and Development
Yuru Yuri offered a pretty wide range of characters, which can be split up into two main groups – the Amusement Club, and the Student Council. The former consisted of the main girls Akari, Chinatsu, Yui and Kyouko, while the latter’s main cast were Chitose and Ayano, occasionally having Sakurako and Himawari join in too. 3/4 of the way through the series, the kaichou Matsumoto Rise was introduced, which was far too late really for such a moe character xD Anyway, between the main cast was a complicated love…<insert shape here>
- Ayano x Kyouko, with Kyouko being aware of it and Ayano in denial. Chitose nosebleeds at this.
- Kyouko x Chinatsu, Kyouko’s love being unrequited.
- Chinatsu x Yui, with Yui not caring too much.
- Chizuru will drool at Ayano x Chitose.
- Sakurako x Himawari, both in denial.
Most of these pairings were used to great effect in original ways, and resulted in some good laughs, especially with Kyouko hitting on Chinatsu. The thing with the minority of the characters that I just felt the need to bitch about was that they were merely one-trick ponies, that had the same gags played out through them over and over; it was perfectly fine during the start as comic humour that fans could understand, but it got old, very quickly. Examples would be Chitose or Chizuru’s nosebleeding/drooling, but in the case of Chitose, she somewhat redeemed herself right at the very end xD
The show is called Yuru Yuri – and its not a coincidence that the whole cast is made up of girls, giving numerous opportunities to stick in yuri-related gags. Being a slice-of-life/comedy anime though, development was unsurprisingly limited, as the lesbian couples put forward at the start remain pretty much in the same situations at the end, though there was slight progression with some of them, namely Kyouko x Ayano.
7/10
Animation and Music
Not too much to say in terms of animation, but overall I think it was done pretty well, apart from my slight concern of how the girls’ eyes are impossibly too far apart at times o.O The gags were rendered nicely, and I don’t recall any major flaws that resulted in my giving dodgy looks to the computer screen. In particular, the yuri fantasies that Chitose imagined up was some quite elaborate art.
In terms of music and OSTs, I enjoyed them all. The OP and ED were very clearly unique to the show, with both capturing the comedy and light-hearted elements of the series. Each character had their own respective theme in the eyecatches between gags as well, except for the advisor and Matsumoto Rise I think.
7/10
Comedic Value
(This category will be a one-off thing, that will replace the storyline + plot development category)
Every episode started with everyone else taking the piss out of Akarin~, and her lack of presence, and soon this became a running gag to the point that the show took her lack of presence as an excuse to boot her out right at the very start. I remember Lucky Star started each ep in a similar way, but I don’t think it was ever exploited to this extent xD
Kyouko was one of the main sources of humour, as the resident hyper kid of the Amusement Club. From her rum raisin ice cream to her otaku obsession with Chinatsu, she was definitely my favourite character – and probably a lot of other people’s too, all of us waiting to see just what madness she would come up with next.
The comedy, on the whole was quite strong, but it did have its ups and downs, with a slump just over 3/4 of the way through the series. I would describe it as being positively inconsistent, as when it wasn’t so good I could still keep watching and not get bored, and when it was just the opposite, making me laugh till it nearly hurt xD Notably, the 6th and 12th Eps were probably the most hilarious, Ep 12 especially making up for the slump that preceded it – being the best by far out of the whole series.
8.5/10
Recommendation
Because of past series with this type of premise, I have to admit I was wary of picking this up initially as I had nearly fallen asleep while watching A-Channel, but fear not! It turned out to be a surprisingly decent, light-yuri comedy that I think a lot of people would enjoy. If you’ve only ever watched shounen battle shows, and instantly discriminate everything else, then don’t bother. But if you enjoyed Lucky Star, or slice-of-life in general, then I definitely urge you to try out Yuru Yuri.
Overall Score: 7.5/10