Episode 1
Sometimes things don’t work out according to the plan that we set out for ourselves. Mitsumi Iwakura is an absolutely perfect example of that. Incredibly smart that she’s able to pass the entrance exam for a school in Tokyo and still come out as the top student despite growing up in a very small town. Unfortunately, those smarts don’t exactly translate over to anything else besides her studies and the poor girl is absolutely struggling before she’s even able to make it to class. And while this helplessness can be overplayed, from the very beginning she’s a very endearing character. She desperately wants to succeed and no matter what the world throws at her, she’ll make the best of it. There’s no way anything can go wrong!
This first episode of Skip and Loafer, was incredibly cute and heartwarming. While I kind of just described the majority of what happens in that first paragraph, I did enjoy the light-hearted nature the episode took despite it seeming like one character’s world could have easily come crashing down. Charming is probably the best way that I can describe my feelings for this anime. I want to see Mitsumi succeed and accomplish all of her life goals, but I also really love how she tries to turn things around. Sure, she gets lost on the way to school, forgets her speech at the entrance ceremony, vomits on the teacher, and doesn’t get good sleep before she introduces herself to the class, but! She’s trying her best! It’s hard to be the new kid and even harder when you haven’t even lived in the city before. And it’s so funny. Throughout the whole episode she exudes confidence, but the moment her family and friends weigh in, they are quick to point out that she’s book smart and not street smart. She’s a charming character and I’m excited to learn more about her!
Sousuke Shima is the other character we are introduced to – and if you ask me, I think he is Loafer and she is Skip. Sousuke couldn’t care less about his high school life, but rather than a depressing nihilistic approach he just vibes. We don’t get as much information about him in this episode aside from the few comments from his acquaintances that he generally doesn’t take school seriously, but since he goes to the prestigious school like Mitsumi, he must be smart, right? I’m predicting that he’s either the guy who is just a natural when it comes to school or he had a very strict living situation that ultimately led him to have an almost flippant attitude. I’m hoping it’s the former, but I’m just happy he’s going to have fun at school. That being said, we see a lot of him through Mitsumi’s eyes! So to her, he’s just this really kind guy who went out of his way to help her at the train station, run to school with her, and to be her first friend that she made. It makes me excited to learn more about their dynamics!
Overall, this series seems super cute!
Episode 2
Building relationships is hard. You don’t know what anyone’s motives are and you’re never too sure if they actually like you or are secretly using you. Ah, it feels weird to say, but this episode really hit home for me. Not only was it really interesting watching Mitsumi try to make friends, but also the little things with Nao-chan, the drama club, and Sousuke’s history. To be honest, I really like that this anime seems to not take the “traditional” approach with some of the characters. So far everyone we’ve met seems really interesting to get to know better. While there are stereotypical elements, there seems to be a whole lot more beneath the surface.
The first portion of the episode is spent doing karaoke with the classmates at the suggestion of Mika Egashira. Mika currently seems like she might take on the mean girl type as she’s using Mitsumi to get closer to Sousuke rather than actually being her friend. And I get it, we need mean girls, but I like that she’s not outright vicious about it. She plays nice. Sure, she’ll make off-handed comments or try to convince Mitsumi that she’s not special… but I think the two of them have potential to be good friends once they remove the whole “I’m doing this for a boy” situation. Plus, Sousuke was pretty blunt in telling Mika to chill out. So I’m excited to see where that goes. The other notable karaoke participant is Yuzuki Murashige, the beauty queen. Her stereotypical role might be someone who is too cool for school or perhaps one of the mean girls, but truthfully, she’s the one that steps up and helps out Mitsumi. She doesn’t directly call out Mika, but she points out those behaviors – unfortunately, it causes some internal conflict for Mitsumi, but Yuzuki isn’t malicious with it. It more so seems like she’s helping out before things can get worse. Yuzuki is also the first to laugh and express joy during Mitsumi’s song, and also is the one to step in when Kanechika-senpai comes bursting into the room with roses. I’m curious to know more about her and I hope that we are able to become good friends with her (and also Kinomoto!)
Finding and making friends is hard, but I really hope for the best!
The second half of the episode focused more on clubs. Clubs in high school are incredibly important because 1) they can help set you up for the future and 2) often they are a great way to experience youth, make friends, and have just a generally good time at school (also, I’m just a huge fan of club animes because of the dynamics between characters hahahaha). Unfortunately, Mitsumi doesn’t really have a club in mind. She’s rather proud that all the “brainiac” clubs are seeking her out, but after hearing her classmates talk about their own clubs, she becomes much more hesitant. It’s kind of a bummer, because I would like to see her have fun at school and take on these new challenges in a club. However, Kanechika, a member of the drama club, comes in and invites her to watch his play. At the end of it, she doesn’t really understand it, which is perfectly okay. Instead, drama / theater / acting seems to hit a sore spot for Sousuke and naturally that makes me all the more curious to know his background. He solemnly leaves the performance at its conclusion and isn’t as chipper as he usually appears. Then near the end, after his history is brought up, he’s quick to shut down any conversation with his senpai. Is he rude? Yeah, but man… I really want to know what the history is !!
But with all of this said, I think this episode did a good job highlighting that while this may be a typical seinen romance story, there’s a lot more to the characters than what meets the eyes and that excites me. I love learning more about characters and what shapes them. While I am no longer in school, I think character exploration like this has a home in this type of setting. Secondary education is a time where a lot of people find themselves, but they also experience very bad versions of themselves. This episode hinted that Nao-chan is trans, so I’m super curious to know what other sorts of topics they’ll bring up using all of these characters.
All in all, Skip and Loafer hit it out of the park with me. I was expecting just cute, silly romance and while I still expect it these two episodes have shown me that there is more underneath the surface and I am here for it. Because of this, I will definitely keep watching. (But I mean, the dance in the opening was enough to hook me, so here’s to hoping for a good season !!)
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed !!
Possibility of Blogging: Very high!!
(posts will be released closer to episode releases! so hopefully next tuesday / wednesday for episode 3!)
