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Comic Girls Episode 12 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 12

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 12.

So here we are at the season finale of Comic Girls, are you okay? I’m not crying… you’re crying…

Do you need a minute to compose yourself? No, I’ll be fine; I must be strong for my cute girls!

That’s the spirit? Geez, this has gotten weird so quick… So what’s the episode about? Kaos’ guest piece in a manga magazine was a success! Her editor praises her on the background and the line work especially… i.e. the things that the other girls in the dorm helped her out with… And with a new deadline looming for part 2 plus the dorm being (temporarily) closed down plus the other girls are all leaving the dorm early Kaos gets caught in a Kaos-spiral, finding herself unable to work in these conditions!

This moment comes later in the episode but it was really sweet.

Oh dear… Indeed, Kaos’ crippling self-doubt reaches an all-time high in this episode as she spends most of the run-time fumbling and screaming and stuttering her way through her own special kind of nervous break-down. Only to eventually find the inspiration she needs to complete her work through the help of the matron, her mother and the friends she misses so dearly.

Kaos’ mother is supportive of her silly little daughter, it warms my heart.

So everything works out in the end? More or less, and more than any other episode this is very much a Kaos-centric, introspective—almost one-woman show type of deal. Let’s just say if Kaos and her bumbling incompetence/neurotic tendencies aren’t something you can deal with than this isn’t the episode for you. Personally though I’ve always found her mix of high anxiety and social ineptitude with a subtle perverted streak equally hilarious and relatable—she’s like a less delusional Tomoko from Watamote.

I’m not quite sure what you mean by that but sure… A crucial part of Kaos’ big ‘revelation’ is that she’s an otaku and she has fun with her silly little hobbies like playing with her cute girl figurines and spending time by herself and geeking out about things. It’s an arc that’s been playing out since early on and while it’s only touched upon slightly here it is perhaps her most relatable quality—that and the all-consuming self-doubt of course.

So it sounds like we don’t get a lot of the other girls in this episode? There’s some at the end and some at the start, but yeah, probably the least we see of the other three Comic Girls in the whole series—which is a bit of a shame since their interactions and growing friendship is a part of what makes this series so good. But as they say, “absence makes the heart grow fonder” and the post-credit scene with their inevitable reunion outside the brand new dorm hits all the right kind of emotional notes.

All in all a good finale then? It won’t rank among the show’s best episodes, the comedy is somewhat lacking in parts but its heart is still firmly in the right place. But honestly it’s hard to imagine any other way to have concluded this season other than the way they did and after all is said and done it makes me long for more of this beautifully put together show—here’s hoping we get a second season some day but until then I’ll continue to savour the memories and revisit when the mood strikes me and I dare say the mood will strike me often.

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review
Episode 11 Review

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Comic Girls Episode 11 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 11

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 11.

And what’s it a– No! I don’t want to do this! I don’t want this gorgeous show to ever end! I love it so damn much!

So I take it we’re at the penultimate episode? Yes, sadly, we’re almost at the season finale and all I can think of is how much this show has grown from where it was, I’m like a proud parent who has watched his child blossom from a cute anime girl to a cute anime girl with a lot of deep character development and introspective narrative.

I’m sure that sounded better in your head. So what’s this episode about? As I recall the last few episodes were kind of a bit weaker than the show at its best. To be fair this show at its best is better than nearly everything out there so even at its weaker moments–not counting the first couple of episodes–this show is still excellent. This week however, perhaps sensing that melancholy and channeling it we’re given an episode that trades in a lot of the usual comedic qualities for something more nostalgic and contemplative.

You still haven’t said what it’s about… The girls have to fill out their career forms, a.k.a pick three careers they want to consider for the future. Naturally this leads to Kaos-Chan doubting her potential and the others nervous about what kind of future being a mangaka can be in the long run. Meanwhile the Dorm matron has some unfortunate news to break–the manga dorm is to be closed at the end of the year.

Oh! So do the girls band together to try and raise enough money to save the dorm?! Nope, they help the Matron clear out the storage room. It’s all kind of sad, but in the best possible way–after all change is a great catalyst in this world and can bring new things!

I feel like you’re setting me up for something so I’ll bite, “like what?” Inspired by some motivational graffiti in the storage room–written by one of the previous inhabitants–Kaos buckles down and works hard to complete not one, not two but four manuscripts for her editor to read!

And how’s that go? Most of the comedy in this episode comes from this scene towards the end of the episode as her editor is her usual brutally honest self about the ~mediocre manuscripts~ Kaos has turned in–that is until the last one. It’s a manga with personality and wit and charm and heart. It’s something she just threw together when she didn’t know what else to write… it’s a little story about female mangakas living in a dorm together and it’s called Comic Girls!

Hmm, didn’t you predict a few episodes ago that her big breakthrough would be writing a manga about her dorm life? I did, I’m surprised you remembered but yeah it makes the most sense in the context of the narrative and as contrived as it may seem to an outsider it’s such a sweet and well-earned moment when Kaos finds out she’s going to be published in a magazine I couldn’t help but shed a tear–as I’m sure I’ll shed a many more next week in the finale!

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Comic Girls Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 10

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 10.

How are the things in the dorm this week? About the same as last week quality wise. Albeit with an unexpected bit of character development on the part of one character.

So not peak ‘Comic Girls’ but not a slouch of an episode either? Pretty much.

So what’s the episode about then? Well it’s Christmas! And everyone’s excited—well everyone but Ruki—see she hates Christmas because in Japan Christmas is a holiday for couples to do lovey-dovey things and Ruki wants in on that romance, but alas because she’s in a CGDCT show she’s destined to be forever single. So she wallows in her own love-less life for a bit, the others attempt to console her until Kaos manages to cheer her up with a somewhat inappropriate Birthday gift—oh and her Birthday is on Christmas Eve.

And everything’s back to normal after that? More or less, this first segment kind of felt a bit more filler-y than the average episode but it was still very funny. The second segment though amped up the character development, even if it was a bit of a rushed reveal.

What’s the second segment of the episode about? Well, after Kaos’ plans to return home for New Years are scuppered by her parents winning a trip to Hawaii, Kaos—after much cajoling—tags along with Tsubasa to visit her parents. Except Tsubasa’s whole tomboyish aesthetic and mangaka ways are something of a secret to Tsubasa’s family—namely because they’re crazy wealthy and live in a mansion and expect their daughter to be a ‘proper lady’.

Ah that old chestnut. Normally I don’t go in for these kinds of character revelations but I think it was done well, if slightly rushed. The idea of going back home and feeling your own sense of self disappear as you revert back to how your parents want you to act is perfectly captured here. (Also Kaos not knowing how to be in any way ‘fancy’ was consistently hilarious) And though it’s rather quickly resolved, I get the feeling that it’s because they wanted a third segment at the end of the episode, but then again maybe it’s exactly like this in the manga too?

A third segment? That’s unusual isn’t it? Some episodes have them but they’re usually a lot shorter than this. After returning from Tsubasa’s we get a shrine visit where Kaos-chan’s luck takes a beating followed by a ceremonial ‘cooking of sweet potato on an open fire made up of failed manuscripts’ ritual back at the dorm. It’s actually a really great and kind of touching scene that makes me forgive them for short-changing the second segment.

Right. So still standing by the claim that this is one of the best CGDCT shows out there? Absolutely. At this point, nothing short of a catastrophic failure in the last three episodes would change that, hopefully I’ve got better luck than Kaos-chan and didn’t jinx it!

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Comic Girls Episode 9 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 9

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 9.

So, does the flawless string of episodes continue? Listen, things were bound to falter eventually, no show can perform at the high standards that Comic Girls has been doing so for the last 4 or 5 episodes and not have an off-week.

Honeymoon’s over? Settle down, an off-week for Comic Girls is still a very good episode.

Right. So what’s this one about? Kaos continues her Kaospiral, a.k.a having zero motivation for storyboarding her manga. Meanwhile, Koyume is having a great week—that is until the other girls comment that she’s gained a little weight, causing her to have a spiral of her own. Dieting, exercising so much that it affects her overall mood causing her latest storyboards to be rejected for not having the same energy that they usually do. But things are quickly resolved when Koyume realises she has to live life the way she has to get to things done, namely eating sweets.

Kaos had so many good one-liners this week.

Uh-huh… and the second storyline? Tsubasa ~misplaces~ her manuscript at school and the girls panic to try and find it.

So in other words fairly standard slice of life/cute girls doing cute things plots? Yeah, but having such as you put it “standard” fare after the previous weeks really highlights the difference between what the show is capable of at it’s absolute best and what it’s like when it ‘takes things easy’. Which is the nicest possible way of saying ‘being lazy’.

Harsh words… Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed the heck out of this episode, sitting their with a grin on my face the whole time. I think it’s safe to say the more mature storytelling that came out of some of the previous episodes has spoiled me because I know how much more this show can be. This episode felt like one of the early ones where I was enjoying it happily and laughing and what not, but wasn’t particularly ~feeling~ or ~thinking~ anything more than surface-level stuff. Back when the show was pretty good CGDCT and not “contender for the best CGDCT show”, like I was saying last week.

So what were some highlights of the episode then? Just so this episode doesn’t seem too negative because I know that’s not your intent. Right. I really loved the scenes in the clothes shop, having Tsubasa trying on clothes that were a bit more ~mature~ was fun. Plus the sexual tension of Koyume and Tsubasa in the changing room, as well as the little flashback to when Tsubasa and Ruki were in (presumably) elementary school. As well as the girls reaction to Tsubasa being ‘cute’. The second half, while a lot weaker—almost filler level—had a great moment where they almost accidentally discover their homeroom teacher’s Boys Love manga storyboards from when she was in school. And of course a hilarious ‘cameo’ from Ririka to close out the episode.

“It’s me” – best line delivery of the episode.

So all in all? All in all, a very good episode with a lagging second half, but nothing that at all tarnishes the show’s overall quality. If I were binging this over a weekend rather than watching it week-to-week, it’d hardly be worth mentioning and I mean that both positively and negatively.

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Comic Girls Episode 8 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 8

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 8.

So how’s this episode? Nostalgic.

How so? The second half of the episode focuses on the three adult characters of the show. They’re all in their 20’s but are all involved with manga, though none directly on the drawing or writing side. They go out drinking together and reflect on their youth and their failed attempts at becoming manga authors. There’s a melancholic feel to these scenes and it’s very clear that the real life mangaka for Comic Girls is nostalgic for her youth, but is also appreciative of her experience.

All assumption of course. Of course, but the depth to these scenes as well as other similarly contemplative moments in previous episodes makes it abundantly clear that this series is at least passingly autobiographical.

One beer and she’s spilling out her feelings.

You skipped to talking about the second half of the episode pretty quick, did nothing interesting happen in the first half? Oh quite the contrary, the first half is the most laugh-out-loud funny this show has ever been!

Care to elaborate? It’s hard to review comedy at the best of time but basically Kaos-Chan’s storyboards are rejected by her editor again and so she enters depression mode, second-guessing her abilities and questioning whether she should even be a mangaka at all—

Not sure what an ’embarrassment machine’ is…

—sounds like a real laugh riot… Hey! Don’t interrupt, I was getting to the comedy, it just needs context. So the other girls in the dorm try and cheer her up, but end up only making things worse! Afterward Kaos and Koyume try and study for their exams, but realize they don’t know how to study properly!

Uh-huh… Listen, it’s much funnier than it sounds! There’s one moment in particular that had me laughing so hard and I’m not even sure why it was so funny. All I know is I’ll never be able to hear “This is a pen” again and not keep a straight face!

Guess it’s all about context huh? Maybe. There’s also some really great stuff with Miharu-Sensei, the homeroom teacher who’s also Tsubasa’s biggest fan and is kind of obsessed with her—or more specifically her work. And that perfectly ties into the second half of the episode which we’ve already talked a little bit about.

But given how funny you found the first half, does that make the second half tonally jarring? I may have oversold the melancholic nature of the second half, it’s also plenty funny too. These women are ~realistic~ drunks, not the stereotypical nonsensical slurring or overtly loud kind. Again, evidently based on the mangaka’s personal experience no doubt.

Fair enough. So how’s this episode compare to the others? As far as slice of life/cute girls doing cute things shows go I don’t think I’ve seen such a seamless blend of genuinely funny comedy, cute and adorable moments (that kitten of theirs is absurd) character development and genuine emotional moments. Just how much better this show has gotten since the first episode is astounding, and I never imagined from such humble beginnings would sprout a true contender for one of my favourite CGDCT shows of all time. Specific to this episode though this is probably my favourite episode thus far and in-fact I’m going to go watch it again!

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Comic Girls Episode 7 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 7

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 7.

And how are the girls this week? Well, Kaos-Chan continues to be an adorable, neurotic mess! After overhearing the news that Koyume is getting a serialised manga Kaos if left devastated at the thought that she’s the only one in the dorm without one, and worries she’s going to become a background character.

Little bit forth wall breaking? No, she’s just so obsessed with manga and anime she talks like that sometimes.

Fair enough. So then Suzu, the horror mangaka who was introduced last week takes her up to her room in the attic and the two bond some more, mostly over the fact that Suzu has no friends and that Kaos is a pervert who loves any attention from the cute girls in her dorm, no matter how scary their room may be!

Uh-huh. Also I totally ship Suzu and Kaos now.

Why am I not surprised… Also we find out that Kaos into girls with glasses, and not just any girls but ‘older, more mature’ girls, guess that fits in with her ‘wanting to get scolded by a teacher fetish’ we discovered in an earlier episode!

Is this relevant information? Very relevant, Ruki, a wearer of glasses herself, suggests that Kaos maybe get a pair for herself, and not strictly for aesthetics either, something this show is taking a pretty heavy stance on. But before Kaos goes to the optometrist she makes a quick detour to “heaven” on Earth.

Heaven is a place on Earth… if you’re an otaku!

Oh let me guess, it’s that Aki-something place isn’t? AKIHABARA! Watching Kaos-chan walk around so many familiar sites and nearly hyperventilate over anime figurines was perhaps the single most relatable thing I’ve seen in an anime this season! She was literally saying and thinking things that I thought last time I visited the place!

*nostalgic tear wells in eye as I hold hand to heart*

So a different kind of fan-service, huh? Pretty much! Although, she’s quickly overwhelmed by the place, especially as people keep mistaking her for a primary school student, including a police officer who thinks she’s lost her parents. Kaos panics and hides in a box in a dark alley, because she’s basically a lost little kitten at this point!

Little loli lost in Akibabara, sounds dangerous on so many levels. Don’t worry, the ~drama~ is short lived when her dorm buddies find her thanks to some very specific tweets she sent out about her dilemma. And so they continue on to the optometrist where Kaos again has a little panic about whether she’s the kind of person who “deserves” to have glasses. The elevated picture in her mind of people who wear glasses not matching with how she dismissively perceives herself.

“Box nao” is the best thing I’ve seen all year.

It’s a difficult thing to overcome, how we perceive ourselves… But don’t worry that ~drama~ is too short-lived as Kaos’ homeroom teacher comes in looking for glasses too and manages to convince Kaos to get glasses with one simple sentence. “It’ll make anime look better.”

Of course, such a weeb. Hey, having anime in the highest quality possible is one of the most important societal issues of our age!

*rolls eyes* So sounds like this episode didn’t quite have the same depth as some previous episodes? There’s hints of depth, though this episode was much more focused on character development for Kaos-chan, which I think is important for the protagonist. However for those who find her whiny antics annoying, and I know there’s plenty that do, I doubt it’ll change much as she’s still very whiny. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest though, I find her very relatable and endearing, especially the crippling insecurities that come with everyone around you achieving success while you wallow in mediocrity. Also Akihabara antics! How could I not love this episode. It’s not the best episode of the season but it’s still a damn fun time!

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Comic Girls Episode 6 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 6

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 6.

There was nothing but praise from you following Episode 4 and Episode 5, for this show’s “maturity” in dealing with topics that ‘cute girl’ shows rarely or superficially touch upon. Does the praise continue? Uh, err… well, not in the same way…

Oh? Fallen back to earth, huh? Hey, listen, it’s not all doom and gloom, far from it in fact, this is a very strong episode, it’s just not as strong as the previous two, and I wasn’t expecting it to be. What it is however, is very funny and intrinsically connected to events from Episode 5 in very good ways.

Okay, fine, how’s the episode start? Kaos-chan is taking a bath in a thunderstorm when she looks outside and sees a girl hung from a noose by a tree. Only when she screams, drawing the attention of Koyume, the body is gone!

Hello, and welcome to cute girl anime Comic Girls! Oh, this? She’s just resting her… neck… on a rope…

Wow… okay, didn’t expect that. Shit got dark! Listen, I’m going to go ahead and spoil things by saying that all the creepy stuff that happens in this episode is just a previous mangaka Suzu Fura, who specialises in ‘horror manga’ hence all the scary stuff. And to this show’s credit, it goes there. Yes, it’s still ~mostly~ tongue-in-cheek but it’s so well animated that you actually sympathise with Kaos-chan’s terror at this new girl who is feeding off Kaos’ fear in order to inspire her artwork.

So how’s this plot point resolve? Well, Kaos realises’ that everything that makes Suzu “strange” and “awkward” are qualities she too possess, just in a different way (namely not horror-related) and so Kaos swallows her fears and makes friends with the spooky girl. Also it helps that Kaos is kind of a pervert and upon realising Suzu has a cute face and big boobs is suddenly super keen to be close to her.

And is that the episode? Haha, nope that’s but half the episode. Strap in we’re going in again! In the second-half we open with Kaos’, Ruki’s and Tsubasa’s homeroom teacher worrying that one of her students saw her cosplaying as her favourite manga character at the theme park (this occurred briefly in Episode 5). As a respectable teacher she is of course terrified of anyone learning that she’s actually an otaku!

Fair enough, it’s pretty shameful. Quiet, you! So what transpires is basically a bunch of amusing misunderstandings and near misses as Tsubasa tries to hide the fact that she’s falling asleep in class because she was up all night finishing a manga manuscript while the teacher tries to get this information out of her in order to ascertain whether they saw her cosplaying at the theme park. It all comes to a head on the school rooftop as the teacher reveals her fondness for the particular manga and manga character she dressed up as, that character being the protagonist of Tsubasa’s shonen manga!

Why weren’t their teachers like this when I was in school…

What are the odds! At first the teacher doesn’t believe that Tsubasa is the mangaka, but once she reveals the manuscript she was up late reading there is no denying the fact! Both teacher and student are properly schooled in the importance of being open and honest, Tsubasa getting her first one-on-one feedback from a fan and the teacher learning that you can’t judge an author by their pen-name. Seemingly a recurring theme for this anime…

Okay then, so all good? Pretty much, I liked that this episode took a few more risks in terms of visuals and tone. Also, it was particularly funny throughout. Not much else to say, oh other than Koyume is super-gay and I’m totally on board for wherever that takes us in future episodes!

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Comic Girls Episode 4 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Comic Girls Episode 4.

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 4.

You’re still managing to find enough to say about this ‘cute girls doing cute things’ show to do a weekly blog about it, huh? Yup, this week especially!

Oh, something interesting happen? I guess that depends on your definition of ‘interesting’ but yes, I would say that.

Well go on then… So Ruki, our erotic mangaka is having to pull all-nighters to reach the deadline on completing her manuscripts, which because she’s so tired leads to some hilarious misunderstandings at school, her classmates and teachers misconstruing her tired demeanour for something more sexually suggestive.

How do you misconstrue tiredness for suggestiveness? Because… her… tiredness… makes her sound… like she’s… being SEDUCTIVE. Trust me, it works in the episode. Anyway, concerned that she’s not going to make her deadline without completely crashing out the other 3 girls try to help her out, which proves, um… more difficult than expected for the easily flustered Kaos-chan, as she’s subjected to lewd imagery en-masse—also to much hilarity.

And after that? They finally get the manuscript completed on time, it’s published in stores and Ruki can finally relax. Except her publisher has booked her in for an in-person signing event! Her very first one, and what’s worse, her pen-name (which translates to Big-Boobies Himeko) is more than a bit of an exaggeration as she’s lucky if she’s even a B-cup! Which obviously adds to her anxieties about what her fans expect of her in real life persona.

If you can’t think straight try thinking gay!

Then what happens? The girl’s try and reassure her as best they can but Ririka the dorm mother who comes to the rescue with some wise words and a bit of a makeover that boosts Ruki’s self-confidence and gives her a more mature appearance!

So where’s the ‘interesting’ part? I’m getting to that! Geez. So, Ruki holds the signing at the Shinjuku Animate branch and is inundated with love and support from her fans, it’s a genuinely heartwarming scene that actually brought a tear or two to my eye, something I didn’t expect from this series—or at least not this early on. It’s just so utterly sincere and sweet!

Uh-huh, guess you had to be there… You can be snide all you want but I really appreciated this episode. Not only did it have the aforementioned scene that helped boost Ruki’s failing self-esteem. But it also had some really insightful things to say about how people perceive us and the fear of putting your work out for public consumption, even if you’re afraid of what people will label you as because of the content within.

So the anime’s still on track? If anything I’m even happier about this show because it’s proven itself to have more depth than I perhaps initially gave it credit for, here’s hoping it’ll keep it up! Not that previous weeks weren’t fun and all it’s just nice to have something a bit more substantial and emotional in a cgdct anime series. There is something else though…

What is it? I don’t know if I’m making something out of nothing but I feel like it probably helps the fact that the manga for this series is written by a 30+ year old woman. Seems like a lot of my favourite cgdct shows of late are written by women who are quite a bit older than their main characters… It seems to imbue these shows slight shows with a sense of longing nostalgia and wizened reverence that I can totally get into. I don’t know, just a thought I had. Regardless I’m looking forward to watching more of this show as it comes!

You don’t get that kind of advice in most cgdct anime!

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Comic Girls Episode 3 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Comic Girls Episode 3.

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 3.

And what’s this episode about? Well, the episode is titled ‘Jiggle Jiggle Bounce’…

Oh god. Now hold your horses! It’s not as salacious as you think!

Uh-huh… so what’s it about then? Well our poor Kaos-chan has yet another bad feedback session about her newest manga idea which is basically just cute high-school girls eating crepes and so returns to the dorm to seek solace in her dormmates only to be bombarded by a hundred ideas on how to improve herself in order to facilitate a new outlook on what it’s like to be a ‘normal high school girl’. After a couple of montages (hair, outfits) boyish Tsubasa comes to the rescue assuring young Kaos-chan that she should just be herself.

Well that’s good. Wait there’s more!

Okay. They decide to hold a sketching contest which leads to donut loving Koyume having to pose suggestively for Kaos and Ruki which, in turn leads to the titular ‘Jiggle Jiggle Bounce’ of the title, which actually refers to Koyume’s breasts (jiggle) stomach (jiggle) and butt (bounce) respectively. Which ends up giving the girls all sorts of complexes as they compare themselves to each other.

They shouldn’t do that, they’re all perfect in their own ways! …h-huh?

Oh, err, I mean… “hmm, that’s interesting, go on…” Right… so, after some more shenanigans, some of which I think are hinting toward Tsubasa wanting to transition into a male. (If this weren’t a cute girl/comedy anime I’d be sure that’s what they were trying to allude to but let’s face it, they’d never attempt something so narratively daring.) We end up with Kaos pushing herself to be better at drawing so hard that she develops an eating disorder(?)

I think she’s hungry for SOMETHING, just not food…

An eating disorder?! I didn’t expect that… Well I don’t even know if it’s that serious, maybe it’s just a cold. The way Japanese people treat catching a cold is like it’s comparable to catching the damn plague!

Right… So Kaos refuses to eat, for reasons. Until the dorm mother contacts Kaos’ parents and makes her dishes from home and everything is well in the world again.

Wow, she likes hot pot and eggs, revelation!

I’m so confused. Listen, this show is super-funny, like there’s so many good lines and funny moments and just delightfully inappropriate situations in this episode that were it not for the final five minutes of this episode I might have even recommended it for those who were on the fence about this anime.

But now? Well it’s still all those things, just with a tacked on subplot that feels completely pointless and out of place. Like it really didn’t need it, it was doing fine with being slightly deep and moderately complex when it was dealing with Kaos and the fact that the only thing about her that’s grown in years is her hair and that her clothes are all made by her grandmother. It didn’t need to go all melodramatic, it’s better when its honest and scathingly comical.

‘Kay… So, uh… Koyume is current best girl (for the moment), this show is all kinds of great, except when it’s trying to be too dramatic. But all negatives aside I’m willing to let the show keep leading the way. I’m fond of the aesthetic and I’m fond of these girls, bring it on!