Anime Hajime Review: Jinsei

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Jinsei. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Ayaka Nikaido (voiced by Rena Maeda) is the president of Kyuumon Academy’s Second News Club. Her newest goal is creating a life counseling section for her paper. She convinces club mate, Yuki Akamatsu (voiced by Yasuaki Takumi), to head the effort. To aid Yuki, Ayaka recruits students from different facets of school life.

From the Science Club is Rino Endo (voiced by Hiyori Nitta). Logical and bookish, she has great confidence in her intelligence. She struggles with charm. In turn, she comes off as cold and unapproachable. A reputation she has no problem maintaining.

From the Literature Club is Fumi Kujo (voiced by Moe Toyota). She always carries herself in an aura of culture and sophistication. She takes pride in coming up with the best solutions. Even if she does tend to overthink problems.

From the Sports Club is Ikumi Suzuki (voiced by Ayaka Suwa). Super hyperactive, she's an ace at all forms of physical activity. Ikumi never takes anything seriously. Her advice and demeanor are often quite childish.

And from the Art Club is Emi Murakami (voiced Saori Onishi). Aloof, she likes to go at her own pace. Except when painting. Then she becomes an unstoppable force of creativity.

The Second News Club tries their hardest to give the best advice they can deliver. All the while getting themselves into "humorous” situations.

Series Positives

Yuki

There weren't many things humorous about this show. Jinsei was boring. Oh my god was this boring.

I must have watched the first episode at least three times. I kept thinking I missed something important. And I kept thinking that because I kept falling asleep. Jinsei did reach a point where I was passing out, but I was never that engaged.

Ikumi, Emi, and Ayaka

Rino

This was one of the dullest collection of characters I've ever come across. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not remembering anyone’s name from recollection. I’ve got a separate page to help with that.

This was a slice-of-life. Slice-of-life series are only fun when the characters are fun. It’s a basic rule. It's not the easiest thing to do, but it needs to get done. Jinsei failed spectacularly.

Fumi

The dialogue was dry. The interactions were lackluster. This group was lifeless. I didn't care about anyone. Though there are three that managed to make the series not void of humor, Ikumi, Emi, and Ayaka.

Ikumi

Ikumi was, by far, the funniest person in the show. For a long while, she was the only one who could deliver a funny line, action, or scene. She was the only one you could rely on. Too bad she couldn't carry this series alone.

Luckily, in episode eight, she finally gets some help.

Ayaka

Once Emi got introduce, everyone, not only Ikumi, could get a laugh. Took long enough seeing how she was a prominent figure in the opening song. Alone, Emi was as effective as Ikumi. But together the show got a lot funnier. I started to laugh. The jokes began to work.

Although Jinsei became better, it didn't hit any stride until Ayaka got involved. We met Ayaka in episode one. I would argue she was a main character. Except she was never around. There was a point where I forgot she was in this series. It wasn't until the last third did she begin playing a pivotal role.

Emi

And you know what, the last few episodes were great. Or at least in comparison to the rest of the show, they were great.

The Final Episodes

Jinsei never got good. But the ending indicated that it should have been.

How the club worked, Yuki would bring up an issue and the girls discussed what the best solutions were. This led to one of two paths.

The first was a basic discussion. The second, the team would create a situation mirroring the dilemma at hand. With forgettable characters and bland dialogue, neither were that fun.

Once Emi and Ayaka joined, though, the club changed focus. The group still had discussions. The difference, they instead had discussions with the person asking for advice.

In one episode, the club was able to solve three big cases. The whole time this was happening, all I could think was, "this could've been it. This could've been the series."

Jinsei was so much funnier. It was much more interesting. Had this been this way from the start, Jinsei would've been fine. Maybe not great. But better than average for sure.

Series Negatives

As a recurring joke, characters would gush exposition. It’s a good representation of the show. It got used so many times and never once is it funny. Annoying, obnoxious, and exasperating sure. Never funny.

Jumbled.

Things happened in this show and I couldn’t tell you why.

There was no flow. Events occurred only to set up a joke that rarely ever paid off. It was easy to get lost in the randomness. When a segue did make sense, I forgot how or why since the setup was more important than what was going on.

Jinsei never explained itself. It moved along with little to no idea where it was heading.

To illustrate my point, I don’t know why the club decided to start life counseling. Or why it was necessary to have Rino, Fumi, or Ikumi join. They just did and no one questioned it.

I'm convinced no one knew who anyone was before the events of the show. So then why didn't anyone take the time to get to know one another?

To think that nothing was addressed or expounded upon. We were meant to care about these characters and what they were doing because why not.

This leads me to the most laughable and glaring flaw of the series.

Yuki and Rino’s Relationship

Rino liked Yuki, the show makes that very clear. It wasn't bad. It was kind of cute. And much of the series focused on this. Unfortunately, Jinsei forgot one crucial detail.

Rino like Yuki because. There's no end to that thought.

In a series with a romantic plot line, main or not, there's a moment that singles if characters might become a thing. Some do this great. Some don't. But it does happen. Even in garbage like Onegai Teacher. For everything that monstrosity did wrong, even it still had that moment.

In Jinsei, Rino and Yuki end up on a date in the first episode. I guess. I don’t know how or why. It’s possible that the other characters set it up. Even though that doesn’t make sense. By this time in the series, it wasn't even clear Rino was going to be the main female lead.

No matter how adorable these two may have been, not for one second do I buy it.

Final Thoughts

I wasted my time with this series. I hope you don’t.

Jinsei is dull. The characters are boring. The dialogue is bland. Nothing happens while at the same time too much is happening. This show doesn't explain itself. It gives no reason for anything.

That said, the final few episodes did illustrate a good idea here. By no means did they make up for the rest of the show. Here's hoping I find a series to tap into that idea someday.

               Google+                        Facebook                         Twitter