***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Yuyushiki. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
How many random thoughts cross our minds throughout the day? Too many to count that’s for sure. Yet if you share them with your best friends, there’ll never be a dull moment.
High school has started. But this did little to change the daily lives of three closer than close friends.
Yuzuko Nonohara (voiced by Rumi Okubo) is energetic and can never sit still. Running at a million miles a minute, Yuzuko can make the most childish of kids look like adults in comparison. And despite her academic prowess, the next thing out of her mouth may be the dumbest thing you’ve heard in some time.
Yui Ichii (voiced by Minami Tsuda) tends to stay reserved. Because of this, she exudes an air of maturity. Though a tad cold, Yui is easy to talk to. Yet she's also quick to irritation. A trait which makes it hard for others to resist the urge to mess with her.
Yukari Hinata (voiced by Risa Taneda) doesn’t let much faze her. And she's always on the lookout for something amusing. Too bad her natural air-headedness has a tendency to backfire on her.
These three have been together for a long time. They enjoy nothing more than spending time talking. This led them to join the Data Processing Club. Here they can research some of their more unique conversational topics.
No two days are ever the same.
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| Yuzuko |
Series Positives
This was a pleasant watch. Yuyushiki was great.
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| Yui |
This show was random, all over the place, and often nonsensical. I mean all that in the best way possible. This series took these concepts and had a lot of fun with them. Mix that with an adorable art style, well-written dialogue, and outstanding voice acting, you’re left with something special.
On more than one occasion, Yuyushiki reminded me of Nichijou. The two shows are of the same vain. They’re both extraordinary looks at the extraordinary ordinary lives of their respective characters. Try saying that five times fast. But, while they share a similar concept, they are their own separate entities.
Follow me on this.
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| Yukari |
Nichijou had all the same qualities of Yuyushiki. In addition to those, Nichijou was also absurd. Not to mention over the top, silly, and a tad surreal. None of which were present in Yuyushiki. Or at least not to the degree seen in Nichijou.
I say that to give context to what I’m about to say. Yuyushiki was a much more grounded series. Why do I say that?
The world of Nichijou wasn’t believable. Believable in the sense of “this world does not exist”. Because this world did not exist, it could do whatever it wanted. There wasn’t anything that was too much. Nothing existed which said, “no, this can’t happen.” Nichijou ran with this concept. It was fueled by this concept. It embraced this concept. This is why it’s one of the major reasons Nichijou was as good as it was.
Now take Yuyushiki. The world of Yuyushiki was believable. Believable in the sense of “this world could exist”. Thus, there are inherent limitations that come with that. Somethings just weren’t going to happen in Yuyushiki. For example, the school principal never wrestled a deer into a submission because why not. The characters, instead, had plenty not too special conversations and went about their day.
These limitations can start to become negatives when a series doesn’t know how to work within them. This opens the door for gimmicks. And due to there being so many gimmicky shows, it’s difficult for any of them to stand out.
Yuyushiki didn’t have a gimmick. Like Nichijou embraced its nonexistence, Yuyushiki embraced its limitations.
If we separate them like this, these shows appear worlds apart. With that, what was the thing Yuyushiki had which reminded me of Nichijou? It was its energy.
Yuyushiki was face paced. It was loud. Something was always happening. Even if that something was a meaningless, yet invested, conversation. It’s one of the major reasons why Yuyushiki was as good as it was.
But it wasn’t the reason why I fell for this show.
Yuzuko, Yui, and Yukari
I love these three. Don’t ask me to pick favorites.
There was no single main character of Yuyushiki. We did not see this series through one person’s perspective. Events didn’t happen to one. Events happened to three. Yuzuko, Yui, and Yukari were equal best friends.
To better explain what I mean, let’s look at something like Hidamari Sketch.
By the end of that series, no one would doubt the residents of the Hidamari Apartments were friends. They were close, close friends. They were, in all essence of the word, a family. Despite that, you could still see the best friends.
It was clear who was closer to who. Yuno and Miyako were a duo. Then there was Sae and Hiro. And Nori and Nazuna made up the third. While they all relied on each other, there was a person each one tended to go to first.
I’ll admit, this isn’t the greatest example. It makes sense why the pairs I listed would be as they were. Each had circumstances which lead to their specific feelings of solidarity. A major one being their year in school.
Except the same thing can be seen in other groups. Even groups that are part of the same class and have even more similarities than that of Hidamari girls.
And there's nothing wrong with this. It doesn't negate the other friendships in a given series. To the point where you’d expect this kind of division to occur. And it is for that reason why Yuzuko, Yui, and Yukari were great. That division didn't exist.
While you could say Yui and Yukari were childhood friends and Yuzuko wasn’t part of that, it doesn’t matter. As they were in the show, these three were a well-established trio.
Actually, one thing that did disappoint me about this series, we never saw how Yuzuko became part of the group. We saw Yui and Yukari’s meeting. Why not Yuzuko’s? I can only imagine what this could've done with that.
Getting back on track, these three were why this show was so grounded. Somewhere there’s a similar group of friends. Having the same types of conversations. Conversations that are, indeed, pointless.
Yet that's another reason why these girls were so fun. I can’t tell you how many talks I’ve had with friends that have had no point. And despite their meaninglessness, they got rather intense. Which was what happened with these three.
But the biggest reason why I loved this group can be seen whenever they were one short. Sometimes either Yuzuko, Yui, or Yukari were off doing something else. Leaving the other two to their own devices. Nothing would slow down. Nothing would get awkward. Nothing would change. The only difference was, one of them wasn’t there at the moment.
I’ve tried to come up with other anime trios of such caliber. The list is pretty small, but Yuyushiki is on it.
Series Negatives
Going off what I said about not seeing Yuzuko’s backstory, there were a lot of stories that were never told. Yuyushiki had a habit of staying in the present.
Which, okay, fair enough. But it was a bit of a waste. This show had a good cast. Not to mention three fantastic leads. I’m sorry that I wanted to get to know them more.
Plus, when you have another show going on in the background, it’s hard not to be aware of this.
Odyssey, what?
Along with Yuzuko, Yui, and Yukari, there was a second group of friends who seemed worthy of their own show. Chiho Aikawa (voiced by Ai Kayano), Kei Okano (voiced by Megumi Han), and Fumi Hasegawa (voiced by Mana Shimizu) had their own thing happening.
Granted the main three took up the spotlight, but this other group wasn’t irrelevant. They had their own well-established relationship. One that went much deeper than your average background character.
It was great when these three joined, kind of, the main trio. Yet there was so much material sitting there which wasn’t getting used.
A shame too since it would’ve mitigated Yuyushiki’s biggest issue.
No Breaks
Although I called this an issue, that’s way too harsh. This wasn’t all that bad. It wasn't series breaking. And on occasion, it was actually rather impressive.
Going back to Nichijou, each episode was split into several skits and segments. While they sometimes connected, they were more often their own thing. This kept things fresh and Nichijou was never stale. Yuyushiki had no such thing.
Conversations could last in this show. Sometimes as long as an entire episode. Sure, other things were happening. New things did get discussed. But the original topic never went away. Which, as an observer, wasn’t the easiest thing to follow.
This was impressive because this is how conversations work. There’s always a flow even if where they might end up is a mystery until you get there. And these can be some of the most fun conversations to have.
If you’re part of them.
When you have no way to contribute, like say if you’re a viewer watching a show, these kinds of talks are hard to stay with. Had Yuyushiki paused more, the chances of getting lost would’ve decreased. That’s why it kind of sucks Yuyushiki didn’t take the time to explore the many different paths available to it.
Final Thoughts
I would love a season two. I cannot tell how happy that would make me.
Yuyushiki was great. The artwork, the dialogue, the humor, it was all on point. This show was always a lot of fun. That’s thanks in large part to an amazing main trio. If I could only remember one thing about this series it would be them.
Any negatives Yuyushiki had, were due to what it could’ve done. But what it did do got the job done and it scored higher than most. I one hundred percent recommend this one.
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