The sibling gag comedy manga centers around Umaru, Taihei's little sister who boasts beautiful looks
as well as prowess in both school and sports. However, "Himouto" (beautiful little sister) has a
certain secret.
(Source: Anime News Network)
# [~~~**Can one even spoil Slice of Life?**~~~]()
Umaru-Chan has a nice idea, make an Anime that portrays your local gamer quite well...sadly the Main
Character is unbearable.
[**PREMISE OF THE SHOW:**]()
There is not much to say about Umaru-Chan's story, that's quite understandable for a SOL Anime and
this does not mean that the show can be bad. SOL shows rely on their character cast and gimmicks. If
the show has a bad cast and doesn't try to stand out then why even bother?
Now back to Umaru-Chan. She is a High School student who shows herself as "Elegant" and "Mature" and
even to a point of being inept at Technology...this is all a charade her true form, and I do mean
**form**, is that a of a annoying Chibi ~~rat~~ with a hamster attire.
The show tries to potray a "Gamer" and how they would behave in real life and in their gamer cave. To
be honest with you, I believe that this show did a *better* job showing the true gamer moments. Though
the Main Character (Umaru-Chan) is the most annoying creature ever making the show very unreletable
and not even slightly enjoyable.
~~~img420(https://66.media.tumblr.com/55d743a9a230a0aae9193be52031b1c3/tumblr_pcm3rn6amO1ro3oueo6_500.gif)~~~
[**CHARACTERS:**]()
So I already talked about Umaru-Chan. She is a High School student who hides her "Gamer" identity, at
school she is perfection but at her house she is the opposite with her crying, whining, and sheer mess
of a life style. This character is one of the most annoying ones I saw, she shows no remorse to the
mental state of the people around her, she wants something so she gets that something with the power
of tears. Her portrayal of a "Gamer", as I said numerous times, is quite decent (to a degree), her
wasting her time away in games and buying a bunch of collectibles is quite true. The part that starts
falling apart is when she goes on her fits of crying and rage when she doesn't get her Gamer Fuel
(Cola and Crisps). This aspect of the character is really off putting and just makes you look at ther
and say "What a spoiled brat".
Pretty much everyone else in the show is a decent character though. Each and every one of them have
their unique quirks.
The brother is what you would call "Normie", he doesn't know much about Vidya Geamz and doesn't care
that much, he also is the one responsible for Umaru-Chan and her luxurious life style.
Sylphynford is quite energetic, she is the rival to Umaru-Chan gamer life. She acts like a nice lady
but is quite dumb to say the least. If I'm to be honest with you if she was the Main Character I would
probably enjoy the show much more. This is something I can get behind, an Energetic and less annoying
version of Umaru.
Nana Ebina, best girl of the show, the main reason I haven't dropped it.
She is quite shy, she also lives in the same apartment block as Umaru. She is the nicest human in the
whole show. She tries her best ot make everyone have fun but kinda struggles due to he intense shy
behaviour. She doesn't know anything at all the Life of A Gamer but despite that she still manages to
be one of the best.
Kirie Motoba, **VERY** shy. She has a gaze that people would call "Deadly". People avoid her but she
is quite a nice person.
In the show she swears to protect Umaru-Chan's Chibi transformation. She will go to great lengths to
satisfy the needs of the monster lurking in the house that is *Umaru-Chan*. Quite a decent character
if you ask me though her over attached personality kind of makes her not the best.
~~~img420(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/102856003020751083/160480CE361D39ABB35876A0FA583FC0F7A8A8D0/)~~~
[**ART/ANIMATION:**]()
Umaru-Chan has quite the average animation, its the usual smooth and yet sometimes choppy due to
budget kind of thing we see from a lot of SOL shows. Though the art style does looks quite neat.
The art style is nice and vibrant which makes us feel more energetic like the gamers we are.
~~~img420(https://media1.tenor.com/images/a0b8d2041336fa12e63ea8c0db7a2234/tenor.gif?itemid=9219493)~~~
[**MUSIC:**]()
The OP is....quite catchy actually. It has Umaru's high pitched voice yeah but the beat and lyrics
sound actually really good. I've been listening to it a few times.
The ED on the other hand...well it sounds...decent I suppose. Nothing that unique and quite
forgetable. Its much slower compared to the OP and has normal vocals from Umaru and the rest of the
cast but still, just not as catchy as the fast paced OP.
~~~img420(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/991/368/908.gif)~~~
[**OVERALL OPINION:**]()
Himouto! Umaru-Chan is a show centered around the Otaku culture and more on the "Gamer" aspect. Its
portrayal is decent to a degree, at least in my opinion. Her addiction to playing games and collecting
items is very true to me. But the part that really throws me off is the incredibly annyoing main. She
cries and cries and rages a second can't pass without her crying or raging. If they toned down that
aspect then I believe this show would've been a 6.8/10.
Summary: While overall I found this series "ok" for laughs and gags, there are numerous writing tropes that I did not agree with the series, enough to distract me from the fun. I actually found Umaru to be okay, not as annoying as people make it up to be, although I definitely have issue with her. My main distastes are solely on the various cliche tropes this series uses. Perhaps thing will get better in the spinoff S and sequel R series. No rush in watching those though. What I like: Decently fun, Taihei is the best character in the series What I dislike: Cliche tropes, basically nothing happens Details: POSSIBLE SPOILER BELOW . . . . . . . . . . . . - Starting from our hamster Umaru Doma, a female who can switch between a persona of a perfect girl (cute, smart, and body wise seemingly healthy), to gamer girl with talents in both arcade and console games, to the lazy chibi mode we know: lazy, irresponsible, and unhealthy dietary wise. Yeah, good luck finding this kind of person in real life. Very unrealistic, almost borderline offensive. - Aside from the unrealistic depiction, and her constant nuisance towards her brother, she is actually quite hilarious on multiple occasions, so as long as she keeps her whining in check, I actually would not mind having more Umaru content. Plus, her chibi hamster design is unique. - I wish Ebina has her own arc, separate from especially Taihei. Not saying they cannot be together, just that she needs other major traits other than crushing over Taihei - Now comes the distasteful cliche tropes: 1. Every main female casts except Ebina have an older brother. How many times have we seen a female with an older brother in an anime? Now make it triple, basically 75% of the main female casts in the series have this trait. 2. The implication of brother complex with Sylphina. She is already unique without the brother complex trait, I do not see why she needs the trait. 3. The violent tsundere in Kirie. One of the most distatsteful form of comedy personally. We get it, she is awkward and needs friends, but I am never a fan of using violence as a media for comic relief, especially if it is done constantly. - Extra comment for "okay" cliche trope: 1. Beach episode, pretty standard for slice of life 2. Sylphina ojou-sama persona, quite hilarious - Aside from Ebina's backstory, I did not recall any memorable or major moments from this season, aside from one "game, game" rant from Umaru, that was hilarious. - One of the few likeable characters is Taihei, very reliable and relatable, especially with his struggles with his sister's antics, has good interactions with his peers - The discount product placements are funny, but are slightly too saturated - Best character(s): Taihei Doma - Worst character(s): Kirie
~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/himouto.jpg)~~~ Do you want to watch something that will smile on your face regardless of what mood you are in? Specifically, an anime that has one particular character that has the charisma and charm to make an entire series into a glorious package of fun and cuteness all by herself? Oh boy, do I have an anime for you if you do. Himouto Umaru-chan is one experience that still perplexes me as I am writing this. Not just because of how much I loved it, but also how something like this could exist. It is essentially a gag comedy anime with the most generic formula you could ever witness if you read this idea on paper. She is an otaku girl who tries to keep her otaku secret from the people around her, even her close friends. Only her brother is aware of this and takes care of her despite her wacky and almost nerve-racking antics driving him to insanity. When you read these two sentences, more often than not, you would most likely shrug off and browse off to the next anime on the anime list. But hear me out for a spare moment of your time. ~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/gcvajvj.png)~~~ I’ll start with the most substantial positive to Himouto Umaru-chan: Umaru-chan. There is no denying her cuteness exists. There is not. But since I know cuteness is not a character structure that is very clear to many people, I will explain her merits with less vague terms than just being cute. What character merits she has, one, in particular, she manages to show off with high tenacity and spark is charisma. Thanks to how she transitions from your stereotypical perfect girl to a wild chibi character who loves to play games, drink copious amounts of cola, and read the latest manga issue. After all, who could not relate to a character that exhibits these quirks? Two aspects make it enjoyable: how seamlessly the art style shifts from average to chibi character design and how the voice actress shifts her voice pitch from this transition. It gives Umaru-chan a great sense of character, not really from a development standard, but an engaging one. Her presence demands your attention to her in many ways that could become annoying when poorly done. But to the writer’s credit, they know how to pace off the comedic chibi bits and add in new and exciting subtle ways to make the jokes involving her seem fresh and new with each episode. Even when she is outright selfish and acts like a crybaby, she still comes off as incredibly lovable thanks to the considerable charm that he inhibited from her over-the-top design and personality. Another aspect of her that I enjoy immensely is her relationship with her brother, Taihei. You could say it is a relationship, albeit a bit exaggerated, that is hilarious and somewhat realistic if you’ve ever had an annoying little sister or brother who annoyed you. Despite her constant barraging of wants and needs to her big brother, they still form a close relationship of sibling love that is honestly touching in a few episodes. Taihei does good things for her out of his heart's kindness and vice versa with Umaru-chan. Her over-the-top personality doesn't overshadow him. He carries himself as another funny character in what can be described as the best sibling duo in anime in recent memory. ~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/himouto-umaruchan-ep-1.jpg)~~~ Himouto Umaru-chan’s brand of comedy is one other big positive that sets itself higher than most comedies that center around otaku life. For one, it does not overly state that the otaku lifestyle is inherently tremendous or destructive at the same time. It mostly keeps the message subtle so that it does not distract us from the comedy bits too much. It has no well-defined message written into the narrative or characters since it knows what type of show it is and runs with it as a silly comedy. This is where the subject matter of being an otaku is seen better than most that try to because it can be enjoyed by everyone who has a particular view on this specific issue that can be against or for it. As for the comedy jokes themselves, most of them hit the mark quite well. Much of it centers around satire of real-life issues that we all go through, whether we go through the internet, social situations, or our need for material goods more than anything else. What’s great about it is that you do not have to be a self-described otaku, or know the culture for the matter, to get the jokes. Such as not getting any internet connection for today, realizing how life seems meaningless without it, etc. The banter between Umaru-chan and her brother is always the biggest highlight of the show’s comedy, as I’ve mentioned before about the great relationship. And there are even some funny moments with the supporting cast; unfortunately, they are not on the same comedic level as our two siblings. ~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/vmmubj8.png)~~~ The supporting cast, which little there is, garners a significant role in a specific arc and has their moments here and there. Umaru-chan’s best friend, Ebina, is undoubtedly one note in how she is continuously shy whenever she is near people. Not to say that they are not funny by any stretch. It does not raise the bar for one of the best shy girls in anime. Sylphinford is pretty hilarious as Umaru-chan’s gaming rival. Kirie Motoba, however, is my least favorite of the cast. It mostly comes down to the fact that whenever she is with any other character, like Umaru-chan, her personality gets overshadowed by how bland it is. I want to give an honorable mention to the OP/ED, which I rarely ever do in reviews, only if it is something special. Umaru-chan’s is quite the special one continually sets the stage for what you are in for. Just the first ten seconds of the OP always makes me bob my body up and down to the rhythm of the cute repetition of Umaru-chan shouting “Umr hai” repeatedly makes me giddy with excitement every time. Aimi Tanaka’s performance proves she can be exciting with her voice-over and her singing, even if it isn’t the best voice in the business. ~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/himouto-umaru-chan-05.jpg)~~~ Finding an excellent otaku comedy is hard to come by. Some are good or decent enough to think of it as a good time waster, and some are wholly average or below that do not have any punch to their jokes. Himouto Umaru-chan has officially raised my optimism for more comedies like this one to come out more often. It succeeded in proving to me that this type of comedy is far from dead. I know some may groan at that notion, but if more studios take notes from Himouto Umaru-chan, I’m all for it. Grade: A-
Umaru Doma has it all. At only sixteen, she’s one of the most beautiful and popular girls in school. She’s super smart, super athletic, and perfectly well-mannered and kind. She’s idolized wherever she goes, except for one place... Her brother’s apartment, where she is living in order to attend school. You see, Umaru has a secret... A dark, terrible secret that would tear her life asunder should anyone discover it. For you see, Umaru Doma... Is a gremlin. She maintains her facade in public, but behind closed doors, she drops the mask, pulls out the snacks, and lies around all day playing video games and taking liberal advantage of her brother’s saintly kindness. This hedonistic paradise might not last long, forever, as her developing social circle brings her two lives closer and closer together, and it would be all too easy for the complex web of lies she’s built her life on to give way and collapse. Will Umaru be able to maintain the status quo, or will she find out that her daily routine as a gremlin was just too good to last? It always surprises me when I write a review that introduces me to a new anime studio... Most of the time, I don’t know who animated a series until I’m just sitting down to start writing, and Himouto Umaru-chan is only the latest in the trend. I’ve never heard of Studio Doga Kobo before, but they have done a few anime that I’ve seen... Even if most of them were shows that I liked just fine, but ultimately found kind of forgettable, like Love Lab, Luck and Logic, Majestic Prince Yuru Yuri. There are two titles in their resume that managed to leave a long term impression on me, and one of them was my subject today. With the exception of Majestic Prince, which looked like it was animated on a budget of hopes, dreams and spare change fished out of the machines at the laundromat, their output tends to look pretty damn good, with smooth animation, key frames used only where they won’t be noticed and framed as inconspicuous as possible. Their work never looks particularly expensive, but they clearly did have a comfortable budget to work with, at least in almost every one of their projects that I’ve seen. They’ve rarely never let me down with anything, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that Himouto Umaru-chan is probably one of the best looking shows I’ve seen from them. Crisp visuals, a bright and vibrant color palette, and a spectacularly managed budget that employs just as much movement as is needed at any given time, saving money on key frames whenever possible without ever going too far with it. Much like most of Doga Kobo’s work, the character designs tend towards anatomical integrity, with only slightly cartoony faces that are normal enough to feel human yet exaggerated enough to be thoroughly expressive. There’s also a level of inspiration in the characters’ hairstyles, almost none of which feel cliched or tropey, and every character’s individual design informs a great deal about who they are. Also in line with the best of Doga Kobo’s work, the backgrounds are downright gorgeous. They’re full of intricate details, and since this is kind of a show about otakus, that’s kind of an important note to strike. Most anime dealing with this kind of subject will either fill out the background with obvious media parodies, or the most generic garbage they can think of, but Himouto goes for something in the middle, and it makes the world of the story feel that much more immersive. I only really have one complaint with the visuals, but I’ll get into that later. I wasn’t a huge fan of the opening, but that’s really a matter of personal taste... I like how it alternates between two drastically different tones, going hyper and fast to represent Umaru’s Dork Side, and going slower and more fancy to represent her public persona. It’s a pretty smart approach, but for me personally, I found the hyper parts to be kind of annoying. I liked the closing theme a lot more, as it’s a really fun tune that involved the four main female voice actors of the series, and while I’m betting they all probably recorded their parts separately, it still sounds like they’re all having fun singing together. The best thing about this anime, however, by far and away by country mile, is the English dub. Every single actor smashed it out of the park, from Adam Nobles’ supportive yet strict, long suffering Taihei, to Jason Douglas’s disturbingly good impression of Andrew Love, from Christina Kelly’s melodramatic overtures to Sara Ornelas’ goofy take on an awkward country bumpkin trying to hide an accent, everyone brings their A game... But there is one particular performance in this dub that I personally count among the legends. Emily Neves didn’t have the greatest start to her anime career... She started off as some failed American Idol contestant who sounded a bit awkward in Angel Beats... But she improved frighteningly fast, becoming one of the most in-demand names in the industry before she’d even been active for a decade. She has range, she has voice control that’s second only to Brittney Karbowski, and unlike a lot of the most prolific voice actresses in anime, her voice actually has a chameleonic quality to it, where you can’t immediately tell it’s her every time you hear her. Umaru presented Emily Neves with the same opportunity that Akira from Lucky Star once gave to Stephanie Sheh... The opportunity to flex her skills by playing a duplicitous character who had two distinctly unique sides to their personality, and yet both sides still had to sound like the same person... Two sides of the same coin, if you will. Her public voice is soft, inviting and dignified, but without any sort of pretentious edge to it. Her gremlin voice is high pitched, childlike and extremely charming in the ways she mispronounces certain words. I’m not kidding, the first time I heard this show in English, I almost fell in love with the character just based on the way she said the phrase “Po-TAY-to chips and CO-LAAAA!!” Again, I don’t want to take anything away from the rest of the cast, I don’t think there was a single sour note to be found, but this is nothing short of a star-making performance for Neves. What makes it even more impressive is that she was pulling off a top tier performance, definitely one of my favorite individual performances of all time, while playing a character I absolutely despise. I realize how ironic this is going to sound, but just like my favorite thing about the show, pretty much everything I hate about it draws back somehow to Umaru herself. As the title character, she does not make a good first impression, and that’s for two reasons. First off, she’s a parasite. For the first few episodes, she’s presented to us as this selfish, entitled, manipulative little troll who is just gleefully and shamelessly taking advantage of her brother, eating up his time and money with only the barest minimum of lip-service gratitude and no self awareness whatsoever. There were interactions between them that made me physically cringe, and while I don’t think it was ever clarified what happened to their parents(Are they dead, or did they just send her off to live with him for school?) I can’t imagine any decent parents would tolerate her acting like such a spoiled brat. I realize she’s technically a child and her brother is a legal adult, but just because you’re in a position where you wouldn’t reasonably be expected to take care of yourself or pay rent, that doesn’t mean you HAVE to be a freeloader. The weird thing is, characters like her CAN work, it has been done. Haruhi Suzumiya is arguably just as difficult of a person, but there are a few key differences. Rather than hiding her true nature, thus acknowledging that she knows damn well how to behave, Haruhi is just herself, 24/7. Rather than being effortlessly popular, she is so outcast that it takes her mood swings threatening life on Earth as we know it for half a dozen people to hang out with her. She also has much more intriguing interests, as well as a backstory that explains them perfectly while giving her some much needed depth, while Umaru is just a gremlin who’s obsessed with consuming entertainment and junk food. Unlike Umaru’s weak-willed enabler of a brother, Haruhi has a foil with some degree of sarcastic wit who isn’t afraid to put his foot down. While I genuinely do like her as a character, even I felt immensely satisfied when she took a step too far in the second season, and Kyon snapped and tried to brain her over it. I would love to see Taihei try and do the same at least once. I’m not a fan of real life domestic violence, but a character like Umaru CAN be balanced out by some good slapstick. On top of that, lazy characters only work if they struggle in some way as a result... In Naruto, Shikamaru has to stay vigilant to avoid being hassled. In My Heavenly Hockey Club, Hana worked her ass off to get into a school that was slightly closer to her house so she could get sixty extra seconds of sleep in the morning. In Lucky Star, Konata only applies herself when she’s bribed. In Saga of Tanya the Evil, Tanya’s efforts to live a peaceful life away from the front lines always backfire and drag her deeper and deeper into the war. Umaru doesn’t struggle at all. She’s naturally smart so she doesn’t have to study, she’s able to gorge on junk food without working out and she’s magically able to not only stay thin which a high metabolism COULD explain, but she's also athletic somehow. She doesn’t have to worry about being exposed, because her friends are all jaw-droppingly stupid. Following this character’s journey is like listening to The Lazy Song... Yeah, you might enjoy it at first, but halfway through you really just want to punch the subject in the face. Hell, it's never even proven in the show that anybody at her school would give a shit about her Dork Side! Yeah, I know Japanese schools have a reputation for being conformist, but the actual potential consequences of this are never communicated to the audience! Who would fucking care if they found out she had *gasp* hobbies and interests? That might make her slightly interesting? I'm sorry, but how does she never get lonely over the fact that she has nobody to share her interests with who doesn't think she's a toddler? My other problem is the sheer amount of cliches that were used to construct Umaru as a character. I’ve seen quite a few anime where there was a female character who was idolized by the entire school, and it never felt right to me... I may be asexual, but I understand aesthetic attraction enough to know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and no matter how attractive you look to one person, there’s someone out there who find you average looking at best, or even downright ugly. To me personally, Umaru looks relatively pretty(at least by high school standards) but just like the twins from Kiss X Sis and the protagonist from Good Luck Girl, I do not understand why the entire student body is obsessed with her. The character design issue I mentioned earlier is that while she’s worshipped in the show, she doesn’t really look like a main character... Or even the main character’s best friend, who you’d expect to be more tomboyish. No, in the average female-lead anime, I would picture a character like her as that third friend who tags along, is probably rich, and owns a summer house for the beach episode. Another cliche she embodies is that whole “secret life” trope, which has been around at least as far back as His and Her Circumstances. You know the drill, there’s a pretty and popular girl at school who’s good at everything and loved by everyone, but is secretly either an otaku, or a former chuuni, or just a middle class girl who works her ass off to appear naturally perfect. What makes it especially weird is that this cliche is usually used as a shortcut to forming a bond between the girl and her love interest, who finds out about her secret and is thus drawn directly into her life. I’m not saying this CAN’T work between two sibling characters, but the only other example I can think of is Oreimo, and that's not a good sign. No, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing incestuous about this anime, don’t go putting THOSE words in my mouth, but it was still a questionable choice to use that cliche in a story about two siblings. Other cliches include Umaru having a pathetic self-proclaimed rival, as well as her brother having the same two friends every fucking male character has... An outgoing male friend who’s more overtly horny than he is, and a female childhood friend who’s hopelessly in love with him. Because effort is overrated, I guess. I don’t usually outright hate these cliches, but the problem is that Umaru-chan does absolutely nothing new with any of them. The only cliche the series really uses in an unexpected way is one of the oldest cliches in anime history, chibi humor. Now, normally, chibi humor is used for the sake of artistic expression... Your characters go super-deformed to sell a joke a little better, and it’s pretty much a staple of the medium, but there’s a catch; Chibi humor can not cross into the text of the story. Yes, a character can shrink for a shot or two, but when he uses his small size to fit into a spot he couldn’t have fit into before, it stops being a sight gag and becomes a canonical super power. I’m sorry, this probably sounds like extreme nitpicking from me, but if I wasn’t willing to let Yuri on Ice get away with having Yuri’s fat gut magically disappear when he needed to dance, then I’m going fucking to say something when Umaru shrinks and pretends to be her own made up little sister. Again, you could just chalk this up to her friends being jaw-droppingly stupid... Bomber doesn’t recognize the face or voice of his own little sister when she’s right fucking in front of him... But I digress. This all wouldn’t be such a big deal to me if the show was funny, but at least for me, it really isn’t. I mean I laughed a couple times at the rival character, who had a well placed joke here or there, but other than that, I don’t think the people who wrote this show really knew how to tell a joke in a story. Most of the humor is either too predictable, too stupid, or just missing a punch line entirely. Right in the first episode, the rival starts bragging to Umaru about getting a 99 on her test, and I’m not going to tell you what the punchline is, because you already know what it is, it’s literally the most obvious punchline you could possibly write for that joke. When Umaru is pestering Taihei to buy her a new game, he invites her friend along on their shopping trip to keep her in line, and when she snaps and goes chibi anyway, the friend misses this because for several seconds she was trying to hold back her natural accent from bursting out, and that apparently rendered her blind and deaf. Then we learn Taihei caved and bought her the game, but we never learn how she overcame his advantage over her, which could have been a funny punchline, but no, the whole joke was just “She won somehow, dur hur.” That’s almost as funny as the time her friend gave Taihei burnt cookies by accident, which I refuse to laugh at until someone explains why the fuck she bagged the burnt cookies in the first place! You could make the argument that things get better as the show goes on, at least in terms of the relationship between Umaru and Taihei, and that is technically true, but it doesn’t feel earned. Umaru never learns anything, she never receives any comeuppance or suffers any consequences, and she’s never forced to confront the consequences of her behavior. Some characters become better friends, but nobody ever changes or grows by the end of the season. The writers just work around all that by giving you less frustrating material, but just dialing back their focus on Umaru’s entitled bullshit and showing us that she can actually get along with her brother once in a while doesn’t actually redeem her. We get more calm, pleasant moments that almost seem like they’re going for some kind of poignancy, but they all wind up feeling kind of meaningless. My favorite segment in the entire series is when Umaru makes a trip to the convenience store in the middle of the night for the first time, not because anything funny or deep happens, but because all the little emotions she goes through on that trip felt honest and relatable... It’s the peak of the fucking show, and it still pales in comparison to similar scenes in Toradora and Azumanga Daioh. That about sums it up right there. Himouto Umaru-chan is available from Sentai Filmworks. I haven’t seen the sequel yet, but it’s available from the same company. Several manga series have been produced, and while two of them are available from Seven Seas Entertainment, it looks like the other ones... Alongside a Playstation Vita game... Were never picked up. There is a lot to love about Himouto Umaru-chan... By which I mean the animation and the dub. Emily Neves does a LOT of heavy lifting to carry this show, which was otherwise kind of a chore to get through. It was really frustrating at the start, watching an insanely unlikeable main character constantly get her way with no consequences, and while it may have stopped being infuriating at a certain point, it mostly just wound up becoming boring afterwards, with it’s peak coming in moments that weren’t exactly entertaining, but were at least kind of vaguely pleasant. It used a ton of tired, derivative cliches that it didn’t even bother presenting in any sort of unique or creative way, with the only exception being Umaru’s chibi form, which is used in the dumbest way possible. I don’t know why this show is as popular as it is... I’m assuming people just find Umaru cute and enjoy her selfish antics on that basis alone... But I can’t see her as anything other than a terribly written character, and considering the fact that the show is based around her, that’s saying something. I give Himouto Umaru-chan a 4/10.
___Junk Food: The Anime___ is nothing more than its title, a consumable like a hundred others meant to pass the fleeting time idly by in slice of life entertainment, but of course, with a twist that's meant to sustain its identity, uniqueness unnecessary. For ___Himouto! Umaru-chan___, it's Doma Umaru who lives a perfect 16-year-old life whenever outside the apartment she and her big brother Taihei live in, a polar opposite to the situation within the building's confines as she mushes into a rotten freeloading bloodsucker of finances and tranquility. She echoes the NEET lifestyle bar her surreal exterior "UMARU~N" transformation when the situation arises and her close relationship with Taihei. This stark contrast between Umaru's parasitic recluse persona taking advantage of the comfort and security her hardworking salaryman for a big brother provides her, lazing around like a bum while constantly inconveniencing Taihei, and her image as the most loved, most talented, effortless in both academics and athletics high school student cycles in every episode. And I've got to say, I actually find it decently average. That's a praise. More praises to come! So while everyone and their grandmothers describe Umaru in the same vein, I have little vexations reserved for her. She's a pest, but the author's approach on how she's written and the usual mindset I've equipped whenever I click an episode make her an adorable pest--at least, more tolerable than some other melancholic girl. Having to see her in the lens of fiction truly abated much of the annoyance I'd naturally have for someone as childish as her; it's the cherry on top. But what makes her rather endearing to me? It's that formulaic gimmick itself that replays multiple times per episode when she's in her Hamster form. Her slothful escapades involving Taihei comes off as entertaining more frequently than irksome (since the comedy is usually at his expense). It's so predictably cliched in anime fashion, and that's what makes it amusing to me. At times wholesomeness chimes in which puts Umaru back to upright senses. This kindles warm awkwardness in the atmosphere as both siblings exchange direct acts of care. In this way, ___Himouto! Umaru-chan___ tries to manipulate the viewer to gradually trivialize Umaru's irresponsible demeanor, but then you remember, it's junk food anime! Entertaining the audience despite twisted conditions is the name of the game. And talking about wholesomeness, I do have my limits in disregarding their character progressions. The anime always balances and/or overpowers it with more mischief and disrespect from Umaru. I can't say I like that, but it's your typical SoL comedy anime so I just learned to shrug intricacies like that off without much indignation, as with other incompetencies. This shift in judgment to accommodate the story's intent allowed me to enjoy this more than I thought. Insert: Hamster Umaru's infantile image over childish and teenage behavior, her voice acting, her manipulations and ulterior motives driven by hedonistic desires, and other elements combined to make her work as a character. I can't say much about anything else really. Production-wise, I don't think anything really stood out. The characters are basically cardboards with chemistry. I like Sylphyn, though, bless her. ___~~Junk Food: The Anime~~___ ___Himouto! Umaru-chan___ is laden with cliches from the start and it doesn't shy away from them at all. Overtime I grew to just feel it through and not be too bothered. Nothing new, just another bag of chips that was decent while it lasted.
Review originally written in 2017. Himouto! Umaru-chan is an anime that explores the amusing yet relatable concept of leading two contrasting lives. Initially, I found it easy to connect with Umaru, the main character. But, my enthusiasm shrunk exponentially as I realized her character development would remain stagnant throughout the entire anime. The anime tries, and fails, to explore the idea that all people have different sides to our personalities. Unfortunately, this theme takes a backseat to “comedy.” If you find watching a girl repeatedly teasing her kind-hearted brother entertaining, you might enjoy Umaru's antics. If this premise doesn't sound very funny to you, chances are you'll get very bored of it very quickly. Just like I did. My main issue with this show is repetitiveness. Seeing Umaru bother her brother without consequences becomes tiresome after a while. The lack of growth and learning from mistakes hampers character development and prevents the show from reaching its full potential. The comedy mostly revolves around Umaru's quirky transformation into a mischievous gremlin whenever she's away from others. However, without Umaru's presence, the show fails to deliver laughs. Despite receiving more screen time than anyone else, she falls flat, along with the rest of the cast. While the characters are pretty badly-written, the anime’s art brings them to life a little bit. The art style is simple, portraying typical suburban environments found in slice-of-life anime. Although the characters lack originality, their expressive behavior compensates for it. In her gremlin form, Umaru's playful antics remind you of a cat, making you want to sit on the couch with a refreshing soda while relaxing. Sometimes, Umaru’s brother’s character design flips to something out of Ace Attorney or Kaiji. It is creative, but does not always match his personality and comes off as pandering. The music in Himouto! Umaru-chan is forgettable, adding nothing to the overall experience. While some catchy tracks accompany humorous scenes, none stand out as exceptional. Personally, I found the opening theme loud, brash, and obnoxious, which aligns well with Umaru's character. Which is why I always skipped it. The anime relies heavily on forgettable jokes that persist throughout, and I highly doubt the sequel will offer anything different. Umaru's humor is like the Minions from Despicable Me—contextually thin but filled with obnoxious noises and mannerisms. Although the writing and comedy in Himouto! Umaru-chan left much to be desired, I don't consider my time watching it a complete waste. Everyone's experience may vary depending on how much they identify with Umaru, which can significantly impact their enjoyment of the series.