Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

The Japanese call them hikikomori—people who've become so withdrawn socially that they refuse to leave their homes for weeks and even months at a time. For Sasami Tsukuyomi, who's attempting to pass her first year of high school despite being a shut in, it's more than just a word. Fortunately though, she lives with her older brother Kamiomi, who just happens to be a teacher at the school Sasami is supposed to attend. Not to mention, her "Brother Surveillance Tool" which lets her view the outside world via her computer and will, theoretically, allow her to readjust to interfacing with people again. What it mainly does, however, is let her view her brother's interactions with the three very odd Yagami sisters, who inexplicably seem to have had their ages reversed and have various types of "interest" in Kamiomi. And then things start to get really weird... Magical powers? Everything turning into chocolate? Is life via the web warping Sasami's brain, or is it the universe that's going crazy?

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Tsukuyomi, Sasami Main

Asumi, Kana Japanese

Yagami, Kagami Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Yagami, Tsurugi Main

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Tsukuyomi, Kamiomi Main

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Yagami, Tama Main

Nonaka, Ai Japanese

Edogawa, Jou Supporting

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Tsukuyomi, Juju Supporting

Asakawa, Yuu Japanese

Tamamo no mae Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Futsuno, Mika Supporting

Hazuki, Erino Japanese

Susanoo Supporting

Kirimoto, Takuya Japanese

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Ooshima, Miku Producer

Tanaka, Junichirou Producer

Adachi, Kazuki Producer

Reviews

Dec 21, 2021

Wangan_King

Recommended

Studio SHAFT is well known for delivering unique anime experiences that tend to break the mould of what we define anime as. Weird direction, overly-dramatic animation and sleek style is the signature of the studio and big names such as Monogatari, Madoka Magica and Nisekoi all benefited from this.

In this review though, we look at a less-known title of theirs, where they decided to crank the dial of crack in whatever they're smoking up to 11. Of course, the title I'm referring to is "Sasami-san@Ganbaranai".

The anime is about a girl named Sasami who we first meet as a shut-in NEET living a comfy life under ... the care of her slightly mad-with-passion brother. She doesn't feel like trying hard at life, but eventually weird things start to happen in the world around Sasami and it's up to her and the gang to get to the bottom of it. Each character in this anime is designed as an exaggeration of an exaggeration. I have to admit it can be off-putting to those not used to it, but for me, I found it very charming and amusing to see these walking caricatures go about their insane lives. In essence, it's all good parodical fun whenever they are on screen.

In regards to the story, I think this is where most would have trouble. To boil it down, the story is basically a Touhou fan-fiction written in Monogatari style. The anime tells a continuous story but doesn't use the traditional format of arcs or sequential events. The anime appears to be impulsive in what it is showing and it's sort of up to you to keep up with the pace that it dishes the content at. To me, this made the anime feel energetic and engaging, but I can understand that it can be frustrating for those not used to it. Also, while not an obligation, the anime assumes you have some basic knowledge of Shinto and general mythology, since it touches up and parodies those subjects often. Still, it's not like you need in-depth understanding, but it would enhance the experience. Overall, the story is great and while not spectacular, it has a good ending.

Moving on, the strongest aspect of this show is its art-style which feels sharp, eye-catching and fresh. The characters were designed by Hidari, who has worked extensively on the Atelier series and Fire Emblem as a character design and it definitely shows in how sleek the character designs are. SHAFT was able to fully capitalize on this and flexed their creative muscle when it comes to animation and direction. Action scenes are well-fleshed out and dynamic, while slow talking scenes have micro-movements and nice cuts to keep the watcher visually engaged. SHAFT did an excellent job animation-wise and it is apparent that they had a lot of fun working on this, fun that you as a viewer can easily experience second-hand.

The anime just oozes charm and soul and no where is this more apparent than the ED and previews at the end of each episode. They usually use that space to meme about what you just watched, while also giving commentary on the ongoing events in the anime. This used to be common in the 90's, but to see it being done in 2013 just felt melancholic and soulful to me. The episodes themselves are also full of comedy, which can be quite raunchy at times. I just loved that since it gave the perception that the anime was not holding back in doing what it wants to do!

Overall, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai is yet another unique delivering from SHAFT. It feels similar to Monogatari (on Crack) in many ways, but I think it can stand on its own legs as an amusing parody of modern society and ancient mythology. For those looking for something with a lot of energy, fun and style, then be sure to give this anime a try!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 22, 2024

SgtSalamander

Mixed Feelings

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai is a well-produced, pretty anime that has no real clue exactly what it is, and suffers for it. It gets off to an alright, albeit weird, start, but soon enough gets lost in its own story, as though its trying to chase down its own identity, or catch us somehow off guard with a bold tonal shift. Is it an ecchi comedy? SoL? Horror? Who knows? Certainly not Sasami-san@Ganbaranai. Beginning with the story, it's as I said- scattered, uncoordinated, messy, and nonsensical, with an (un)healthy helping of incest throughout. But, at the start, it seems intriguing despite the general ... strangeness. Sasami being a rather well-written hikkikomori, the show seems to be setting us up for a kind of Haruhi-style world-manipulation plot, which would have been cool if they continued down that path, marked by new metaphysical problems each week, and Sasami-san gradually coming out of her shell. Instead, we only get a couple episodes of that before Sasami becomes a totally different character, and the show switches genres at minimum 4 different times, ending up as a totally confused mess, complete with timeline manipulation, random character introductions at the last minute, and a huge, sudden conflict that's frantically built up in the last few episodes. It's a shame, as this could have otherwise been a pretty fun anime, had it not devolved into complete nonsense. It does its best to try and keep your attention with some mild but frequent ecchi, though it just feels like a distraction from the fact the story is really quite bad.

The art is, by contrast, great, and easily takes the spot as this anime's strongest aspect. It boasts this creative, stylized aesthetic throughout, characterized by an almost dreamlike art direction defined by its use of watercolors and a vibrant yet soft palate. Beyond this, the thing the art does best is character designs, which all manage to be distinct, memorable, and pleasing to the eye. This is especially true for Sasami, and while all the characters manage to be poignantly emotional in a very visual way, it plays across Sasami's face the best, and as a result she feels like a unique protagonist that stands out from your standard fare simply by her appearance alone.

The sound meets all basic standards for quality, though nothing in particular stands out apart from the songs they bookend each episode with, which are catchy and endearing. Indeed, no matter how scattered or underwhelming an episode was, the ending theme gag was always a breath of fresh air, providing much-needed levity throughout.

The characters are fairly strong, feeling as though they have agency in the story, even if that story doesn't make much sense to begin with. Of them, my favorites are the titular Sasami-san, and her magical robot friend Kagami. Sasami, as mentioned earlier, is interesting and well-characterized, feeling unpredictable and engaging, and in her Hikki form, funny and endearing. In a way, it's a shame that her character was wasted on this show when she could have been so much more with a better story. Kagami, meanwhile, is a constant source of laughs given her deadpan humor and role as the regular victim of slapstick comedy. Overall, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai is an anime that had potential, but squandered it. If you like the art direction and the characters enough to forgive the overwrought fever dream of a plot, then give it a watch, but it certainly wasn't enough for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 5, 2019

mouthpiece

Not Recommended

THE STAFF
Once upon a time there was a studio called SHAFT, which hired a man named Simbo Akiyuki and created one very good school comedy called Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (SZS). It sold so well, it kept making more similar comedies, and even though none of them were as good as the first, they kept making money out of the fame they got thanks to it. And this is why we get Sasami-san at Ganbaranai at present time

PROPER MINDSET
What made SZS so good was the simple fact it had a character for every possible situation. They could deal with any issue they could think of thanks ... to it, and half the time it would even be about social criticism. All the later comedies though had a far more narrowed space to move, and without ever trying to flesh out their characters past the first dimension, or at least having a plot to keep you interested, they ended up becoming boring much sooner. This problem is inherited to their current comedy, which is about a shut-in girl. Just how long can they stretch this joke before it becomes boring; especially when SZS already had such a character? The very first episode is pretty much telling you “Not even 10 minutes.”

CAST
There are no characters in this show, unless you can call generic caricatures defined by one stereotype and one personality quirk as such. In case you do, there are 5 of them.
- One is a shut-in girl who spends her life indoors and stalks her brother with hidden cameras. She sees him as her slave and doesn’t want anyone to be interested in him; thus she is a spoiled, arrogant, selfish brocon.
- The second is said brother, a major siscon who does nothing all day besides trying to please her sister. He loves to hide his face from the camera for no real reason. Probably a parody of the faceless hero in hentai games.
- The others are three underage sisters who are all very interested in the brother. They do a lot of things to attract his attention but he is stuck to thinking only of his sister to care.
There, that was all I can say about them. Very eccentric in whatever they do based on the one and only stereotype they are made up from and absolutely nothing more. Oh, they are also supposed to be gods but this has as much importance as everything else in the show. Absolutely none.

SCRIPT
There never was plot or development in any SHAFT comedy, and this one is following the tradition. It’s complete randomness. All you get is four underage girls messing with the life of a faceless deviant adult in a completely random succession of scenes and plots. And sure, reality keeps messing up because they are gods but this doesn’t add anything to the setting; it just excuses the randomness and shallowness. It doesn’t even attempt to criticize society or otaku culture like SZS did. In the contrary, it makes it look like it’s fun to be a hikikomori. It just oversexualized major social problems Japan faces and threw them in your face expecting you to find that funny. It isn’t.

PRODUCTION VALUES
Minimalistic, artsy, full of filters, but surely no longer that special after all the similar yet inferior to SZS comedies SHAFT made. Good voice acting, forgettable songs, the whole thing looks like a parody of hentai games.

LEGACY
A forgettable series. SHAFT must try something different if it wants to make money out of something else other than milking the Bakemonogatari franchise.

And now for some excused scorings.
ART SECTION: 8/10
General Artwork 2/2 (artsy)
Character Figures 1/2 (generic)
Backgrounds 2/2 (artsy)
Animation 1/2 (basic)
Visual Effects 2/2 (artsy)

SOUND SECTION: 7/10
Voice Acting 2/3 (silly but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Music Themes 2/4 (typical)
Sound Effects 3/3 (artsy)

STORY SECTION: 4/10
Premise 2/2 (interesting)
Pacing 0/2 (random)
Complexity 1/2 (besides getting all the game and culture references, there is nothing in it)
Plausibility 0/2 (none)
Conclusion 1/2 (simple)

CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10
Presence 1/2 (generic)
Personality 2/2 (rather cheesy but well founded)
Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there)
Development 0/2 (none)
Catharsis 0/2 (none)

VALUE SECTION: 2/10
Historical Value 0/3 (none)
Rewatchability 1/3 (low because of too much randomness)
Memorability 1/4 (besides being artsy, there is no reason to remember it)

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10
Art 1/1 (looks artsy)
Sound 0/2 (sounds meh)
Story 0/3 (what story?)
Characters 0/4 (they are cardboards)

VERDICT: 4.5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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