Slow Start

Hana Ichinose, a 17-year-old high school student who is not only introverted, but also insecure and timid, has just moved and will be attending a new school. To make her situation more difficult, Hana is a "slow start," which means that she missed a year and worries about attending a class where everyone is younger than her.

During her introduction, the teacher reveals it is Hana's birthday, which gives her the jumping-off point to meet three of her classmates: Tamate Momochi, a charismatic and extroverted girl; Kanmuri Sengoku, who is shy and small; and the popular and pretty Eiko Tokura. Not wanting to lose the chance to make new friends, Hana's interactions with these three mark the beginning of some beautiful relationships that will change her life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Momochi, Tamate Main

Itou, Ayasa Japanese

Sengoku, Kamuri Main

Naganawa, Maria Japanese

Ichinose, Hana Main

Kondou, Reina Japanese

Tokura, Eiko Main

Mineuchi, Tomomi Japanese

Hannen, Hiroe Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Enami, Kiyose Supporting

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Kyouzuka, Shion Supporting

Ichimichi, Mao Japanese

Tsubakimori, Sachi Supporting

Kouno, Marika Japanese

Takahashi, Nanae Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

Ichinose, Hazuki Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Producer

Onoue, Taiki Producer

Tsuruta, Kishou Producer

Hashimoto, Hiroyuki Director

Reviews

Aug 11, 2024

Trifortay

Recommended

Slow Start hits very close to home for me and I don't know why. The fact that Hana is scared of losing friends due to unforeseeable occurrences. And then finding some new friends and yet still dreading losing the friends she used to have. She's a year behind in school.

All the characters are memorable and Kamuri is just Kanna 2.0. Same VA and similar personality. The only thing I don't like about the anime is how short it is. I want more. It is fun to watch and good to watch if you wanna get away from something traumatic or if you just ... got done watching a rough anime.

The artstyle compliments how cute the anime is and the voice acting is perfect.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 13, 2023

OG_Otaku

Mixed Feelings

Recommended with a big asterisk.

Bottom line: if you like CGDCT, yuri, and ecchi, then you will enjoy Slow Start. It is a PG-13 teaser, with enjoyable fan service and lots of yuri flirtations between the characters, especially so between Eiko and her teacher. But there is no nudity, nothing explicit, just a lot of joking and CGDCT.

The plot is minimal. The anime writers and producers let us down, suggesting a number of story lines that just fizzled out before they could get interesting. The art style is sort of classic for CGDCT, and may not be everyone's cup of tea.

I may ... find myself watching bits of this again someday. Sometimes you just need a little yuri CGDCT to get through the week.

6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 15, 2018

Axew13

Not Recommended

"The protagonist is a normal high school student going to your typical all-girls' high school. But wait! She's actually one year behind! I swear I'm not running out of ideas."
This was my first thought upon seeing Slow Start. Bear in mind, I actually (guiltily) enjoyed this show after watching it. But flaws are flaws, so here's my review.

STORY: Hana Ichinose is a- you already know this. And that's all the plot you're going to get from this series aside from minor character development. Spoiler: The gap year thing ends up not being essential to the show at all.

ART: Slow Start has the most generic art ... style it could possibly have. Granted they couldn't take too much liberty since this is a manga adaptation, but the show still looks like a template. The actual animation is stunning: as expected of A-1 Pictures, characters move pretty smoothly. Background art does the job. Fanservice scenes are on-point.

SOUND: The OP, ED and that one background song are as catchy as they should be, without doing anything particularly innovative. I'm not Japanese, but the voices fit the characters for me, and the acting (especially Tama) was great.

CHARACTERS: Hana is a self-insert crybaby. Tamate represents the male otaku audience. Eiko is kind of like an older figure, especially to Kamu who is the token loli. The characters are by no means realistic, but if you're willing to overlook that, they do show more (perhaps unexpected) traits that deviate them from their archetypes.

If you're a fan of moe then Slow Start is a good watch. Hell, watch it just for Tama-chan. But don't prioritize it, because then you're likely to be disappointed and miss out on better shows.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Slow Start Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 17, 2018	90 replies	by GakutoDeathGlare »» Jun 19, 11:44 PM
	Poll: Slow Start Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 17, 2018	46 replies	by Tsune_14 »» Mar 11, 2:44 PM
	Poll: Slow Start Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 24, 2018	82 replies	by removed-user »» Dec 16, 2023 7:52 AM
	Poll: Slow Start Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 10, 2018	49 replies	by removed-user »» Dec 16, 2023 7:52 AM
	Poll: Slow Start Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 3, 2018	53 replies	by removed-user »» Dec 16, 2023 7:51 AM

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