Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san

In a parody of the power rangers we have one of the evil bosses of the invading aliens. He is fierce, he is evil, he is dark, he is... off the clock.

The show follows Mr. Evil on his down time. He decided to separate work from leisure so even though he runs into the power rangers from time to time he does go out of his way to avoid confrontations.

His favorite pass times include:-

- Visiting the pandas in the zoo
- Trying different snacks in 7-11
- Watching vids of pandas being cute
- Petting fluffy animals
... - Buying Panda merch
- Panda
- Panda
- Did I mention pandas yet?

The show has the appeal of batman eating a hotdog. It's the cool guy doing everyday things. Because he's an alien it's all new to him so it does dip to the absurd sometimes.

Overall a cute show. I just wish the main cast was introduced from the start instead waiting until the very last three episodes! Yes really, two main members got introduced as the show was ending... It also had a weird habit of jumping around in time a lot. In the span of the show Sakura season, aka spring, came and went three times in a row.

Mr Villain’s day off is a comfy & wholesome experience with beautiful art & character designs that match what we see of their personality & traits throughout the show. The music suits each episode perfectly and the show’s opening music & animation reflects itself in all aspects, that being said the ending featuring an upbeat song didn’t do the same which was only notable because of how great the opening was executed.

Each episode was a wholesome & cosy watch that focussed on separating oneself from work & enjoying the little things. Each episode showed us the aforementioned through the main characters fascination with Panda’s & ... interactions with humanity, creatures & other side characters. There are a few episodes and scenes that get dramatic or emotional but they somehow maintained the established tone & vibes without feeling jarring. That being said there were massive time jumps during two episodes that weren’t reflected in others and I’m guessing that may be a result of the short story format but it was noticeable when every other episode felt linear.

I will say that I binged the show and while that might be the reason I picked up on its repetition & smaller issues, its comfy nature ended up helping me get some sleep. It might be better off not binging the show so that the aforementioned repetitive segments aren't noticeable however watching the main character establish a boundary, develop his appreciation for different aspects of the world & interact with the cast was addicting, so it might be difficult.

After completion I felt like the initial episodes were probably its weakest as it relied too much on the Panda fascination & the reminder that it’s his day off, to the point that it got repetitive & noticeable. The initial episodes don’t feature much of the wonderful side cast and that helped me reach such a conclusion as I personally found that his interactions & impact on them were the cream of the crop but sadly new introductions were sparse and limited to the second half of the season. While the show is about appreciating the little things in life and the aforementioned panda fascination is one of those things, I believe once the show found a balance between the aforementioned, new situations & added other interests it really picked up and highlighted that expression, the shows characters & stories more.

At the end of the day Mr Villain’s interests & personality were fun to watch but it really shined when it came to his interactions & reinforcement of the shows wonderful side characters & exploration of things outside of panda's. I think there are a few things regarding its world that you could be distracted by if you put some thought into it but thankfully the show does a great job at hiding & keeping you focussed on the wholesome & cosy setting.

If you want a fast or actionable Slice of life I don't think Mr Villains day off is for you but if you want a cosy experience with a surprising amount of depth, care & love, it's worth giving it a watch.

Without spoilers my favourite episode was about trees.

The main issue with this show is the lack of character development or meaningful interaction with the characters. Rather than say that the characters in this show have any sort of personality, they are more like mere plot points in order to progress with the story; a convenient way to pivot the focus of the main character.

If the cast of side characters on both the side of the heroes and on the evil faction were more developed and had more screen time, then this show would actually be pretty good. The problem is that it's mainly Warumono carrying the show with rarely any meaningful interaction ... with the rest of the cast, and the fairly simple, boring, and predictable setups for a lot of these scenes don't carry the show enough for it to be this simple.