One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshi-tsuki.

This anime was a delightful surprise, like finding an angel on your balcony (literally!).

Shintarou's ordinary life is turned upside down when Towa, a kind and innocent angel, crash-lands into his studio apartment. I loved how their relationship evolved from awkward encounters to a heartwarming bond. Towa's curiosity about humans and her childlike wonder made me laugh and smile.

But what really stood out was the exploration of personal space and privacy. With Towa living in the tiny apartment, things get cozy (and complicated!) fast. I appreciated how the show tackled the challenges of hiding Towa's true identity and navigating relationships with other girls.

And then there's Tsumugi, ... Shintarou's classmate and friend - she's an absolute sweetheart! If Towa wasn't in the picture, I'd totally ship Shintarou with Tsumugi. Their friendship is genuine and adorable, and Tsumugi's energy is infectious. She's definitely a highlight of the show!

The animation was lovely, with a soft color palette that fit the show's gentle atmosphere. And the music? Wonderful!

Overall, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included is a must-watch for anyone seeking a heartwarming anime with a touch of humor and romance. It's a delightful ride that'll leave you smiling!

This anime is wholesome and cute but it fails as a Romance Harem and should have been a pure Slice of Life/Cute Girls doing Cute Things, anime instead, because that's what it excels at with exceptional female characters that are more than their tropes.

I genuinely believe that the shows highs are completely undercut by the male lead although he does act as connective tissue between the girls. The Male lead is your generic NICE GUY Harem MC but somehow less than that. One could describe him as an extreme discount version of Rentarou from 100GF's but saying that is a disservice to 100gfs.

My main gripe ... is that the show excels at the characterization of the female cast & the interactions between the girls which is something noticeable from episode 3 and reinforced as the season continues. These interactions elevate the entertainment and watch value something chronic because the interactions between the MC & Angel while to some degree are cute, end up lacking in comparison & if you look beyond the cute stuff, you can see a weirdly controlling nature because she can't leave the apartment without him, which even gets addressed by another character and then swept under the rug. Their scenes take the majority of screen time which is a shame because it’s the worst the show offers outside of needless & recurring fan service. Episode 10 is one of the best episodes in the season because it's just the girls hanging out and exploring their friendship.

Honestly, I think this would have been great as a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things Slice of Life anime instead of a Harem with a male lead because he is no match for the girls quality and what good moments he has with them is few and far between. I don't think it's worth watching as a Romance Harem. If you're out of things to watch and/or you want some great interactions between the girls in the show that aren't restricted to their tropes (although those interactions are limited) Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included should be watched for those alone.

“One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshi-tsuki.” has got to be one of the most boring and unengaging anime in recent years. Its tropes overused, its storyline lacking in tension, its characters unremarkable and generic, and its attempts at character development clumsy. What results is an anime that is plainly bad and forgettable.

One Room is about a high schooler (totally not overused) with a childhood friend (totally not overused) who encounters a kind angel and a bunch of supernatural kawaii anime girls (totally not overused), and go through their daily ordeals like going to work and studying etc (totally not overused). The tropes used in this anime ... can be traced back to the Mediaeval times when Shakespeare wrote his masterpieces: classic, overused, prosaic.

Speaking of the plot, one of its critical flaws is that there is practically no tension throughout the entire story. The whole anime is just them working, playing, watching movies, and going to the beach. There are no greater goals for the characters to achieve; never any disagreements or conflicts that the characters fight over, and let's forget any difficulties that might require the slightest effort to overcome. I could only recall one clumsy attempt at development: in episode 5, after the male protagonist meets Towa and Noeru, Tsumugi (being the childhood friend that, of course, has always loved the male protagonist but is too shy to confess, totally not overused) worries about having her dear boyfriend-to-be taken away by other girls who have supernatural powers. A mid anime might show how hard the heroine tries to make the boy notice her. A bad anime would just give her a bunch of lucky events and allow her to get closer to him without her even trying. Regrettably, the author went down the second sorry path and gave us a bad anime instead of a mid one. This could have been much better if he had explored what would happen if the characters discovered that Towa lived in the protagonist’s home. Could have. Instead, we get a porched attempt at demonstrating the heroine’s emotional change.

This bit of the so-called “plot” of this anime also brings me to another point: character development (or rather the lack of it). For an anime that can be properly called mid, you would at least expect its characters to make some sacrifices or have some change of heart. In One Room, there is no process of growth in the characters. The characters are content with who they are and live happily ever after. After closing in on the male protagonist for once, Tsumugi just leaves all her jealousy behind, and this plot thread is never brought up again in the story. The male protagonist’s character has been consistently flat for the whole 12 episodes with zero growth. Arguably, there is some growth for Noerell, but it is a clumsy attempt nevertheless.

But one may argue: that is a feature of nichijou animes! You can’t criticise an anime for its genre! What about Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, whose popularity and critical acclaim I need not elaborate on? The two share much in common: they both show the characters' ordinary lives; they are both comedies; they practically share the same plot: both protagonists meet a kind, caring girl with supernatural powers. What differs is that Kobayashi shows growth in its characters; its arcs create tension between the characters with a goal for them to achieve. Notably, Kobayashi becomes progressively more cheerful and outgoing as the series progresses. Granted, ordinary lives in real life can be boring; but in fiction, it is the author’s job to make it interesting and engaging to the audience. If the author of Kobayashi can write an interesting story in a nichijou anime, why can’t the author of One Room do the same?

The author also fails to use the story’s biggest preposition: angel. I mean, if you take out the element of angel and replace Towa as an ordinary girl who got lost, the plot still works. The author could have explored more on how Towa is not accustomed to modern, or even human life in general, instead of surface level stuff like not knowing what a cinema is (see episode 10). How would an angel cope with having a human body? Take advantage of the settings in the Bible! I am well aware that this anime is in no way serious, but hey, Kobayashi did well utilising its dragon setting; and the entire plot of Gabriel Dropout relies heavily on its angel setting. I can think of no reason other than bad writing for why the author failed to do so.

Another thing is that the fan service is just plainly unnecessary and distracting. It just adds another layer of cheapness to the anime.

Having read this long rant, you may be thinking: I watch this anime not to have a lecture on story writing. Why can’t you just turn off your brain, sit back, and relax? Sure, I can appreciate that sometimes we just want to enjoy an anime without the hassle of thinking, but using this apologetic reasoning to defend an anime is another thing. Under the same reasoning, the inherent qualities of an anime do not give it a greater value, and what matters is whether the anime soothes your mind. This basically renders any serious critical assessment pointless. Besides, a relaxing and lighthearted anime can also be enjoyable: refer to the Kobayashi section above.

All in all, One Room’s plot is practically non-existent, its characters have no depth, and there is no tension - a total car crash of a story. And it is not a car crash you can’t move your eyes away from: it's the anime equivalent of a car bumping into a fence at 10 km/h — a 1 for One Room.