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Total Recommendations: 2

If you liked
Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken
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...then you might like
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon
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When I first started watching Kobayashi-san in early winter 2017, I couldn't shake how I was reminded of I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying. Sure, the art style is pretty recognisable as Cool Kyou Shinja's, but the two are very similar tonally as well. The two shows are primarily comedy focused. While the comedy may not be bust-a-gut hilarious, it is very comfortable. Both shows feature a series of recurring jokes that your mileage may vary on, but personally, they never failed to illicit a smile. I'd compare the the comedy style of these shows, and especially the recurring jokes, to a good cup of coffee in the morning. Sure, it's nothing you haven't had many times before, but sometimes it's exactly what you need. "Exactly what you need" was unexpectedly a great segue to what I feel Cool Kyou Shinja's strength is as an author. Both of these works fantastically capture the elation that comes with finding the perfect person. You can go to work day in and day out forever, but once you can come home every day to that perfect, goofy person, life feels a lot better. Kobayashi has this in Tohru, and Kaoru in Hajime. The other's antics may drive the other crazy, but it's always with a smile. I think the ending theme of I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying explains it perfectly: "I always walked alone before, wandering along with the flow. When I tried to make a smile, it'd always be stiff, Reeling in the holes in my heart. I Feared being lonely, Wondering if I'd live alone forever… Now There's nothing to be afraid of!" I guess this ended up more of a love letter to Cool-kun and these two works, but I guess this is okay. If you liked either show for its comedic style or its romance, you'll find the other show similar.

If you liked
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
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...then you might like
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon
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Let's get the surface-level stuff out of the way first. Firstly, both shows have an element of magical realism, Kobayashi with the dragons and Haruhi with the espers, time travellers, and aliens. Both shows have a deadpan loli-style character, a fanservice character with massive breasts, and the main character in both is quick-witted and snarky. Finally, both these shows look like typical otaku bait, but reveal themselves to much more than that. On to the more important bits. Both these shows maintain a comedic tone interspersed with some truly masterful scenes of emotional weight with some pretty awesome action scenes sprinkled in for good measure. Just like life, these shows don't just hold one tone. They can be cheerful and adorable, calm and enjoyable, or slow and melancholic. Both shows have a central theme of trust. Kobayashi's is about her coming to trust and care for Tohru and Kanna, and Haruhi's comments on the unspoken, almost unbreakable trust that Haruhi and Kyon have for each other. While trust is not the biggest theme in either, both shows wouldn't be what they are without it. Kobayashi is a lot newer, and the combination of fresh talent and years of experience has helped it surpass Haruhi on a technical level (namely no more CG crickets), but Haruhi did overwhelm the anime community when it came out for a reason. These shows aren't peas in a pod, but they are birds of a feather. That is to say, these anime aren't the same. If you're just looking for more of one or the other, then you won't find it here, but if you're looking for something else to scratch the same itch or similar itches, I would recommend these shows as doing that.

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