Bocchi the Rock is a masterpeice honestly. It was so fun to watch. And the portrayal of social anxiety is really good! As someone who has struggled with social anxiety for most of my life, Bocchi is literally me fr. There is filler, but all of it is very fun, the show itself isn't very story driven so I didn't mind it. I loved seeing all the character interactions, especially the ones with Kita and Bocchi in them. They're girlfriends fr. The merch I've seen for the show are great, sadly I haven't been able to track down any in real life though, so I'm still on the lookout for a figure! One day I'll retrieve a Nijika Noodlestopper! The story was super cute! It followed a young girl named Hitori Gotou (nicknamed as Bocchi) who got roped into playing in a band. It's what she's always wanted, but her social anxiety makes it living hell for her. She's forced to overcome a lot of that anxiety to show the band and the crowd that she truly is an amazing guitar player. As a guitarist myself, the performances are strangely accurate to real life. Oh and also, the music is amazing. They made an entire amazing album under the Kessoku Band name, and holy shit all of those songs are going directly in my playlist! I've even looked up tableture and shit for the Bocchi's parts, and the dedication to making this accurate is really good. All of the parts are pretty hard tbh. This show is lovely, the author also seems very kind. Clover Studios really hit it out of the park with this one. Lately they've REALLY been flopping, but this is great. If Clover keeps pumping out things like this, then I'm sure that I'll find a whole lot more animes I like!

I first found this anime through EBay. Insane, I know. I found a listing for a figure of the main character Mahiro Oyama, and I thought she was cute! I did some research and found out who she was, what anime she was from, and what it was about. It's about a "boy" named Mahiro Oyama. His little sister, Mihari, is a scientific genius, and he's a shut-in hikkikomori who stays inside reading manga, playing games, and other loser shit all day. He rarely leaves his room. But, his sister conducts a small experiment on the next meal she prepared for Mahiro. This experiment ends up with 22 year old Mahiro waking up as a middle school aged girl. Hilarity insues as he is able to finally live his childhood happily. I immediatly knew it was probably going to be some gooner shit, but the artstyle was just so yummy i had to watch it! And the main character pretty much being a trans girl was cute too. So watch it I did. I was right. It was some gooner shit, BUT i enjoyed it outside of that! The first thing I noticed is that turning him into a girl was completely unnescessary from his sister. Like, it did not have to be done! BUT for the sake of the series it did. Because it wouldn't hit if it was about being a little boy. Its about learning to live in your body, and finally being able to love yourself once you transition. How transitioning gives you the confidence to go out and be yourself again. Mahiro was made younger and a different sex because her sister believed she deserved to have the childhood she shouldve been birthed into. i think its a sweet sentiment. But lets talk about the animation. this anime had some of the best animation I've seen. I've watched a lot of anime, and maybe I'm just bias because I actually enjoyed this one, but I think the animation was peak. The animators made everything super duper cozy looking all the time, and dont get me started on the colors! The coloring is so so so beautiful! Everything is pastel and cutesy and I rarely see anime with such a well established vibe. And the expressions!! The expressions are all so amazingly drawn, and every face a character makes is cute. That might've just been how it was in the manga, I'm not sure since I didn't read it, but if so then Studio Bind adapted it beautifully.

If you've been on my website for long enough, you know my sense of humour is strange. It's deranged, and I find almost anything funny. But I would like to think the humour in this anime was actually just good. There were a few jokes that just didn't hit, but some of the jokes did genuinly get a big laugh from me. The characters are all amazing, and the dynamics are hilarious. Not a lot of animes are actually able to make me laugh. The only ones I can think of are Bocchi, Azumanga, and Saiki K. I think Onimai handled itself well. It didn't try to be funny all the time, it left a lot of room for the slice of life. I think they developed Mahiro really well as a trans woman. At first she's pissed, but throughout the series she realizes her life is like 10x better now, and that she'd really rather be like this. As a transgender man, I think it was portrayed really well. Before I transitioned I was mostly just a sad person, probably like Mahiro was, but when I actually realized I was trans? Huge. Everything changed. I'm out to everyone I know now, and I'm happier than I've ever been. Just like Mahiro was. I have more friends because I'm happier being myself. Thats exactly what happend with Mahiro too. Also the anime does just show her getting over her social anxiety, and it's just really refreshing. Most Slice of Lives are higher-stakes. Like Wotakoi was about love, and Bocci was about being a good band. Onimai was just about some girl overcoming social anxiety, and learning how to make friends again. It pretty low-stakes. Even though Bocchi is life that too a lot of the time, it is much more over the top about it. I don't mind it per se, but it is worth mentioning. I would make an entire section about the soundtrack but I didn't pay much attention to it. I do remember hearing some bangers though. The tracks also always had a very fitting vibe, it was just as comfy as the story and color palette.

The characters. How do I even start on them? First, Mahiro is kind of just a gremlin fatass gamer. But a girl now. And i love her for that. Mihari is some younger (older now) sister that is super smart and is just happy to see her sister happy now. Did I mention that she also has a habit of just kissing people when she's drunk? See this happens multiple times. This girl is fucking gay and it's hilarious! It makes you wonder "hey is this girl just gay when shes drunk or????" and i do not know! But its REALLY funny an REALLY cute! Every scene where she's the joke, I am always laughing. Now onto her girlfriend. Kaede is a gyaru girl with a big chest and a bigger heart. She's really nice and kind and is pretty much just another sister to Mahiro. Her and Mihari are really close, and Mihari kisses her when she's drunk in one episode. She didn't deny it, but she ban Mihari from drinking ever again. Kind of gay to not stop her. Oh and theres a whole episode about them going out shopping together on Christmas, and it's treated as a date. Along with that, Christmas is primarily a couples holiday in japan. So take that as you will, just know there is no straight answer. This anime is inherently gay and its amazing fuck off. Now onto Momiji, sometimes nicknamed Momijiro. She's one of Mahiro's friends, another middle schooler. She's a tomboy butch who has a bit of a crush on Mahiro. She's kind and helpful and is Kaede's sister. And then there's girl called Miyo. I love her. She is the probably the funniest character in this show with the little screentime she gets. What is her main personality trait? Himejoshi. This girl is a hardcore himejoshi and I am honestly so here for it. Every scene she is in, she turns it into gay shipping. She doesn't like getting involved in it herself though. The one time she takes a bath with 2 other girls, she is flustered the whole time. She is just a cute patootie. All of them have such unique dynamics and it's great. In anime, a lot of the time the dynamics and relationships don't feel real and genuine. they feel as fictional as the story itself, but I cannot put Onimai into that same box. I can see all these people as actual functioning beings, and real people with these exact same traits and lives but outside of a fictional realm. It transfers over really well because it just feels so real and genuine. I love the genuiness of this anime, it is one of it's best factors. Another thing I love about it is the small things. All of the events are fairly small, but they are so refreshing and nice. There are multiple scenes where Mahiro wets herself, and has to run to the bathroom. Now, if this happened once I'd believe it was fine. But it happend like 3 or 4 different times, so it might've just been poorly hidden fetish content but it still does have substance so I do completely hate it. Like. Don't sexualize little girls. Or their pee. Thats not a crazy thing to say, but Im just going to look past that for the sake of this review. They deal with her pissing herself kind of well. Its embarrassing for her, but its part of her getting used to her new body. It also gives her a reason to trust Kaede, seeing that Kaede witnessed her pee herself and promised not to tell anyone. Very ladylike very demure, girls helping out girls is great. I also think it was very human. Anime, or television in general, doesn't really bring up bodily functions much. Maybe its because its gross to some people, or maybe its because its something we would rather forget we have. But i think its the former. I think giving Mahiro her little accident makes her seem infinitely more human, more real. She fucks up something as simple and embarrassing as pissing herself. I feel like that has happened to a lot of people, and it's a mostly relatable experience.

Well, I'm running out of things to talk about. I will now talk about my ratings! Woohoo!! The story is sweet and cute. It is consistent but i think I've already said everything I've thought of. I love it, if it's not obvious. Mahiro is one of my favorite anime characters ever now, I love her.

Now the merch. Oh my god the merch! This show has some of the best anime figures I have ever seen! From garagekits to prepaints, all of them are so cute! They all retain the same childish youth of the show, and they all have whimsy and are just adorable. Most of them are of Mahiro is various silly little outfits. There might be more of other characters, but I haven't found any, neither have I tried very hard to. The sculpts are all really nice too, at least from the pictures I have seen. I want to order one but I am broke, and always am. I also have not been able to find any at any ofthe local anime shops, so I'd have to buy online. I like supporting local businesses so I buy from there when I can yada yada, but I just really hate shopping online. Specially for anime figures. But this ain't about me. People online seem to be more than happy with the products, so I trust their better judgement. I just think everything looks cool and is pretty affordable too.

Filler rating. This could either be a 5/5 stars or a 0/5 to be honest. Me personally, I don't mind most filler as long as it's interesting and has substance. There isn't really a general goal of Onimai, so there isn't anything they really need to fill in. So either the whole thing is filler, or nothing is. Up to you, but I think it's the latter.

overall, I would give Onimai a 5/5. As long as I ignore the piss kink stuff, I genuinly love it. One of my favorite animes with some of my favorite anime characters, and its just a fun watch. To me it's never about if it's written well, it's about whether or not its enjoyable. And Onimai is enjoyable. It is fun, and it's happy. Its one of those anime you should watch on a rainy day, with nothing else to worry about. Maybe get a few snacks, and get comfy. Have some tea, or some refreshing cold drink with you too. I don't think you'll regret it, especially if you've read up to here.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for considering my words. I hope you'll watch Onimai, and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. If this anime can't make you smile, then you have a cold dead soul and thats that.