slice of life anime

‘My Clueless First Friend’ is Hilariously Endearing!

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My Clueless First Friend Initial Review by RJ Writing Ink

Have you ever had that one friend that’s so different from you? You question why your friend’s in the first place. Or you’ve seen a show about a gloomy person who has a super happy and upbeat person decide to be friends with them? Better yet, have you seen fictional protagonists who can win over the most closed-off people by being so kind, no matter how dumb they are? Combine all those concepts into one, and you get the anime “My Clueless First Friend.”

The result: something so hilarious, sweet, and heartwarming that you can’t help but smile!

The Shy Grim Reaper and the Embodiment of Kindness

My Clueless First Friend revolves around Akane Nishimura, this shy Elementary School girl. Because of how creepy her eyes look, everyone makes jokes about her, saying that she’s a “Grim Reaper” and that if they hang around her, they’ll get cursed! As a result, she has no friends and is very lonely in her life. 

One day, a new transfer student, Taiyo Takada, this hyperactive, extroverted bundle of energy, shows up and hears about her nickname. His response? “THAT’S THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!!” Thus, Takada latches onto Nishimura like glue, becomes her first friend, and helps to bring her out of her lonely shell.

And for a long time, he’s convinced that Nishimura’s an actual Grim Reaper! He’s so clueless that any attempts to make him understand this go through one ear and out the other. 

Taiyo Takada, the CHAD Chuunibyo

To understand the thought process of someone like Taiyo Takada, one must understand what a ‘Chuunibyo’ is. A Chuunibyo, or ‘chuuni’, is a kid who usually acts all high-and-mighty, makes dramatic speeches about stuff, and may or may not believe they have special powers. Now, Taiyo himself would be a loose example of this. While he’s prone to being melodramatic and wears his emotions on his sleeve, he doesn’t think he has special powers. However, after hearing everyone call Akane a Grim Reaper, he’s convinced she does. And where other kids find that scary, he thinks that’s the coolest thing in the world. 

It gets even crazier from there. No matter how many times people try to bully him for hanging out with Akane, he doesn’t let it get to him. He’s so pure-hearted that he fails to grasp the idea that someone’s insulting him or Akane. As a result, he takes every bad thing someone says as a compliment, throwing said bullies so far off their game they just leave. 

In other words, Taiyo’s a clueless idiot. But he’s also the best friend anyone could ever ask to have, especially Akane. He doesn’t even realize it, but it’s clear early on that he’s gotten Akane to fall for him. I love this kid! It helps that his dub VA is Madeline Morris, who also does Rudeus for Mushoku Tensei.

Akane Nishimura, the Cutest Introvert You’ll Ever Meet

On the other end of the duo, we have Akane Nishimura, the girl everyone calls the Grim Reaper. Because of the way her eyes look, her classmates cruelly taunt her and give her that nickname, not wanting anything to do with her. As a result, she’s never had any friends, to the point where she lies to her Dad about her school life so he won’t worry. She even tries to tell Taiyo not to hang out with her since she knows everyone else will bully him for it. 

So when all the hints fly over Taiyo’s friend, and he keeps taking that “Grim Reaper” stuff as compliments, she’s thrown for a loop. And the more and more he turns those insults into compliments, the more amazed she gets. It’s pretty clear early on that she’s fallen for him because she won’t stop blushing whenever he says something nice about her. Takada takes the cruel nickname she has and turns it into a term of endearment. This is good because it’s eventually revealed that Nishimura thinks her nickname’s appropriate for sadder reasons.

*Minor Spoiler Warning to Follow*

It’s revealed a few episodes into the show that Nishimura’s Mom died when she was young. To be more precise, she died shortly after giving birth to Akane. While none of her family blames her for it and showers her with love because they know that’s what her mom would want, Akane can’t help but blame herself. She thinks she’s taken her Mom’s place, and it’s why she never liked the Grim Reaper nickname. And poor Taiyo! When he finds that out, he thinks he’s been a horrible person calling her the Grim Reaper. 

Clueless First Friend is Such a Sweet and Heartwarming Anime

This is another spoiler, but Akane eventually tells Taiyo that she doesn’t mind him calling her the Grim Reaper. Through his sheer levels of kindness, he turned the nickname she hated into one of endearment. It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve seen in anime in some time, and it’s why I love My Clueless First Friend.

The world we live in can be harsh, cruel, and unforgiving at times. That’s why it’s important that we remember to treat each other with kindness. With that in mind, I think what Akane and Taiyo have is the kind of friendship everyone should have at least once in their lives. If we had someone like Taiyo Takada in all our lives, the world would be all the better for it. My Clueless First Friend is on my watchlist for the Spring/Summer Anime season of 2023!

I’m Now Convinced Carol is Messing With Us!

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Another week, another episode of Tomo-Chan is on the books. The rom-com, slice-of-life genre isn’t my usual go-to when it comes to anime, but I’ll make an exception every now and then. If the plot or characters are entertaining enough, I’ll watch anything. And between Tomo, Misuzu, Carol, and Jun, Tomo-Chan has a fun cast. Especially Carol, given how last week gave us this gem.

I had no idea what was going on, and I loved it.

Carol is From a Family of Airheads

Carol Olston might be one of the most airheaded girls I’ve seen in recent anime. Her thought process is a mystery to everyone; she always seems happy. Did I mention the headband thing? That was so random and hilarious!

So when Tomo and Misuzu get invited to her house, it should come as no surprise that we learn that Carol’s mom is just as much an airhead. She mistook Tomo for a boy, she can get lost walking back to her own mansion…and she’s just as affectionate as Carol.

This must be Misuzu’s worst nightmare. Then again, what happens next might be Misuzu’s worst nightmare.

Carol Olston: Ditz, Genius, or Genius Ditz

There is a trope that is known as obfuscating stupidity. Essentially, it is when a character in fiction pretends to act dumb or clueless when, in truth, they’re way smarter. Some people do it to avoid suspicion or the stress of their talents, and others do it for the lolz. After this next short, I’m convinced Carol might be the latter case.

So, the midterm’s are the next day, and Tomo’s freaking out since she forgot, so Misuzu offers to help her study at her place, and Carol joins them. Given how the subject in question was math, I don’t blame Tomo for freaking out. Math was my worst subject in school, and it caused me far more stress than it should have. Unfortunately, if she wants to go to the same university as Misuzu like she wants, she’s got to do well.

Carol, on the other hand, doesn’t need to put much effort into studying for math. She manages to get the top score on their math test, taking Misuzu’s spot as number one, much to her irritation.

Until we learn otherwise, I’m convinced that Carol might be a bigger troll than Misuzu.

The Big Sleepover

The real meat of the episode comes in the third segment, though. When Jun gets a new video game that he and Tomo have been dying to play, he invites her over to his house. Overnight. While his parents are out of town. You see where this is going?

I don’t know what Tomo would be more stressed over. The fact that she’s spending the night over at a boy’s house (even if he is her best friend), or her parents are perfectly fine with it. Her mom even says she will start thinking of names for her grandkids! She says that! It’s hilarious; embarrassing and hilarious.

While Tomo and Jun do spend most of the night just playing video games and best friend stuff, to the show’s credit, they do have a few moments where they could take things a step out of the friend zone. There’s the standard “fall on top of you” scenario, and at one point, Jun accidentally grabs onto Tomo while he’s asleep on the floor. However, they don’t take that next step because it’s too awkward for them. And it stays that way for a week afterwards.

As annoying as this is, though, it did show me one key thing. I’m almost certain that Jun’s into Tomo like she’s into him because he was as flustered as Tomo was. He’s just in super denial over it. 

Now, the anime’s only thirteen episodes long, so I doubt anything will get resolved before the season’s out. If it does well enough, though, it might get a second season, so if you wanna find out if they get together, then support this show on Crunchyroll. Do it for Tomo and Carol, who I’m also nominating for the best girl of 2023!

I Give “The Girls of the Olston Family”, “A Feeling I Won’t Give Up” and “Heart-Pounding! A Gaming Overnighter” a 4/5. a 3.5/5, and a 4.5/5