Review: ‘Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie’
Season 1 [May 14, 2022]¹
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie is disappointing: it’s an insubstantial and frankly boring slice of life masquerading as a romantic comedy. There’s no conflict and very little chemistry, and the jokes fall flat in part because the characters are so dull. The pink-haired girl is cute, I guess, but the writing can’t compete with Love Is War, Love after World Domination, or Science Fell in Love, to name three from this season.
Some romantic comedies drag out the courtship phase; the genre is notorious for it. Shikimori tried the opposite and overshot the mark: the main characters start as a couple, and the show doesn’t know what to do with them. Any leftover questions feel more like plot holes than plot hooks: I can’t imagine how these two got together, and I’m not sure the writers can either. In every episode, in every scene, she’s passionate and energetic, he’s bland and ineffectual, and what’s missing is the balance and tension of Miss Nagatoro or My Dress-Up Darling.
Also, why make the male lead pathologically clumsy and then also supernaturally unlucky? Was there a reason for that? At times, it’s like the premise is interfering with the plot: Shikimori does manage to deliver a couple of mildly enjoyable moments, pretty standard romantic comedy stuff, but they require a temporary suspension of his unexplained curse, which would otherwise make him choke on a shrimp or get blown up by fireworks or something. Just let the scene play out!
I can’t even give Shikimori credit for its rare moments of fun: it’s more like an incomplete failure, as the writers or animators mostly bungle what should have been standard, even classic, romantic comedy. Somehow, even a summer festival feels lifeless and drab, in part because the animation is incredibly cheap, and in part because none of the characters are allowed to have conflicting goals.
I was bored after three episodes and quit after six: in theory, I like the unconventional relationship, but the plot failed to capture my interest before I ran out of patience for staring into the watery violet eyes of a gasping weakling. Not every show gets a second season, and this one wasted its screen time. Sadly, Shikimori’s just a chore.
[1] Reposted from my Substack, where I post all my content: https://reincarnatedcritic.substack.com/p/shikimoris-not-just-a-cutie
