Original Run: July 5, 2019 - September 20, 2019 Number of Episodes: 12 Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life Based on the Series Created By: Beano
***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Wasteful Days of High School Girls. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
It is a simple fact of life that every child will go through experiences that are going to shape them into the person they will become. Like it or not, everyone will grow older. However, there is never a guarantee anyone will ever truly grow up. That kid you once knew who was loud, energetic, and immature may just turn into a bigger version of that.
This was the case when three childhood friends reconnected when starting high school, Nozomu Tanaka, Akane Kikuchi, and Shiori Saginomiya (voiced respectively by Chinatsu Akasaki, Haruka Tomatsu, and Aki Toyosaki).
After so many years apart, it is quite amazing how little has changed between these three.
The only difference now is that Nozomu, Akane, and Shiori are high schoolers, and they have a whole new class of friends to make the coming days memorable, if not blissfully wasteful.
Series Positives
Follow me on this for a moment. Even if you haven’t seen the show, I want you to visualize Wasteful Days of High School Girls’ three main characters:
Nozomu Tanaka was an energetic, academically lazy individual who would randomly go off the walls and generally spout utter nonsense.
Akane Kikuchi was a BL-loving, inspiring manga writer who was also the stern and occasionally violent foil to Nozomu.
Shiori Saginomiya was the wild card who was, mostly, immune to her two friends’ crazy antics, and she also had a personality that was a mystery to everyone.
If you have those three in your head, I now want you to take a second to think of any other high-school based, slapstick heavy anime comedy that often employed goofy and surreal humor. I understand the list you might make can be quite long since this type of show isn’t uncommon. However, I am willing to bet many of you instantly came up with Nichijou.
For those who have never seen it, the only thing I will say about Nichijou is that it is among the best, most unique anime comedies that have ever released, and it is the bonafide gold standard when comparing all other shows like it. If you’ve ever seen a series that went a million miles an hour, was loud, brash, and was always moving, and took pride in being weird, then you can be sure that if Nichijou didn’t directly inspire it, Nichjiou sure as hell did it better. Please tell me in the comments below if you think I’m wrong.
With that said, I don’t want you to think I am going to harp on Wasteful Days of High School Girls because it failed to live up to Nichijou. I have no intention of doing that. On the contrary, because this series was Nichijou-light, that is why I think it is worth checking out.
Wasteful Days of High School Girls was incredibly funny, thoroughly enjoyable, and it was one of the highlights to come out of the 2019 summer season. Like Nichijou before it, Wasteful Days of High School Girls succeeded because it had a cast of characters that was filled with potential protagonists.
Although this series primarily focused on Nozomu, Akane, and Shiori, they often shared, and even gave the spotlight to their classmates:
- Kanade Ninomae (voiced by Rie Takahashi)
- Minami Yamamoto (voiced by Miyu Tomita)
- Hisui Kujou (voiced by Mao Ichimichi)
- Saku Momoi (voiced by Maria Naganawa)
- Lily Someya (voiced by Satomi Sato)
Every character in this show could have carried their own series. What that meant for Wasteful Days of High School Girls was that no matter who was on screen and no matter what was going on, nothing was ever dull, nothing was ever uninteresting. Having a fully involved cast can make a show feel more energized and dynamic. Nothing is ever happening in a bubble, and there are consequences to actions. I love it when a comedy realizes that things can be a lot funnier when it is no longer pigeonholed to a single source for jokes. There is more freedom to experiment, mix and match, and combine personalities.
Also, Wasteful Days of High School Girls was willing to have heart. There were instances in this series that felt genuinely uplifting. This show knew when to back off on humor and let a moment play out. Things could still be funny, but when it mattered, a purpose rather than a punchline became the focus. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s a pretty good sign when a character-based comedy gets you to care about its characters.
Still, if for no other reason, Wasteful Days of High School Girls is one of those series that is easy to spend an afternoon watching. And for a show like this, you really can’t ask for more.
Series Negatives
If there were one criticism I could give Wasteful Days of High School Girls, it would be its lack of originality.
I won’t deny that what I am about to say may sound pompous, but it is a concern I have. However, this concern isn’t so much for this show’s enjoyability. Instead, I am worried about this show’s noticeability. There isn’t anything particularly eye-catching about this series. It also didn’t help that the entire time I was watching Wasteful Days of High School Girl, I couldn’t help being reminded of so many other, far more memorable series:
The previously mentioned Nichijou
Azumanga Daioh
Asobi Asobase
Just to name a few.
This show was fun; I cannot stress that enough. Unfortunately, it was also safe and well within expectations. There was nothing about this series that it could claim as its own. Sure, solid humor and great characters are outstanding, and it is always better for a show to have them. But coming from a person who watches nine to thirteen different anime a month, something does need to stick.
With all that said, I want to end this review by making sure you understand what I am trying to get across. I am saying Wasteful Days of High School Girls’ biggest flaw was that although it was good, it wasn’t as good as I have seen. Nevertheless, it was still excellent.
Think of the difference between a bullet and a grenade. A bullet is much more precise, and it does take a lot more skill to hit a target with one. Wasteful Days of High School Girls, on the other hand, was more like a grenade, which remains effective as long as it lands in the general area. But when either a bullet or grenade is used by a person who knows what to do with them, they both get the job done in the end.
Final Thoughts
I think a series does fine if it is just shy from reaching the best its genre can offer. That means even though it wasn’t top shelf, it was pretty damn close, which also means it was pretty damn good.
This show was a ton of fun to watch. There were plenty of moments that had me laughing, and there wasn’t a single instance where I wasn’t enjoying myself. And with a full cast of characters worth getting to know, there was so much to like about this one.
For those reasons, Wasteful Days of High School Girls has earned a high recommendation.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Wasteful Days of High School Girls? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you’ve liked what you read and want more anime content, please follow me at LofZOdyssey Anime Reviews or on Twitter @thelofzodyssey.
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I’m LofZOdyssey, and I will see you next time.
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