Series Review: Yama no Susume (7/10)

Instant Summary: A mountain hiking enthusiast (forcibly) introduce a friend into the hobby.

Everyone could appreciate a bit of slice-of-life every now and then. The problem is that 25 min episodes become a drag for most people, unless it's chock full of comedy or fanservice, although it's hard to call it a slice-of-life at that point. So make it into a 3 min episode! As I've said many times before, the idea is utter genius.

The educational part about this anime makes it more interesting too. And rising star Asumi Kana really brought a lot of life into the title.

The downside is that while enjoyable, the characters and anime itself become forgettable, unlike many of the best slice-of-life titles out there. But that's ok, so does most of the characters in 3 min titles, with perhaps the only exception of Nyaruko (also voiced by Asumi Kana)

It's not something I would look forward to, but I certainly won't mind seeing more.

Plot/Concept: An awesome combination.
Story Style: Little originality to speak of, but nonetheless enjoyable.
Audio/Visual: Good
Value: 7

First Impressions: Yama no Susume

Instant Summary: Two girls began a mountain climbing hobby.

I've always been a slice-of-life fan, ever since the first Hidamari Sketch 6 years ago. But even for top titles like Aria and Hidasketch, there would inevitably be boring segments, or even boring episodes every now and then. It ain't easy making a slow paced animation interesting for 20+ minutes all the time.

It seems like Yama no Susume is that solution for that. Bite-sized slice-of-life anime! The best part is that slice-of-life characters doesn't necessary need development or depth to work. So, they pretty much worked together like a charm! Why didn't anyone think of this sooner? Or maybe they did, but every other 3-min anime I've seen so far lean towards to comedy genre, even Morita-san no Mukuchi.

I enjoyed a fair bit of hiking myself, so I can relate to the topic. So, even if the title is anything but impressive, it might very well be one of my favourite shows this season.

Outlook: Very, very good!