What They Say:
A comedy manga, “Shonen Ashibe,” that follows the friendship between baby spotted seal Goma-chan and first-grade student Ashiya Ashibe. First serialized in 1988 and adapted to anime in 1991, the adorable Goma-chan created a massive following and a spotted seal boom. This spring, Goma-chan returns to “Tentere Anime.” A cute, pleasant story of Ashibe and Goma-chan and their unusual school and their neighbors. Sometimes endearing, sometimes bizarre, it’s a fun anime for the whole family!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The last couple of episodes had its fun with the Gomabot that Ashibe’s grandfather’s company put together but it was a piece that was just a bit too far for me to enjoy. Yeah, I know, I’m saying that amid a series about a pet seal. But it was just something that didn’t click in a big way for me, though it did have its fun moments with most of the cast. This time we get some good Goma-chan material but it comes from his reactions to the arrival of a new baby, the younger sibling of Ashibe’s friend Yumiko that has stopped by. Suffice to say, the attention that Ruriko gets from everyone is frustrating to Goma-chan, even more so when said baby begins to throw toys at Goma-chan.
The episode is fun in that we see Ashibe being a pretty good kid with all of this and there’s some amusement over the photography aspect of Ruriko’s father being used as a disciplinary tool. The show runs through a lot of stuff in a near-montage kind of way, owing to the easily distracted nature of a baby, but it balances it well with how Goma-chan’s jealousy plays out, mentally and physically, while also allowing Ruriko to get some hands-on time with Goma-chan that definitely made me laugh out loud. There’s a lot that Goma-chan goes through here but it all works out in the end as you’d expect with a really sweet moment that seals the deal for a lifetime. It’s not a surprise but it’s played very well.
In Summary:
Shonen Ashibe introduces us to a new character and it’s definitely silly in all the right ways, playing up the gags that go back a ways before the kid was even born and nailing it. Yumiko and Ruriko’s father is certainly creepy as hell but the execution of the gags works wonderfully here. Goma-chan’s acting out was fun but it had a good arc by the end even if it was expected. The forced inclusion of Sugao at the end again frustrated me as those characters are just poorly treated.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
