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:
The series has done some really silly stuff over its run but it also does the right kind of educational and “moral” stuff as well. The last episode with its focus on soccer and the girl in the wheelchair delivered a lot of laughs as it progressed but it also made sure to dig into what people needed to know and how kids always find a way to work with people so that they’re included. There was a lot of positivity to it that made me smile and made me glad we even had it since anime and inclusivity with things like wheelchairs and the like are not the norm in the slightest.
Music is the name of the game with this episode and after some things don’t go right at school we get Ashibe at home with his mother all concerned since he’s in tears over it. She doesn’t help because when he says he was being teased for singing badly, she just says that’s a known truth. For someone who wants to be the best at everything he can, it’s something that really sticks in his craw and makes him upset. While lamenting it later while out with Ashibe, we get Tendou arriving in a really hilarious get-up where they turn into a video game teaching how to sing and perform. Depending on where you come from with gaming, this’ll remind you of something like Space Channel 5 and Parappa the Rappa.
In Summary:
I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of music in anime as part of the character side of things. I enjoy anime music and J-pop and all, but the wave upon wave of idol shows has me nowhere near enthused about it being in the show itself. This one helps to break that a bit because it’s playing to teaching Ashibe how to be better and it leans into my old game-playing days. It’s got some decent emotion to it at first either with how everyone essentially dumps on Ashibe about it and Goma-chan is his usual supportive self in all the right ways. Tendou is an absolute delight when he shows up in his outfit and it just made me grin stupidly, making it worthwhile.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
