The Slice of Life of an office, the romance of young adult love, and comedic antics that'd get most people fired.
The "My Senpai is Annoying" anime aired from October to December in 2021, being an adaptation of the manga by the same name. The manga started its run in 2018, which is still publishing new chapters.
"My Senpai is Annoying" was animated by Doga Kobo, who has worked on multiple anime such as: "Gabriel Dropout," "Himouto! Umaru-Chan," "Yuru Yuri," and more.
Review
"My Senpai is Annoying" is about Futaba Igarashi, who has been an employee in a sales company for around a year. She has become friends with the polite Touko Sakurai; stoic Souta Kazama; eccentric Mona Tsukishiro; and Futaba's senpai, Harumi Takeda.
However, despite being friends, Harumi unintentionally gets on Futaba's nerves with his teasing, laugh, and how he treats her like a child due to her height. However, maybe she feels something for Harumi. Perhaps something... Romantic?
And by perhaps, I mean the synopsis & tags for both the manga and anime Futaba loves Harumi. The first episode also makes this abundantly clear.
I didn't see the tags nor the synopsis, so the romance was a shock to me admittedly.
The story focuses on the daily lives of these characters, with a major focus on Futaba & Harumi's work relationship. The original "My Senpai is Annoying" is made up of three-to four-page chapters, so the order of things is thrown around.
For example, the moment in Episode One where Futaba sees Harumi asleep at his desk is Chapter 11 in the manga. By that point, some events that happened in Episodes 2 and 4 had already taken place.
I can see why the anime adaptation changes things around. By combining chapters and expanding on chapters, it creates a better flow that translates better to 20-minute episodes. Alongside wacky conundrums like in the manga, characters also develop throughout the anime.
"My Senpai is Annoying" is hilarious largely due to its characters and their dynamics. From Souta peeving Futaba with taking/sending pictures of her, Souta helping out Touko & Touka's teasing towards Souta, and more.
The dynamics, despite the silliness at times, do lead to serious moments & conflicts. They're nothing grand like, "oh, Harumi evaded taxes and is on the run from the IRS," more like "I want to give X a gift but it's so hard to find the right time."
It helps make the characters loveable both when things get serious and when the anime is just being silly. My favourite character ended up being Mona. she just says the most randomly funny things. I relate to her on a spiritual level.
Of course, the most prominent dynamic is between Futaba and Harumi. Harumi genuinely cares about Futaba and wants to protect her as much as he can. In return, while Futaba is annoyed by Harumi, she does respect and appreciate him. Their platonic dynamic is solid, which helps to show the best parts of their personalities.
[Credit: Funimation, Animation Studio: Doga Kobo]
There are even some nice touches. For example, after the Christmas episode, the gift Futaba gives Harumi is something you see him use multiple times. It shows he appreciates the gift a lot without spelling it out.
Unfortunately, this dynamic's greatest pitfall is when it tries to be romantic, because almost every time, it fails. The romantic side of the dynamic boils down to Futaba being a Tsundere and Harumi being oblivious. Although, to be fair, even Futaba doesn't realize she loves Harumi.
It's not bad per say if something I've seen many times before, and there are even some cute moments between them. Unfortunately, the romance feels too forced for me to enjoy it.
Both characters work perfectly fine without the romance, so I don't see the point in having it, it just comes off as unnecessary. It's even weirder since two side-characters that have romantic implications sparks the side of me that loves romance.
I think with better build-up and execution, the main romance could've been engaging. Although, even if it was more engaging, it wouldn't save the romance form the frustrating romance clichés. This also applies to the other romantic dynamic in the anime.
For example, a character sees their romantic interest walking with someone of the opposite gender and the character misunderstands that their romantic interest is with that person.
While I understand coming to that conclusion at first, the human mind can be impulsive, but this character has an existential crisis that lasts a good while because of this misunderstanding. People can be friends with the opposite gender without going out.
It's just painful; especially since the conflict only lasts one chapter in the original manga. The anime takes the conflict from Chapter 64, which was resolved by the character talking to their romantic interest in a non-dramatic fashion, and artificially lengthens it to meet the runtime of an episode. It's frustrating since it makes the conflict even dumber.
Communication in a relationship is important folks. That is one downside with the anime adaptation, some conflicts overstay their welcome.
Despite the drawn-out conflict, I still enjoy the episode this trope appears in because of the comedy and other characters. Honestly, there isn't a single episode I'd call bad. Most episodes tend to leave a smile on my face or the energy to do two push-ups.
A part of this is due to the above listed, but also with the soft visuals and solid animation. The anime looks nice, with the soft colours fitting the vibe of the show.
[Credit: Funimation, Animation Studio: Doga Kobo]
Like any anime, the visuals go all-out in the Opening and Ending, which are accompanied by extremely catchy songs. I don't personally like the Ending song, but it isn't bad, I just couldn't vibe with it.
The Ending is always worth watching though as a special, stunning illustration is shown at the end of each episode. While I'm not a fan of the fan service some of these have, I still see all of them as pure eye candy due to the amount of detail they have.
The background music also works as it fits. It's forgettable, but it isn't displeasing to listen to.
So, despite some hurdles, this seems like a wonderful time. Fun characters, great presentation, unique premise... Well... One critical flaw that holds "My Senpai is Annoying" back big time is that it doesn't stand out among the sea of Slice of Life anime.
Now, an anime doesn't have to stand out to be good, sometimes plain is good. However, I think "My Senpai is Annoying" wastes the office premise that could've made it more something more.
Apart from the first and final episodes, the premise is heavily underused. If the office elements were replaced with elements from a Japanese High School/College (ex. building, office work being classes, etc.), little would realistically change.
This seems to be a thing with the manga too, but given the short chapters, I think it's more forgiving there. While the anime does at least try to incorporate the office premise into the story more, which credit where credit is due, it's still not enough.
I'm not saying to focus on the nitty gritty of sales work, although I wouldn't mind that since I need advice on how to sell my lungs, but it'd be interesting to see conflicts that could only happen in an office. Some examples include Futaba & Harumi having a disagreement about a sales pitch, complications with a rude client, and more.
There's a goldmine of potential just waiting to be uncovered. Unfortunately, because of this, it makes "My Senpai is Annoying" feel like a high school anime in disguise.
Overall (B)
Despite my gripes, I like "My Senpai is Annoying." It's a fun time with loveable characters, great comedy, the side-romance, and its animations & visuals being great.
Unfortunately, the main romance is lacking, annoying romance clichés pop up, conflicts are unnecessarily prolonged, and the office premise is underused which results in the anime feeling plain.
I do find it hard to recommend "My Senpai is Annoying" because of its faults and because of better Slice of Life anime with romance and comedy out there. However, while it won't blow you away, it's still a solid anime.
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