Connect Archives | 100 Word Anime

Senryuu Shoujo Anime Review – Watch out for cavities with this one.

Posted on March 7, 2022March 5, 2022 by Karandi

Say It With Senryuu Shoujo

This is going to be a short review, which makes sense given the nature of the anime being reviewed. Senryuu Shoujo is about Nanako, a high school girl who doesn’t speak but communicates by writing poems. Instead of being a story about a lonely girl who is bullied, this is the story of a cheerful girl surrounded by supportive friends and a love interest who seems to enjoy every day.

While there are hints of a dark and lonely past, this isn’t the focus, and really this anime just wants to leave you smiling at the antics of these adorable dorks.

In fairness, it is hard not to smile. I’m not really into slice of life, or comedy, or anime set around high school clubs, and Senryuu Shoujo is all of these things and yet still hit the mark for being cute and fun to watch for me. There was something infectiously charming about the main pair in this story, Nanako and Eiji, and the support cast were stellar as well.

That isn’t to say this is a slice of life better than any others. As is the case with the genre, the appeal of slice of life is highly subjective. Without a plot driving forward to carry the audience along, it is left to the tone and cast to be the draw and what one person likes and appreciate won’t necessarily work for another. During the Spring Anime season many anime fans loved Hitoribocchi but that was pretty much a swing and a miss for me. Whereas, Senryuu Shoujo seemed somewhat underappreciated given just how sweet it was.

Senryuu Shoujo - Nanako bends her board.

Affiliate Link

Live a Live – RPG Game

Visually this one leans heavily toward bright and pastel colours. They suit the tone and the characters just fine but make this one fairly unremarkable in terms of standing out from other similar stories. The exception is for Nanako herself. While her character design is fairly ordinary, there’s something truly striking about her smile and I absolutely loved how her whole face lit up. For a character who never speaks she is incredibly expressive even when not writing her poems.

On that note, characters who communicate in alternative ways is something of a theme as we also have the art girl in the story that comes in midway. She only communicates through drawing and regularly holds her art book over her face with a cute girl drawn to express whatever the girl wanted to say.

The acceptance these somewhat oddball characters experience in their group is astounding and while it is clear that not everyone in this anime universe is equally nice, all the cast members we spend any time with just take each character as they are.

It isn’t nuanced or subtle but it does add overall to that feeling of sweetness and the idea that this anime just wants you to feel better for having watched it. It isn’t wanting a deep dive into social commentary about ‘normal’ or ‘ableness’ though the themes are definitely there.

The one sour note on the cast is probably Nanako’s father who is just a little too over the top. Fortunately the family only feature in a few episodes and generally he’s fine in small doses.

There’s not a lot more to say about this one. Short episodes running around 12 minutes are the perfect length, the tone is very mellow and relaxing, and the characters are super nice and fun to spend time with. While Senryuu Shoujo isn’t about to change the world it is an anime well worth trying if you missed it.

Images from: Senryu Shoujo. Dir. M Jinbo. Connect. 2019.

Help Support 100 Word Anime This Spring Season 2000 × — _{Donate to the blog.}

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Guest Post – Bonjour Koiaji Pâtisserie Review: A sweet moment for the eyes

Posted on September 4, 2021September 2, 2021 by Karandi

Guest Author bio
Leshy is a writer from Raving Otaku, where she writes anime reviews, recommendations and roundups.

Alternative Titles: Bonjour♪ Koiaji Pâtisserie, Bonjour♪Sweet Love Patisserie, Bonjour♪恋味パティスリー

Aired: 2014

Genre: Comedy, Harem, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Studios: Silver Link, Connect

Bonjour♪ Koiaji Pâtisserie is a short anime series (OVA) with 24 episodes filled with sweet moments and mouth-watering desserts. Each episode only last 5 minutes and for that reason, it does not take up a lot of time from the viewers.

But is this anime about food worth watching even with its short duration?

Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie Plot

Sweet Love Patisserie revolves around Sayuri Haruno, a girl who wants to become a renowned Patisserie to open her confectionery shop. Sayuri worked hard to obtain a scholarship to attend the famous Fleurir Confectionary Academy to achieve her goal.

Sayuri must face different challenges through her period in the Academy, where she will compete against her classmates specialised in certain types of desserts.

However, this does not impede Sayuri to achieve her dreams. She is ready to face all the challenges that the school throws at her.

A sweet story but was it enough?

Bonjour♪ Koiaji Pâtisserie did not leave me a great impression. I wished that the anime would have developed the relationship between Sayuri and a specific male protagonist (in my opinion, with Ryou because that chemistry they had was amazing) a little more. I know this anime is supposed to be a reverse harem, but somehow it did not feel like one at all.

I usually prefer when they develop a relationship between two specific characters and not the female protagonist with the entire male cast because sometimes the girl does not choose anyone and by doing so, their relationships end in a friendzone or are just left behind.

Did we get interactions between the female protagonist and male protagonists? Yes, but still, they did not develop a “romantic” relationship between each other. They did have a lot of cliched scenes, but I think that was all because there is no further development, except between Ryou and Sayuri.

But the two did not end up together. And from what I could understand from the ending, Sayuri did not stay with any of the other male protagonists either, which I found to be pretty sad and disappointing.

We’re left to wonder what will happen to their relationships, unless we get to have a second season which I do not think will happen soon. This anime was supposed to be the TV series for an upcoming otome mobile game, but it never came out. There is also no further news or information about it, leaving us high and dry.

Great character designs but cliché personalities

The characters all look adorable, as expected of an otome game-inspired show. But sadly, it also falls victim to bland characterisations that come with adapting these games into anime.

Sayuri Haruno: The thing that I liked the most about Sayuri was her design. Aesthetically, she was cute and the different outfits she wore were beautiful. Her personality is nothing remarkable, she is the typical otome game MC who is a sweetheart that tries her best to achieve her goal.

Ryou Satsuki: Ryou is Sayuri’s classmate. He might appear to be a bit cold and mean at first, but in the end, we could agree that he is a kind and sweet guy. He really cares about Sayuri, and they shared almost the same goal (I think that is how Sayuri caught his attention). In addition, I think he was the one that had the most chemistry with her.

Mitsuki Aoi: Mitsuki had a great character design too, and yeah, my heart is weak when it comes to this type of anime boy. He is one of the teachers in Fleurir Academy who is known for being an excellent patisserie when it comes to desserts made of chocolate. His personality is charming, truly cares about his students and wishes them to succeed in their profession.

Gilbert Hanabusa: Gilbert is a teacher at the Fleurir Academy who specialises in French desserts. Gilbert is known for being an energetic and charismatic guy, catching everyone’s attention. His past is a bit sad, but he does not let it get him down and he always puts a smile on his face.

Yoshinosuke Suzumi: Yoshinosuke’s design reminded me of Tsukiyama from Tokyo Ghoul. That aside, he is also a teacher in the Academy specialising in Japanese sweets. His personality is shown as someone emotionless and mean, but the truth is that he is really passionate about his profession and a wonderful man.

Beautiful Art

Koiaji Patisserie has a strong point when it comes to its type of art, it is what I liked the most about this OVA. The character designs are good and they added a lot of details. I like the line art and the palette of colours they used for the different sceneries like the city, parks and shops.

The academy design is cute and it shows all the facilities that a confectionary school needs to have, like classrooms, kitchens and ground areas. It also shows a great implementation of lights and shadows in the different scenes.

For its animation, I cannot mention many things because it does not really have a great impact. As it only lasts five minutes per episode, there is almost no time to develop a lot of movements to show off their animation.

Forgettable soundtrack

Personally, I did not like the soundtrack of Koiaji Patisserie. It did not fit the kind of story that was unfolding. The openings and endings were fine, but still, I think they are extremely forgettable.

However, I did like the voice cast for the characters. The voice actors did an amazing job and each one of them suited perfectly to their different types of personalities.

Conclusion:

For me, the ending of this anime was disappointing, and the story is not really well-developed, but I think that was because each episode only lasts 5 minutes. Despite that, I will give this anime a 6/10 because it was still fairly enjoyable and it is not that bad compared to other reverse harems.

Images from: Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie. Dir. N Akitaya. SILVER LINK + Connect. 2014

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 12

Posted on July 1, 2019June 29, 2019 by Karandi

An Adorable End For An Adorable Show

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 12

A cute and delightful end to a cute and delightful show. Senryuu Shoujo remains an adorable entertainment this season in the most calm and relaxing manner and episode 12 showcased the best of what it had to offer with a flashback of Nanako and Eiji’s meeting. Most definitely too adorable.

senryu12b — *His delusions are adorable.*

While we certainly don’t see these characters end up together with a confession, seeing how hard Nanako fell for Eiji on first meeting was an equally powerful emotional note to end the series on. Seeing Eiji find his love of Senryu and work to express himself despite being judged by his external appearance was also pretty good. Not so sure about his hippo/cherry blossom poem though. It didn’t quite hit the mark the way he seemed to think so.

Affiliate Link – Figure

While it is a shame the rest of the cast outside of Nanako’s family don’t make an appearance in this final episode, episode 11 gave them a reasonably solid show casing so it was nice to see Senryuu Shoujo narrow in on the main two for its final outing.

I’m genuinely going to miss this little ray of happiness from my weekly line up and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants something cute and short to pass an afternoon.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 11

Posted on June 19, 2019June 15, 2019 by Karandi

Fireworks and Festivals

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 11

They are very keen on this summer theme and this week we are hitting the festival with a firework display in Senryuu Shoujo. I do have to wonder if these last few episodes haven’t just been Haruhi Suzumiya’s endless eight spread out over more episodes and not repeated. Either that or it feels like the happy days of Higurashi before the slaughter. Or literally any high school anime that has a summer vacation where they all hang out together.

None of that is actually criticism of what Senryuu Shoujo has been doing. More just acknowledging that we aren’t getting anything new. If you are after mind-blowing and original, look elsewhere. Here is the comfortable standard for high school club anime and it is doing it with a reasonable amount of care. Again, not redefining what a summer sequence is or blowing the audience away with any kind of exceptional standard, it is just like an old pair of slippers. They fit and they are warm and comfortable, and that’s all they need to do.

This time we have ditched a lot of the support characters to simply focus on the core of Eiji and Nanako with the third wheel of the club president at the festival. We’ll get a fairly standard montage of festival activities before the real ‘drama’ begins.

This is perhaps the first time the anime has really acknowledged that Nanako not speaking is actually a problem. While she’s waiting for Eiji and the president, some classmates find her and drag her off to see the fireworks with them. Unable, or unwilling, to speak, Nanako gets dragged away. In that situation, stopping to write a poem to express herself is a little difficult, and more importantly she doesn’t actually really try to resist the other girls. She simply goes along.

However, we do get a very pretty reunion, a firework display, and the usual saccharine conclusion to the episode that we’ve come to expect from this series. The one sour note is Eiji’s fierce denial that Nanako and he are together because with one episode to go that kind of shatters any hope that we might get them officially together before the end of the season.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 10

Posted on June 17, 2019June 15, 2019 by Karandi

Ghosts and Fireflies

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 10

We’re sticking with the summer vacation theme this week but here we hit the super cute button as the characters make a plan to go to watch real fireflies. Of course the club president isn’t happy just to let it rest with that and makes alternate plans that involve scaring Nanako and Eiji by creating a ghost tunnel. It is the usual summer break silliness from school characters in a slice of life and yet there’s something just kind of adorable about this episode that makes it work and feel memorable.

Part of this is the great chemistry in the cast. Despite each character being a walking gimmick they each bring something cute to the table and together the group dynamics are just kind of perfect. Art girl continues to be a personal favourite (and I promise I will remember her name by the end of the series, though we are running out of episodes) and the fortune teller girl adds enough cynicis to the mix to take the edge off of the sickly sweet.

However, the real highlight of the episode, as is the case most episodes, is the relationship between Eiji and Nanako. The two are very sweet together and whether it is Nanako admiring the bug Eiji caught, their genuine delight at the plan to look for fireflies, or Eiji’s efforts to protect Nanako in the tunnel, they are just too cute to watch.

Affiliate Link

I’m really hoping these two become an officially acknowledged couple by the end of the season because it wouldn’t make a lot of sense not to acknowledge what has become very clear from watching these two. They have a genuine mutual like of one another and they are both sweet people. Now if only they would act on it.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 9

Posted on June 11, 2019June 8, 2019 by Karandi

Eiji’s Day Out

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 9

Instead of following Nanako, this week we follow Eiji as he goes about a typical day while on Summer vacation in Senryuu Shoujo. Admittedly, I don’t think most of us start a typical day by dropping our phone in ramen and then run into literally everyone we know while wasting time in town before being invited back to our ‘not’ girlfriend’s place, but really this seems pretty typical for these characters.

senryu9a — *This is actually Nanako’s father’s thoughts and not Eiji’s*.

Honestly, there isn’t a lot to say about this episode as we simply encounter Eiji’s ‘big-sis’ character, the fortune teller, the club president and then the art girl in succession. Each encounter is cute enough but not particularly note-worthy as it simply reinforces their standard characteristics. Then Eiji runs into Nanako.

The highlight of this anime continues to be the adorable nature of any sequence between Eiji and Nanako and even if this encounter ended up being emotionally overblown when Nanako’s father met Eiji, it couldn’t take away from how cute the two are. The conversation between Eiji and Nanako’s mother was also cute, but now we know Nanako has just always communicated through poem and we still don’t know why.

Affiliate Link

This was very much easy viewing but didn’t really bring anything new to the table for Senryuu Shoujo.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 8

Posted on June 4, 2019June 1, 2019 by Karandi

The Obligatory Swimsuit Episode

Episode 8

Another standard plot development for Senryuu Shoujo as we move into Summer and of course that means the girls need to go shopping for swimsuits. There’s not a lot more to the episode as the president takes Nanako, the girl who communicates through drawing, and the psychic to a shop and they all pick out a swimsuit, meanwhile Eiji’s childhood friend ambushes him by turning up on his bed while wearing a bikini.

The usual eye-rolling follows. Why characters get bent out of shape about swimsuits and the amount of shy fidgeting and turning red these characters do in this episode is just beyond a joke. Worse, the episode doesn’t feel the need to even try to string anything more together than Eiji sees Nanako in a swimsuit for the punchline and then the episode ends.

senryu8a — I have no idea why this line was included. It seems so random and doesn’t connect to anything that happens.

Even for a short anime this episode of Senryuu Shoujo was lacking substance. While the cute sparkles surrounding girls in swim suits might compensate for some viewers, this one is a solid low point for the series for me so far. There were just no actually cute interactions between the characters and the standard routine of check out swimsuits and have jaws dropping over the one that looks like strings and then the boob staring to compare chest sizes just doesn’t appeal in any way.

senryu8b — I do continue to enjoy the art girl as she’s usually pretty amusing.

Affiliate Link

Overall this episode didn’t actually do anything wrong but it didn’t do a thing to make me feel it was really worth the time it took to watch.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 7

Posted on May 28, 2019May 21, 2019 by Karandi

Cute Umbrella Sharing Moment

Episode 7

We are back to super cute this week with Senryuu Shoujo as we get a standard girl wants to share umbrella with guy plot. Fortunately the story begins and ends with this set-up and the middle section is a fairly cute mission to build a rabbit hutch.

Nanako with frizzy hair - Senryuu Shoujo.

This episode does make me wonder why Nanako and Eiji aren’t already together. It is quite clear that they are both into one another and Nanako’s adorable concerns about her hair going frizzy in the rain is highly entertaining as is her slight lie and manipulation in order to get to share an umbrella with the endlessly clueless Eiji.

Where I’m less thrilled is in the club president manipulating the situation by lying to Nanako about the legend and through the announcement of the escaped bunnies. While her intentions might be fine it all just seems a little too contrived.

That said, watching this motley group of characters – the delinquent, the girl who communicates only through poems, the girl who hides herself with her drawings, and the psychic – try to repair the rabbit hutch was utterly adorable and honestly I think I’d happy watch that combination of characters take on almost any task.

Affiliate Link

This anime is very average but in terms of being cute and light viewing it succeeds admirable and the half-length episodes are just right.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 6

Posted on May 21, 2019May 17, 2019 by Karandi

Leader of the non-rebellion.

Episode 6

There’s definitely something seriously wrong with Nanako’s family, particularly her father. I mean, I get he’s playing the overprotective daddy trope but how on earth could you reach the conclusion that Nanako is rebelling. And why is that his biggest issue with his daughter when she never actually speaks. Surely that’s of greater concern than whether or not she’s becoming a thug.

I did like the lead in this week with the club president and Eiji sharing pictures of their pets. One thing that I always find weird in any kind of show is when someone has a pet rabbit. Given it is illegal to own rabbits where I live and they are considered an invasive pest, the idea of keeping one as a pet just strikes me as bizarre. More or less like owning a pet cane-toad.

The moments with Eiji, his sister and Nanako at the park are cute but that’s about it in terms of what you can say about it Unless you want to get into the repeated rabbit poo joke that just seemed there to fill run time as it was pretty much nothing.

With the majority of the episode focusing in on Nanako’s father freaking out about his potentially ‘rebellious’ child though there just wasn’t enough cute going on to off-set it. And while we did resolve the issue at the end and everything ends with a sparkling smile, there’s just too much that doesn’t sit right. I think I prefer this anime when it focuses on the school stuff and it is rare for me to say that.

Affiliate Link

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Senryuu Shoujo Review Episode 5

Posted on May 14, 2019May 10, 2019 by Karandi

Cute nonsense without substance.

senryu5d — Fortune telling girl could have been cool. Could have been…

Episode 5

The art girl is already old news and doesn’t actually appear in the episode at all. Instead, the senpai from their club directs Nanako and Eiji to a psychic who can apparently make accurate predictions.

senryu5a — I mean someone who wears their hair like this because a fortune teller told them to wear different hairstyles is clearly someone you should trust for advice.

What follows are a series of date-ish sequences for Nanako and Eiji that are pretty cute but there’s not a lot of substance here. I mean, billiards jokes about sticks and holes aside, there’s really nothing going on in this episode.

It would have been nice to have gotten more from the fortune telling girl herself who realises she got her first prediction for the pair wrong because she used the wrong kanji for Eiji’s name. As she follows them around it would have been nice to learn anything about her but the episode just doesn’t get into it.

Affiliate Link

Ultimately this is just light fluff and while Eiji and Nanako remain one of the cuter not-quite-a-couple anime characters I’ve seen for awhile I’m not entirely sure that’s enough for an entire season and this episode really starts to show the lack of other content in this series.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Connect

Say It With Senryuu Shoujo

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie Plot

A sweet story but was it enough?

Great character designs but cliché personalities

Beautiful Art

Forgettable soundtrack

Conclusion:

Sharing is caring

Like this:

An Adorable End For An Adorable Show

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 12

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Fireworks and Festivals

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 11

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Ghosts and Fireflies

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 10

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Eiji’s Day Out

Senryuu Shoujo Episode 9

Sharing is caring

Like this:

The Obligatory Swimsuit Episode

Episode 8

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Cute Umbrella Sharing Moment

Episode 7

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Leader of the non-rebellion.

Episode 6

Sharing is caring

Like this:

Cute nonsense without substance.

Episode 5

Sharing is caring

Like this: