First Impression: Comic Girls

Synopsis

This is a tale that tells of the daily lives of four female high school mangaka living in a dormitory

The Good

The idea of an anime about manga artists and the details of their work has been done before but it’s nice to see that there are some aspects to the characters that can be considered as relatable in terms of their struggle in art and unsureness of whether their passion for the work is enough. The episode, though it started as somewhat wacky, does have its moments in the more quiet and thoughtful scenes. This especially worked with how well the dynamics was done in making the girls friends.

It was also interesting how much the episode managed to squeeze in in introducing each of them and presenting their personalities. Not many slice-of-life works can squeeze in so much in one episode, and the first one no less but this is one of them. In terms of first episodes and introducing the concept, characters, and general foundation of the series? This did a pretty solid job.

The Bad

It’s understandable that this type of anime would have a quirky female protagonist who had an underdog quality to her, but this work pretty much took that concept and turned it up way more than it should have. In fact, the entire way that the episode introduced the comedy for the series just seemed a little much and pretty much gave a rollercoaster ride to the tone of the episode just a tad. Overall, the comedy is not bad, when done right, it just seemed that the episode turned around when the comedy tried to slip in at certain scenes.

On more minor flaws of the episode, the general concept has pretty much been done before but in a different setting. It’s understandable that the whole high school girls becoming friends and doing what they love is a pretty popular trope. However, it would have been nice and a little different for the series if the characters were rather manga artists starting out or such, but that’s just a personal opinion. Other than this and the general portrayal of the characters who have been done before but with a different twist, there is room for improvement.

Conclusion

The episode left an interesting first impression to say the least. The comedy could have been done better but the episode had its moments when it toned itself down and took more focus on the more mellow concepts. The main strong point of the episode is how much it was able to present the viewer and build the character dynamics. If the following episodes pace the comedy better and smoothen the character’s portrayal and development, there is potential to be found with the series.

Rating: 7/10