Another slice-of-life show was really looking forward to is “Wakaba*Girl”, the anime adaptation of the “わかば＊ガール” four-panel comedy manga by Hara Yui, who also created “Kiniro Mosaic”.
Barely a few minutes into the first episode, knew I would love “Wakaba*Girl”. It is the kind of leisurely slice-of-life comedy that I adore, being all about a group of cute girls spending their time together while going about their daily lives as students, very similar in atmosphere to Hara Yui’s “Kiniro Mosaic”.
While there are many parallels with “Kiniro Mosaic”, those similarities are positive and mostly in terms of overall atmosphere, the story’s themes and the character design style. Wakaba, Mao, Moeko and Nao, the four main characters from “Wakaba*Girls” are very different from Alice, Karen, Shino and the other girls from “Kiniro Mosaic”.
Although the overall design style is similar, there are just enough differences and variations between studio Nexus’ animation of “Wakaba*Girl” compared to Studio Gokumi’s work on “Kiniro Mosaic”, so this new show does not feel like a clone.
If I were to fault this show anywhere, it would be for the fact that most of the events, comedy seem rather typical and have been used before in similar slice-of-life school comedies. Am curious if they will really develop the main characters Wakaba, Mao, Moeko and Nao past their current generic character template which can make them feel somewhat shallow when looking past their cute persona.
The short eight minute episode running time may play a part in “Wakaba*Girl” sticking to the tried-and-true elements that make up a good and enchanting slice-of-life anime. However, the magic of such a show is often thanks to it using that winning formula, so if you like slice-of-life anime like “Aiura”, “Yama no Susume” or “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?”, then definitely watch this show.
You can watch “Wakaba*Girl” on Crunchyroll.
