Did you watch Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie and think to yourself, "man, they really underutilized the whole clumsy boy trope," then do I have the show for you.
Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is an anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Tamura Yui. I'd probably label it a shojo (and then be beaten to death by shojo elitists). The story centers around the female MC Kiyoko, the class president, who's concern over her classmate Yano grows into affection, then into full fledged romance.
Yano is a very clumsy, accident prone boy, who seems to draw misfortune to himself; he always comes to school injured heavily, wearing an eye-patch. Kiyoko's determination to keep him from harm ultimately proves largely ineffectual, but charming and to Yano, very endearing.
Yuka Nukui, the actress who plays Kiyoko, does a fantastic job. Her reactions, panic, and emotion all come across so honest and believable that I really grew to like Kiyoko as a character. In comparison again to Shikimori, who's more of a badass, guardian angel type, Kiyoko comes across less powerful, and more concerned.
I think both are very good characters and I appreciate the different ways of approaching the clumsy-boy trope.
Yano, very much like Izumi of Shikimori, is a beacon of calamity. Misfortune seems to follow him around constantly. I found myself calling him cursed in episode 1, which may became a plot point later on... When episode 11 rolls around though and a character is introduced from Yano's past, I felt like they kind of rushed through the traumatic backstory in order to find resolution, and the new cast member's presence wasn't really well executed.
Yano's pretty pathetic, but his positivity and unwillingness to break in the face of all the bullshit he constantly dealt with left me wanting to be inspired; to what end? Not sure.
I would happily watch another season of this series and buy the manga if they decided to license and print it in the US.
8/10
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