Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie

Episode 8

Hi, I'm Callum and I'll be filling in for Mercedez for the rest of the season. And it turns out I got lucky—my first Shikimori review is of the best episode so far.

To sum up my thoughts on the show up 'til now, I regard Shikimori as being a visually appealing slice of life that often plays things too safe and can end up feeling very formulaic. The shtick of Izumi getting into misfortunate situations and Shikimori gallantly saving him was certainly cute, but it can get a little tiring. Or perhaps that's just an issue with binging the whole show to catch up...

Those episodes still did have highlights, though. Unlike a lot of other romance anime, Shikimori and Izumi are already in a relationship, but they're still figuring things out between them. Those moments where they learn new things about each other and reflect on their feelings are what's kept this ship afloat.

However, despite my early impressions, these two cultural festival episodes have broken out of the formula, put aside the “what silly way will Izumi mess up” jokes for a moment, and delivered something genuinely pure and heartwarming. Last time, there was some discussion about whether Kamiya was into Shikimori or not—Izumi seemed to think so—but in the end, it came down to her being in love with the klutz himself.

It's framed through a cold open as a kind of AU version of Cinderella where two girls in glass slippers both arrived at the ball. Kamiya later refers to it as being a scene from a live-action version of the story, but I'm not sure that's the Kenneth Branaugh movie, at least. The real setpiece, however, is the moment between Kamiya and Shikimori herself. This has frequently been a beautiful show, but this scene in particular was proof of the team's cinematographic skills. The directors love including plenty of extreme close-ups of the characters' eyes and it's for good reason. There's a ton of visual depth. Go back and watch Kamiya's reaction to Shikimori tearing up the paper. It's stunning! And it all works to make for one of Shikimori's most emotionally gripping moments thus far.

The two girls are a lot alike in that they are both perceived as being more masculine than they'd like, but there seems to only be one guy in the entire school who'll actually treat them how they want to be treated. This kind of plotline where two girls are into the same guy can often be irritating in anime when centered around the most basic human being alive, but we've had plenty of time to discover that Izumi really is a considerate guy worth fighting over. Not that there is a fight, of course. It's a little sad, but mostly it's a wholesome commiseration.

This substory centered around the idea of how Izumi has changed since the last cultural festival, but a lot about Shikimori thus far is still cloaked in mystery. We're heading to the last stretch of the show, so it would be nice to find out more about her story. I also want to see Kamiya happy at some point! Please!

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Callum is the host and creator of the YouTube channel The Canipa Effect where he explores topics within the anime industry. You can also find him talking nonsense on Twitter.

Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.