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All the colours of the yuri rainbow. |
By and large, Yuru Yuri is not the type of series that’s bound to surprise. There’s a certain familiarity to its comedy and its characters that has been felt since the very first episode. It’s ever sweet and ever charming, yet somehow Yuru Yuri San☆Hai! managed to surprise me. After watching three seasons of this simple slice-of-life show, I’ve come to the conclusion that Yuru Yuri is one of those rare cases where each season is better than the last. It’s not groundbreaking by any measure; it’s simple, pure slice-of-life comedy with very little actual content. Yet this time it around it managed to surpass my expectations.
It’s hard to say whether it’s because I laughed more, or because the best characters got the most screentime (Akari is still my favourite and the most underused!), but I have a feeling it may be down to the people behind this third season. Dogakobo and director, Oota Masahiko (Love Lab, Kotoura-san, Minami-ke) did a good job with the first two seasons of Yuru Yuri, bringing the characters to life in a cartoonish manner that fit with the studio’s image. That approach worked, so when the OVAs and third season were to instead be produced by TYO Animations, and director, Hata Hiroyuki, the man who gave us the abysmal Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga., I wasn’t too optimistic. Even watching the OVAs, I felt like something had changed, and perhaps not for the better. However, a few episodes into this third season I realised I was laughing more than ever before, and the change in art style looked so much better than I expected.
Not only were the character designs and colour palettes different, but the backgrounds were much more realistic and lived-in, as opposed to the goofiness of the first two season. I thought that was a risky move, but in doing so it allowed more appreciation for the animation and newfound longs shots that were absent before San Hai. It was different, but different does not mean worse. Nor does it mean better. It could have gone either way, but for me, it made this third season the most enjoyable of the bunch.
One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the characters. They’re all still the same, and I wouldn’t want any of them to change. Every episode flies by so fast that it feels like I’ve been watching it for five minutes, not twenty. Akari, my personal favourite, was very much underused this time around, but it didn’t bother me as much as it could have – perhaps because her invisibility is always going to be her defining trait. Chinatsu’s love for Yui always gets me, and I loved their moments together this season. And then there’s the ever-confident Kyouko, the most popular character of the series. She’s never been my favourite, but I thought she was the funniest of the bunch. Finally, I can see why everyone loves her so much! Other characters that I especially liked this time around were Ayano, and the various sisters of the main cast. We didn’t get to see too much of them, but whenever they showed up I always felt like we could stick around with them for another few minutes.
All in all, Yuru Yuri San☆Hai! is the best Yuru Yuri has ever been. I don’t know if we’ll get a fourth season eventually, as that’s a rarity for any anime nowadays, especially a plotless slice-of-life. But if we did get another announcement, I’d be up for that. Yuru Yuri is like diving head first into a comfy beanbag that you never want to get out of. It’s one of the easiest anime to just sit back and watch, and a solid contender for the best slice-of-life of 2015.
Unrelated topic but when are you guys going to release the preview for the upcoming 2016 Winter lineups?
Before Santa comes 😉
This season was certainly different than the rest. The first half especially tilted more yuri than yuru, playing up the always teased pairings (Kyouko-Ayano, Yui-Chinatsu, and hell even the newfound Akane-Tomoko) and giving (albeit Chitose fantasy dream sequence) quite a few kissing scenes. Probably the most noticeable change, however, is in the base format. Yuru Yuri for me was always “overcharged” SoL, where the focus was comedy; you watch not to see cute girls doing cute things, you watch to try and perceive cute girls doing cute things through the tears of laughter rolling down your face. Personally, the pushing of comedy to the back burner and the SoL emphasis disappointed me slightly, although scenes like Chitose’s bloodied explosion helped to salve the gloom 😛
Overall nothing outstanding, but certainly nothing terrible either, just more Yuru Yuri doing its thing. The pace may be altered and the focus different, but the show remained true to its roots and certainly had me looking forward to Mondays; it’s sad that we may not see any new Yuru Yuri for quite a while (if ever) now. It may not be the best, but San Hai IMO was one of this year’s better SoL offerings.
That is because it is 90% based on the manga, just the chapter orders are shifted a bit. So it will remain the same unless they want to add new material that isn’t from the manga.
I don’t now why, but I enjoyed this season more than the first two – not that those were bad. San☆Hai! was just so entertaining every week, really gonna miss it.
Definitely another worthy addition to the Yuru Yuri series. With every episode I dreaded the end credits rolling in signifying it’s over. My most favorite episodes have got to be when Akane, Kaede and/or Mari are around. And of course let’s not forget that dialogue-less scene with the Student Council President. By the way, anybody else noticed that slight animation error early in the final episode? Kyoko’s face mysteriously just disappeared when she looked like she was reaching for something. I think it was around 1:46 into the episode.
I agree that Matsumoto’s dialogue-less scene was one of the best ones this season! I’ve always liked her character, I wish we got to see more of her…
San☆Hai! was definitely my favorite of the three seasons. There were just so many funny and cute moments but I think what makes this season stand out for me were all the Kyouko-Ayano moments. I just love watching them interact.
All in all, very much enjoyed and really wish there was more.
I have to admit, I never ‘got’ Kyouko/Ayano before this season. I don’t know why, but this time around I loved their interactions. Them going to the movies was really sweet~
It’s because of this season that I was able to finished that dreaded Season 2 that I never finished when it initially aired, and yeah the last few episodes of season 2 were the best for that season. After watching season 3, it brought me back to this series, and made me realize how great of a series turned out to be. Season 3 was better than season 2, but I’m torn between the original season and this season on which one was the best. Season 1 was more energetic with great slap stick comedy while Season 3 was more of a true slice of life show with authentic comedy without being overused.
The animation and character designs were much better done. I noticed how much sharper the line art is, and if you compared it to the previous seasons you’ll think that there is something wrong with your TV because it looks “blurry.” Anybody noticed that?
This season I got enough Himawari so I’m happy!
I will miss the OP, I got myself shouting San Hai! every time.