Uramichi Oniisan episode 1 is finally here and it is absolutely amazing. Cynical, burnt-out Uramichi is a perfect character to relate to, and the laughs you’ll get from this anime are really something.
Uramichi is a depressed children’s TV show host, who struggles to find meaning in life. But, curious and chatty children surround him, so his aim most of the time is to just survive the day. His coworkers also struggle to find meaning. Usahara, who looks for a bone to pick with Uramichi, and Kumatani play a rabbit and a bear on the show. Uramichi scares them, and punishes them with an act of petty revenge when they try to defy his unusual orders.
Iketeru, a clueless 28-year-old, sings on stage with Utano. That is until Uramichi puts him out of the commission with dumb jokes. On the other hand, Utano struggles with her failed singing career and feelings of jealousy.
The first episode of Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan consists out of short skits, that are in chronological order. Each segment introduces a character and gives us more info about their traits. The cast in Uramichi Oniisan is stacked. Kamiya Hiroshi voices Uramichi, and he manages to capture every state of his mind perfectly, from ultra-cheerful to depressingly gloomy. Mamoru Miyano and Nana Mizuki play Iketeru and Utano, and while we all know that Miyano is a capable voice actor, he really takes it up a notch here. Iketeru is, simply said, an idiot who will laugh at everything and anything, as long as it’s fairly stupid. The laughter is contagious and sets a perfect tone for these scenes. The dynamic between Iketeru and Uramichi is similar to that of Chika and Kaguya in Kaguya-sama: Love is War.
Why watch Uramichi Oniisan?
The anime itself manages to capture the essence of adulthood. As you grow up, you’re told all these things about being successful, finding a job, settling down and you learn to expect them. However, these things never happened for Uramichi, and I’m sure they haven’t happened for many of us. His cynicism is just too relatable, he’s angry, he’s indifferent, he struggles to get out of bed and he struggles to find the meaning in life. He works a job he’s kind of okay with, but he realizes it’s not what he imagined or wanted when he was younger.
Even if you can’t exactly relate to Uramichi Oniisan’s struggles, you should still give episode 1 a try. It’s legitimately funny and entertaining, with a lot of memorable quotes. It’s definitely looking to be one of the best shows this season because it’s not often that we get something that does dark humor this well.
Also, side note – Funimation’s translation and localization in this episode were absolutely top-notch. You can watch Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan every Monday on their website. A rather ironic turn of events, because Mondays are definitely something that drains life energy out of Uramichi.
All images via Funimation stream
©久世岳・一迅社／「うらみちお兄さん」製作委員会
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