The new anime season has begun, and as usual, I’m checking out all the new offerings from Japan’s animation studios to help you choose which shows are worth watching. I was happy to see that Kantoku’s One Room anime had gotten a third season, so here’s a mini-review of the show for you!
Season 3 of Kantoku’s One Room Anime
As with the previous two seasons, One Room is a POV anime in which “we” are the main character, since the action is all seen from our point of view, and there is no spoken dialogue from the male character (unless you want to talk to your screen while you watch, which is actually an option). The episodes, which are the usual short format we’ve come to expect from this series, set us in the high school gardening club, while we spend time with our cute kouhai Akira Kotokawa. Because it’s summer vacation, the school is completely empty except for the two of you, but you have to come every day to tend to the plants you’re growing together.
The One Room anime centers around extremely cute characters, as only master illustrator Kantoku could design, and focuses both on sexy visual fanservice as well as “situational” fanservice, making us feel like we’re really spending time with Akira-chan, gardening together on the school roof in the heat of summer. It’s impossible not to feel a sharp tokimeki in our hearts when Akira looks at us through the screen and offers us some of the cold barley tea she’s drinking. There’ll be three main heroines in this season, along with what appear to be cameos by popular characters from past episodes.
I love the One Room anime by Kantoku, who always comes up with relaxing ways for us to virtually interact with his cute characters. The new season is airing right now! pic.twitter.com/Xs1hcUhggB
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) October 7, 2020
Why I Love Innovations in Anime
The One Room anime is cool because it’s an example of how innovative Japan’s creators can be, using their amazing talents to come up with new kinds of stories to tell, and new ways for fans to connects with their 2D waifus. Like great visual novels, which also allow us to feel like we’re at the center of that harem of cute girls (or guys), we’re able to pretend we’re inside the story for a few brief moments.
It’s also great to get new characters designed by Kantoku, pretty much the premier creator of ultra-kawaii moe characters in Japan today. You can probably tell we’re big fans of Kantoku by how many of his doujinshi, artbooks and figures we stock.
Is the One Room anime a silly escapist concept? Sure! Would I watch it if Mrs. J-List were in the room? Probably not! But it’s just the kind of relaxing, stress-free escape we could all use during a year like 2020.
What anime are you watching in the new anime season? Tell us below, on our Twitter feed, or on the newly-relaunched official J-List Discord!
