No matter how often some fans decry anime as being over-reliant on standard tropes like isekai, idols or generic tsundere/kuudere characters, there are always fresh ideas waiting to be discovered. One great series that’s currently airing is Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan, a dark comedy about tired, bitter adults working on a children’s TV show, and the life lessons they try to impart to the kids.
The Story Behind Uramichi Oniisan
Uramichi Omota plays the part of a gymnastics-focused character on a children’s TV show. His character is required to be cheerful and full of energy when interacting with the kids on camera, but in reality, he’s jaded about his lack of success in relationships and poor life choices. Every day he does his best to project a positive face for the kids, but his inner cynicism always gets the better of him, causing him to make snarky observations about how bad his life is. The character is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya, who does Levi and Araragi-kun, and his performance is great.
The main character is joined by a colorful cast of supporting characters, including Iketeru Oniisan, the “handsome faced” character who often sets up jokes for Uramichi-kun to bat down, the 32-year-old Uta no Oneesan who’s living with her boyfriend and wondering when she’ll ever be able to get married, plus two side characters who are usually wearing costumes. Everyone has their own emotional baggage, which forms the basis of each episode.
Uramichi Oniisan is Based on a Real TV Show
Having raised two kids in Japan over the past quarter-century, I was very familiar with the original source material this anime was based on, a popular program called Okaasan to Issho, or Together With Mom, on NHK. The show always has characters in the same roles, Uta-no-Oniisan and Uta-no-Oneesan who focus on singing, Taisou-no-Oniisan who focuses on physical fitness, plus various puppets. If you’ve ever encountered the Dango Sankyodai (Dango Three Brothers) song, you know Okaasan to Issho, as it came from this program!
The idea that behind the scenes of such a happy, kid-focused series the cast might each be battling their own internal demons is incredibly creative and funny.
Japanese Love “Foreigner Reaction Threads”
One thing I’m fascinated with about the Japanese interwebs is how often I encounter gaikoku hannou sure or foreign reaction threads, basically Japanese fans translating discussions English-speaking fans were having about an anime back into Japanese so they could understand foreigners’ reactions. Some comments I saw from one of these threads are below. (These are comments foreign fans made, likely on MAL or Reddit, picked up by Japanese fans for discussion, then translated back into English by me.)
- “This is a really good dark comedy, but it makes me sad to watch. But I had fun so it was okay.”
- “Today I learned that an anime make me afraid even though it’s not a dark isekai or dramatic sports show.”
- “This feels like a children’s program set in a dystopian world. Why would the children not flee from this place?”
- “Usually slice-of-life shows are happy, but this is hard to watch.”
- “Zero serotonin, the anime.”
- “Let’s try to get over the pain of living, and laugh together.”
But is Cynical Anime Really a Good Thing?
While having a fun dark comedy show like Uramichi Oniisan is enjoyable and all, I have to wonder whether it’s good for us to be watching an anime like this.
They say that you are the average of your five closest friends or the five people we spend the most time with. This means that if we’re not careful, we could be influenced by people close to us in ways that aren’t good for us, and could drag us into needless negativity. I personally make a point of hanging around the positive people who might pull me up to a better place in life, and keep negative people as far from me as possible. I also do my best to avoid the darkest and most nihilistic memes on the Internet during these dark times, whether it’s about politics or COVID or whatever, as they just feel emotionally healthy to embrace.
Could the argument be made that cynical shows like Uramichi Oniisan are best to be avoided by people who might be influenced negatively by them? Tell us what you think in the comments below!
Thanks for reading this post on the Uramichi Oniisan anime. Minna, genki de ne!
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