Comic Girls

Adapting the “こみっくがーるず” four-panel manga by Hanzawa Kaori into anime, “Comic Girls” is a slice-of-life comedy about four high school girls who each struggle in different ways with their aspirations as manga artists. Living together in a dorm exclusively for young female manga artists, will the girls mature from interacting with their peers and be able to improve their careers?

Was looking forward to “Comic Girls” as the plot premise and promotional video indicated this could be a silly comedy all about cute girls doing cute things, the type slice-of-life series that I adore. Even though there are plenty of such shows in the slice-of-life genre, not all of them truly stand out or are memorable anime like “Yuru Camp△”, “Yuyushiki”, “Aria” or “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?”.

The first episode of “Comic Girls” was lovely and suggests it will be a funny, entertaining weekly rendezvous watching these four girls their silly shenanigans as they struggle to improve themselves and solidify their careers as manga artists. Also appreciated the verbal banter between the girls, a key element that could make this anime stand out among its peers if they are able to create a unique chemistry between the characters that feels genuine and natural, something “Yuru Camp△” positively stood out for.

Regardless of its decent animation, cute characters and comedy potential considering its subject matter, am unsure if “Comic Girls” will actually live up to its potential and truly excel as a slice-of-life comedy. There are plenty of excellent anime about cute girls doing cute things which although they boast solid production values, ultimately end up being rather forgettable, for instance “Slow Start”, “Hinako Note” or “Anne Happy♪” were good but not that memorable and simply don’t seem to resonate or stick with you like other such series do.

While their interaction was oft hilarious and sometimes endearing, nothing in this opening episode suggested that the four girls who make up the main cast will turn out to be compelling or interesting characters, in fact they felt like the typical character templates we see in so many other stories. While most anime all about girls doing cute things have staple characters like the happy-go-lucky girl, the serious girl, the older sister type, the boyish type,… not that many successfully expand these templates into multi-layered, appealing characters.

If you enjoy slice-of-life anime, then I do recommend you check out “Comic Girls” although it might be eclipsed by other slice-of-life shows also airing this season like “Amanchu! Advance”.
You can watch “Comic Girls” on Crunchyroll.