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[series:4890#628] | ||||||
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(Watch+ or Rent-) (All episodes watched): Episode one of this show left me mystified regarding what the premise of it was going to be. There is no mention of the Cinema Club as of yet and how a mangaka would help this club avoid being shut down was unclear. And was there really any need to include Maki (the former head of the Photography Club) at all? As a result I was inclined to drop it, but after reading the synopsis at ANN perhaps I will watch another episode. But it is not terribly funny and will definitely need an interesting plot, not just be a travelogue as the ANN synopsis suggested might be the case. 4-koma manga (newspaper cartoons) are seldom hilarious and an anime about how one gets made would probably be even less so. I noticed that anime with an otaku theme usually have an advantage over those without when convincing me to watch, but the revelation of the mangaka here didn't pique my interest much. This seems to be the first production of a recently formed (2023) animation company, 'Soigne'. Episode two clarifies the premise: the Cinema club is in a similar situation, with just two remaining members (at least four are needed), Sakurako Shikishima and someone known as 'Tajima' who apparently seldom shows up for club meetings and is little more than a name on a list of members. But a member is a member, and Shikishima is perfectly OK with the idea of merging the two clubs. Haruno needs a twist for her manga and this development gives her one. Kako, an old friend of hers, turns up and takes her on an exciting motorcycle ride across a good deal of Japan. I felt that this show had a little spirit to it and was modestly funny, but just where the plot is going remained a mystery to me. In episode three 'Haru' invites the three girls to accompany her on a whirlwind 'Manga Pilgrimage', a series of brief visits to the real-life places where events in a recent manga occurred (the manga in question felt like a combination of Yama no Susume and Yurucamp). Again, this was sort of amusing and I learned a few things, but I wish more of a plot was forming. In episode four the girls go on yet another tour with Haru, this time of Japanese vinyards; then they sign up for what seems like a photography competition but turns out to be an eating contest. Will this show be entirely about tours of various sorts? The (vague) idea was that Haru would get ideas from the girls' adventures which she would use in her manga; has that happened? Will the Cinephoto Club ever accomplish anything related to cinema or photography? Again, this show seems about like reading newspaper comics: a succession of little jokes without much of an ongoing plot between them. The girls tour a region full of vinyards in one episode and a region famed for its meat products in another. They find that they have brought a strange stowaway back to Haru's apartment. In episode six they go looking for Maruishi Dosojin, 'spherical stone monuments of unknown origin'. In episode seven Haru confers with two fellow female mangakka and along with their common manager they go on a tour to sample variations of oden at six different restaurants. I thought the talk they shared about their business was amusing; Haru sees how authors of horror/occult manga have a different take on things. In episode eight Kiriyama has an idea to film a cool video of a long downhill--actually, downmountain--skateboard ride. They run into Kurokuma, Haru's gothic horror mangakka acquaintance. In episode nine Kako meets Haru and the girls on a camping trip and we get a lesson on the difficulties of long-distance summertime motorcycle riding. Then they pay a visit to the monumental Kurobe dam and a giant ski jumping ramp (even though it's summer). This show has turned out to be much more of a travellog than anything about the Cinephoto club or Haru's manga, though maybe those will figure in the climax (assuming there is one). But again it is modestly amusing and I learn a few things, so I don't mind watching. In episode ten the girls continue their three-days-and-two-nights sightseeing trip, taking in a supposedly haunted tree and a supposedly unique local version of oden, among other things. Silly, lightweight but enjoyable. In episode eleven An proposes that the three girls go on a two-day tour of shaved ice shops in the area before Summer vacation is over, and we see all the different ways it can be made. In the final episode the girls finally decide to make a short, simple film but things don't go according to plan. Early on I considered mono to be a silly, unremarkable show that would probably not be worth watching in its entirety, but over time it grew on me and in the end I sort of wish it would continue. I noticed that viewers at ANN ranked it as the 21st best show of the season out of 42--right in the middle of the pack. Last updated Saturday, July 05 2025. Created Friday, April 25 2025. | ||||||||
