Chio's School Road Series Review

Chio’s School Road is a contemporary show about many things. Forgetting to pull your zipper up. Jumping from roof to roof. Monitoring problematic behaviour. But above all, Chio’s Shool Road is a show about life. And about going to school.

Synopsis

Chio is the ultimate ultra-normie and wants her life to stay that way. She doesn’t stand out. She releases her energy in playing video games. She wears glasses, and she wants to spend the rest of her life in quiet and unnoticed. However, she is born a rebel. That girl is wasting her time in school when she could be the lead member of a biker gang. She is ridiculously athletic and more often than not finds herself in unpredictable situations, which she skillfully deals with every-time. Then there is Manana. Manana has problems. She’s not normal. You’d say that her brain is a bit heavier on one side and makes a hollow sound when she shakes her head. And then there’s Yuki. Popular, athletic, and beautiful. Oh yeah, and that random biker guy who’s trying to make ends meet by getting a part-time job. Jesus Christ.

Plot & Story

Right, so the show’s story is pretty solid. There’s this girl, and she’s going to school and all sorts of funny things happen to her while she does. The format of each episode is very similar, yet with a variety of entertaining content. The characters are just great – starting with Chio herself, who doesn’t know exactly who she is, then Manana who behaves more or less like an abnormal Titan, the popular girl, Chio’s love interest who is significantly older that she is and admires her for ALL THE WRONG REASONS. A personal favorite is the girl who fancies the teacher – her backstory is very much the story of my life. She also reminds me of futsu-onna from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. The show is mostly built on the quirkiness of its characters and is doing really well on making them relatable and extremely funny. The story itself pseudo-progresses from time to time but, really, it’s just girls going to school, how far can you go? Aliens? Maybe, maybe.

Art & Music

Efficient use of animation and illustration. Nothing mind-blowing, mind you. But exactly the amount of effort needed for the show to be nice to look at yet not too polished. The constant interchange between drawing styles are also something to look at.

Music and voice acting – great. The voice actors are giving 150% and you can tell they’re having a great time while doing so. The OP is going to be staying with me for a while, I really loved it. MABOROSHI DESHO?

Themes & Trivia

I don’t think it would be possible to mention every single reference in the show in just one paragraph. There are numerous gaming references and even more anime industry ones, as well a deep hatred for corporate Japan, which is something I find quite funny. There’s also a lot of talk about Kabbaddi, if you’re interested into that sort of thing.

Should I watch it?

Plus:

Great comedy
Relatable, original character
Music

Minus:

Too much lewd action for my taste
A little more fanservice would be nice
Manana

Well, do you like anime comedy? And if not, how long have you been exposed to the anime industry? The show is a little gem for those who are experienced anime viewers – I don’t think it’s possible to get all the references in any other way. But yes, by all means, watch it, it’s great.

What did you think of Chio’s School Road? Let us know in the comment section and don’t forget to check more anime reviews on MANGA.TOKYO!