Skip and Loafer Spoiler-Filled Review

Skip and Loafer is romantic comedy and slice-of-life anime, written and directed by Kotomi Deai. It is based on an ongoing manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Misaki Takamatsu. This animated series was produced by P.A. Works, known for series such as Canaan, Kuromukuro, Akiba Maid War, and Aquatope on the White Sand.

This series has a simple storyline. A girl named Mitsumi Iwakura (voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa) goes to Tsubame West High School, a school in Tokyo, with the goal of becoming a rural planner in her hometown. She leaves her friends, such as Fumino “Fumi” Toyama (voiced by Sumire Morohoshi), behind. While walking to school, Mitsumi believes everything is going her way, but gets lost. She is helped by another student, Sōsuke Shima (voiced by Akinori Egoshi). Somehow, they both get to the opening ceremony just in time, allowing her to give a speech to the incoming class. However, thanks to their fast running, she throws up onto her teacher, earning her the nickname of “barf girl.” And that’s only the first episode.

Admittedly, I had not originally planned to watch Skip and Loafer. Reading Alex Henderson’s review of the first episode for Anime Feminist, convinced me otherwise. This view was reinforced by the spring premiere digest on the same site. It described the series as a “sweet coming-of-age story” with an anxious, driven, and endearing female protagonist. The review also said the series had a “positively depicted trans guardian” named Nao (voiced by Mitsuki Saiga). After watching all twelve episodes of the first season, I have to agree with their assessment. However, there is a lot more to the show than the assessment by these reviewers.

There are hilarious moments in each episode. This is especially the case when it comes to Mitsumi’s antics, or when the reality of people is hidden. This humor is not based off any tropes or common stereotypes. Even so, it makes you empathize with the characters, endear them to you, and make you interested in learning more about them as people.

Unlike other anime I’ve reviewed this year, Skip and Loafer gives its characters depth. In the fourth episode, Mitsumi is told by slacker teacher Hanazono that student council treasurer Tokiko Takamine (voiced by Minami Tsuda) is an organized person. She is impressed and connects with her almost instantly, seeing her as a senpai. Takamine even tells her how to use her time more efficiently.

However, Takamine has anxiety hidden below the surface. She is barely holding it together and even has nightmares about missing the bus or train. I liked that Takamine learns from Mitsumi to not panic if things don’t go her way, to accept what is around her, and not be tense all the time. This is something which many people can resonate with.

Somehow, Mitsumi inadvertently causes Takamine’s nightmares to disappear. She even influences her to admit that everyone should have their own path and way to use their time. Overall, Takamine is very relatable, as she is generally very organized. In some ways, she reminds me of my own personal organizational habits.

The interactions between Mitsumi and Sōsuke are at the center of Skip and Loafer. They learn more about each other and cheer up one another, if one of them feels down. While there are some romantic feelings between them, they are undoubtedly good friends who support each other, even if times get tough. That is part of the great storytelling in this anime.

I further liked the series because it isn’t as dramatic like Kaguya-sama: Love Is War or Yuri is My Job!. Nor is it idolish like Alice Gear Aegis Expansion and Kizuna no Allele. Instead, it has a similar same pace, and feel, to Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear or iyashikei series like Adachi and Shimamura and Laid-Back Camp. It reminds me a bit of K-On! and My Roommate Is a Cat for the same reason. However, it isn’t an iyashikei series. There is a focus on the plot, characters, and worldbuilding. But there isn’t an immersive visual setting, meaning that it does not fit the definition of this anime sub-genre.

Slice-of-life series are some of my favorite anime. I still remember fondly watching, apart from those already named, Azumanga Daioh, Squid Girl, YuruYuri, Kin-iro Mosaic, and Teasing Master Takagi-san. However, Skip and Loafer isn’t exactly like those anime. Nor is it like Let’s Make a Mug Too, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Sasaki and Miyano, Gabriel DropOut, or Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop. In some ways, this series gives me the same vibes as the first cour of The Aquatope on White Sand, a series also produced by P.A. Works. The second cour of that series had a different tone, as it showed the brutal reality of the workplace and how it can wear you down to nothing.

Skip and Loafer stands out because of the casual queerness shown in the series. This is especially exemplified by Mitsumi’s aunt, Nao. I hadn’t picked up that she was trans, because it is relatively subtle, until reading some articles about it. After that, I could recognize it being mentioned throughout the series. Nao appears to be accepted and no one bats an eye about it.

The fact that Nao is trans is as subtle, in some ways, as May Marigold stating openly that she is trans in a Volume 8 episode of RWBY, without specifically using the word “trans.” There is some danger in subtlety, as everyone may not recognize it. Some series have done it better than others. I would say that Skip and Loafer does a good job of this, although it would be great to have additional LGBTQ characters.

There is more than casual queerness in Skip and Loafer. It is represented by characters that lean into “common archetypes.” Nao experiences transmisogyny and Mitsumi supports her. She cares for Mitsumi deeply. She goes undercover as an “uncle,” and is joined by Egashira (voiced by Yuka Terasaki). The latter thinks Sosuke is a “clout-chaser,” during Mitsumi’s date with Sosuke in the eighth episode. The reality is that Egashira has a crush on him and is jealous.

In that same episode, Mitsumi and her friends come over for a summer outing, a sleepover, allowing them to get even closer than they had before. She tells her friends that Nao is “biologically male” (i.e., trans), to not cause a panic. Thanks to Nao, she knows some make-up language, which gives her a leg up in their conversations. Later, when Egoshira tries to leave, Nao convinces her to stay, again showing her role in keeping Mitsumi’s friends together.

The bond between Egashira and Nao is strong. In one Skip and Loafer episode, Egashira is sad that she can’t talk to her at the school festival. This is after both, as noted earlier, bonded when they were spying on Sosuke and Mitsumi, during their date. Hopefully, a second season will expand on their friendship.

One of the most popular ships among fans is between Mitsumi’s two schoolmates, Yuzuki Murashige (voiced by Maaya Uchida) and Makoto Kurume (voiced by Megumi Han), who are opposites from one another. Mitsumi brings them closer together, with fans praising their romantic “chemistry,” including cute interactions.

The implied romantic feelings between Makoto and Yuzuki reaches a high point in the show’s 11th episode. Yuzuki puts off a guy who is hitting on her and says that she dislikes it when people praise her art without looking at it deeply. Of course, Makoto does the opposite, praising the art, and makes Yuzuki blush in response.

While some may say their interactions are  “yuri-baiting,” referring to series which show romantic relationships between girls/women without having that “relationship come to fruition,” it is more fair to call it yuri subtext. For one, Makoto and Yuzuki have unresolved feelings for one another and aren’t a couple. Their feelings have not been realized. Yuri subtext is all over the place in anime, from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha to Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. It differs from more directly-shown love like that between Anis and Euphie in MagiRevo or one-sided love shown in Alice Gear Aegis Expansion.

Mitsumi is a sympathetic character because she isn’t good at athletics, similar to Mako’s worries about athletic events. This serves as a way for Mitsumi to bond deeper with Sosuke, who accepts her for who she is. Sports, and their emphasis, are a major part of Japanese culture, like it is in the U.S. Those who don’t conform to the “norm” tend to be ridiculed. In this series, the difference from the norm is portrayed as acceptable. It is fine to be less social, quiet, and not like sports.

One of the best parts of Skip and Loafer is how Mitsumi connects with her classmates, either Sosuke, Yuzuki, Makoto, or Mika Egashira. The latter is nervous, at first, at interactions with nasty male classmates. She even has a mental list of those who are mean to her and vows revenge on them for what they did to her.

As a result of their friendship, Egashira’s attitudes change. Her crush on Sosuke strengthens, even as she feels left behind as Sosuke appears closer to Mitsumi than her. She is hiding inner conflicts and trauma, implying she has low self-worth.

Her desire to go through schooling, to help her hometown of Ikajima, is admirable. Throughout the series, she has a connection to Ikajima since her childhood friend, Fumi still lives in the town. She doesn’t have many lines in the series and so few, that no one even bothered to add her to the show’s Wikipedia page. She is someone that Mitsumi can vent and talk to. This all comes to a head in the ninth episode when she visits Ikajima and has a fun time with her middle school friends.

The romantic comedy themes of Skip and Loafer shine through in the show’s sixth episode. Mitsumi begins believing rumors about Sosuke, thinking he is a “bad boy” who skipped school and faked being sick. After he tells her to not believe the rumors, she realizes that she is in love with him, and tells Fumi she feels the same way about Sosuke as Fumi did about her friend as well.

This plot is interlaced with Mitsumi’s work in the school’s student council. She becomes the student council secretary alongside Takamine. She encourages the latter to work with the new president-elect, Hiroto Kazakami (voiced by Junya Enoki), telling her that all we can do is hope it pays off some day. This is diametrically opposed to what is shown in Ippon Again!, that hard work can lead to success. This idea has been questioned in recent years.

Not everything is puppies and roses in this series. This is made clear when Ririka Saijou (voiced by Minako Kotobuki) comes out of nowhere at the end of the seventh episode. She is said to be a “childhood friend” of Sosuke. Ririka is more than that. She is a model who sneers at Mitsumi, calling her a “circus act.” She even declares that he can’t have a high school life because of an incident four years before in which he, apparently, showed bad judgment. In essence, she blackmails him.

This doesn’t stop the growing romance between Mitsumi and Sosuke, however. In fact, in the ninth episode, she expresses her enthusiasm, and gives him three squid crackers from her hometown, because she feels bad for him. Although he feels he doesn’t “deserve anything,” their interaction brings a smile to his face. As such, Skip and Loafer is saying that rather than beating ourselves up over our mistakes, we should take chances instead.

The last three episodes are some of the strongest in the entire series. While the preparation for a school festival is not a new plot in anime, the play is pertinent in today’s world that reactionaries are stronger than ever. It is about a person who falls in love with fascists and joins them because of romance, even turning on his own family!

Some Jewish fans have even stated that anime has a “Nazi problem” and is anti-Semitic due to Attack on Titan, Angel Cop, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hellsing, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Hetalia: Axis Powers characters. These views remain controversial, with the argument that Western viewers are misinterpreting plotlines through a distorted lens.

Back to Skip and Loafer, Sosuke’s role as a friend shines through. He cheers up Mitsumi, thinking back to his bad childhood, and tries to make sure Mitsumi doesn’t hurt herself. They end up talking and having a fun time together. Understandably, Mitsumi feels bad that she allowed Sosuke to be picked for the play. After all, he didn’t want an acting role. Again, this shows the power of peer pressure and “need” to be socially accepted. In fact, Sosuke worries that people only see him one way and he can’t do anything to “ruin” that perception.

Sosuke ends up shining through, in the 11th episode. He does an amazing performance, impressing his half-brother Keiri and his mother. He ends up enjoying himself. The series says that he should be grateful to his brother, who has been considerate of him, rather than dismissive. However, Ririka’s arrival threatens to destroy it all!

The Skip and Loafer series finale brings this to a head. In an act of intimidation, Ririka falsely accuses Sosuke’s mother of making Sosuke act for her again. This causes Sosuke’s mother, and Keiri, to leave. Even so, Mitsumi bravely defends Sosuke from Ririke, standing between them both, like an anteater. As a result, Sosuke realizes he can act for himself, rather than doing it for others. He is comforted when he forgets his lines at the end of the school play.

In one of the most powerful scenes in the entire series, Sosuke stands up for himself. He says that he can’t make up for what he did to Ririka. Even so, he refuses to follow the same self-destructive path as her, noting that he is enjoying school life. As an olive branch, he offers to do anything to help her move on. Predictably, Ririka is infuriated.

She lashes out, declaring that Sosuke is selfish and narcissistic, and says the same about his mother. She doesn’t want him to get his life back and wants to continue manipulating him. As a result, she pushes him away, arguing that Sosuke and his mother can do what they want, but to not show his face to her again. After he thanks her, this shocks her to the core.

Although the series finale might be beginning the “redemption” of Ririka, she is not a sympathetic character. Her pity crying and admission that the scandal, and losing her job, was partially her fault (rather than Sosuke), makes her toxicity that much worse. She is an awful character who treats others poorly. Even her friend, Chris Fukunaga (voiced by Yuusuke Nagano), tells her to not guilt-trip Sosuke. He adds that it is her sole fault her grades sucked. Whether she reforms herself, takes responsibility for her actions, understands her harm, and doesn’t cause any further harm, or not, hopefully she is out of Sosuke’s life for good.

The Skip and Loafer series finale wraps up loose ends. President Hiroto gets more depth. He tells Takamine that he was expected to be the best from an early age. His family had high standards for success. This causes Takamine to develop a crush. As the school festival ends, there is a touching scene in which Sosuke and Mitsumi realize how much they mean to one another. Mitsumi is undoubtedly more in love with him than ever. She closes out the episode, encapsulating her story of wanting to become a government official in her hometown, and how she got there.

The show’s colorful and vibrant animation really sticks with you. Some series are flat and don’t have expressive animation. Skip and Loafer is the exact opposite of that and has a distinct art style. As such, the series is that much more appealing.

The same can be said for the series’ voice actors. The voices of Mitsumi, Sumi, Sosuke, and Nao, who are Tomoyo Kurosawa, Sumire Morohoshi, Akinori Egoshi, and Mitsuki Saiga respectfully, are talented. Kurosawa is known for her roles in Cutie Honey Universe, Astra Lost in Space, BanG Dream!, and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina. 

Murohoshi lent her voice to characters in series such as Princess Jellyfish, Little Witch Academia, and Violet Evergarden. Egoshi has voiced characters in Shirobako, Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World, Fruits Basket, and many others. Saiga is known for roles in Cowboy Bebop, R.O.D the TV, Maria Watches Over Us, Ouran High School Host Club, and Yurikuma Arashi.

Minami Tsuda, Yuka Terasaki, Maaya Uchida, and Megumi Han, who voice Takamine, Egashira, Yuzuki, and Makoto, have done many recognizable roles. Tsuda voiced Mei Aihara in the ever-controversial Citrus, Terasaki voiced Babel in Gargantia and Akari Hyūga in Bloom Into You, and Uchida lent her voice to Sharo Kirima in Is the Order a Rabbit?, Catarina Claes in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, and countless others.

Han has voiced characters in series such as Komi Can’t Communicate, RWBY: Ice Queendom, The Dangers in My Heart, and Oshi no Ko. Junya Enoki and Minako Kotobuki, the voices of Hiroto and Ririka, are known for roles in anime such as Heroines Run the Show, Wandering Son, and Your Lie in April.

The last frame of the final Skip and Loafer episode says, “see you tomorrow,” implying a possible continuation. If a second season for the series was ordered, which is unlikely, romance between Sosuke and Mitsumi will blossom. The same may be the case for the bond between Makoto and Yuzuki, possible growing feelings that Takamine has for Hiroto, and other relationships between characters. In the process, Mitsumi’s trans aunt, Nao, will likely have a significant role.

Skip and Loafer can be streamed on Crunchyroll and is available for purchase on Prime Video.