Review of AHO-GIRL

Aho-Girl, is, in short, extremely silly. From the comedy style, to the voice acting, to the wacky situations and outside references, it is trying its hardest to make you laugh from start to finish. Beginning with the story, it's a simple and highly episodic setup about a dense, fun-loving fool and her best friend, a short-tempered and studious guy who takes everything as serious as a car crash. Through their misadventures, often instigated by her immediate desire to play or eat bananas, they gather a small cast of supporting oddballs, like the disciplinary committee president, and a directionless hoodlum who dedicates his life to thesetwo friends. There's very little in terms of story here, which makes total sense, and things are largely taken on an episode-by-episode basis where some crazy new thing happens. It's often very funny, but after a while some of the gags get kind of old, which is really saying something as each episode is only 12 minutes. The art is pretty good, but nothing groundbreaking. I enjoyed the stylistic changes to match whatever they're referencing in the moment, but beyond that the character designs are clean and pleasing to the eye, ensuring that everybody is distinct and has their own visual style in this fast-paced anime. The sound is surprisingly good, with an unusually high-quality OST and impassioned voice acting, which caught me off-guard. The characters are this show's strongest point, being distilled into specific yet original archetypes that somehow succeed in feeling interesting and at least a little believable. My favorite characters are Fuki Iincho the disciplinary committee president, and Inu, Yoshiko's huge dog that she rides everywhere. They just felt the most consistently funny and brought the most to the show as complicating elements to the insane plots of Yoshiko and the overbearing discipline of Akuru. Overall, Aho-Girl is a quick, funny watch that doesn't really break any new ground. Be aware that there are some moments where the jokes don't really land, but that's not really too much of a price to pay for something that is otherwise perfectly fine. Give it a watch, especially if you enjoy kinetic, fast-paced comedy.