Hey there, today is not a new segment so to speak. It is more of a reworking. As the series was formerly know as Random Wednesday but I want to do more comic book pick ups on Wednesday. The premise of this series is simple. I watch the first episode of a random anime and then talk about it. Today’s Anime is Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan.

Here’s a run down of the plot so we are all on the same page. Uramichi Oniisan went to university and became a talented gymnastic. However, at the young age of 31 his life is going nowhere and he is the lead character of the children’s show “Together with Maman.”. Think of this show as Barney or Blue’s Clues in this universe. The rest of the show serves to highlight the struggles of not knowing who you are or what you want to do with yourself. His co-workers are scared of his mental unhingeness and his producers, oddly enough, just put up with his outrages. This show tackles a pretty serious issue, mid-life crisis, in a lighthearted manner. One episode in and I can’t tell if the show is trying to bring light to the subject or turn it into a comedy or both. Either way, the show manages to be hilarious because of the dark subject material juxtaposed to such an innocent setting. Uramichi is trying to figure out how to get his life out of the gutter while simultaneously inspire, educate and lead small children.

Interestingly enough, I’m not sure the wide appeal for an anime like this. However, it definitely hit close to home to me. At the age of 21, I was living in my dad’s pool house. My job, babysitting my 6 little siblings. They ran the gambit in ages from 8 to new born. I hung out with them every day because they were home schooled. I helped out in their education, entertained them and always tried to be there for them. All the while having no clue what I was doing with my life. I had bounced around colleges and majors. By this time I had attended three different colleges and had 5 different majors. I started out as a Mass Communications Major with a concentration in Film and Television. After I transferred to my next school I switched to Education. I was in a committed relationship and no longer dreamed of working on movies. I liked the idea of empowering kids and teens to be their best self. After a year as an Education major, my professor told me to just major in Biology since that is what I wanted to teach. However, a lot of my math courses didn’t translate with me so I was having to take extra courses. And because my college had 2 major campuses, I could never get signed up for Chemistry. Frustrated from spinning my wheels, I switched my major once again to general business. While, taking the business core, I planned to pick one area to major in. In hindsight I almost wished I would have picked Marketing, but I chose Accounting. I then transferred to my third college with my 5 major.

Well, I only have about a year of Accounting courses left not counting my minors, but I have fallen out of love with the subject and I am taking a break from school. It sucks, but it needs to happen. So I am sitting here, watching anime about a guy who had his life all figured out now spiraling out of control while I am unsure of my own future. I can relate to trying to be positive for the next generation while your world is in constant upheaval. So that’s why I did this specific life story tangent. I feel like this anime was created for me. Obviously I have only seen the first episode, but it seems right up my alley. I love the off-beat humor, the colorful supporting cast, the non-sense slice of life scenario it is set in. Honestly, the first episode was near perfect and quite enthralling. Though I totally get it if the all-over-the-place, chaotic nature is not your thing.

Recap:
Action: This is not a violent or action packed anime. There may have been some slapstick humor but I don’t remember.
Romance: I don’t recall much in the way of romance either.
Plot: The plot is nothing really special here. It is more so the characters’ interactions and the way they handle the world around them.
Characters: We are introduced to about 5 or 6 characters that could play bigger roles. Tobikichi Usahara and Mitsuo Kumatani play his lovable mascot sidekicks. While Utano Tadano and Iketery Daga show up occasionally for musical numbers. Of course there’s also Uramichi Oniisan and the children who I cannot wait to see what weird hijinks they get into.
The World: It is a slice a life anime. The world is nothing special. It is exactly our world.
Humor: Humor is of course one of the strong suits of this anime. Again it is situational humor playing on the absurdities of these character’s lives and situations.

All in all I think this is a great anime if you like the following:
Slice of Life. There’s no great evil or end of the world stakes. It is just PvE. Real life people working through problems.
Relatable cast. A lot of us work jobs that are unfulfilling or have co-workers we have to deal with. Sure some of the characters are extremes or caricatures, but a lot of it is grounded in reality.
Nonsense or Off beat humor. The funniest aspects of the show often revolves around humor that seems out of place or all the wall.

So, there you go. We’re going to try to keep this a weekly thing but there’s going to be a big life update post soon, so get ready.

Thank you guys for watching. Have a great day.