WFCgbow

While scrolling down the Spring 2016 anime list I encountered Tanaka-kun is Always Listless. It seemed like an anime with no presence and no one would've cared about it. I was wrong. The anime is actually really good overall and people started noticing it because it was actually good. I feel this is really underrated because of the unusual synopsis and such. The story is about Tanaka and his friends around him, basically like the usual high school girl with the conflicts with the outside connections between the main MCs. This is the lowest point because, it is extraordinary in a way but the plot didn't really getto me. The story is cute though so it's okay. The art backgrounds were very beautiful in my opinion. Character designs were unique in a way. I really liked the art for Tanaka-kun for some reason, what a relaxing sight. The sound was also well made. I don't understand Japanese, but the upbeat tune with the cool, jazzy music works well with the anime I love the characters so much. They are so different from most other anime characters which are bold with no intentions at all. Basically they all have a reason for acting the way they do. This doesn't seem to be a anime with character development but it still does. Overall I give this a 9 and I enjoyed this very much. Please give this underrated anime a try!

emmme

This is an anime that was FULL of potential. I started it without many expectations, but the first two or three episodes managed to raise them, and make me think of this as the possible gem of the season. From summaries and reviews, one might be thinking Tanaka-kun defies mainstream narrative clichés, and that the overall product tends towards a certain general calm feeling. The truth is: Tanaka-kun had the potential to be that. It had the potential to tell an entertaining, relaxing, non-stereotypical story, while having an upbeat general tone and characters. Then it became... something else. There were a lot of harem hints, and alot of moe that didn't really add anything of value to the story, and also a lot (A LOT) of unnecessary emphasis on the romantic feelings from one of the characters towards Tanaka. Does this suck in general? Not really. If you're watching something from a romantic, moe, or harem genre, then you're expecting this. If you're not, and you've come here looking for some nice gen slice of life, or have been bought over by the first episodes, then you'll feel like me, which can be summed up as: :/ I feel like Tanaka-kun dropped the ball. It could've been something incredibly engaging and somewhat original, but instead it chose to be... basically the same as the 1000 harem, school life anime that came before it. All that said, there ARE some episodes that are funny and entertaining, and some of the characters are GOLDEN (Miyano, Ecchan and Ohta). The art style isn't anything groundbreaking or particularly remarkable, but it accompanies the general atmosphere and feel of the story, and the coloring is really, really nice. The animation is okay most of the time. Just that. Okay. It gets below average, but never above. The sound is one of its best points, to me, since there are moments where really interesting things happen, diegetically. The opening song is really fitting.