Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Review

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (I Have Few Friends) shortened to Haganai

Genre: comedy, ecchi, slice of life, romance

Format: 12 episodes (24min) based on a light novel series.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai is an anime about a group of social misfits who are part of a club which aims to find out how to make friends and socialise. The club was founded by Yozara, an attractive an intelligent girl who, strangely, does not have any friends.

She quickly forces a new male transfer student (Kodaka) to join. His aggresive, Yakuza-like

appearance means that people are too afraid to approach him. I say "Yakuza-like" but really, he just has blonde hair and an angry face. Evidently that's enough to scare off people in Japan.

Kodaka, obviously delighted with his PSP.

The third member to join is Sena, the school idol. She has gorgeous looks, a buxom body, huge

breasts and enjoys video games. Kinda like Anjou Naruko but with a lousy personality. Despite

her popularity, she does not have any real friends. Only a devoted entourage of infatuated boys.

This trio are the main characters in the series and keen observers would have no doubt noticed

that there are two girls and one guy, so yes, a love triangle does develop. However, things get more complicated when additional members (all female) join the group. This gives the show a harem-anime tone.

The show focuses on how the members of the group try to emulate what real friends do in order

for them to become more sociable. This is all done in a humorous and exaggerated manner. Don't expect a serious social discourse on relationships and the human condition.

Rather prepare for fan-service and silly jokes. Some of the scenes are tinged with poignancy (as one might expect given the anime's name and general plot) but it never really develops. This is not necessarily a bad thing but perhaps a missed opportunity?

ZOMG! So cute!

One of the recurring gags in the show is the rivalry between Yozara and Sena. Yozara unyieldingly bullies Sena which usually ends in Sena bursting into tears and running away.

Each of the additional characters are also part of running jokes, sometimes they are funny but they

get a little old quickly.

Yozora bullying Sena

The show is generally unremarkable with a bit of ecchi and slice-of-life themes and other cliches which we've grown accustomed to in anime. There's a swimsuit episode, a beach episode, festival episode and so on. If you like the running gags then you'll probably enjoy most of the anime and there is a twist right at the end which I found excellent but by and large, Boku wa Tomodachi is a conservative and clichéd anime.

The character designs, especially of Sena and Yozara are interesting and the copious amount of fan artwork supports this. If you want a decent and simple anime to pass the time than give Haganai a shot. I doubt you'll be amazed but it is fairly enjoyable. Hopefully we'll see a more exciting second season.