Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu

Before going into this show, I expected to watch a generic CGDCT—certainly not something that I would review. Yet, as I made my way through Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu's 12 episodes, I found myself more and more inclined to write the text you are now reading. While the CGDCT genre is normally as inoffensive as can be, Hitoribocchi was often a thoroughly unpleasant experience. How, and more importantly, why, did this happen? The show follows Hitori Bocchi (English: "alone") as she struggles with social anxiety after entering her first year of middle school. As her misadventures continue, she becomes friends with characters such as Sunao Nako (English: "honest child"), Honshou Aru (English: "has a hidden character"), and Sotoka Rakita (English: "came from the outside"). The names are all you need to know for the characters. Bocchi has social anxiety, Aru gets unlucky/makes stupid mistakes despite seeming capable, and Sotoka is a foreigner obsessed with ninja culture. That's literally it. Nako is the only character that isn't defined solely by a trope. As with most CGDCT shows, the comedy is centered around the characters. When 3/4 of the main characters are defined by a single trope, the comedy becomes repetitive. If you ever want to get alcohol poisoning, just play a drinking game where you take a shot every time Nako calls Aru "unfortunate". Other jokes present in the show are either about Bocchi's comically crippling social anxiety or about Sotoka's obsession with ninjas. The jokes got so predictable that I could often guess exactly what a character would say/how she would react. Indeed, with every week of watching the show, I continually enjoyed it less and less. The main problem with Hitoribocchi, however, is that the entire premise of the show is to make light of social anxiety. Take, for example, the very first episode. Nervous about starting her new school life, Bocchi puts up a sign on the classroom door, which reads "Class 1 has been abolished, so we kindly ask that you all transfer schools". I'm not sure what I, as the viewer, am supposed to do. This is obviously presented as a "funny" moment, but what would I be laughing at? That the character has social anxiety? I'm not sure who greenlit a show with this premise, but it certainly does not work. There's really not much else to say about Hitoribocchi. At its best, it's a generic CDGDCT, and at its worst, it makes fun of serious issues in a way that I found unsettling. It's not the worst show in the world, but due to the repetitive comedy and mediocre production values, there's really no reason to watch it over anything of the same genre.