English Dub Season Review: Akebi’s Sailor Uniform Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Komichi Akebi (Megan Shipman) had always adored sailor attire (being inspired by her idol Miki Fukumoto), even having her mother Yuwa (Erica Schroeder) make a sailor-style uniform for her when she entered middle school. So when she gets accepted to her mother’s old private school Roubai Girls’ Academy, she is delighted that she’ll get to wear her homemade uniform. However, once arriving at her new school, she is surprised to discover that Roubai’s dress code no longer uses sailor uniforms and has been replaced with blazers. Despite the circumstances, the school’s headmistress happily makes an exception and allows her to wear the traditional sailor uniform. As she goes through her years of early adolescence, even experiencing some struggles along the way, she meets and befriends many of her school peers and enjoys her school life.

Our Take:

Whenever I watch anime, I usually view the ones that involve a lot of action and high stakes. I go for shows that have characters battle different elements like monsters, demons, and even supervillains. But in some cases, I don’t mind watching something more light-hearted and harmless than the ones involving punching stuff every few minutes. This is where a show like Akebi’s Sailor Uniform comes into play.

The anime adaptation of Hiro’s manga series is a slice-of-life drama centering on the title character attending a private middle school with only her sailor uniform and befriending as many classmates as possible. The remaining episodes, starting with episode eight (“I Want to Win Next Time”), have her and the students preparing for the school’s athletic sports festival. So what you’re looking at is another series of fish-out-of-water misadventures involving Komichi making friends and encountering new experiences during her first school year. It does resemble a typical sitcom-like drama series at first regarding the seasonal narrative. However, as I continued to watch the show, it gradually developed into something more than just a bunch of teen-related everyday scenarios. Because of that, it became a delightful and irresistibly charming series that’s as harmless and spunky as the title character.

The episodes have storylines that you would find in other school-related sitcoms. The examples of this are Komichi and Minoru Ohkuma (Brittney Karbowski) studying their classmates in episode five and Komichi inviting Ericka Kizaki (Suzie Yeung) to her house in episode six. However, instead of following the same routines as those sitcoms, the episodes offer some captivating and heartfelt turns to provide unique development for the characters and the scenarios. For example, in its sixth episode (“There’s No School Tomorrow, Right?”), Komichi faces a situation in which she invites Ericka to hang out with her outside of school. The plot in that episode is used to develop the friendship between the two characters further without relying on cheesy humor and formulaic setbacks to advance it. That may sound boring for most people, but it’s not. The episode embraces the cuteness and endearment of its slice-of-life material to deliver a sense of enjoyment in the situation instead of using the predictable elements used in other teen-related sitcoms.

Another thing that got me intrigued with Akebi’s Sailor Uniform is that it doesn’t focus on just Komichi. There were multiple times where the show switches gears and places its attention on Komichi’s classmates, including Kei Tanigawa (Madeleine Morris) from episode three, who’s embarrassed by how her legs look. It provides some distinct perspectives for the characters, but it also emphasizes the show’s themes of friendship, teamwork, and perseverance. While it does focus on Komichi’s bold quest to make friends at her new school, it also centers on the students at Roubai Academy being inspired by Komichi’s determination and kind-hearted spirit to rise against the uncertainty and offer those things in return. The best example of this is episode seven (“Please Let Me Hear It”), where Oshizu Hebimori (Michelle Rojas) learns to play the guitar to perform for Komichi. Another example is episode ten (“Fight On! Fight On”), with Riona Shijou (Amber Lee Connors) regaining her confidence to play tennis following her brief cheerleading experience with Komichi. With the supporting characters sharing the spotlight with Komichi, the show represents a stellar viewpoint of its messages while giving almost every student a chance to shine with their likable charisma.

The voice cast was also superb in delivering charm and energy into their characters and personalities. Megan Shipman, who also provides the voice of Anya Forger in the ongoing Spy x Family, did a fantastic job capturing Komichi’s spiritual and overly-friendly nature without making her too annoying for me. Suzie Yeung and Kristi Rothrock were also highly entertaining as Ericka and Touko Usagihara, respectively. As for the animation, I would say that there is plenty to like about its style. For starters, the settings are vibrantly gorgeous as if they’re portraits you can find at an art museum. There are also some still images where the animation emphasizes the detail and lighting for the character designs, mainly Komichi. I have no words to describe how beautiful they looked when those images appeared. As someone who hasn’t watched the other shows from CloverWorks, I thought the studio did very well in representing the harmless and alluring world of the series. The music by Kana Utatane was also stellar with its harmonious and light-hearted tunes, especially during Komichi’s after-party performance in the season finale, “I’m Not Alone”.

Overall, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform is a relaxing and gorgeous treat that made me smile all the way through. While its gentle slice-of-life tone may not satisfy people who prefer heavy drama and nonstop action in their anime shows, the series is brimming with charming characters, vibrant animation, and splendid music. More importantly, it offers a satisfying seasonal arc that doesn’t rely heavily on its formulaic sitcom plots. This show couldn’t have come at a better time, as we are in a time where violence and crime are consuming the planet. It shows that we could all use a place where friendship and teamwork always prevail in this time of crisis. Now the important question is whether the show will get a second season. Based on my experience with the season finale, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform ended things nicely without any cliffhanger moments. But I wouldn’t mind revisiting Komichi and the Roubai Academy students if it does happen.