I more or less stumbled over this by mistake, and since I didn’t have a thing to do, I gave it a try. Frankly, I didn’t think it stood a chance. The title’s far from intriguing, the summary not that much better, and the producing companies Sunrise and Square Enix are known for giant fighting robots and treasure quests - which might be good in itself, but which isn’t entirely up my lane.

Daily Lives proves Sunrise and Square Enix can do more than that, though. As a slice of life, it’s as far from giant robots as things go; but don’t think it has to be boring, because it isn’t.

Granted; there is no actual storyline, not even a background one a.k.a. character development. Instead, each episode consists of a number of three- to five-minute sketches, all of which serve to bring absurdity to a new, and oddly laugh-inducing, level. There’s bizarre twists, out-of-the-blue dry remarks and humour, and where there is absolutely no storyline, the setup takes the awkwardness of high school life and utterly epitomises it. Even though it’s only the guys’ point of view, anyone who’s been in high school for even half a year will probably be able to relate at least somewhat.

There might be no actual storyline, but the character cast is still strong. Personalities are clearly defined, and where our three main characters may be average guys with at first glance nothing special about them, they’re far from the usual heroes. They’re not overly good or bad, they’re in short utterly mundane yet at the same time as idiotic as can get; and where there’s a limited number of jokes three idiotic protagonists can produce, which would quickly render the series boring, there’s a steadily increasing number of just as idiotic side characters, the introduction of which quickly enough adds to an avalanche that may crash right into your laughing muscles.

Character interaction, even with being as idiotic as the characters themselves, and conversations come on strong, mostly unexpected yet still with good flow, and of course the fourth wall is out of the window so quickly it’s laughable in itself. Nothing is taken serious in the process; not daily life, not other anime (and of course Sunrise couldn’t get around throwing a bunch of self-references in there ;D ), not even this anime itself. I’ve yet to encounter a second work of art that pulls an end out of thin air and manages to make a joke out of it. (Still not sure whether I should love or hate that point. Still not sure whether they’re planning a second season, either. ^^)

Animation, art, and music may be a little simple, but are overall still just fine. The music could need some more variety, and it can get a bit irritating how some characters’ eyes are literally never shown, but the animation is fluid and the overall result still nice to look at.

“Daily Lives of High School Boys” captures and parodies the awkwardness of high school life, and it does a good job doing so. Where I still can’t come to like randomness, the utterly exaggerated setting, dryly presented sketches, idiotic characters, and the fourth wall out of the window are enough to make it quite laughable. There might still be some predictable moments, and the title isn’t anything to get hyped about; but don’t let that fool you, because the anime is anything but boring. It has its loose ends, and it for sure isn’t another over-the-top, socially relevant parody such as Gintama or Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei; but in what the setting allows, it’s a good one, and quite funny if you’re up for it.

If you’re here for suspense, action, adventure quests, or an intriguing storyline, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you’re here however for a decent parody of high school life, the fourth wall being forgotten entirely, and don’t mind some randomness and some idiocy, you might well give this a try.

Have fun. ^_^ (show less)