You’d think something as simple as syllables would be an easy concept, but nothing is really simple when trying to translate Japanese concepts into English ones.  What we call syllables are actually “On”, and while in English syllables are as close as we can get to the idea, they aren’t the same thing.  And of course, that’s important when it comes to Japanese poetry.  The most famous form in the West is haiku, of which I’ve written a few here and there, which is why I know any of this.

The subject of Senryuu Shoujo is, fittingly, senryuu – the first such anime I’m aware of.  Senryuu are similar to haiku in using a 17 On format, but tend to be a little… earthier?  Haiku might be about frogs or the Buddha or true love, while senryuu tend to be humorous or more everyday-centric.  Specifically this show focuses on two people – Yukishiro Nanako (Hanazawa Kana) and Busujima Eiji (Hatanaka Tasaku).  Both are first-year high schoolers – she an awkward airhead who uses senryuu to address her inability to speak in public, he to find solace from the world which treats him as a terrifying yankee.

In sum, this premiere was pretty much what I expected, and that’s mostly a good thing.  Senryuu Shoujo is based on a 4-koma manga, it’s half-length, and much of the communication is done in 5-7-5 microbursts.  It’a almost definitionally going to be a bit lightweight, but that’s fine – it’s cute and heartfelt, and some of the humor is rather effective (the senryuu about Nanako’s blog was my favorite bit of the episode).  To be honest I find Hanazawa Kana a lot to take most of the time, and while I hoped her character’s quirk would make that less of an issue, the fact that the seiyuu speaks all Nanako’s senryuu puts the lie to that hope.  But it’s certainly not the most miscast I’ve heard her, and Hatanaka Tasaku is fine as Eiji.

In short, this is all pretty solid.  It’s cute without being a CGDCT series – there’s actual substance to the premise.  In point of fact folks with speech impediments are often able to communicate verbally by other means (like singing) without a problem, and it would have been even more interesting if Nanako had been able to speak but only in senryuu, rather than just write them, but it’s still a clever conceit.  And Eiji’s story is actually pretty relatable – a gentle soul trapped in a body the world sees as threatening and scary.

Naturally these two are going to be the subject of romantic subtext, though I expect it to be very innocent and low-key as it was in the premiere, and perhaps we’re going to get their families (each has a younger sibling) incorporated into the story a bit.  Generally though, I suspect most of the substance (and humor) of Senryuu Shoujo is going to come from the senryuu themselves, which is a prospect I find rather interesting myself.  Expectations are modest here for obvious reasons, but this figures to be an enjoyable candidate to be this spring’s “healing” show of choice.