Miss Monochrome The Animation

If I had to describe this anime, it would be weird and random, but funny at the same time. I have no idea what I just watched, but I like it! For a 4 minute show, Miss Monochrome will definitely leave you saying, “what just happened” by the end of each episode. If you didn’t know already, Miss Monochrome is a slice of life anime. Story: (8/10) The story begins with our main character, Miss Monochrome, aspiring to become a popular idol like Kikuko on T.V. and her caretaker, Mana, asks to be her manager. She becomes her manager and requests 19.3 billion yen as thefirst thing to do as an idol. Our poor main character, Miss Monochrome, believes her and gives her all her money, leaving her broke, homeless, and stranded out on the streets to search for a new manager. Upon hoping to find one, a person named Maneo, who is surprisingly a manager, appears out of nowhere, but is not the manager you’d expect him to be. Little did you know, he’s actually a manager for a convenience store. Maneo becomes her manager and decides to help Miss Monochrome try to become a popular idol that she had always dreamed about. There’s not that much to say about the story, because the anime is so short, but what makes this so compelling is that you don’t know what to expect. What you just read, was an example of one of them. Majority of the episodes you watch are unexpected and randomly funny and by the end of each episode, it leaves you wondering if you’ll ever see Miss Monochrome become an idol. The only drawback I found within the story is that it perceives to be linear by the way the writer had set it up. You may not think the story leads anywhere, but it all comes together in the end. Characters: (10/10) This anime couldn’t be done well without its characters. Our main character, Miss Monochrome, may seem like a vocaloid by appearance, but in actuality, she’s an android. Her inability to feel emotions and take things literally enhances the show’s comedy. Another thing this anime does well is that the characters feel like a comedy routine. Maneo, being the one to find jobs for Miss Monochrome, sets up the joke and Miss Monochrome, the android who can’t differentiate between a joke and a serious answer, is the punchline. Mana, the con artist, sets up the tragedy for the main character and Kikuko, the popular idol, being the main goal. Of course you couldn’t forget about Miss Monochrome’s trusty pet, Ruu-chan, to add character depth towards her. Each character in this anime serves a purpose and executes it well. Art: (8/10) The artwork was produced by Liden Films who also made Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches, Terraformars, and Senyuu. The artwork for this anime wasn’t that bad. The 3D CGI character of Miss Monochrome in the end credits were well done. However, the overall environment and the design for some of the characters looked generic. Sound: (9/10) There’s no opening theme for this anime, only an ending. However, only taking up the last minute of the show, it sounds good. I was surprised how well the English dub vocal crew were compared to the Japanese one. The main character for Miss Monochrome sounds very similar to the Japanese vocal actress which I liked very much. The rest of the English dub voice actors seemed to have fit the role just as the Japanese ones as well. Enjoyment: (8/10) Since Miss Monochrome is 4 minutes long, I expected it to become another generic anime and something linear, but it seemed to have proved me wrong. This anime made me go on an unexpected feels trip. I never knew something that seemed so upbeat, lighthearted, and innocent be so tragic at the same time. Another thing I liked about this show, was how it referenced some real life people, anime, and merchandise. I mean, who doesn’t like a bit of references right? An anime can throw around a few references, but when it’s done right, it can become a masterpiece. In Miss Monochrome, the references aren’t just some subtle hint hoping to give you a little chuckle, it actually adds toward the story and the comedy which, surprisingly, impressed me. Overall: (8/10) Overall, Miss Monochrome is a short, enjoyable, slice of life anime that will make you laugh and feel good after watching it. You can kind of expect what’s going to happen in the end, but the random journeys you go on with Miss Monochrome makes up for it. Miss Monochrome’s stale but optimistic view on becoming an idol has certainly put a smile on my face. This underrated anime deserves a little more attention and I hope you give it a chance too.

Often times anime that have very short episode lengths get dismissed by the community as automatically lifeless and humorless shows with little to no world-building and characterization of characters. With Miss Monochrome having four minute episodes with one minute dedicated to the ending song, one would probably assume this about this show. Though many of the complaints may be justified, Miss Monochrome is surprisingly great for what it is and was enjoyable the whole way through. To simplify the plot, Miss Monochrome is an android that aspires to be a Japanese idol with a manager, gigs, etc. On her way to her eventual goal, she oftengets herself into random situations to get exposure for herself, get jobs, and meet up with people to allow her pursuit of becoming an idol. The plot is the weakest part of the show as three minutes does not allow for much plot progression. Thankfully, each episode's story is really self-contained and besides the first and last two episodes of the series, the rest of the episodes follow no real story. This brings me to the strongest point of the anime: the characters. In Miss Monochrome there are not many main characters. Miss Monochrome, her manager, Ruu-chan (bless her soul), and Kikuko are the most important. The star of the show, however, is Miss Monochrome herself. I don't know what it is I love about her, but her design, her mesmerizing dance in the ending, her battery hijinks, and her unique autotuned voice all contribute to one cute character. As of writing this the second season of Monochrome is airing and I can't wait to start it to see more of our favorite idol android. Overall, I give this short little anime an 8/10. Usually anime like this aren't that enjoyable to me, but this show is one of the best of its kind. If you are in the mood for something quick and cute with a "colorful" main character, I recommend this to you.

Miss Monochrome is a 4 minute episode anime filled with comedy, randomness and slice of life. I really liked this series but that is only because of Miss Monochrome :3 She is a android with a somewhat childish robot view upon the world, so many misunderstandings and so on happens a lot indeed! which gives a special kind of comedy to it. Even though there are somewhat lots of randomness in this one then it is still one continued plotline throughout the series which makes it not too random ^^ which it is something that I like. The main problem of the series is you really have tolike Miss Monochrome because she is the main factor for nearly everything in the series so if you don´t like her, then there is not much to like about this anime :)

Miss Monochrome is a short anime of 13 4-minute long episodes. Let's dive in, shall we? Story- 6/10. Not much to this story as you'd expect, as the total viewing time of the entire show is about an hour maximum. Miss Monochrome is an android whose only real motivation is to become an idol, to be able to meet Kikuko, another idol. Although the "story" was practically nonexistant, they did a decent job - I found each episode charming and laughed a fair few times at the way it was told. They also included a little backstory between Miss Monochrome and Kikuko, which I thought was a nice touch.6 may seem a little high for the story aspect considering there wasn't much of one, however I personally didn't mind the lack of it. Art - 8/10. Well-done, good quality animation, not much to say here as not that much actually happens. Character designs were okay, but nothing startling. Sound - 8/10. I really enjoyed the ED to this small series (Poker Face, by Miss Monochrome herself!). Voice acting was good and often added to the comedic moments. Miss, being an android, had a very fittingly monotone machine-sounding voice. Character - 7/10. 7 may seem a little high as you don't really learn anything about Miss other than the fact that she is an android who wants to become an idol to meet Kikuko and she is a little naive. However I thought she was charming and although there is little to no character development (she continues throughout the hour runtime to act naively and restlessly pursue her goal to become an idol) I found it satisfying to watch. Also, Run-chan is amazing. Enjoyment - 8/10. Short and sweet. Nice little series to watch if you don't have much time, want a couple of giggles and 'awww's. Overall - 7/10.