Hitorigurashi no Shougakusei

Hitorigurashi no Shougakusei is a truly adorable, heartwarming anime, with some rock-bottom production quality that is uniquely terrible, and present during every moment of the show. Beginning with the strong point of this anime by a mile, the story itself is great. A little slice of life about a struggling orphan girl living alone and trying to support herself and save money wherever possible, be it skipping meals, using duct tape as an eraser, or trying to bring in customers to her little shop. Even given the state of her life, she remains pure, innocent, and committed to the happinessof others throughout. The townspeople around her are by and large very kind and supporting people, and to see how they treat such an unfortunate girl with immense kindness is genuinely nice. One could ask, then, why one of them don't just adopt her, but that's part of the suspension of disbelief required to really enjoy this show. It is a really nice little story, and that much cannot be overstated. Now for the rest of this anime. The art has a pretty standard art direction, with character designs that are serviceable don't really stand out, but the execution of the art is awful. It is barely animated, and all sorts of little tricks are used to conceal this fact. The aspect ratio of the show is also jarring, bizarrely looking as though it's meant for a vertical phone screen. The sound is atrocious, as though everything from the music to the voice work was recorded through a tin can, reverberating in a way that sounds cheap, artificial, and robotic. The charters are strong, but Rin absolutely steals the show. She is the nexus of the whole anime, and her defiant optimism and kindness in the face of her situation make her a pleasure to have as a protagonist. Overall, Hitorigurashi no Shougakusei is a sweet little OVA that suffers from some dire production issues. Regardless of how bad the execution is, I still recommend you watch it, if for no other reason than the touching story it offers.

This is a story you can watch over and over again and never get tired of. A nine-year-old girl who lives alone and runs their family restaurant, what could go wrong? She is obviously unskilled in the arts of cooking and running a business, so she has to work really hard to keep customers. She’s poor, but regardless, she’s always positive and kind to the ones around her. This anime includes a lot of fun characters which you will grow to love. Watching this made me really happy and inspired to just enjoy the people around me and appreciate everything. It's a really heartwarming story. It’sonly 30 minutes long, you won’t regret watching this, and I'm sure that anyone would enjoy this. So get a drink, and simply take in these 30 minutes.