My Tiny Senpai

Ah yes, the obligatory seasonal workplace romance story. Chiisai senpai is somewhat of a one trick pony. Its story is very simple, but it executes that one trick very well making for a fun viewing experience. It’s an endearing and charming workplace story that reminds us how love can be found when you least expect it. Contrary to how Twitter erupted when the first trailer for this dropped with “pedobait” allegations, because we all know pedophilia=anime girl short, this is a pure fluff watch that will set your heart ablaze with how sweet it can be.. In Japanese society, the workplace can be brutal and unforgiving.Long hours, unpaid overtime and abuse from superiors. So it should come as no surprise that Katase Shiori’s concern and affection towards Takuma Shinozaki is such a welcome sight for the MC. Having someone that genuinely cares for you in this environment is a blessing, one that he does not take for granted. Of course, because anime MC logic, he’s totally oblivious to the not so subtle flirtatious manner in which Katase expresses herself. What really stands out in this one is the somewhat realistic nature in which the budding romance is handled. Falling in love in the workplace can really complicate things and has ethical and professional ramifications. I like how the show addresses that and it adds to the romantic tension. Some will find this a negative as they think there’s no point continuing a story if the characters aren’t together within a few episodes. However, obstacles like this only serve to enhance the story in my opinion, and it feels believable. Characters should feel trepidation about this type of thing. Although wholesome and cute, the show can be a bit repetitive at times. There’s also times where the progression feels painfully slow because of Shinozaki’s density. Obviously like most romance stories, this is played up because seeing the couple get together immediately wouldn’t be fun. But my goodness is the MC thick at times. Some of the gags also feel very high school-y despite this being a workplace story. This wasn’t a big turn off for me though, but still worth noting. The side characters are actually fun in this one and make up for any issues with Shinozaki. It takes a while for them to really get mixed into the story, but once they do you instantly fall in love with them. In fact, I honestly believe the manager, sister and childhood friend are the best parts of this show. Absolutely hilarious dynamic between the three that spices up the rather simple story. Project No.9 have gained a reputation for doing these cutesy style romances and they did another good job here. The art is bright and cheery, a total contrast to the reality of working in a Japanese office, but a welcome escape. Animation is about what you’d expect from a slice of life romance. Solid, but nothing to write home about. Overall, Chiisai senpai is a cute and fluffy workplace romance. It’s not innovative, but it works. It’s cute, has good characters, a realistic dilemma and some nice art. Those looking for a break from the near incessant stream of high school romance will find a solid watch here. Chisai Senpai gets 8 out of 10.

"When one trope starts, all else starts to follow." - A random anime weeb Do you remember a little show called Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi a.k.a My Senpai is Annoying? It aired back in Fall 2021, courtesy of Doga Kobo, and it was one of the popular shows in that season (that was dominated by Mushoku Tensei Season 1 Part 2 and Komi-san, to name a few), that was heavily influenced by Spring 2018's Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii a.k.a Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, also another popular show from that season. And within the span of 5 years, we get yet anotheriteration of the now-known adult-casted workplace themes and rom-com genre, in the vein of mangaka Saisou's Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi a.k.a My Tiny Senpai. From what started out as a Doujin self-made work, it was expanded to become a manga series, and in my mind, this show can be summed up as such: swap the body and personalities of the MCs from Senpai ga Uzai and make the female MC an Uzaki-chan derivative. This is the alternate WotaKoi story of a worker and his Senpai mentor, Takuma Shinozaki and Shiori Katase, which from the outside, you would think that they're just casual office colleagues who do their workday in and day out. But being the Senpai character that Shiori is, she dotes on Shinozaki being her first mentee with her gorgeous, profoundly kind, loving, and diminutive womanly traits, hoping to both train him and make him feel relaxed. The work may be hard, but the relationship shared is just as professional as possible. The professionalism in that sense...is the usual kind of situation that you would expect from a rom-com about the daily operations in the office about the innocent young man and his buxom Senpai supervisor who engages in anything and everything that's noteworthy to the other colleagues in their department of Development Group 1. There is no doubt that the show wants us to see the growing relationship of Shinozaki and Shiori that will one day develop into a sizable romance. the hints are there, alright, along with its wishy-washyness of "will they, won't they". Both Shinozaki and Shiori are not the only colleagues sharing the same office space, as they're also accompanied by Shinozaki's childhood friend and co-worker, Chinatsu Hayakawa, and their department manager, Chihiro Akina. Once again, we do have the exact same situation/scenario as Senpai ga Uzai, that the odd "couple" of Hayakawa and Akina are basically the replication of Touko Sakura and Souta Kazama, only that both of their involvements towards both Shinozaki and Shiori are as clear as day, having romantic shticks of their very own. This is especially important because Hayakawa is into cosplay, and Akina...well, he's just the wingman who knows how to navigate office romance relationships well, despite the former having feelings for him. A relationship between the co-worker and her innocent, yet happy-go-lucky, and cunning manager? I would be down for that if it were true! But once again, just like Senpai ga Uzai, the side couple is more interesting than the main couple, and this show suffers from the same problem as the former, even though this is less pronounced here. At this point, I don't quite have expectations for Project No. 9's production; as long as it's serviceable, that's fine and all by me. And the OST is really good with Touya Kobayashi and YU-KA's very catchy OP and ED songs, so much so that you can't help but listen to the songs every episode. It was definitely the highlight for me. All in all, what mangaka Saisou had managed to procure with Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi a.k.a My Tiny Senpai is decent at best, though it doesn't break the bank, especially having watched WotaKoi and Senpai ga Uzai (which this is the better "Annoying Senpai" show of the two). Even with how genuine that this shows commits to its premise with all the sweet and fluffy undertones, and while innocent, it's just very surface-based and can be bland at times. A decent try, but this ain't it.

"My Senpai Anime Is Annoying"... is what I'd like to call this. This workplace slice-of-life/rom-com anime follows a Japanese office worker and his cute, VERY top-heavy, and otherwise tiny senpai. Throughout the anime, they dance around feelings for each other, and a couple of other office workers dance around feelings for each other too. That's... pretty much the whole anime. Nothing else interesting happens there, except for bouncy-bouncy with accompanying timpani-like sounds. This anime had a few things going for it, yes. The characters were well-drawn and weren't one dimensional, the art was nice, fanservice wasn't overboard - there was little actually *wrong* with thisanime. If you're looking for a slice of life rom-com set in a workplace that has a few comedic moments, a few touching moments, and a few very mildly lewd moments, well, you've found your anime. It's not above fanservice, but given the size of senpai's, well... assets, there's surprisingly little. The things I would criticize about this anime are twofold. First, is this at all how workplaces actually are in Japan? I'd actually be a little surprised if so. Maybe things are a bit looser in Japan, but the way that manager acted is really bordering on inappropriate and may actually be full blown harassment. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable in a workplace where the manager was clearly stalking me and a workplace partner and trying to get us together. That might just be my American sensibilities but even in Japan, I can't imagine that's appropriate. If this were a high school anime where the teacher was... oh. *cough*Azumanga Daioh*cough*. Nevermind, I guess it's supposed to be funny. Nothing to see here! Secondly, what's with all the cat ears and swishing tail just randomly appearing? That got old VERY quickly. Technically, the only real issue I had is that the sound balance was WAY off. It was just too loud. the OST actually started overriding the voices in places. I watched it through, so I guess there's that. It wasn't an awful anime. It also wasn't a great anime. Good for a timewaster if you want a workplace anime with a bouncy-bouncy woman who is unrealistically almost perfect in every way that counts. Otherwise... it's a timewaster, full stop. But if that's what you're looking for... you could do worse.

It's a great watch but has an identity crisis. It's a typical high school shoujo romance disguised as a seinen romance in an office setting with adult cast. The story is pretty simple, it's just a slice of life with the 2 MCs kinda having a crush on each other and stuff just happens to them/around them to set them up for usual tropes you'd expect from a shoujo, but with minor twists to better fit their worklife rather than a high school. But honestly they could've done a cultural festival in the office and nobody would've noticed that it's not a high school. The character actlike high school kids, constant blushing, hiding emotions and just being childish and unserious in general. They have a good dynamic and they're enjoyable if you look past the fact that this is supposed to be a workplace seinen. Basically the only "use" of the adult cast is that they can do some adult stuff, like drinking alcohol/getting drunk, pervy scenes are less uncomfortable since they're adults and honestly that's all. It's weird to rate something 8 but not recommend it, but it's not what you'd expect from the anime, it's misleading. If you're looking for a seinen romance this is not it. However it's not a bad show at all.