Himouto! Umaru-chan

Review Time! To everyone at school and the public, Umaru Doma is the perfect girl: beautiful, intelligent, excels at everything, yet is so kind and approachable. However, as her older brother Taihei will attest, no one knows her real self: the minute she walks in the door of their apartment, the uniform comes off, she dons a hamster hoodie, and dives into a pile of junk food, video games, manga and anime! What is worse, contrary to the poised appearance she puts on, she is actually whiny, petulant, and prone to throwing tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants. Drawing a comparison between the phrase “Himono-onna” (dried fish woman aka someone who keeps up appearances out in public but is a very different person at home) and “imouto” (little sister), Taihei dubs his human grate on his nerves “Himouto” (worthless, lazy little sister)! But somehow, Umaru seems to draw people into her unusual way of life, whether it be the mild-mannered, well endowed Akita Native Nana Ebina (who has a HUGE crush on Taihei); Kirie Motoba, who is so nervous and socially awkward most people think that she hates everyone (who might have a crush on Umaru); Half German Sylphynford Tachibana, who is incredibly over the top and is Umaru’s self-proclaimed rival; and even some of Taihei’s coworkers, like Bomber (who is Kirie’s big brother, but is super dense and gets beaten up by his sister numerous times) or Alex (Sylphynford’s older brother, and loves anime to pieces). Fun times await for sure! Himouto! Umaru-chan is a hilarious, delightful romp that will have you smiling the whole time. Umaru herself can be grating at times, at just how whiny and self-centered she is, but her adorable chibi form is hard to hate for long. It is also hilarious the moments when she needs to shift to being her outside persona, with an “Umaruuun!” and suddenly she is no longer chibi! Though there are times her friends almost see the real Umaru (or those that do, finding out the lazy loaf about and the straight A student are the same), and it is always gold! The rest of the cast is also great, though Taihei honestly needs a gold medal in Sainthood, because of all he has to put up with with Umaru. So grab some cola, a bag of chips and your most comfortable hoodie, because we are going on an adventure! Well, as long if we don’t need to leave the room….