Uzaki Hana bumps into Sakurai Shinichi in college, and at first, nothing comes of it. They’re just former high school classmates saying hi. But during her first year, the girl finds herself observing Shinichi from a distance, and she couldn’t help but notice that he likes to be by his lonesome. As an introvert, I see nothing wrong with the fact that Shinichi enjoys his solitude, but Hana clearly disagrees. When spring rolls around once more, Hana just can’t stand it any longer. She feels compelled to solve a problem that isn’t necessarily there. Why? Well, she insists that being a loner is no fun, but I wonder if it’s really that simple. Maybe she’s lonely herself. I’m sure she has people that she can call friends, but as one can attest, you can have friends and still feel quite lonely. Plus, Hana looks lonely enough in the ED… but I’m probably reading too much into it. After all, this show doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of depth to it.

Essentially, you have a girl teasing the boy, which is a tried-and-tested formula. Remember Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san? Hell, even Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san is getting an anime adaptation. And what do these series have in common? They’re all about as deep as a puddle. Girl teases guy, guy initially seems frustrated, but at the end of the day, guy is secretly happy that girl has decided to spend so much goddamn energy to encroach on his life. These series are easy to read and digest, and there’s often no unpleasant aftertaste especially since these characters just aren’t that interesting. The only question that comes to mind is when will these two oblivious idiots admit that they like each other? The only difference with Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! is that Hana looks like she was focus-tested for her audience’s pleasure. C’mon, how many 4’11” girls do you bump into has a giant rack, wears a shirt that highlights their size, and is yet too innocent to realize that her moans of pleasure on a massage chair might be inappropriate for public consumption?

In any case, I gotta defend fellow loners out there. I think you might miss out on a lot of experiences in life if you always insist on having company by your side. Sure, it’s fun to watch summer blockbusters with friends, but if your buddies don’t enjoy slow dramas like First Cow or uncomfortable horror flicks like Midsommar, what can you do? Just sit tight and wait for the home release? I personally enjoy the theater-going experience, so I’d be missing out on that. Plenty of people might like sushi, but they don’t necessarily want to fork over 100+ dollars for top-flight omakase? Again, what are you gonna do? It’s not like I can order hop onto Doordash or Grubhub and order an omakase to-go. One day, I might save up enough money to travel the world and immerse myself in a completely different culture. If no one can go with me, I’m still gonna go all by my lonesome.

Last but not least, I can’t not hear Satanichia in Hana. Yes, I know they share the same voice actress. Maybe she was directed to copy the same energy since Satanichia is kinda popular, but I wish watching anime didn’t always feel like watching the same characters reincarnated over and over into different universes.