In fact, is “my” also the right word? What on earth am I even talking about? So let’s start from the beginning. Kannawa is tasked with training up Kamegawa, the new employee. She seems cool and confident on the outside, but in reality, she’s kind of a nervous wreck on the inside. She can also be a bit contradictory at times. A peer suggests that she read a few self-help books on how to be a boss, but she pridefully rejects the idea. We predictably see her later with a bunch of self-help books. She reprimands the newbie for eating cup ramen as it isn’t healthy. She then goes and has them for dinner afterwards. But this is all still pretty normal. Who hasn’t said one thing and done another? We’re only human. Over and over again, as I watch Kannawa in action, I can’t help but ask myself if she’s actually all that awkward. Sorta yes, sorta no.

In an attempt to teach him how to trade business cards, Kannawa ends up scattering hers all over the floor. Maybe she’s clumsy, but this is a pretty small sample size of one. There’s a tiny moment at the start of the episode where she couldn’t get through the gates. If that counts as clumsy, then fine, we have a small sample size of two. I’m still not sure I’m ready to call her awkward over those two examples. Sure, Kannawa struggles throughout this entire episode to invite Kamegawa out to a friendly business lunch. Even by the end of the episode, she chokes it. But again, is this really a sign of awkwardness? It sounds like Kannawa has never had to mentor anyone before. This sort of thing is more like management, i.e. she hasn’t been trained to do this task. She’s good at her job, which probably has nothing to do with training and managing a report, so her boss goes and gives her a completely different role without any warning or preparation whatsoever. Awkward? I dunno, more like shitty boss.

Finally, let’s address the elephant in the room: Kannawa’s soft skills are admittedly a bit lacking. She is very straightforward, bordering on blunt at times. Your mileage may vary; some people will call her harsh, but I prefer someone who can be direct. But moving along, she struggles to give a natural smile, and we all know how simply smiling can shape other people’s perception of us. I must caution, however, that assertive women in a professional setting are often perceived as bitchy by their coworkers. Ever since I learned that, I’ve always tried to keep to keep it in mind. Unfortunately, I work in tech, and well… we don’t exactly have a great track record of appointing women to leadership positions. In any case, it doesn’t seem like her boss has an issue with her attitude. Yes, one or two coworkers might quibble with how Kannawa talks to them, but even they have to admit that she does good work. Every team needs someone like Kannawa to keep everyone on track. Maybe Kannawa is somewhat awkward, but I guess I was expecting something different from a show that is literally called “My Awkward Senpai.”

In fact, what’s up with the “my” part. It implies that the story would be told from the kouhai’s perspective, but the episode is all from Kannawa’s point of view. Maybe future episodes will switch over to how Kamegawa sees things, but for now, he’s a bit of an unknown. All we know is that he exudes golden retriever energy, he doesn’t have much money at the moment so he resorts to eating cheap, unhealthy lunches, and he doesn’t hesitate to defend Kannawa from gossipy coworkers. In any other show, I might take pause at his reaction. Is he defending her because he truly appreciates her efforts? Or is he playing office politics? But with this being a lighthearted show about office romance, I doubt Kamegawa has that side to him. The problem is he needs to find any side to begin with. He’s rather one-dimensional at the moment, and without any other personality trait to serve as a counterbalance, Kamegawa’s happy-go-lucky nature is a bit cloying. Yes, to be fair, it has only been one episode. We’ll probably learn a lot more about him in the next one. But it takes two to tango, and I can’t say that he brings much to the table so far.

I’m still on the fence about this show. I got something a bit different than what I expected going in, and I have to admit I wasn’t keen about the premise to begin with. Not only is dating someone from work inviting trouble, I definitely don’t think it’s a good idea to date someone you manage. Granted, she’s not technically his manager, but a mentor is a large enough power gap for me. From a character design standpoint, the show is a bit overindulgent about Kannawa’s bust. I couldn’t help but facetiously wonder if I had put on My Tiny Senpai by accident. On the other hand, I feel drawn to the office setting. I want to compare and contrast it with my own experiences in the office albeit from a drastically different culture. For instance, I have never been invited to a 1-on-1 lunch with a mentor. If I ever went out to lunch for a business reason, it was with the entire team. Not once have I ever gotten a business card either, and I wouldn’t ever dream of making any for myself. But there are things that are similar like those blasted open office layouts. I joined the corporate rat race too late for cubicles, and honestly, I think I would have liked a little privacy over the ever watchful presence of the panopticon. So I dunno, maybe I’ll keep doing a full post for this show every week if only to commiserate about office environments.