Okami-San and Her Seven Companions

                                 

To kick start our anime page, we are reviewing Okami-San and Her Seven Companions! (OSAHSC).

OSAHSC is a romantic comedy that parodies fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Ant and the Grasshopper etc. Ryōko Ōkami is a sometimes scary high school girl. She is a member of a club called Otogi Academy Mutual Student Aid Association, also known as the Otogi High School Bank. There, she and her friends, the other members of the Bank, work together to solve the problems of students attending Otogi Academy at any length, in exchange for the student returning the favor by helping them out at any later given time. Okami-San is tough, tomboyish, and never lets her guard (or her trust issues) down unless it's for her partner and best friend, Ringo. But maybe a new guy, Ryoshi, who sees the real her, can change all of that.

First off, I loved how they had a tsundere (first sour, then sweet) main character. The English voice actor for Okami-San is also heard as Hideyoshi from Baka & Test as well as Ciel from Black Butler and the Chibitalia voice from Hetalia. There were also references from Toradora in this anime, which made me fangirl even harder. The first episode leads with the introduction of the characters and setting. Then we meet Ryoshi Morino, a shy guy who is...in love with the notorious cool Okami-San and has a serious fear of being stared at. Ryoshi will join the Otogi Bank (as a result of Ringo's meddling in Ryoko's love life) and begin to take over Okami-San's blind spots with 

Will Ryoko let the shy boy Ryoshi into her heart? Will Ryoshi ever get over his fear of being stared at? Will he become stronger while working at the Otogi Bank? Will Okami-San learn to trust people? So many questions...

INFO:

Title- Okami-San & Her Seven Companions
Director- Yoshiaki Iwasaki
Creator- Masashi Okita
Original Character Design- Unaji
Illustrator (of the manga)- Kurumi Suzushiro
Animation Studio- J.C. Staff
Network- AT-X, Chiba TV
Language of Origin- Japanese
Episodes- 12

The Cast- 

*Japanese / English*

Shizuka Ito / Brina Palencia as Ryoko Okami

Miya Irino / Joel McDonald as Ryoshi Morino

Kanae Ito / Monica Rial as Akai Ringo

Aki Toyosaki / Caitlin Glass as Otohime Ryugu

Shintaro Asanuma / Todd Haberkorn as Taro Urashima

Reasons to Watch:

*Ryoko Okami, Ringo Akai*

• Art

 I really liked the art style of this anime as well as Toradora (which was actual created by the same studio). The style is refreshingly colorful and well drawn. The character design choices are very interesting and the details are well addressed. Many may argue that in most cases, manga is better than anime, but when it comes to OSAHSC, I'd definitely say the transition from the page to the small screen was a great choice. Credit to Teruhiko Niida, the art director.

*Left to Right: Okami-San, Ryoshi, Ringo, The President, Alice, Otsu,
Majolica, Taro, Otohime*

• Characters 

Our heroine is strong-willed, albeit flat-chested (which is mentioned a couple of times) tsundere. She is shown fighting the delinquents from the somewhat rivaling school Onigashima, using special Neko Neko Knuckles which the club's science nerd, Majolica, created. She likes to put up a strong front to keep others from getting in as well as her true nature, where she is a bit more kind, and vulnerable, from leaking. Her best friend is Ringo Akai and although she trusts the friends around her, her front remains obviously completely different from her true character and she is described many times as "wearing wolf's clothing." Her BFF Ringo is her petite, sometimes feisty, red-haired sidekick. When it came to characters, I loved them all...especially Ryoshi. At first, you fall in love with his adorable-ness and then you'll realize how great of a guy he is! The characters Taro and Otohime have a...special relationship that is a little strange at first, but when we become more familiar with the story behind their characters, you'll learn to love them. Next is the president of the Otogi Bank. He's a super cool, smart and awesome guy. He teams up with his assistant and cousin Alice and they're quite the team. The president has a tendency to cross-dress and the ability to change his voice on command to gain access to otherwise restricted areas.

• Soundtrack

I didn't skip the themes. These songs were super catchy but a little annoying at times. I find myself singing them in the shower sometimes. Don't judge. The opening theme is "Ready Go!" by May'n. It's very energetic and an unmistakable theme for this show. It really sets the mood for the episode you're about to watch. The ending theme is "Akazukin-chan Goyochin" by OToGi8. Honestly, I didn't remember much about this theme, but it leads into the little clips at the end of almost every episode, kind of like Naruto Shippuden.

•  Genre

Action, Romantic Comedy. The action was okay for me. Watching Okami-San with her awesome Neko Neko Knuckles was very fun and seeing how Ryoshi always has her back with his trusty sling shot was heartwarming. But what really brings the feels is how Ryoshi is seen slowly breaking Okami-San's barrier through each episode.

Side note: I love the way the voice over narrator interacts with the characters! The voice over normally starts with the same bit of text like  Fairy Tail, but she changes it every time so it never gets boring! 

I really liked this so much so I wanted to read the manga and, surprisingly, the anime was better than the manga for once! This is the best one i've read since Hana-Sakura. I would definitely read it again it's in my top 10 of anime rom/coms!

                                                         RATING:

  

4.25 STARS

Big thanks to my friend Andrea, who helped me put this post together!

That's all for today. Hope to see you soon!

Love,

The Dramanator