First and foremost, Akebi's Sailor Uniform is NOT "Deceptive advertising! A foot fetish ecchi about middle school girls!" That is a false, skewed statement.
I do not typically point out another individual's opinion, since we are all entitled to our own views, but in this case, I will make an exception due to its misguided nature. If you came here expecting to find an Ecchi foot-fetish because of that misdirected statement, then I am afraid you will be probably be disappointed. Yes, I agree there are genuinely nice, detailed feet shown in this anime, but it is not perverse nor is it immature in nature. I am giving studio CloverWorks (The Promised Neverland and Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl) the benefit of the doubt on this.
However, if this was a Shounen anime, which it is not (and not all shounen are created equally either), then I might have a different perspective on this due to its targeted audience and due to the sheer age of the characters (Middle School Students). But let me now deviate from this topic and move on to the actual review.
Please note: Make sure to read the Age Rating at the end of this review so you can understand why the ecchi/sexualization topic is even a concern (for some).
Story:
Akebi's Sailor Uniform is a charming, feel good, slice of life story that is easy to watch and relax to at the same time. The story is about a young girl, Komichi Akebi, who dreams of going to Robai Private Academy, an all-girls school where the dress code is a sailor's uniform. However, upon Komichi and her mom, Yuwa, attending a pre-admission interview, it is brought to their attentions that the school’s dress code changed a few years back to a business-like suite school uniform, rather than the older traditional sailor uniform. Due to the oversight, with special permission from the School Principal, Komichi is left to decide what she wants to wear as her uniform.
In the end, when it is time to attend her first day of middle school, Komichi decides to go with sailor’s uniform that her mom handmade for her. Thus, when her fellow classmates, all wearing the business suit uniform, see her they are in utter surprise. Let the episode-by-episode Komichi curiosity begin, which also makes me want to point out that this anime is more episodic than I anticipated. It does not hinder its enjoyment for me in any way, but it might for others who are not into episodic anime.
Overall, the story is not overly complex in development or situational details, but it is simple, relaxing, and inadvertently addresses common concerns and thoughts that middle school girls experience, at least from the perspective of a past pubescent male who noticed these things when trying to hang around girls when he himself was a middle schooler. Phew! That is quite the run-on sentence!
Animation:
The animation and artwork by studio CloverWorks is both simplistic and simply wonderful. The animation is fluent, and the art-style is very appealing and suits this anime perfectly. There is no denying that the studio has a substantial budget, and it shows.
Sound:
Musical score wise, Kana Utatane does a good job at making the music play appropriately to the atmosphere of the scene at hand. Personally, I do not care for the musical arrangement of the ED, but the OP is solid and enjoyable.
Characters:
Komichi is absolutely one of the sweetest, most genuine characters I have come across in an anime. In general, the entire cast is a joy to watch. Although it takes a while, almost all the other characters get a chance to have a substantial amount of spotlight time, with some even getting an entire episode practically devoted to them. However, it nearly ends up being their fascination and curiosity with her, as well as her same intrigue towards that individual and getting to know them. Ultimately, she does steal the spotlight, although not deliberately. It is just her personality, innocence, and charm that can easily cause the viewer to gravitate towards her.
But even with Komichi making this anime enjoyable all on her own, there are a few other characters that I would like to bring front and center for a moment. Keep in mind that there is not a character I have any complaints about, but Erika, Touko, Kei, Minoru, and Kao are worth mentioning separately, in brief:
Erika – The first person Komichi meets at school on the very first day. She ends becoming her best-friend at school. She is a surprisingly talented musician who is both curious about and looks after Komichi like an older sister (even though they are the same age). Komchi’s innocence and open nature would get her into trouble if not for Erika.
Touko – She is the one who tries to trick Komichi the most in getting her to do things she probably should not (i.e. taking her sailor unform top off in the middle of class so Touko can try it on; Erika saved her on that one!).
Kei – She is the brainiac and quiet, but not shy individual who Komichi ends up befriending for reasons unknown to Kei. Komichi definately broke her out of her shell, and they end up being particularly good friends because of it.
Minoru – A bit of an oddball, who could be mistaken for a stalker, she enjoys observing and journaling what she sees and discovers. If she is curious enough about something, she will stalk it (without being a creepy stalker).
Kao – Komichi’s little sister who absolutely idolizes her older sister. She is cute, adorable, and personifies the adage that “children speak their minds freely and honestly.”
Lastly, Komichi's mom is an impressive character and individual by her own merit. She is a great seamstress too. She is honest and straight forward, which is with whom Komichi clearly inherited those personality characteristics from.
If the characters received more individual development and opportunity to shine (without or without Komichi), then the character rating would indeed be higher than what it is. Even so, still an enjoyable lot of characters.
Overall:
As this user commented, "Akebi's Sailor Uniform is more of an episodic, change of lifestyle, friend-making, inspirational, 青春 (Youthfulness) collage of mini-stories." I could not agree more. And yes, there are some nice foot scenes shown/drawn in this anime, but context is the key point. I reiterate from earlier, there is nothing derived from these foot-focused scenes as being deliberately sexual or ecchi in nature.
Upon completely watching this anime and digesting its content completely, I can understand why some may question select content of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform. Some valid points are brought up that I believe need to be considered when watching this. But in the end, only the viewer can decide what this anime is all about. So, if you are unsure, then spend an afternoon watching a few episodes and decide for yourself on what Akebi’s Sailor Uniform is to you. Personally, I enjoyed it and did not get the sense of having abhorring sexualization, suggestive themes, or deliberately distasteful content thrown at me for visual pleasure, or any other form of pleasure for that matter.
Entertainment Score: 16 points
Achievement Score: +2 to Overall
My expectations were Moderate, and it delivered Slightly Above those expectations.
Age Rating: TV-14+ (Nail clipper sniffing, too much foot exposure, two photos of Komichi and Kei in their unbuttoned blouses and skirts with their underwear still on)
Additional Information:
Video Format: Streaming FHD (1080p)
Audio Format: Japanese with English subtitles
Publisher: Crunchyroll
Equipment Used: Acer AN515-53-55G9 Nitro 5 Laptop
Screenshots
Add to list