That is the Bottleneck - Reviews

I am so sorry, but what is going on at all? This whole anime feels like it saw something witty and "quirky" like Osomatsu-san have major success with its non-stereotypical style and slightly western-bordering humor, then tried to achieve that with minimal (if any) success. I throw out such a comparison as a person who ADORES Osomatsu-san, but this show here? It's as if a YouTube animation met Family Guy. It's as if some American show made the obligatory "anime themed special" episode of their cartoon, yet miraculously worse. I'm genuinely stumped that a studio said, "Ah yes, this is a perfect idea!" Sure, the style put me off from the start, but I was willing to be proved wrong. The storyline is incredibly barebones. Basically, people work at a marketplace and are confused by why their new employees go missing, as well as try to figure out the facial identity of an employee, Muto. The dialogue is super rough and stiff, which in no way helps the even STIFFER, almost South Park-like, Ctrl+Alt+Del wannabe type animation. Nothing can be taken seriously in this case. I've watched a little bit of this with three other people whom have quite varying degrees in interest/knowledge regarding anime, yet we all feel similarly. It tries so hard to be deep and mysterious, but there is no way to do anything other than laugh extensively with some homies from actual utter confusion. Well, I mean hey, that's still something isn't it?

Sometimes you watch something and you're like "what was that?". Well this anime is that. It was boring but quite intriguing at first. And I have to say the calm atmosphere of the setting made me continue to watch it. It's rare to see anime on simple everyday life interactions. But slowly several plotlines started to pop up and I got confused as hell. I thought we would see some kind of analysis on the different characters and their daily life struggles but it was just hinted at without any depth. It mainly focused on the story of one character which, towards the end got accelerated. It went from normal to obsession real quick. But I kind of liked the overall message of people living in their bubble and being with others without truly being there. You are everyday with your coworkers but you absolutely don't get them or their life and vice versa.

Satisfying Conclusion? ✔️ (albiet short)
Emotional?❌
Actual Romance?❌
Actual Comedy?❌
Fanservice/Nudity? ❌
Recommend? ✔️

What is this anime?
Highly recommend going into this one blind. Watch the first episode and see if you like it. Throughout each brief episode the "mystery" unravels. It starts out with an aura of eerieness of "who is mutou and why is he here... and what's the secret about his appearance?"

Did I enjoy it?
I actually really enjoyed it. Fun. It was short, but packed every minute with entertainment. Each episode gives another piece of the puzzle and mutou's background. Not much to say, with each episode being about 3 minutes long. But, it used the time well. Highly recommend for someone who has 40 minutes or so to spare.