If the stress of school life at Enloe is beginning to get to you, and you need a way to unwind by watching someone else’s, much more relaxing school life, Skip and Loafer is the show for you. The show has a warm, gentle approach to its romance between its overachieving protagonist and her friendship and developing romance with the laid-back love interest who practically invented the concept of a golden retriever boy.
Skip and Loafer follows Mitsumi Iwakura, a 15-year-old girl from the rural Ishikawa prefecture of Japan. To follow her dreams of being a politician who can bring attention to isolated areas like her own, she moves in with her aunt in Tokyo to attend a prestigious high school. Mitsumi is an outgoing overachiever, a break from the oversaturated market of female romantic leads being shy, blushy, and idealized ideas of women. Her skirt is well below her knees, her hair is messy with split ends, and her eyebags are prominent–and she is allowed to fully exist as her own flawed, messy person.
The beautiful thing about Skip and Loafer’s romance is that it exists as a genuine friendship between our two leads. Sosuke Shima, Mitsumi’s romantic interest, is an ex-child star who meets her in the whirlwind of the first episode. He watches this girl he just met peel off her shoes and start sprinting towards the school entrance ceremony that they’re both late for. She’s clearly unathletic. She’s on the verge of a mental breakdown. She’s absolutely beautiful. While Sosuke has a tragic backstory of his own, it is his genuine desire to get to know Mitsumi that moves along his character, even as more plot lines are introduced around them.
Mitsumi and Shima’s relationship slow-burns into a deep friendship, before the characters begin to slowly realize the growing tension of their relationship into romance. The way that their growing friendship is focused on before their romance is unlike any other show on the market.
Beyond the leads, there’s a stellar supporting cast: Mitsumi’s Aunt Nao, cool girl Yuzuki, nerdy Makoto, reformed mean girl Mika, and more. They’re all complex, flawed people with unique motives and backgrounds. And because at its core, this is a show about people and their friendships, you get to watch them affect each other’s development as the show progresses, creating an intimate experience as you get to know these characters as people.
Beyond the story and characters, the animation of the show is also refreshingly unique, kept faithful to the art of Misaki Takamatsu, the author of the manga the show was based on. The scenery is animated in vibrant colors, and the animators do a stunning job of handling the unique style. Standout moments include the beginning of Mitsumi’s break back home, with calming seaside visuals in a montage that perfectly captures the feeling of nostalgia for your hometown life, and Tokiko Takamine’s dream sequence in Episode 4. Dreamy colors and gentle animation are hallmarks of the visual style of Skip and Loafer.
If you enjoyed the academic, female-led romance of Gilmore Girls, but want to see a more relaxed romance show with a lead that is more girlflop than girlboss, I would wholeheartedly recommend Skip and Loafer. One of the most exceptional anime to come out of the 2023 season, Skip and Loafer is available to watch on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video.
