Himouto! Umaru-chan Final Thoughts--One Of Us

There is an Umaru in every anime fan. But hopefully without the tantrums.

I checked this out on a whim since after every episode my Twitter feed was flooded with screencaps and gifs from it for a few days, and I was not disappointed. Umaru adds a bit of a new spin on “otaku comedy” by being cute and consistent with its humor, but it also has no problem portraying Umaru as lazy and entitled. The edge on that is sanded off a bit by the way the show presents its jokes, and that middle ground where it recognizes the problematic parts of being an anime fan but still presents them in an idealized and funny way is what makes Umaru work.

The driving factor behind a lot of the comedy is that Umaru is considered “perfect” outside the house, where she doesn’t indulge in her fangirl tendencies unless she’s wearing a mask. Other characters join the cast as well, but most are one note and don’t hold up against scenes where, for instance, Umaru is lamenting the fact that she can’t fix her Internet connection because she can’t look up how to do it on the Internet.

Umaru is very much a love it or hate it kind of comedy—the first episode is pretty representative of the rest of the show. Odds are just from looking at screen caps a person can judge whether or not this is the show for them. And while I did enjoy it, the undercurrent of Umaru’s bad habits and demands on her brother made me wonder how her character would come across in a show that’s a bit more realistic about how this kind of behavior can affect someone in real life, like in Watamote. If Watamote sees the glass half empty, then Umaru sees it half full—and then demands that her brother bring her another soda because she’s too lazy to get up and get it herself.

It’s hard to deny that Umaru isn’t a bit of a wish-fulfillment show—indulge in everything about your hobby with minimal consequences!—but it has brought some new jokes to the “otaku comedy” subgenera, and I also love seeing female anime fans in shows where they aren’t immediately stereotyped as extreme fujoshi. Even though Umaru’s character rubbed me the wrong way sometimes, it’s still a cute and funny show where I not only laughed at the jokes but also at the points where I recognized myself. After all, it’s good to laugh at your fandom every once in a while!

Also enjoy the Umaru maker while it's still up! It didn't have my hair color, so I improvised!