I recently picked up a manga-based anime TV series called "Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai" ( lit. "I Don't Have Many Friends")  and, though it has the earmarks of otaku pandering tripe, I found it to be surprisingly witty and fun.

Kodaka Hasegawa

The story revolves around Kodaka Hasegawa, who has recently transferred to St. Chronica's Academy.   Kodaka has trouble socializing at school because no matter how friendly he tries to be, he unintentionally comes off as being very intimidating.

His naturally blonde hair, inherited from his late Caucasian mother, doesn't help matters as it makes him look all the more like a delinquent, as far as his Japanese schoolmates are concerned.

Kodaka meets Yozora Mikazuki, a head-strong and often very abrasive classmate, who he witnesses talking to her imaginary friend named Tomo-chan.  The two form the "Neighbor's Club"--- or rather, Yozora forms the club and Kodaka is sucked into it.

The purpose of the club is to help those socially isolated students improve their social situation and standing.   But sufficed to say, when you get a group of anime-style social misfits into the same room, who knows what'll happen.

The other club members include...

Sena Kashiwazaki, the beautiful, successful yet highly arrogant daughter of the headmaster.   All the guys love her, all the girls hate her, so Sena joins the Neighbors Club to find some female friends.  But underneath her high society exterior lies a very geeky video game addict and an earnest desire to bond.

Rika Shiguma, a genius level science student and avid manga reader who was rescued by Kobata during an experiment gone wrong.  Despite her mild mannered appearance, Rika is rabidly perverted and has no qualms making it apparent!

Yukimura Kusunok, the only other male member (sort of) in the club.  I say "sort of" because Yukimura is so feminine in his appearance, he's often mistaken for a girl by everyone.  (Think Hideyoshi from Baka To Test...)   Yukimura believes that Kodaka's unintentionally intimidating aura is the apex of manliness, and thus joins the club in the hopes of becoming the man he wishes to be.  But Yozora manipulates him into constantly wearing women's clothing...

Maria Takayama is the club's 10-year old supervising teacher.   Though Maria is a prodigy and holds teacher and Novice status at St. Chronica's, Maria acts every bit the child.  Maria is tricked into becoming the club's supervising teacher by Sena but has developed a liking for Kodaka, who she considers as her older brother.

Kobato Hasegawa is Kodaka's costume-wearing Goth/vampire obsessed little sister who often spends the majority of her time at home alone, obsessively watching her anime show Full Metal Necromancer.  While not technically a student, Kodaka includes her in club activities.  Kobato fancies herself as Reisys VI Felicity Sumeragi from Full Metal Necromancer, taking on the speech and mannerisms of the 10,000 year old vampire.

My Thoughts

When I had watched the first episode, I had some Haruhi flashbacks.  Although not quite the same, there are some similarities;  the club, the odd characters, the "voice of reason" male lead and the strong willed female lead...

Okay, a little cookie-cutter but so far, not bad...

But what won me over early was the dead-on Monster Hunter parody shown in Episode 2, when Sena first joins the club and the trio try to socialize by engaging in a little online gaming.

It was then that "BWTGS" showed that it had more to it and, despite the composition of its opening sequence which was quite fan service oriented, the show wasn't going to use aimless fan service as a crutch.

While BWTGS does contain fan service,  it seems to be doled out in careful measure. The fan service wasn't over-emphasized like it is in other shows, and its application tended to be casual in nature.

More importantly, the fan service remained subordinate to the cast and plot, as fan service should.

BWTGS does make a more concerted effort to draw the otaku crowd towards the latter half of the first season, straying into creepy otaku territory.  I'm thinking chiefly of Kobato, Kodaka's young sister and how she's emphasized in episode 8.

But despite all that, BWTGS manages to remain quite watchable on the whole because the comedic element, with the characters playing off of each other's social dysfunction, and their struggle to obtain social normality remains firmly centre stage.

Although mileage varies greatly with humour, what I found appealing about BWTGS is that the humour tended to be more broadly constructed than in other anime comedy shows.   There may be some jokes where you do have to be a bit of an anime/game geek to fully appreciate, but generally, the humour can be enjoyed by most people.

The show primarily revolves around this club of social misfits attempting to do normal social activities, and usually failing hard on some level, but it has shown that it's not necessarily all fun and games.  There is a dramatic undercurrent to it that's slowly coming to a head as the season progresses.

Boku Way Tomodachi Ga Sukunai is one of those shows that one might dismiss out of hand.  But stick with it long enough and it may surprise you.  I found it to be unexpectedly witty and entertaining.