Please note that I did not come up with this concept at all. I saw it on Twitter from Garr and thought it looked like tons of fun. I did respond to the Tweet but I also wanted to try doing it for a lot more anime and didn’t want to hijack the thread so I figured I would just make a post.
The thing I don’t really like about the original thread is that most of them don’t tell you which anime they are describing and I was super curious. So I’ll put in the answers somehow but if you feel like humouring me, feel free to guess. YAY!
Let’s start with my original answer which was: High school boy is kinda depressed but getting better. I feel like this is probably obvious for anyone who knows me but might be a bit more cryptic for the wider anime fandom.
As far as I know, the description doesn’t have to be just one sentence. I have a feeling people stayed on the shorter side simply because Twitter has conditioned us this way. So here’s a completely accurate description of another of my favourite series. It’s an evaluation of the pros and cons of potential legislative systems and the necessary interplay with the executive branch. You know, I once again think this one might be a fairly easy guess.
Oh, wait, every single one will guess this one because the plain and obvious description of this show sounds ultra boring. A show about a mid-level high school volleyball team. All the members are pretty well adjusted and get along as teammates even though they’re not best friends or anything. It takes them three years to get to any sort of tournament. How the heck is this show so compelling. When a story this boring can make me eagerly anticipate each episode, it’s a character-driven show!
Hmm, let’s try this on for size. A career civil servant decides to do in-person inspections to figure out a few administrative discrepancies in the daily working of a collective national syndicate. I have the feeling that a lot of my boring descriptions might include the words “career civil servant”. For instance, A career civil servant remains consistent regardless of general circumstances. The remaining consistent part is actually the most fun!
I feel like I’m just starting to pick on civil servants for no reason. Let’s switch it to something really rare in anime. Two high school students discover a new coffee shop. Sometimes they go there and talk about the latest technology. You know, that actually doesn’t sound that boring. I would probably watch a show based on that description alone…
Oh, I know another one: A high school boy tries to learn the guitar but he’s not very good at it. After asking for help and practising a lot, he gets a bit better at it. Ok, some other stuff happens as well. I think this one is the closest to lying by omission, still, it does describe the majority of the show.
This actually isn’t that easy. I feel that the minute I use words like Yokai or mystery or adventure, I have already failed. But I really want to describe it well enough for it to be easy to guess. None of that High school kid attends high school cop-out!
I guess I could go with High school girl is ignored by her classmates but it doesn’t bother her much. The new guy thinks she,s kinda cute. Did that second sentence make it sound exciting? I mean I can’t just leave it at the first.
Oh wait I know, A woman has a bit of difficulty dealing with a career transition. Wow, that sounds horrible. It’s one of my very favourites!
Is it cheating if I describe an anime as Show based on a Mobile Game? Regardless of the show, and there are some great ones, I feel like that instantly sounds super boring.
Ok, let’s go with a last one. A historical story that makes use of a lot of classic and modern references. This may be a bit thin. Not sure if anyone is going to get it.
This was never really intended to be a tag post but if you think it looks like fun and you want to try it too then I guess tag. There are no rules and it’s not my idea! So disorganized.
Oh, you know what we could do next? We could describe super boring anime in the most exciting way possible. How about A group of young ladies brought together by their love of baseball decide to form their own school team. However, they are going to have to fight for their right to even exist before they can have a chance of playing against other teams. Can these lovely ladies overcome a lack of funds and experience through undaunted passion? Will their shared hardships and training bring them closer together? Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t remember anything about this show.
