Shinozaki is in his first year employed in an office setting, which might be a frightening thing if not for being assigned to a tiny, cute, kitty cat-like senpai. She gives him good advice, takes him out for meals, and praises him for his hard work. In other words, she’s about a perfect senpai for him—plus, did I mention that she’s attractive and acts in a very kawaii manner? It’s no wonder that Shinozaki finds himself falling for her. But could it be that she’s falling her kohai, too?
My Tiny Senpai appears to be “comfort series meets ecchi romcom,” though unfortunately it does neither particularly well. In fact, the combination is downright odd. I found myself falling asleep for about 18 minutes of this opening episode (the kawaii parts) while being fully awake and feeling awkward for the other four (ecchi scenes)*. It’s not because of the titular senpai, who is a fun character. Often drawn super-deformed with cat characteristics, she’s cute, encouraging, and a pretty ideal supervisor; she often emphasizes to Shinozaki that he should work hard but not “overwork,” praises him for jobs well done, and refuses to snap at subordinates. She’s a nice lead. But then shots linger on her bust and legs. And in a “turn the remote volume all the way down” moment, senpai emits very sexual moans while her kohai gives her a massage. Yikes. The show definitely wants to have a leg in both worlds, both innocent and a little naughty (though judging from the manga covers, the anime seems to have toned down the fanservice some). However, the ecchi aspects feel out of place in what’s at heart a feel-good, kawaii series, while those comfort portions are plain and unremarkable. In this new era of “tiny girl at the office” anime, some such series will be good, while others will be mediocre. Count My Tiny Senpai among the latter.
*Actually, I’m missing three minutes of stream time: the OP and ED for this series were both terrific.
My Tiny Senpai can be streamed through Crunchyroll.
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Too bad. I was hoping this would be a better series. Looks like I’m going to skip this one.
I was hopeful, too 😫
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