Do It Yourself!!

Do It Yourself!! is a likable and sweet series about an interesting hobby that I really enjoyed. Admittedly, it's just another one of the many stories about girls who have a kind of club where they do cute and fun things, but there’s more to it for me to like and praise here, such as the theme and setting of the story itself. It’s set in the near future where technology has advanced, and crafting things has become a pointless relic. After all, everything can be ordered, manufactured, and delivered by machines. As a typical boomer who still remembers the time when DIY was popular, and most older people around me could fix and make all kinds of things by hand, I almost shed a tear when the series presented DIY as a fun and useful pastime thanks to which we can make a lot with a bit of skill and save money in the process. I thought of my uncle who used to tell me over and over again that today’s youth don’t have the skills anymore, so they will have to buy everything, and traditional handicrafts will be in still greater demand. If the series makes at least one viewer feel the desire to create and learn something new, then it’s definitely worthwhile and has added value. But it's not just that. Do It Yourself!! Is also outstanding for its charming and memorable animation, which has a unique style that I liked very much. Yes, the animators make things easier for themselves sometimes (especially when drawing the characters), but it’s all made up for by the beautiful work with background color, many shots resembling a painting rather than a scene from a series. The score is also excellent, nicely complementing everything. The characters are likable and easy to remember. They are exactly the kind of characters that I'm sure even a month from now I'll know exactly who was who and what made me like them. Sure, it can be something simple. For example, Kokoro will be stuck in my head as the lively girl who ends every sentence with a "meow", not that I mind. Another interesting detail I appreciated was the way Jobko behaves. I finally felt like I was watching a series that was able to capture the perfectly logical fact that a foreigner from the west will simply behave differently in some situations in Japan. What do I mean by that? A lot of shows featuring a foreign student present them to me in such a way that I can't tell the difference in their behavior and habits – that is, an anime foreigner in Japan usually behaves like a regular Japanese person. They bow exactly when they’re supposed to, and know exactly what's polite and appropriate. I consider it to be unrealistic. Sure, we can prepare for a trip to Japan, and research all their customs, but I bet every foreigner will make several gaffes within the first week. And Jobko, although he speaks some pretty weird "Japanglish" even when he's trying to speak English, does make some obvious gaffes, often mixing the two languages together, which makes him much more relatable and real to me than most other "anime foreigners in Japan". Do It Yourself!! isn't perfect, though, and there are some things that annoy me about it, such as the repetition of certain jokes. When you hear “Do It Yua Serufu!!” for the tenth time, meant as a pun on the protagonist’s name, it almost makes you think, "Enough! It was funny once, cute like three times, but now it's just too much...". But still, the positives clearly outweigh the negatives overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and I certainly wouldn't mind an encore, even with all that Do It Yua Serufu!!!  A satisfied 7.5/10. (21.12.2022) (menos) (más)