CITY The Animation

Episode 10

Something that I quietly love about CITY The Animation is how, despite being exaggerated cartoon characters, every member in its extensive roster is grounded in something that makes them feel relatable and human. That was on display more than ever in episode 10, where we follow many of these characters through their summer vacations and their related misadventures. There are a host of anime out there that focus on this distinct and explore how one special summer can change a person's life forever, but CITY The Animation manages to capture the appeal of this time of year in just the handful of episodes it's dedicated to the season already.

I knew intellectually that Nagumo and Niikura were in college, as that's made abundantly clear at the top of the show, but this episode was the first time they felt specifically like college roommates rather than just regular roommates. Conceptually, Niikura pushing for Nagumo to become a YouTuber to supplement her income and further capitalize on her many side hustles is a brilliant situation to put these characters in. It's also the same kind of stuff that my friends and I tried to do while we were in college. This isn't just a brilliant idea, and it's executed phenomenally well.

I didn't know that I needed a magical girl transformation sequence where Nagumo transforms into a fox girl streamer with an over-designed costume until CITY The Animation gave it to me. Similarly, having the audio be ratchet as hell in their first YouTube video was a brilliant touch and, in the English Dub, Erica Lindbeck clearly draws upon her experience of coming up as an internet voice actor to inform Nagumo's clunky, awkward, and even scared performance before settling into an “uwu' voice for their more highly produced videos. On top of how hilarious and cute it is to see the usually hyper-confident and competent Nagumo forced into an awkward situation, these moments really capture what a couple of early 20-somethings' poorly thought-out content creation venture looks and feels like.

Also in this episode, we see Tatewaku continue his romantic pursuit of Riko Izumi, only to be stopped by the many members of her fan club. This sequence is objectively silly, but I can't help but root for Tatewaku as he continues to pursue his crush in the face of this unnecessary adversity. Which is what makes it so devastating when Riko informs everyone that she doesn't have any strong feelings for Tatewaku. CITY turning Tatewaku's sub-plot from a summer love story into a lost romance story is a brilliant choice that makes these characters and world feel so much more real. I don't need any of these characters to suffer high-key trauma, but seeing bad things happen has a huge impact in making their personalities and antics feel further grounded in reality.

While Tatewaku's classroom stumbling into trying to do something memorable was a fun bit, Tatewaku's Dad, Mr. Adatara, and the EiC of the town's Weekly Magazine, trying to recreate the summers of their youth, bumped this episode up from “amazing” to “something special” for me. Seeing the three plan a beach trip only for it to be rained out is hilarious in concept and downright brilliant in execution. The washing out of each character's color palette during the storm, with the only shots of color coming from them desperately trying to hold onto the hope of recapturing their childhoods, was nothing short of inspired and terrific to watch.

The post-credits segment of Tatewaku narrating an abridged ridiculous CITY The Animation adventure with him and Riko, like they're in a traditional RomCom anime, was also deeply funny. Every time the joke unexpectedly kept going, I laughed just a little bit harder, and his seemingly getting over being rejected by his crush was more touching than I anticipated. Maybe I was just in the mood for an episode like this as I watched it in early September, as my own summer comes to a close, but episode 10 of CITY captures exactly what makes the season so special.

Rating:

---

Lucas DeRuyter was born and raised in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin, but will now become physically unwell if forced away from a major metropolitan area for more than a week at a time. You can read about his experiences with city livin' on his Bluesky account, and some of his best work on his portfolio. However, he does take a break from the hustle and bustle of the big city to contribute weekly to ANN's This Week and Anime column.

CITY The Animation is currently streaming on Prime Video.