CITY The Animation

Episode 6

We've officially reached the point where CITY The Animation is so good that it's unfair. How am I supposed to watch any other anime and not compare it to what is rapidly becoming the greatest single work that the medium has ever produced? How am I supposed to review an anime that sets a new standard for what a 5/5 anime episode should be every week?? Where do I even begin writing about a work that made me both laugh and cry harder than any other episode of television in recent memory!?? I don't have a good answer to any of these questions, but I'll do my best as it's now more than clear that CITY The Animation is in contention for the best anime of all time.

This episode opens with the Adatara family's hectic morning routine. While the animation is, of course, incredibly charming and there's a sense of whimsy to the sequence, what struck me about this morning is how shockingly grounded it felt. There's so much happening simultaneously between the eldest daughter failing to help with breakfast, the youngest twins fighting, the dad and grandfather refusing to get up, the eldest brother trying to calm everyone down but just getting pulled into their pace, the previously established Ryouta Adatara putting a ton of effort into being calm and cool, and the matriarch of the Adatara family losing her goddamn mind as she tries to get everyone fed and out the door. If you've ever had breakfast with a big family, this opening bit is exactly what it feels like, and I'm stunned at how completely the folks at Kyoto Animation were able to capture this energy.

Next is one of the most Nichijou coded gags to appear in CITY The Animation so far. Niikura sits next to Tatewaku's soccer practice as she mourns the loss of her pendant, and then she accidentally gets hit in the face with a soccer ball. Tatewaku comes over to apologize, and she gets hit in the face by even more soccer balls. Then, when THOSE players come over to apologize, she gets hit in the face AGAIN! This goes on for some time, and no matter how many times the gag is repeated is hilarious every time. Eventually, she loses her patience with the team and begins telling everyone about the oddballs off, and it's fun to see someone be the straight man for this group of misfits instead of the ever impressionable Tatewaku.

Next up are some skits where the Adatara grandfather accidentally dies, the mangaka and editor duo have an extended wrestling segment, and a cute chibi-adjacent bit where Wako drops off some mail to the beat of a drum. The next standout segment is in Tatewaku's classroom, where he realizes that the ever-eepy Riko Izumi has slept through most of an exam. As Riko is an adorable little angel that must be protected at all costs, the entire class enthusiastically rallies together to find a way to support her. All of this bit is done in a stage whisper as they are in the middle of a test and their teacher is right next to them, and the twists and turns in these students' logic are deeply entertaining.

The penultimate segment features Wako refusing to write a weekly comic for the local magazine, but the final sketch in this episode steals the show. Here, Ecchan plops a hollowed-out pumpkin onto Matsuri's head as they're walking home from school. While this segment seemingly starts as another middle-school-energy-infused improv bit between the two, it's rapidly revealed to be Ecchan's attempt at telling Matsuri that her family is moving away soon. Eventually, the gag plays out, and Ecchan rips the pumpkin off of Matsuri's head. The face she's making underneath is one of the most emotionally devastating things I've ever seen.

This episode of CITY The Animation is hilarious, and real, and heartwrenching, and I love it. It's the joys, pains, and regularity of life presented through the most stylish lens imaginable. This episode, and the anime broadly, is everything that makes the experience of being a person worthwhile, and I can't help but adore it.

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Lucas DeRuyter is the de facto Bad Boy of anime reviews (no one else was using the moniker). He rolls with ANN's This Week and Anime crew, and you can check out his coolest work in his portfolio. You can also find him sticking it to the man on his Bluesky account.

CITY The Animation is currently streaming on Prime Video.