When I shipped up to Anime Boston this year, I distinctly remember a big banner advertising mono on display for any ongoers mozying their way up the escalator. Its display almost seemed boastful, as if it wanted to swallow people going further and further up the escalator with mono's enticing warmth. In other words, it did what any good advertisement should do: make you want to watch this show. In retrospect, this act of bold, shameless advertising seems crazy, since I didn't see the hype or attention for mono that would warrant such a huge banner. And yet, this is justified. mono has every right to demand attention and viewership, because it succeeds at being a great slice of life anime that follows every rule to an outstanding T.

mono's plot is pretty standard: four girls try to prevent their afterschool photography club from shutting down, so they gather members together to snap away on their cameraphones to their hearts' delight. Naturally, they save the club just an episode or so in, and embark on their own spell of wacky afterschool adventures.

Cynics are technically correct to deride this as “been there, done that” material, yet as a slice of life junkie myself, I'm taking a very “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” approach on this one. I'm not exactly expecting mono to be the next K-On! nor am I expecting it to be the next Yuru Camp despite being penned by the same mangaka. When it comes to my moe-ified fluff, so long as it's good, it's good. Which mono certainly is.

Our gang is likeable enough, even if they aren't exactly oozing with personality. I oftentimes feel that when it comes to these type of series, that A) it's better to see the cute girl squad as a collective whole rather than individuals, B) that it's more about how said cute girl squad executes the anime's premise and interact with their environments, and C) Yuru Camp did exactly these things, so I'm not expecting its sister series to try to do anything new here.

That being said, the mangaka character of Haruno Akiyama is one of the few characters to have a distinct personality, making her the best character by default. Haruno desires to make a great manga that will gain both an audience and the approval of her parents, and the Photography Club's members seem like the perfect people to base her manga's characters on. Haruno is also the owner of a cat named Taisho who helps make for some of mono's funniest moments. One of the other girls, a pig-tailed brat named An, tries to taunt Taisho with a pickle, and the way it backfires on her makes for perfectly-timed slapstick. I ended up rewatching this scene a couple of times because it was so damn funny.

There are other hijinks here, and they are all a cozy vibe to watch. Episodes dedicate themselves to outdoor activities like skateboarding and cruising on backroads, all of them being laid back in nature and coupled with tight artwork and animation. Even the little found footage horror film our squad attempts to make in mono's final episode maintains an enormous sense of lightheartedness. As a bonus, Haruno gets an episode when she's given some time to hang out with her other mangaka friends, one of whom is a gothic lolita who is fascinated with the violent, the supernatural, and the obscene—one joke where she is telling her friends via groupchat of the crazy manga she penned, and the descriptions are so powerful that it crashes the servers. Granted, except for a few other gags plus the ones I already mentioned, not a lot of mono's humor was really “haha” funny to me, but their adorable nature still kept a smile on my face regardless.

If I didn't already make it crystal clear, all of mono's greatness rests in that it's a damn good slice of life that pulls off every trope and cliche well. Its greatest strength is also its greatest flaw, since it never goes above and beyond either. To say it's formulaic would be putting it down, yet it's not exactly transcendent like Yuru Camp either. mono revels in how it shares the same lineage as Yuru Camp, littering its landscape with borrowed references and characters. They even travel to various Japanese locales, some of which are based around Mount Fuji. I heard someone refer to this show as “Yuru Camp without the camping,” and I can't entirely deny this. Admittedly, mono tries too hard at times to be a more boisterous anime than Yuru Camp that it abandons its photography premise to make way for gratuitous slice of life. Again, an excellent slice of life. But nothing earthshattering.

Still, I can't resist mono's charm, even if it's not anything more than what it is. It might not be amazing, but it's a slice of life done right, and in that regard, it's perfect. For those who are looking for a sleeper hit of the past few seasons, mono might be the anime you're looking for.