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Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
Episode 11

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 11 of
Tanaka-kun is Always Listless ?
Community score: 4.3

This week I caught myself humming the opening theme to Tanaka-kun is Always Listless as I clambered over rocks on the beach with my dog. That's something I haven't necessarily discussed about this show – how incredibly catchy both of its theme songs are. The opening theme perfectly captures the mood of the show by being low-key yet aurally attractive, and if the perkiness of the ending doesn't quite go with the overall feel of the series, it does feel like Miyano's own personal tune. And did I mention how catchy it is?

This week's penultimate episode relies on a single storyline for the entirety of its half-hour. It works better than the previous fast-food-themed one, possibly because it gives us more of the other characters, specifically Shimura and Katou, Ohta and Tanaka's male friends. It's school festival time, and Shimura and Katou are in charge of building and orchestrating 1-F's haunted house. Clearly these two have more in common with Shiraishi than with our two heroes – they're organized to the point where they figure out a way to use Tanaka's listlessness to their advantage and even account for his likelihood of flaking during the afternoon. Of course, no one counts on Ohta, who is set to play the ending ghost role, being terrified of ghosts. The gag that accompanies this particular revelation – “With that face?!” – isn't the show's best, because by episode eleven we already know that Ohta's height and stoic face belie his actual personality. Still, watching him pass out when he finds Tanaka-kun sitting in a box in the dark is pretty funny.

Tanaka is strangely well-suited to play the ghost. Apparently, he's spent the last two weeks working on erasing his presence from the classroom, a technique I perfected in high school as well. Unfortunately for him, this makes him perfect for the very starring role in the school festival he was trying to avoid, but that's okay – Shimura and Katou just stick him in a “well” between two screens and call him a ghost. All Tanaka has to do is fall asleep with his eyes open, et voilà! Instant terror. He actually looks totally adorable in his box when he's awake, and while I'm not normally prone to moe, I'd totally have taken him home if I found him on the side of the road.

Speaking of moe, Echizen in her maid get-up for her class' café makes for another visual highlight, if only because it's so bizarre and unexpected, like Ohta's fear of ghosts or Miyano's version of Neko Musume. There are a lot of nice varied comedic scenes this week, such as Ohta's “search” for Tanaka or Tanaka-kun accidentally starting a new school ghost story on his break. There are lots of good visuals as well, from attempts to make Tanaka look scary to the gorgeously decorated school, which I still can't quite get over. All in all, this episode has the most fun with its theme, which may be in part because the school festival is such a staple of anime and manga. There's plenty of room for gentle ribbing without going overboard, which has been one of this show's strengths all along.

Next week, we'll have to bid good-bye to our listless love, and I'm not entirely positive that the entire half-hour won't just be Tanaka-kun sleeping, since the title is “Tanaka-kun's Happiness.” We'll simply have to wait and see.

Rating: B+

Tanaka-kun is Always Listless is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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