One Room - Anime - AniDB (2024)

This is a 'multiple girls' show containing three four-episode arcs, all of them entirely separate from each other. The cast is exactly three characters, plus "you" as the male protagonist in first-person-view. You are a working age male living alone in an apartment, and the theme 'One Room' comes through as... these girls in your apartment... though the theme is broken when things happen outside the room as well. The first arc is you meeting a girl who just moved to Tokyo and is taking her university mock exams. You wind up helping her study. The second arc features your little sister coming to visit. She's a brocon through and through. The third arc is a childhood friend who came to Tokyo trying to score a recording contract as a musician.

The first time I watched this show through, I was entirely creeped out by the way the camera ("you") acted. The show is decidedly free of genuine ecchi, but packed wall-to-wall with fanservice in the form of cute risque situations and highly sexualized first-person-views, such as staring at cleavage, trying to peek under skirts, and so forth. Furthermore, "you" have no dialog, but the characters respond in normal conversation as if you had said something. Sometimes it's easy to know "what you supposedly said", but other times it takes a little more brain power to figure it out. I'm sure some people would be better at it than others. Me, not that good. I did great with the first arc, but the second arc threw me off a bit. The third arc wasn't so bad, I guess.

Ultimately, this show is quite heart-warming, sacharin cute, and fun to watch as long as you can get used to the basic premise of the first-person view. All of the characters are absolutely perfect template, the plots are all simple, and the short episodes mean your brain only melts a little bit at a time. The acting isn't spectacular by any means, but it's suitable for the simple story.

One might notice that when it comes right down to it, this show is basically a walk-through of an eroge... or dating sim... There are three possible girls and each of their arcs are walked through. Except that we never see a multiple choice pop-up on the screen.

Level of Taboo/Ecchi/Fanservice: No real taboo. The second arc features a little sister with a serious brother complex, but this arc, despite having all those 'romance' flags, doesn't end as incestuous. Yes, I spoiled it. But I wanted to make that clear for you. The other two arcs are perfectly normal. First girl's younger than "you" are, but only by a few years, one could assume. Ecchi is absent, at least in my interpretation. What you have is wall to wall fanservice. Trying to look up skirts, cleavage shots, sacharin moe... Oh, and every arc features a bath/shower scene that's a little bit risque. Hyper-sexualization, but the only 'panties' that I recall are actually bras hanging from a rack drying. Sorry. Was that another spoiler?

Intended Audience: This show is solidly intended for college/working-aged males; particularly lonely ones needing a little pick-me-up.

Art & Animation - 7 - The art style is nothing special, but the characters are relatively well detailed. Because of its "one person" nature, a lot of time was spent on facial expressions and body language to help portray the story. In that sense, I'd say the art's great. The backgrounds are also suitable, though nothing special.
Story - 7 - Intentionally template plots. And as short episodes, there isn't much time for things to happen. But the script is still quite good and there's a genuine engaging ambiance throughout the show. Each arc has its own plot and each one is carried through to 'a conclusion'. I give it a 7 because although it's template, it's intentionally so. Part of the show's premise is "you" speaking your lines. If the story were too complex, the whole premise would fall through.
Sound - 6 - Very subtle, but the ED song is tied into the story, as well as being different for each arc. There's background music but its muted, just helping to carry the ambiance. Overall, sound never makes much of an impression on me, but I'll give it credit for being a carrier here.
Character(s) - 8 - Let me say this. All three of the cast are intentionally template. But a lot of time was spent scripting and directing the template. Each of the three girls are interesting and engaging. They are the carriers of the story, and when coupled with decent scripting and acting, they really shine through as solo artists. Again, I'm giving them credit for doing a good job fulfilling their intentionally template roles.
Value - 3 - Almost none at all. There aren't many first-person-view stories out there... And for good reason. If I wanted to 'watch' an eroge, I'd go out and get one and walk through it myself. Choosing to produce this show at all was this show's biggest flaw.
Enjoyment - 4 - For what it is, this show was remarkably well done. But I didn't like what it is. Furthermore, I didn't appreciate the camera "making me a pervert" with all of the forced perverse-angle views. I could only get into the show 'so much' because of that. Some people may really like this format, but it just wasn't for me.

Conclusion - 6 - This show, as short episodes, is short and sweet, warm fuzzy, a good study of character templates. It is deservedly low rated here on AniDB, but at the same time, for what it is, it was actually rather well done, and I have to give it credit for that whether I liked it or not.

One Room - Anime - AniDB (2024)
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