LogFAQs > #967975308

149. Hinako Note
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33948/Hinako_Note
Spring 2017 (12 episodes)
My Score: 5/10, MAL Score: 6.77/10
Best Character: Natsukana Kuina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JlEvaGyYuc

Premise: Sakuragi Hinako is so shy that she freezes when talking to new people. Inspired by a play she saw, she moves to Tokyo for high school to change herself by acting in theater.

The Good: Hinako Note is a cute girls comedy anime with... somewhat of a focus on theater. I like all of the characters in this well enough. My favorite was Kuina because she had lots of fun mannerisms like lazily eating books. I liked Hinako too. The way she snapped into a T-posing scarecrow whenever she was nervous was cute. Hinako Note also excelled at a certain kind of comedy. Lots of anime do that thing (I don't know if there's an official name for it) where the art style briefly simplifies into a chibi-like style for a joke. Hinako Note was one of the best I've seen at that.

The Bad: Hinako Note tries to do too many different things. It's supposed to be about theater, but most of the time that isn't the focus. It's also about school, and getting to know the people where she's living, and helping with the bookstore on the first floor. The result is that Hinako Note doesn't feel like it's about anything. For example, even a mediocre cute girls show like Asteroid in Love was able to find something new in familiar situations by focusing on astronomy or geology while doing it. When Hinako Note goes to the beach, it's just a typical beach episode.

Overall: Hinako Note has fun characters and is really good at delivering certain kinds of jokes with them. However, it didn't spend enough time on theater, which should've been its focus. That made it feel generic. I've enjoyed plenty of cute girls anime with no specific twist, but Hinako Note was nowhere near as good as them and really couldve used something to help it stand out.