Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

'Skull-face bookseller Honda-san' is without a doubt one of the best short shows of 2018, and perhaps even the best comedy I've ever watched. Seriously. It revolves around our main character, a skeleton called Honda, as we watch him work through his job as a bookstore employee; within the bookstore, we meet his fellow co-workers, who each have very expressive personalities, and the daily shoppers who visit the store. This whole entire show is comedy gold - especially if you get the references - filled with BL jokes and western tourists along with the relatable struggles at work that Honda and his co-workers go through thatjust make you laugh; this all makes for an absolute one of a kind experience. It's astonishing how they humanised these characters with the expressive voice acting and dialogue despite the fact that all the bookstore employee's don't even have faces; in Honda-san's short run time of 2 hours, I've come to love these characters and care for them. The art style is minimalistic, there's not a lot of animation most of the time but it doesn't really matter at all (in fact the lack of animation and minimalistic style is perfect for this show) - it's the story and characters that really keep you watching. This show puts you at ease: I'll never forget the amazing cast and how the episode's used to just fade into the ending song, and me just sitting there in awe after each episode. If you ever have time to spare, I seriously recommend you to binge-watch this show, sit back and just have an absolute blast watching it. 9/10

To be honest, I almost gave up on this anime around episode 5, as at that point despite the good vibes of the show in general, none of the jokes had really landed. I'm glad I stuck it out, and really when the episodes are as short as these it wasn't any real struggle. The strongest point, for me, was how visually interesting this anime ended up being, despite how few setting changes there are. I really enjoyed the styling of the various booksellers and employees. I also tend to like episodic structure, and that was no different for this anime. The main sticking point for meends up being the content itself. I just wasn't particularly entertained, overall. I didn't find the stories that interesting, and I didn't find the jokes that funny. As the story and comedy are the backbone of this anime, the art can't really make up for the fact that I found this anime to be a pretty bland experience. I don't think this anime is bad, there's really no harm in giving this show a shot, watching an episode or two to see if the jokes land with you. If they do, you will certainly find enjoyment in it. If they don't, you've only invested 10-20 minutes into finding out. One further note on an aspect of the lens of this anime, which I genuinely appreciated: there is a refusal to outright make fun of the customer characters, regardless of what they were in the bookstore shopping for. Too often, I see jokes made at others' expense when the only thing the butt of the joke ever did was genuinely appreciate and be passionate about something. I was nervous when I realized the setting that I was headed for tasteless jokes about fujoshi/fudanshi or mocking of foreign manga readers or any other combination of a joke that consisted of "Hey, that person likes something ... let's make fun of them for it!". I am truly glad to report that, while there are good-natured jokes related to both the various genres of books for sale and to their varied readership, none of them, in my opinion, even approach the line of mean-spirited. I suspect this is due in large part to the actual lived experience the author drew on in order to write the original manga. I just wanted to highlight that. While the humor didn't exactly land with me, the respectful attitude behind telling these day-in-the-life vignettes did.

Selling manga that customer wants , without being overwhelmed by the strange turns, that is the task of a Comic Bookstore. - Honda 2018 This anime series is a Hidden gem in the fall season. A short 15 minute per episode series but packed with a lot of comedy plus actual daily life of a book store employee problems and antics mixed. The series is basically depicted on the daily work life of a skeleton guy ,yea he is literally a skeleton wearing normal clothes and not only that there are other weird looking characters/employees example, a mummy girl a pumpkin head etc. which willmake it quite weird for the viewers at the start but as the anime progresses you just not only to get used to it actually start to delve and enjoy how the anime is presented with its comical antics and humor. Not only you get to enjoy the comedy aspect but also learn a lot of stuff about how a book store is operated on a daily basis, the hectic life of employees and also how they have to survive the pressure of handling both the customers and the sales representatives while keeping tabs on inventory and sales of manga, comics, novels etc. Also how the relationship of the bookstore employees with other customers, publishing companies, distributors and managers, basically the entire world of anime,manga industry and how the connection between them works is well presented in a really humorous but in a hidden beautiful manner. Also there are so many known Anime references,which are thrown into the mix which you will recognize, enjoy and the comedy included with learning how the relation of a bookstore and book company/ the industry works from promotion, to delivery and sales. This show has it all. Honda's Seiyuu/VA Saito Souma did a amazing job, where he actually brings the character and personality making him really enjoyable and entertaining to watch. Animation i wouldn't say is top notch but really well done because mostly i think most of the characters and background is made to make it more stereotype and to present the characters in a bit weird manner, but honestly it really doesn't matter because the show will captivate you with its plot and humor , bit of real life emotions and lessons and finally not to forget Honda's antics with other employees and customers. A really Highly Recommended Watch for sure. Enjoy. :)

This was a really feel good anime. You get to see the behind-the-scenes of being in a bookstore. As a book lover who always frequents the bookstores myself, I find it enlightening to see the point of view of the workers. Being in a bookstore as a customer is fun, but it's also nice to see how the employees view their customers. After watching, I really got tempted to work in a bookstore myself! It was also nice that an episode is around 10 to 12 minutes long, it didn't get dragging. It's a must watch if you want to get lighthearted laughs! Thanks for this!

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