Anime: Soredemo Machi wa Mawatte Iru 3i1822

The best way to enjoy this anime is to be a fan of either SHAFT shows or a fan of wacky episodic comedies. If for example you demand a story with a plot, evolving characters, or artsy visuals ain’t your thing, then you better not head this way.

As far as SHAFT works go, this one’s on the better half of what they have made, with a lot more actual animation, a lot less bizarre imagery and real life photographs for some pretentious nonsense symbolism. The camera does all sorts of motions and the sequence of scene transition is almost frenetic, while occasionally zooming in to cute faces and naughty female parts of the body, which is SHAFT’s trademark and recipe of success. It is a fine way to help the viewer visualize how awkward and troubled the minds of the characters are, and to spice up the jokes. They even try to change the formula as the episodes go on, from slightly changing the gimmicks to even adding more info about one’s inner self. There is still weird imagery, symbolisms, and trademark punch lines, albeit in a lot less degree than in, let’s say, Sayonara Zetsubo or Arakawa Under the Bridge. I must say that makes the characters to feel a lot less like caricatures defined by a few sentences or personality gimmicks.

At the same time, the cast of this anime is a lot less memorable because it does not follow a theme in its setting. Although the first episodes will make most think it is a comedy centering on maids in a maid café, after awhile it becomes just random shorts of practically anything the characters do in their everyday life. Soredemo is a lot more down to earth than most comedies by the same studio, while at the same lacks something to make it distinguishable amongst any other similar show.

I am not a fan of episodic comedies since the characters start to become boring fast without some development. When that kicks in, it’s the theme of the setting that can keep me going and in this case there is nothing to pay attention to. The whole maid café is nothing but a minor element (perhaps yet another troll joke by the producers) so you end up looking at random people doing random things in hopes of laughing. They are the usual “unusual” bunch of misfits and, typically of SHAFT, most of the humor is based on their total lack of common sense. Their appeal is based on quirks and bizarre personality, not character development. They lack punch lines (since they keep changing them every few episodes) and are simplistic as far as personalities goes, following archetypes you have seen plenty of time.

In all, it is a good comedy but it is also unmemorable because of how fast it becomes aimless. Because of that my interest evaporated early on. I got used to the jokes and their volume drops considerably later on, becoming more tiresome than entertaining in the second half. Thus it’s very good at first, then loses steam fast, and eventually becomes a chore to complete.

*This review contains spoilers*

'Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru' ('The World Still Turns') is about a dull maid café in a small shopping district, and the daily lives of its employees and customers.
It sounds like just another slice-of-life comedy, but it is one of the most thought-provoking comedy series I've ever encountered.
The town is a microcosm of the world. Conversely, 'SoreMachi' attempts to explain the way things work by studying the lives of ordinary citizens in an ordinary town.

Character: 7/10
The protagonist of the show is Suzumiya Haruhi, whose competency and power is the polar opposite, but practically identical existence to those around her.
Other characters in the town are ordinary people who could easily be one of our neighbors and friends, but all have colorful personalities that spice up the show. These characters often pose as obstacles for Hotori, which she overcomes through comical means. All the characters are very likable and easy to connect with.

Character development is lacking, but all the random little events form together to show how one person can influence the surrounding environment.

Story: 9/10
Every episode consists of one theme and two chapters from Manga. Almost every episode begins and ends with a narration, stating a fact of life, philosophical viewpoint, moral dilemma, or random trivia about to be explored by the characters in the town. Some of these themes are quite deep, such as what is happiness? What do we value? World being a mirror that reflects one's mental condition, acceptance of the supernatural and technology, the human desire to cling on to the belief of supreme being, one's futility in the face of fate, and death.
Others are rather simple observations, like personality showing in writing, eyes speaking the truth, flawed logic within myths, how the scenery changes at different time of the day, how bad things seem to come in strings, women as being mysterious creatures, and how talking to the girl you like is the biggest concern when you're in high school. The stories revolve around extraordinary events within the ordinary life.

Continuity of the story is mediocre as an episodic comedy, but many of the themes are about seeing ordinary things from different perspectives, which we might find to be quite humorous or thought-provoking.

Just like 'Bakemonogatari', the comedy in 'SoreMachi' is very quirky, and non-Japanese speakers will miss a lot of humor in this show as it relies heavily on wordplay and references. For example, "Neko ni Koban" can be translated as "pearls before swine", but it loses its reference to cats. Similarly, "Neko Funjatta" is literally translated as "I stepped on the cat", but it also happens to be the Japanese title of 'Flea Waltz' ('Der Flohwalzer'), which also portrays the humorous situation the protagonist had gotten herself into.
References can range from something straightforward as previous SHAFT productions 'Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei' (despair epiphany) and 'Bakemonogatari' (Araragi/Sanada close-up) parody, to as obscure for Western audience as a Japanese comedy duo's popular skit back in 2005, when the manga was written (オリラジ「武勇伝」 - "Buyuuden-den-den-den-den, Acchan Kakkoii!" to "Buyoujin(careless)-jin-jin-jin, Tattsun Kakkoii!" in ep-6).
Sometimes it wouldn't even make sense without translator notes, like when Futaba tells Hotori to go home because it's cold enough already in ep-3. In Japan, lame jokes and puns are referred to as "cold", and her puns were so "cold" (lame) that it even started snowing.

However, there are a lot of cases where simple concepts or ordinary events are taken to the extremes to show the ridiculousness of common things in life, and the show is absolutely hilarious. The insight into the way of life, philosophy, human psyche, and morality are also universal. In the end, it's all up to how much we can identify with each topic.

Animation: 8/10
The first thing you will notice in animation is the extreme fluidity of characters, especially when assisted with slow motion, but the frame rate is a suspect at times. Character design is excellent, everyone is memorable and distinct. In addition, none of the characters seemed beautified as typical series and seemed real. Unfortunately, 3D CGI were horrible and sometimes distracting.
SHAFT's signature cuts and zoom-ins are used as heavily as 'Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei' or 'Bakemonogatari', but there is a sense of awkwardness to the presentation at times. This is probably because the animation for the show is more than just visual for verbal performance, it's actually vital to storytelling. Perhaps the show would flow better if the unconventional style was toned down to the level of 'Arakawa Under the Bridge' series. However, it magnified the surrealism in some scenes and I believe no other studio could've presented the atmosphere in this show as well as SHAFT.

Sound: 9/10
BGM was really wonderfully done, with wide range of sounds enhancing the atmosphere in every scene. It's also noticeably different from generic music score in anime.
Hotori's voice was done by Frieza, it's a perfect fit that you will never forget or imagine to be replaceable. Everyone else sounded like they should, and especially shined in comedy scenes with ionate voicing.
The ED was especially interesting in that it is an "Ondo", traditional folk music style song that has solo parts. Having heard of considerable amount of enka and Japanese folk songs, I can tell you that the lackluster vocal skill cannot be covered up like pop or techno, as done in typical seiyuu-sang anime songs. The gap in vocal prowess is apparent from a single verse by each seiyuu. The newcomer Harue) is practically indistinguishable from real folk song singers. The ED is pretty funny with ridiculous lyrics and explicit "kanchou".

Value/Enjoyment: 8.5/10
'SoreMachi' is very inconsistent, having great and horrible moments in just about everything from animation, comedy, to values. But such is life, full of ups and downs.
Every chapter is a hit or miss, but it's always interesting that it views everyday objects from different angles, from new perspectives. All episodes present these concept in a hilarious and engaging manner, only scratching the surface for us to think further into the subject.

I'm sure everyone's interpretation of the series will be different, but to me, the show conveys the message that every person is an insignificant existence to the society as a whole, but an individual has the power to change the world. Similarly, the town will keep functioning and the world will continue to turn without one person, but it will not be complete without her.

'SoreMachi' has everything... comedy, drama, romance, value, suspense, and fantasy. Everything summed up well in 1 season. Wild card comedy series of the year.