Chio's School Road

Chio’s School Road is a manga series written in 2014 and adapted into a 12 episode anime released summer of 2018. It features the main character, Miyamo Chio, and her adventures on her way to and from school. Chio is an awkward high school girl that spends too much time playing video games going out into the world and trouble always finds her.

Review time!

Chio’s School Road was easily one of the funniest animes I’ve watched. Every episode is set up into parts that don’t have to be watched in order. Throughout the episodes, the audience is introduced to her best friend, the coolest girl in school, and even a leader of the local gang. It’s an odd combination of characters but in this anime’s case, it was a huge win for me.

In many ways, Chio reminds me of a non-superpowered and less intelligent Seiki K. For those that like comedy anime and have never seen Seiki K, then what junk have you been watching? The internal dialogue and sarcastic expressions show the parallels between the shows.

The opening episode Chio is introduced walking her regular route to school and hits random a construction roadblock. Any normal person would take the detour and possibly end up a few minutes late to school, but Chio having played too many video games turns this into an open invite to leap from roof to roof to get to school faster.

While she is playing a ninja on the rooftops, she’s nearly busted outside the window of a middle-aged man. She proceeds to hide under his windowsill while he is brushing his teeth. Then to be spit on when he gags on his toothbrush. For the first 10 mins of the series, I didn’t actually expect to laugh. There’s something about the stupidity of it all that keeps me engaged throughout each episode and by the end, I am craving more.

The MC is one of those characters that most anime weebs can relate to. Socially awkward, a gamer, and the desire to want to make friends but doesn’t actually want to put any effort into it. I can name too many nights were just like Chio, I spent all night doing something then wake up the next day immediately regretting the actions of the night before. But still, continue to do it due to little self-control.

Because of that familiarity, I feel with the character, I have no choice but to root for her and all the ridiculous things that happen while she’s walking to school. Throughout every situation she encounters, while each one is excessive, most people can say they’ve encountered similar social situations. In her case, with her weird athletic skills and the way she works through every problem, Chio is a superhero for the socially challenged.

Overall, the animation is subpar. But with the minimal action and nonchalant attitude of the episodes, my expectations wouldn’t be on par with any of the Fate Series animes. With that being said, the simple animation for me added to the comedy and light-hearted theme of the show.

The only downside of the show is that it is only one season. I could easily watch multiple seasons of Chio’s shenanigans on her way to school and still not get tired of it. With a show like this, I didn’t expect any development in the characters but it does a great job of introducing everyone and showing how they add to each of the stories shown. For the simple fact that this show is hilarious, I’ll give it a 9/10. While I didn’t find anything I could complain about, I’m sure I’ll think of something later. The show is a comedy and in my opinion, it does an incredible job at what it set out to do.