Series Review: ‘Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan’ - “Expectations Vs Reality” in its Most Hilariously Dark Form

Source: Collider

Introduction

Series Name - Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan

Based on - ‘Uramichi Oniisan’ manga by Gaku Kuze

Genre - Dark Comedy, Anime

Language - Japanese

No. of Episodes - 13

Plot Synopsis

A team of miserable young adults prepares their masks of loving smiles and cheery exteriors to educate a bunch of naive preschoolers in the studio of the morning children's show “Together with Maman.” Miramichi Omota, a 31-year-old former gymnast, is in the center of it all, bringing the kids back down to earth by revealing the brutal and dark truth of adulthood, even in front of the cameras.

Uramichi's much-desired quiet is ruined behind the scenes by his two annoying juniors who perform as the show's rabbit and bear mascots and singers: Utano Tadano, who just wants to get married, and Iketeru Daga, a good looking man with a crass sense of humor. Uramichi, everyone's older brother, always brings up the not-so-moral side to his life lessons, from smoking and exercising to nihilistic outbursts.

Series Review

Life Lessons With Uramichi is a goldmine of sarcastic and hilariously dark remarks about how depressing life is when you’re a grown-up being thrown at the viewers one after the other. Dark humor, if not done right, can come off as straight-up offensive but Uramichi Oniisan manages to do it flawlessly. You’ll always find yourself just laughing at the saddest things.

Uramichi Omota is a man who’s been crushed by life’s brutal realities. He is completely hollow and depressed inside and can appear a tiny bit sociable because of his two-faced personality. He appears to be a cheerful and positive man teaching small kids basic life lessons. But if you watch him long enough, you’ll see his depression and pessimism leaking from behind his fake smiles in the most hilarious ways possible.

But Uramichi isn’t the only twisted adult on the set of “Together With Maman”. His college juniors, Tobikichi Usahara (28) and Mitsuo Kumatnai (28), former musical actors Iketeru Daga (27), and Utano Tadano (32) are equally lifeless.

Even the play on the name of the characters is hysterically creative. The first kanjis in Uramichi’s first and last name, 裏 (ura) and 表 (omote), mean back and front which is an expression in Japanese that means being two-faced- putting up a nice and polite front for others while hiding their true self.

Iketeru’s name means “but I’m handsome”, taking ‘ike’ from ikemen (handsome guy) since all he has is his good looks; Tadano Utano means “just a singer” referring to her short-lived singing career; Usahara’s ‘usa’ is taken from ‘Usagi’ which means rabbit, for his role as a rabbit on the show, and Kumatani’s ‘Kuma’ means bear for his role as a bear. 

Uramichi, like many other grownups, is a man who has been crushed down by society, as his goals, hopes, and dreams have all but faded. He goes from being a recognized gymnast to a life spent performing for children's television, which he finds unsatisfactory. His discontent is made quite clear in the anime, as he frequently shoves his frustration down the throats of the very toddlers to whom he is supposed to be a role model. 

Together with Maman's other characters and stars are almost identical to Uramichi. They, like him, never had much success in life. Each character, whether an unsuccessful musician or an athlete, has their own reasons for being miserable. What brings all these young adults together is the sense of shared pain.

The anime takes full advantage of its star-studded cast of voice actors such as Hiroshi Kamiya, Mamoru Miyano, Yūichi Nakamura, and Tomokazu Sugita. Their voice acting skills were a cherry on top of it all. The perfection to which they portrayed the characters makes one wonder if they also relate with the characters to some level.

But it's not all negativity. As the anime progresses, we can see Uracmichi’s as well as other characters’ emotional development. Despite what his own words might lead you to believe, he actively deals with his rough days, his exhaustion, and his sense of hopelessness. He never, at any time in the anime, gives in to the difficulties that torment him and always reaches for the bright side of things.

The Bottom Line

Though this anime deals with dark humor very smoothly, it might still be a bit difficult for some of the viewers. The self-deprecating jokes by the characters might hit a little too close to home. Some instances are just too factual and real that one can’t bring themself to laugh at them. But credit must be given to it for taking on a topic such as problems of adulthood and somehow adding a positive twist to it.

IMDb ratings - 7.2 on 10

You can watch ‘Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan’ on Netflix.

Written By - Sanjana Chaudhary