Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

Akebi's Sailor Uniform anime series cover art
Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

Series Overview

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform (Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku / 明日ちゃんのセーラー服) is a slice of life anime series based on a manga that was created by the artist of Super Cub. If you thought the character designs of those two series looked similar, that’s why.

To start off with the basics, why is this series called Akebi’s Sailor Uniform? Well, Akebi has always dreamed of attending Roubai Academy, the middle school her mother graduated from, and wearing a sailor uniform as she’s seen in all the pictures her mother has.

So, when Akebi is accepted into the academy, she has her mother make her a sailor uniform to wear. Unfortunately, neither Akebi nor her mother realized that Roubai Academy has updated its dress code over the past few decades. Today, the girls all wear blazers, not sailor uniforms.

However, because the headmistriss remembers back to how excited she was to wear the sailor uniform her mother made for her when she attended the academy, she allows Akebi to wear hers too. Obviously, this means that Akebi stands out at her new school. But, that’s just fine with her.

You see, Akebi doesn’t mind the attention. The only two students at the rural elementary school she attended were herself and her younger sister, Kao. So, Akebi’s goal at Roubai Academy is to make as many friends as possible. And her sailor uniform helps her to make a memorable first impression.

The story of a girl who wants to make a bunch of friends at her new school isn’t a particularly unique one. But, I do think Akebi’s Sailor Uniform does it very well. The other girls aren’t treated as goals for Akebi to complete. She develops friendships with them all naturally throughout the series.

Akebi & Friends

There’s not really too much else to say about Akebi other than that she excels at everything she tries. That can be an annoying trait for a character to have. But in this case, it’s used to motivate the supporting cast to better themselves, which is nice. Oh, and Akebi is her surname. Her given name is Komichi.

Komichi’s younger sister is Kao Akebi. Kao is a relatively minor supporting character since most of the series takes place at the middle school. But, I still really like Kao. She’s cute and also has some of the funniest scenes of the series.

Akebi and Kao Komichi with a butterfly from the anime series Akebi's Sailor Uniform
Akebi and Kao Komichi with a butterfly

The first friend Akebi makes at Roubai Academy is Erika Kizaki. Kizaki has an interesting introduction that could definitely give viewers an incorrect impression of the series. I swear, this isn’t a foot fetish anime. Anyway, she’s also very skilled at playing instruments.

Touko Usagihara is another friend Akebi makes early on. From what I remember, the only “unique” thing about Usagihara is that she has a lot of information on her classmates. Basically, she loves rumors and uses the information she finds out to forge friendships (not via blackmail).

Hotaru Hiraiwa is another girl in Akebi’s class who I was surprised didn’t get all that much screen time. She’s a very short girl who always tries to do things her height gets in the way of. Sometimes that’s selecting a drink from the top row of a vending machine, and other times it’s joining the badminton team.

There are a lot of characters in this series, so I can’t go through them all. But, they’re all unique and are generally given time to shine. They may not all play major roles, such as Hiraiwa. However, they’re all important in their own ways. Each one gains something through knowing Akebi.

Anime of the Season

One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about Akebi’s Sailor Uniform is that people don’t like the way the girls look. If that’s the only thing stopping you from watching this series, just watch it. I promise you’lll get used to the way they look.

Akebi also probably has the best art of any anime that aired during the winter season. The art is fantastic. It’s a very pretty anime. And on top of that, it has very good animation, too. Maybe not the best animation of the season, but good nonetheless.

As I’ve mentioned, it also has a good cast. All the characters are likable in their own ways. This isn’t a series that throws in needless drama to force a plot point. The girls and their relationships are all perfectly grounded in reality. That’s surprisingly refreshing

Erika Kizaki from the anime series Akebi's Sailor Uniform
Erika Kizaki

If we’re looking at the overall scores of anime from the winter 2022 season on MyAnimeList, there 7 that rank higher than Akebi’s Sailor Uniform. I’ve watched 5 of the 7, and I’m going to say the only one that competes with Akebi is Attack on Titan’s latest season.

Demon Slayer had 1 really good episode, Takagi-san started to get old, Dress-Up Darling is good but overhyped, and Princess Connect! just has good animation and cute girls going for it. The remaining two series above Akebi seem to only be popular because they’re yaoi and bishounen vampire series respectively.

It feels weird to call Akebi underrated. And, to be fair, my rating of the series isn’t very far off from the overall rating it has. But compared to the other anime that aired alongside it, it’s definitely underrated (really, they’re overrated).

Conclusion

As my pick for best anime of the season, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform gets an 8/10. That may seem low for the best of the season, but not every season is going to have 10/10 or even a 9/10. I think I’ve even had some seasons with a 7/10 as my highest rating.

Either way, Akebi is a very good anime and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys slice of life. Oh, and Akebi’s Sailor Uniform also has my favorite OP of the season. Both the visuals and song are amazing. The only thing the OP could use is more movement (animation).

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