Anime Review: Sing “Yesterday” For Me Episode 1

Sing “Yesterday” For Me

Studio: Doga Kobo

Genre: Drama, Slice of Life

Streaming: Crunchyroll

For Rikuo Uozumi, life after graduating from university has hit something of a dead end. He works part-time at a local convenience store to make ends meet but ultimately seems to have lost any ambition of finding a career like his other friends. We follow him through the first episode of Sing “Yesterday” for Me, and his meetings with the people around him – an old friend, a co-worker in a band, an old flame who’s just come back from chasing her own career in another city, and a kooky high schooler with a pet crow.

Compared to many other animes out there, Sing “Yesterday” for Me, features a mainly adult and mature cast of characters (with the exception of Haru Nonoka, the teenager) and this adds a more serious tone to the proceedings – these are not carefree school kids like we see in much other anime series but real people who work in the real world. Rikuou’s situation is not unusual, despite how the other characters comment on it, and someone is unsure about what their future goals are is something relatable to a great many of us. Indecision is something he clearly struggles with and so far at least, there hasn’t been a chance for Rikuo to explore this – indeed, in this first episode, he seems to aware he’s struggling but not willing to face it yet. The series looks to be somewhere in between a drama and slice of life so far.

The character designs are more understated than in other anime, lacking the bright colours and eccentric proportions we often see in modern animes which makes sense considering this was originally a manga series created back in the 90s. The art style is still attractive, however, and the characters themselves come across as interesting and likable. The music is also fitting for the series, relatively understated but comes in at the more emotional moments such as a character’s confession – the ending song in particular is a big highlight. The characters are clearly the strength of this series however and of the ones we’ve been introduced to so far, they’ve all shown to have a good amount of complexity and their own agendas.

The first episode manages to pack an enormous amount of story into its short run-time which shows promise for the remainder of the series – the plot so far is well developed and looks to follow a more original route. If you’re someone who wants a break from the lighter, more crazy series of the season and would like a relaxed more mature show then checking out Sing “Yesterday” for Me will offer a nice breath of fresh air.