Life is a Concrete Jungle – Anisava

I went into watching Anisava with zero expectations if anything I was expecting it to be pretty bad and I have to say it was a pleasant surprise.

When I first downloaded Crunchyroll onto my PS4 earlier this year, I remember skimming through the catalog and I remember that Anisava stood out to me right away. It does not look like anything else on there and art style wise I would say it is Panty and Stocking meet Happy Tree Friends minus the violence.

I quickly forgot about it as I watched anime with a more conventional looking anime aesthetic. In the back of my mind, however, I could not get that strange art style out of my head and a month and a half ago, on a day I was stuck in bed because of my back acting up yet again I decided to sit down and watch Anisava to scratch that itch that is morbid curiosity.

Jake Wild is a bumbling idiot of a man, who happens to be a bear. The idiot man character is one I generally do not like because more often than not they are also an asshole to those around them. See modern Spongebob Patrick or Peter from Family guy for prime examples, of course, that being said both are shows I rarely find myself watching these days. What sets Jake Wild apart from other idiot male characters is his sincerity and compassion for those around him, especially his girlfriend Jenny who he loves very dearly.

It was the relationship between Jake and Jenny that hooked me into the show and then with each episode we learn more about their work colleagues and friend circle. From the marital problems of Jake’s drinking buddy, a very persistent but shy stalker, the surprise slut within Jenny’s group of girlfriends and the secret affair the boss is having with his scary secretary I lost it laughing with nearly every episode.

Don’t go into this series expecting an overarching narrative because at it’s heart it is a slice of life workplace comedy series, but if you are looking for something light that will give you a good giggle AniSava will make you laugh without that feeling of stupidity and predictability many modern anime comedies seem to have.