Slow Loop | First Impressions: WHOLESOME.

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When Hiyori⁠—a young girl whose deceased father taught her the joys of fishing⁠—headed out to sea for some alone time, she never thought that she would encounter another girl there.

After a while, this girl⁠—named Koharu⁠—and her end up fishing and cooking together, and they get to know each other a bit in the meantime. During their brief time together Koharu finds out that the reason Hiyori went out to sea that day was because she’s hesitant towards meeting her new step family that same evening. But what a coincidence! Koharu is also meeting her new family tonight! “No. It can’t be a coincidence…” Follow these two ‘sisters’ and their new life together!

The wholesomeness of anime has always been a draw factor for me, and Slow Loop is just full of wholesome moments. So I think it’s safe to say that my first impression of the anime has been a great one, which should be no surprise to anyone. If you’re someone who has followed me for a while, then you know that I tend to rate wholesome, slice of life anime higher than most, so you can probably expect Slow Loop to follow suit when everything is said and done.

Slow Loop reminds me a lot about Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? in almost every way possible. Furthermore, the style of the anime feels about the same as well. Is that a bad thing? No, I don’t think so. If anything, I’m able to draw that connection to an anime that I really enjoyed, which increases the overall entertainment factor of the show for me.

What I enjoyed most about Slow Loop are the characters and, in particular, Koharu Minagi. I love everything about her. She’s a frank character, always saying what’s on her mind, whether good or bad. The majority of the time too, whatever comes out of her mouth is bound to be entertaining too. She’s like the ultimate airhead, and that’s very funny to me. Using my Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? Koharu is just like Kokoa, and Hiyori is just like Chino.

Oh, something else I would like to mention is that the first few episodes are very powerful and emotional. We find out quickly *spoilers*, that Hiyori lost her father at a young age due to an illness. We also find out that Koharu lost her mother and brother in a car accident while in her younger years. In episode three, we see them lean on each other as they grieve together. There was something Koharu said that will always stick with me, “I’m sure your dad and my mom will still recognize us will recognize us. As long as we keep smiling like we used to”. Like that is too wholesome and too heartfelt, and I loved it.

Is Slow Loop going to knock your socks off or win any awards? No. We spend more time fishing in the anime than we do anything else. Despite the anime being as generic as possible, it’s simple and straightforward. Its characters are also very likable, and most importantly, I think Slow Loop has already done a great job at making the anime feel very wholesome happy. With a little bit of lighthearted humour sprinkled on top, personally, I think Slow Loop has been a very good anime and certainly has left a good first impression on me.