Chio’s School Road (Season One)

Join Chio as she attempts to make it to school on time, but nothing is as straightforward as it should be. Nothing interesting ever happens on the way to school… nothing…

Chio’s School Road (Season One)

What did you watch?

Back in the summer of 2018, I was getting into watching seasonal anime and wanted to find an anime that I could watch while the kids were still up. I stumbled upon Chio’s School Road and at first glance, it seemed fairly innocent… it was not! It was, however, incredibly funny and not something I would have normally watched. There will be spoilers below. You have been warned.

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What happened?

Surprisingly very little and at the same time a lot. The series follows Chio as she tries to get to school on time, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Chio is a gamer and a bit of an oddball. She has her one close friend, Manana who is a bit devious and always looking to cause trouble. Anyhow, Chio’s journey to school takes her on numerous adventures and detours as she struggles to switch between her online gaming persona and that of a normal schoolgirl.

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What did you think?

I really enjoyed the absurdity of the series. In the first episode, Chio’s normal route to school is blocked, so like her gaming persona, she takes to the rooftops. It was hilarious and I never looked back. I really enjoyed the way each episode was broken down into a number of smaller scenes. There were some great recurring characters and stories that spanned a number of different scenes and episodes.

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What was your favourite moment?

I really enjoyed all of the Bloody Butterfly episodes, but my favourite scene was the first Kabaddi episode, where Chio and Manana were challenged to a match by Madoka. I think I actually snorted out loud. So funny, and so ridiculous. Then, of course, there was the friendship song which had me dying of laughter.

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What was your least favourite moment?

Ironically, I think this was the second encounter with Madoka, the Kabaddi enthusiast who was training in the park with a homeless man as she tried to suppress her desire to touch girls. It had a couple of funny moments but was mostly creepy.

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Who was your favourite character?

It has to be Chio. She embraces every situation and turns it into a game, which admittedly leads to some outrageous situations, but that’s awesome all the same. The friendships and rivalries she developed just seemed to add to the madness and the unusual love story with Andou was just insane. This series is completely outrageous and in a good way.

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Who was your least favourite character?

This is a tough one because I think they all contributed to my enjoyment of the show. It’s probably the creepy homeless guy who lost his fancy job and life when he got a little too close to a girl on the bus. Yeah, now that I’ve said it out loud, it’s definitely him.

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Who needed more screen time?

I think I’m going with Madoka, but just because I want to see more Kabaddi matches. The one at the end of episode twelve could have been interesting with Chio, Manana, and Yuki all going commando. If only Madoka had known! Glad I’d stopped watching with the kids around at that point.

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Would you like some more?

Hell, yes. I found the mini-arcs to be an interesting approach. It meant you got two or three stories within each episode, which kept it moving at a nice pace. At no point did it get tired or samey, which is what you’d expect with such a simple concept. I think the mini-arcs helped to keep it fresh and the best ones all came back in later episodes too.

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What have you learned?

I love the idea of taking a mundane repetitive task like walking to school and making it interesting and fun. There’s a lot of potential there. Not saying anything yet, but you might want to check out my Saturday Spin-off tomorrow!

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