BERNARD-JOU IWAKU.

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyBernard-jou Iwaku.
SPECIAL ComedyBernard-jou Iwaku. - Ofuro dokusho

REVIEWS

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  bananatsu

  50/100
  Even though it's in the 'comedy' genre, it's not humorous per se. Might be a blast for avid readers anyway

  Might contain spoilers

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  Main character cast:
  Miss Bernard, a boy, a library receptionist who has a crush on said boy and a long-haired reading enthusiast who goes on endless rants about a certain genre or an author. The boy is just a self-insert and has no personality.

  Miss Bernard is blatantly open about her lack of actual reading and most of the "gags" are about her just pretending to be one of the literary enthusiasts. She is desperate to look like an intellectual and talks a lot about the tricks she uses while talking to others.

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  Character development:
  There is not much character development beside the relationship between the long-haired girl and Bernard.
  Long-haired one has some beef with Bernard during the first episode. However, most of the dialogue is between them and they even visit a cafe together later, so they develop at least a sort of frenemy-situation between them. In the last episode, it's hinted that she starts to discuss books in regular with Bernard and Bernard at least tries reading the books she mentions. The long-haired one actually calls her a friend in a letter.

  The feelings of the receptionist never evolve into something else, and the crush she is having is her whole personality and the reason she takes part in any of the activities; she is into anything the boy does or says. The boy has no chemistry with anyone.

  Both the boy and the receptionist rarely say or do anything meaningful and exist for the purpose of being frequent library visitors and members of the group. Otherwise it would be just Bernard and the long-haired girl bickering in a library.

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  The plot:
  With episodes lasting under 5 minutes, the plot is mostly fast-paced dialogue between characters and manga-like visualisation about the topic at hand. Most of the anime is just quick explanations and trivia info about certain books, authors and genres. They also refer to some movie versions made from books.

  As a western reader, some of the specific books went over my head, but are probably well known staple titles in Japan. Animation is simple but pleasing to look at, and music is irrelevant.

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  Opinion:
  I would recommend this to people who want quick recommendations for new books to read (especially Japanese titles), or are looking for a fast anime to watch while eating. Might even learn some trivia while at it. But it's not really a laugh-out-loud anime, I smiled vaguely to maybe two of the gags.

  It has gotten a lot of under 5 star ratings for not being funny, but it never marketed itself as the funniest thing ever, so I gave it 5.5 /10 which for me is the same level as a seasonal isekai.

  I would have given more if there were more relevant info about books and not just trivia, or if the feeling of the literary discussion and the group itself would have been more on point. The conversation in general felt too unnatural and rushed to create any sort of immersion, and the characters just lacked depth.

  The information was also a little bit too fast-paced, since I had to stop it a couple of times to read even though I'm a fast reader.

  Maybe the main running gag would have been funnier too, if Bernard would have tried to seriously hide her lack of reading instead of just stating it out loud. They practically ruined the only two things that were carrying the show; the main joke and the book information.

  Even though it's in the 'comedy' genre, it's not humorous per se. Might be a blast for avid readers anyway.

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