The Fourth Industrial Revolution has led to the development of cutting-edge technologies that have rapidly evolved the world. As a result, schools have begun incorporating these technologies into their curriculum, leaving behind the ways of the old. One such institution is the elite Yuyu Girls' Vocational High School, where both Serufu Yua and her childhood friend, Miku "Purin" Suride, have applied. Although the tech-savvy Purin is accepted to Yuyu High, the accident-prone Serufu is rejected and enters the traditional Gatagata Girls' High School instead, driving a wedge into their friendship.
On her way to class one day, Serufu gets into a bike accident, and Rei Yasaku, a passerby who attends the same school, fixes her damaged bicycle. Serufu later finds out that Rei has a passion for old-fashioned crafts and is the head of the school's Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Club—which is in danger of closing due to a lack of members.
Realizing that this may be her chance to repair her relationship with Purin, Serufu joins the club in hopes of creating projects that could bring them together once more. As the DIY Club welcomes new faces, Serufu learns to build not only handicrafts but also new friendships along the way!
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Mcsuper
After watching Do it Yourself, I’m not going to lie, I have had very strong urges to start yelling DO IT YUAAAA SERUFU when someone asks me for help on something, because you know, cringe anime behaviour am I right? Do it Yourself is very therapeutic, in that it makes you feel nice and happy after a rough day of work or school, and it might be even inspire you to start building some IKEA furniture. There’s a lot to like, from the wholesome friendships, some very fluid animation, the memes, and some of the relaxing music too. With all the big action hits this season,such as Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho, and Bleach, this show might have flew under the radar for some of you, and it almost did for me, but boy am I glad that I watched this show, one of my favourites from this anime season.
STORY:
Technology is very prevalent nowadays, with many things turning electronic. The age of building things by hand has been far gone, but it doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. Yua Serufu, the main character, notices this when her clumsy, accident-prone self, rides her bike into a pole and damages it. Someone comes along and fixes her bike, and it turns out, that person is the leader of the Gatagata Girls’ High School’s Do-It-Yourself club! Naturally, she gains a new interest in these crafts, and the once quiet DIY club room is alive once more!
Purin, Serufu’s childhood friend, got accepted into the cutting-edge tech school, the elite Yuyu Girls’ Vocational High School, where the latest technology in science is explored. A little gripe I did have with the story is that they could have explored some more themes of tech vs DIY, but with the fun times in the DIY club making up for it, it’s honestly fine.
The story isn’t anything really special, as it’s still just a CGDCT show, and more character driven than story driven. That said, there were still some interesting bumps along the way that made the story a bit more memorable.
ART:
It looks a little different from your typical CGDCT show, and it looks great! The art style is hard to explain, perhaps it looks like a colouring book? It looks very hand-drawn, and it’s very fitting for the DIY setting, as it looks less refined, yet looks perfect for what the show is trying to achieve.
MUSIC:
Some very relaxing music, as expected. It’s soothing and calming. The OP makes me smile every time.
CHARACTERS:
The characters were definitely a big reason why this was fun and entertaining throughout. The cast of characters stood out in their own way, and each of them were great characters. First, our protagonist, Yua Serufu, is a ditz, and you know she is based on how many band-aids are on her face. She might not have been the most resourceful person in the DIY club, but at least she strives to learn, and eventually, she does get better. Her relationship with her childhood friend, Purin, is where some of the better character writing takes place. Many childhood friends tend to drift apart after a certain time, such as the end of elementary school or high school, but here, there’s a good story of friends that drifted apart still caring for each other, and the friendship slowly building up again.
The other DIY club members were also memorable, but none more than Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII, also known as Jobko. The occasional English lines, combined with her jokes made every episode quite light-hearted, and even hilarious sometimes.
ENJOYMENT:
The show made me smile a lot, and that’s all you can really ask for.
THEMATIC EXECUTION:
The show has pretty simple themes, such as working as a team and some concepts of friendship. These themes were executed quite effectively. Some of the teamwork when building things was good, as everyone supported each other, and despite some members being better than others, no one ever put anyone down when there was a bump in the road, but just persevered together.
OVERALL:
There’s practically nothing I didn’t like in Do it Yourself, and that made it one of the most enjoyable series of the season, and perhaps even the year. It made me smile on a consistent basis, made me laugh a bit, and warmed me up after rough days. That’s all that I could really ask for.
If you ask me if you should watch this show, I’d have a simple answer for you. DO IT! (YOURSELF)
GG-WP
A feel-good show through and through. Definitely one of the better original SoL CGDCTs available in recent years. The premise of this show is nothing out of the ordinary. As the title suggests, the show revolves around a group of HS girls who form a Do It Yourself (DIY) club. They make everything from scratch, from book shelves to bracelets, and even the club's holy grail, a tree house. The show simply follows the standard CGDCT formula. Even so, the interactions between the cast members are genuine and leave you smiling. Fan favorite and clumsy girl Yua Serufu, "Yourself" pun intended, is the main vocal point ofthe club that keeps the club in tact and has the wholesome genuine vibe. Jobko, my personal favorite, the tech-savvy girl, enhances the show with her English accent and occasional English word pronunciation. Everyone in the cast is necessary and complements one another. Even the pet pig is sometimes the brunt of jokes, and its reactions definitely left an impression on me.
Art wise, it is very unique and definitely accentuates the vibe of the show. It is unquestionably one of the show's strong points. In terms of animation, it is nothing out of the ordinary, but it is very fluid. Even the show's somewhat low-resolution still frames contribute to the overall feel of the show. Pine Jam did an excellent job of making the show stand out.
As for the OP and ED, they definitely add to the show's overall appeal. The OP conveys the message "Rise and shine, it is a brand new day for another exciting adventure", with the accompanying visuals doing the same. The ED, on the other hand, gives off the "Day has ended and it is time to pack up and go home" vibe, as do the accompanying visuals. Both the OP and ED have the opposite vibe and complement one another. Regarding the VAs, despite the fact that there are many new VAs on the block, I have to commend them on a job well done. As I previously stated, this is especially true for Jobko and her English accent and code switching.
Honestly, this show is appropriate for all audiences, but it is clearly aimed at SoL / CGDCT fans. The pacing is slow, and the show gives you a relaxed and chilled vibe. It is one of your turn off your brain shows that you can watch whenever you want. This show is definitely worth watching. I would recommend it to anyone interested in trying out SoL / CGDCT shows.
ZNoteTaku
*Do it Yourself!!* is so unassuming that one would be inclined to come away with the initial impression that it’s not anything more than just cute girls doing cute things: the woodshop edition. And you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong; on the surface, it plays the formula in much the same way as it has been employed in countless other anime before it. Niche hobby, relaxed atmosphere, low stakes, the whole nine yards(tick). Why should anyone walk into a show like this and expect something different, or different enough that it would become one of the more-pleasing anime of the season? Even if someone was willing totake a chance on it, goodness knows that the show also had its own uphill battle to climb. Fall 2022 was, to put it in one term, top-heavy. Between the highly-anticipated juggernaut *Chainsaw Man* and desired sequels *Bleach: The Thousand-Year War*, *Mob Psycho 100 III*, and *Spy x Family Part 2*, a show like *Do It Yourself!!* stood no chance of etching itself onto the landscape at-large. Even when *Bocchi the Rock!* managed to do it, that was an unexpected dark horse. A happy one to be sure, but an exception nevertheless. *Do it Yourself!!* thus seemed condemned to be lost in their wake, suppressed by the sheer extent of their mark.
But that reality, in truth, is why the show managed to succeed so well. Whereas other shows announced their presence with boisterous explosiveness or an unexpected comedic jolt to the senses, *Do it Yourself!!* started more gradually. When we’re introduced to the anime’s world, its aesthetic is markedly cutesier and more juvenile. That is not an insult in this case; rather, it’s a perfect visual sign that the show will kick back its feet and let simplicity take the reins. The aesthetic of the show, when it’s not adopting its musically jazzy time in montage or its delightfully-catchy OP, feels fresh out of a children’s coloring book – the color palette employed is simple, but it propelled by its splashes of beautiful lighting and animations. It is not the type of animation that will be immortalized forever, but the level of care gives its simplicity more verve and spunk.
Serufu is likewise a charmingly-simple protagonist, klutzy and always seemingly with her head in the clouds rather than her feet on the ground. There’s a disarming appeal in how she always takes misfortune on the chin (sometimes literally given how often she’s covered in Band-Aids), allowing herself to be impressed by others around her or have her friend Purin’s insults bounce off her like rubber, much to Purin’s consternation. She coasts on by, often right into a telephone poll. She meets Rei, the senpai of the show, who introduces her to the world of DIY crafts after helping fix Serufu’s bike, and one clever little pokingly-fun pun later, the show sets itself into proper motion. Coming to stop by the club include the shy-but-capable Takumi, the self-confident and obscenely-rich Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII (which, yes, that is her name, and it is glorious), and the energetic and ninja-like Shii, all while Serufu’s old friend Purin watches the oddball group from afar.
“Oddball” not only defines the group as a whole, but it similarly characterizes the humor. *Do it Yourself!!* does not rely nearly so heavily on setups and punchlines; if anything, the way I described the pun earlier as “pokingly-fun” is the most-appropriate descriptor. Given the sometimes-weird nature of the characters, both individually and as a group, any time is prime time for a little barb, a little cutoff, or a little moment for someone to be temporarily fascinated with someone else. Scenes therefore have a little spark that allows comedy to come from any direction and from essentially anyone. They have their moment arise naturally out of the dialogue and dynamic, then gradually fade away into the background. So when Shii scampers up a tree like Spider-Man or Rei and Takumi obsess over a mutual love of manga, the scene carries on seamlessly when the moment is done like no pause had occurred.
But when it decides to pause, it works well! DIY is not just a little framework to make the show fit into some kind of mold. *Do it Yourself!!* wisely takes the time to let us know how exactly the various goods and crafts are made, which is more than can be said for other shows around niche hobbies in its genre. I’ll confess upfront that I have never been blessed with good hands for DIY. I am not a woodworker, handyman, or anything closely resembling that nature; putting together a chair this past summer was more hassle than I’d like to admit. Not all of the crafts are immediately feasible—I wouldn’t know where to get my hands on a decent UV light for hardening gels—yet I didn’t care. The show treats its audience like it treats Serufu, a newcomer to this type of craft that might need help knowing what to do and when to do it. The show, in essence, takes it upon itself to be the teacher. I cannot say that I remember how to make everything the show demonstrated, but I enjoyed seeing the process at work and play out into finished objects.
The care in showing the crafts be made step by step is not the only way the show shows its cohesiveness. It’s made clear throughout the narrative that the club members are not just a hodgepodge of girls hanging out together and doing whatever is in the anime’s name. Rather, they are and actually function like a team, actively seeking to help one another when something either goes wrong or needs to be worked on. Especially as the increasingly-apparent competence of the other DIY Club members makes its presence known, Serufu is notably left behind. Jobko, Rei, and Shii are all good with their hands, but even early on, newcomer Takumi works to create the colorful mosaic to hang outside the school’s clubhouse. Serufu bumbles about trying to do something as plain as work an electronic screwdriver correctly. This does beg the question of why let the narrative focus so much on Serufu.
The show, fantastically, has an answer. Serufu is a walking accident waiting to happen—put the hammer down, Serufu!—but her contributions to the club are not limited to simply making things. I remarked before that one trait to describe her was “disarming,” which each character at various points in the story comes to experience for themselves in her wake. Even when the show operates under the veneer of giving the other characters their time in the sun, Serufu is always right beside them, encouraging them with unapologetic, sincere positivity and getting them to admit or realize something about being in the club that they might not have either understood or wanted to admit, or perhaps even wanted to try.
To put it in terms the show would use, if the other club members are the tools in the shop (the saw, the screw, the hammer, and the straight-edge), Serufu is the superglue that keeps it all together. Serufu’s usefulness to the story is only insubstantial if one limits their understanding of the DIY Club and DIY as a whole to the things that are made and how finely-polished they are. If Serufu were out of the picture, it’s fair to say that everyone’s lives would have been a lot lonelier. Because she’s so enthused, there’s a mutual admiration that is collectively shared among everyone in a way that comes across as so earnest and sweet that it makes the mundanity meaningful. Serufu’s handiness comes not in the house for Meat—it makes sense in context, I promise—nor the charms they make. Her handiness is in talking with Purin on the boat, cute nicknames, always trying to make new friends, and letting the good times roll. The DIY Club, with all its members smiling and enjoying themselves, is her masterpiece. It may have been forged from incongruous parts with the instruction manual thrown into a paper shredder (after getting jammed first because, let’s be real for a minute, it would happen if Serufu did it), but hold their form they do.
*Do it Yourself!!* never could have wrestled with the larger monoliths that the season had, but it didn’t need to. What the show did was adopt something plain with just enough of the right blend of sugar, spice, and everything nice. It needed no high-fantasy; it just needed a saw. It needed no bloody splashes; it just needed a lot of Band-Aids. In setting itself apart from everything surrounding it, it carved its own cozy little corner handicraft in my anime season, and whether one wants to observe from a distance to see the overall shape or get in close to see the times Serufu accidentally screwed in something incorrectly, it was wholly its own.
In that sense, the show “did it itself,” which is so beautifully poetic in its own way.
KANLen09
DIY, it can mean 1001 things, but my dear children, it most importantly stands for: Do It...Yourself. Wait what? Duu eet yoor serufu? The Fall 2022 season has been one of (if not) THE strongest seasons I've seen in almost half a decade ever since going the seasonal route, and there were a fair few shows that are on everybody's radar, from the much-hyped Chainsaw Man to even Bleach's final arc that is the Thousand-Year Blood War. But if there's a genre you absolutely CANNOT discount this season, it's the CGDCT genre that surprisingly pops, from the "surprise, surprise" much-celebrated Bocchi the Rock!, to the plainershow that is "Do It Yourself!!". And did I say plain? Yes, I did, though this anime sure feels like one plain snoozefest, I assure you that it's not, and definitely worth its slice-of-life, laid-back nature that is worth every detail and nip of enjoyment.
Being an original anime (which there're more coming out very recently), it's a given that this passion project is birthed out of something. The concept laid by producer Avex Pictures is a norm for one, but have you wondered who is the mysterious IMAGO also being credited for this show? This, you won't find it anywhere else more than a coincidence that the name happens to be a term in Dennou Coil, a passion project of living legend Mitsuo Iso. Sure enough, DIY the Animation's lead producer Tomohiko Iwase is a long-time acquaintance of Iso who recently produced The Orbital Children, so that may also feel like a contrived series of coincidences, as is the fact that the surprisingly rich world-building that feels strongly reminiscent of his delightfully quirky near-futures. And the series' writer Kazuyuki Fudeyasu is also quite seasoned in a lot of diverse anime being a veteran, and it's really a no-brainer that I really come to trust him as one of the good writers in the anime industry over the years to deliver even basic things like this, handled with the best of his talents.
The staff team behind DIY the Animation is superb to say the least, but what's a show without its characters, and this show uses them to full effect in a very mesmerizing way possible. The plot itself you can read through the synopsis, it's quite detailed thanks to the folks at MAL Rewrite, but the TL; DR is essentially Mitsuo Iso's idealism of a near-future world where technology has taken over much of the world's evolution, and the ways of the old are being left behind in the dust. Kinda beats a reference to the IRL we live in nowadays hits hard isn't it, where even the most seasoned crafts one day will fall into obscurity? Sure, feels like it. Any who, in a certain part of Japan, there exists 2 schools: Yuyu Girls' Vocational and Gatagata Girls, each of them serving a different trait: YuuVoc in technological advancement; Gata Girls' in traditionalism. And this serves the basis for the 2 main characters: Miku "Purin" Suride and Serufu Yua, attending in the respective schools they originated from. Serufu's accident-prone personality may have come with a blessing in disguise: the senior Rei Yasaku, whom is the head of Gatagata Girls' DIY club, a club that was said to have a rich history that with the advent of technology, have quickly come obsolete and behind in the times, needing to fulfill members for the usual school club quota, or risk disbandment. But still, the passion of DIY keeps Rei going forward, and after having the usual run-in-the-mill accident, Serufu is brought to the club in the hopes that this will be her final nail in the coffin that could reconciliate her relationship with Miku or end up being strangers.
Immediately, the characters do stand out for their uniqueness. Miku using technology to her full potential, and Serufu being very hands-on with stuff, it's already bound that these childhood friends-cum-neighbours have a feud against each other, but not in the way that you expect. While Serufu is more easy-going but accident-prone, Miku is that "close" friend who's always watching over the heads of friends, and being characteristically jealous at what they do, the most prominent being Miku's not-so-honest tsundere personality to reflect at her composure towards Serufu. It's certainly predictable, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and Serufu's kind-hearted, sweet and naiveté personality does help out in that regard to eventually pull Miku over to the DIY side. A quick mention that Serufu's house is full of pets: the dog Pochi, the cat Tama, and the best of all: the pig Meat, because it can't help but shudder EVERY SINGLE TIME pork is mentioned, it's a good running gag. Also, in case you didn't realize it yet, all the names are homonyms from the Japanese name order: Pochi is a very common dog name, as is Tama for cats, and both Serufu's name and Miku's nickname put togther, spell out "Yourself" and is a pun on "3D Print" (Suride Purin) respectively. How creative is that?
Slowly, more characters are subsequently introduced as well:
- Takumi "Takumin" Hirage, a somewhat shy classmate of Serufu's, and someone that needs pushing (some, but not a lot) to do what she likes to do.
- Kouki Kokoro, the Southeast Asian girl that's a female version of Tarzan being very energetic, and oh so much with the cat-like personality, meow. She's Miku's clingy best friend who always calls her "Suridecchi".
- Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII, the American that sounds like royalty, but is in actuality a child genius, with wealth and resources to boot in using technology to assist in her projects. The only questionable part is her affluent Japanese, as she mixed up her enrollment and ended up in Serufu's school instead of Miku's. The long-winded named girl doesn't like her name, so she is given the nickname of Jokbo, a homonym of Serufu always saying "Good job!"
- Haruko Hoketsu, the school nurse at Gata Girls', and advisor for the DIY Club. She always attends to Serufu being an accident-prone kid with a perfect accidental record.
But if I have to pick out one character that inflicted me the most, it's Serufu herself. Being that calm and collected, yet accidental friend who's always patched up in bandages, she's the true definition of the show in every regard: not just learning how to make stuff, but accidents do happen in handicraft, and take or leave it that Serufu is all that clumsy, it's what makes her character stand out the most. Truly, one of my best new characters worth the adjective of the waifu (or I guess, Shoujo) bait. Even more surprising, this is newbie Seiyuu Konomi Inagaki's first-ever main role in her 1st year of VA work (starting with Winter's Slow Loop), and I can already tell that whatever of her future's gonna come, it will be just as bright and cheerful as Serufu herself.
IKEA the Animation may look decent like molasses to objectified people who feel like this show isn't for them, but I can understand the appeal why. But, to really highlight how amazing this show is, you've really gotta look into the staff team behind this. Studio Pine Jam has only been in the anime industry as long as I started watching seasonal anime (about 5 years at this point), but aside from its mainstay in-house director Kazuhiro Yoneda, it's evident that it has distinct visuals and designs, made probable by the one and only Yuusuke “Fugo” Matsuo, an animator once helmed at KyoAni, who left to build his career for the years ahead being character designer and chief animation director for the Yama no Susume a.k.a Encouragement of Climb series (with the current Season 4 (Next Summit) also airing this season), as well as The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls series. Yuusuke Matsuo may single-handedly be the reason why lots of people are drawn into the show with his cartoony fun and naturalism in body language, made possible with his greatest strength of character design and animation philosophy. And you can tell in every regard that DIY the Animation takes its basic formula and wraps it around in a mind of state, something akin to teaching people how to do things, and it did just that to give its audience a good time. It's not so much a flex to have talent like this with animation this technically superlative but also frictionless, and the scene compositions being quite deliberate, yet so casually inviting that there is indeed no feeling of pressure to it. A lot of anime can offer the same relaxing trend, but you’ll struggle to find one that is so lax in nature across all its creative aspects, and DIY the Animation to me, is absurdly wild and beautiful all at the same time.
Not to mention, the character theme songs are so gosh darn great that it makes for such a compelling OST to listen to. While the OP gives the sense of whimsical, joy-like harmony equivalent to a sing-along session, Serufu and Miku's ED is just as good for a cooldown to relax at the episodes' end (the acoustic guitar's rift, damn, I felt that). I especially love the visuals coupling the songs: the fun and harmonious beats of the characters ooze out so much personality in the OP, while the ED is just some nice melodrama of Serufu's house pets having their time playing around in their own musical craft.
Still hot on the heels of one of the best CGDCT shows I've ever watched this year (that would be Spring's Healer Girl), I totally understand that if the genre has nothing to fulfill but it's typical slice-of-life-ish sequences that could bore out people, but its the notion that gets you, and for that, DIY the Animation really hits my heart hard, of a time that I used to have creating handicraft, getting injured sometimes (not as much as Serufu) and the most important of all: the meaning of having fun with friends alike.
I know I will definitely miss this show like a paper-thin notebook ready to be used for arts and craft, and with that, the CGDCT genre has finally hit its peak in 2022. It's a relaxing time in a much-hyped season such as this, and it's worth the watch, no matter how much love or hate that this show gets. It's just incredible.
Let's say it together: DIY - Duu Eet Yua Serufu!
Marinate1016
While Bocchi the Rock may be this season’s slice of life talk of the town, Do it Yourself! holds the SoL crown for me. A truly fun, educational and heart warming tale about 6 very different girls, brought together by their love of handicrafts. DIY in many ways feels like an open love letter to the medium. You can’t help but get sucked into the beautifully rendered backgrounds and environments. The plot is simple yet engaging and the characters are all so rich, loveable and interesting. It’s really a simple formula that is executed to perfection by Pine Jam. The show is equal parts fun andeducational. In fact, watching the anime made me get into some simple DIY tasks around the house and I’m proud of how they turned out. Motivating viewers to get up and better themselves is truly the mark of an amazing series.
Seeing the girls building new things week after week sounds mundane, but it is legitimately one of the most cathartic de-stressing activities you can do. I enjoyed seeing the girls overcome obstacles in front of them whether it was building a table or building a secret hideout for the club. The banter between the girls was great and the voice acting was top notch as well. Like most slice of life shows, all of the girls got their own mini arcs and I felt they did good jobs of expanding upon their characters, while not conflicting with the laid back mood of the show too much. Of particular note was Juliet’s and Miku’s which were my faves. Speaking of Miku, her character design is without a doubt one of my faves all time. Something about short haired girls with multi coloured hair/eyebrows.
As previously stated, the art is really beautiful in this show. I like how they went for a more “anime-y” look as opposed to the hyper realistic designs that shows constantly go with these days, though considering this is the same studio that brought us Kageki shoujo, I should not be too surprised.
It’s so difficult to come up with and follow through on a GOOD anime original show, but Pine Jam laid a good foundation that can be followed by other studios here. Come up CGDCT where the girls teach the audience genuinely useful information. Profit.
After long days this was such a pleasant show to come home to and I will really miss all of these girls so much. I would love if we got some type of manga continuation of the story, but in the meantime, make sure you check out this gem.
Do it Yourself! Gets 10 crafts out of 10.
ZeroMajor12
What else do you expect? It's an anime that exists to fulfil its only purpose, showing high-school girls making DIY products by themselves. Do It Yourself knows precisely what it wants to do and wants to achieve, though I can't help but feel that it is somewhat lacking. You are safe from godawful drama and torturous bland main characters, to say the least. To start, the characters are not exactly well-written, everything about them is purely superficial, from character designs, personalities, dialogues, quips, and problems they face through life is all expected. As they made attempts to provide a few details to the cast, it doesnothing but sparkle a few glitters to their entirely classic character details. I'm not saying they are not likeable, it's just that every character exists to repeat the same lines just to sell you the character they are portraying, Serufu is clumsy and bubbly, therefore the voice actress will do nothing more than just sound bubbly. Purin, a.k.a Pudding is basically a closet tsundere who's a big fan of "TECHNOLOGY", Jobko has to sound like a foreigner speaking Japanese, Yasaku sounds reliable, so she has to be reliable. The character I least liked was Kokoro because her dialect is her trying to sound cute by putting nyan in every line, so it got on my nerves after hearing her saying it for a while. In conclusion, character development is kept simple and mostly nonexistent, only for moments where their club is threatened.
In terms of style, Do It Yourself does a really good job of showcasing it. Like I said earlier, its simplistic hand-drawn style gives it a sense of charm as if it was a passion project and the music is really good too especially the opening. I don't have many words for it other than the word charming.
I do like Do It Yourself!, but it would have been better if there were more times of serious and emotional character development, a bit less of DIY exposition dialogue (although fine as it is), and growing from their overreliance on generic dialogues and tropes. It's a decent show. Though, don't let this discourage you. Just watch if you just want to let out some steam.
Szatan_Serduszko
My God... Words really can't describe how great this anime is! If you are sad or depressed or tired after working/studying all day and looking for something light and wholesome to watch - look no further, you've found it! Do It Yourself!! is the story of six high school girls who belong to a DIY club, and their goal becomes to find more members so that the club can continue to exist and receive the necessary funding. Although the plot seems simple, it is really fun to watch! The characters are phenomenally drawn. Each of the girls has unique character traits that make it impossible not to lovethem. Clumsy Serufu, clever Jobko or shy Takumi immediately arouse sympathy in the recipient.
The soundtrack deserves praise as well, which reflects the atmosphere of the entire anime very well - it is cheerful, positive and uplifting. Both the opening and ending are really good!
The drawings and animation are also correct. The visuals are really nice, mainly because there is little scenery, so the creators could spend more time on them.
I really, really hope there will be a second season of this anime. I think it really deserves it, especially since there is a lack of good slice of life anime, although there are some gems like Yuri Camp lately.
Therefore, do not hesitate any longer and start watching this anime without hesitation and remember: DO IT YUA SERUFU!
Netbug
Do It Yourself! is a charming little anime about moe girls trying to save their beloved high school club, and it's done in a very cozy way with the occasional homoerotic subtext thrown in for good measure. So, you know, it's a well written and well animated rendition of every other CGDCT anime you've ever seen... except it plays with something you rarely see this type of anime play with: the setting. While most CGDCT anime take place in present day in any-town Japan, because that's all they really need to do to make their story work, DIY! takes place in a near future where dronesfly about, pets can be programmed, and the self-driving school bus whisks the best and brightest students off to learn how to make cutting-edge technology. Serufu, the main character, flies in the face of everything her barely sci-fi world values - she lives in a fairly old house with 3 flesh and blood animals and rides her bike to the older school that is figuratively and quite literally overshadowed by the one her childhood friend Suride ("Purin") attends. It's a small detail that isn't given much time, but really helps drive home just how much of a lost art the DIY club is celebrating by choosing to make things with their hands. It's a bit of a shame that the show eventually decides it feels the need to spell this out for viewers in later episodes.
A small shame about the series is that, once again, Japanese animation studios are showing their lack of willingness to hire people outside of Japan to voice characters from outside of Japan. One of the main characters, Jobko, is from America and speaks in broken Japanese, often switching to English as a vocal tick... and she is voiced by Nichika Omori. While Jobko's random interjections in English are still funny and charming, this decision takes some of the punch out of the gimmick, and to say that the Japanese audience would not notice this lack of authenticity is, in my opinion, giving Japanese audiences far too little credit. This can also be seen in the character of Kokoro Koki ("Shii") who, despite growing up in Southeast Asia, is voiced by Karin Takahashi. While this detail by no means ruins the show, it feels particularly glaring in a series that put that bit of extra effort into making its setting feel authentic. Ultimately, like everything else about it, DIY! plays it safe at the loss of some potential impact.
In the end, DIY! is some of the best that CGDCT has to offer without being so bold as to stop being a CGDCT show entirely. If you liked the feel of "Keep Your Hands of Eizouken!" but wished it had stayed a little more cute and cozy like "Laid Back Camp", you'll probably enjoy this series. Just don't expect it to break any major new ground, regardless of how much it teases viewers that it might.
PixelB
Do it Yourself, DIY!! for short, is an extremely structured and well made show for an original anime. In fact, I had to do a double take that it was actually an original adaptation. It was just that good. Let me compare to Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na, since DIY has similar themes. Generally speaking, hallmarks of original anime tend to have terribly paced episodes, a haphhazard plot, and characters that only serve to drive the story forward, and melodrama used in order to keep the viewer engaged with the story. Yet, Eizouken was actually the show that made me think these things despitebeing an adaptation of a manga, while DIY doesn't encounter any of these. Despite Eizouken being the show about animation, DIY is the one that actually has a creative art style and decent animation.
Characters and story flow just so naturally in DIY. While it's nothing special, it certainly brings a cohesiveness that I didn't expect. Characters are developed, and the dynamics in character relationships and dialogue is done in a natural way. There was a certain flow to all of the conversations that felt natural, and that translates to the entire show. Yua Serefu, our MC, despite being a klutz, isn't exactly a "moe" klutz that acts cutes and ditzy, and the show never intended that either. In fact, she has knee length skirts, as do the rest of the characters in the show, and possesses a more androgynous make than a typical CGDCT show would do. Again, this translates to the rest of the show. There isn't much at all sexualization or "moe" stuff happening despite having themes of a show being CGDCT. It diverges from the formula, and most of the character designs intentionally try to lower down the sexual/ecchi tone that other CGDCT shows tend to do. The ecchi interaction just almost never happens, and it feels like the girls in the story could actually be real people. There's a few obligatory bathtub scenes, but you could tell the show was trying to take those scenes down a notch as well. Yasuka Rei, the captain of the DIY club, despite being a tomboy, is not treated as a "prince" character, and also is a bit girlish. Jakbo, despite being a young genius archetype, doesn't possess too much aloofness and instead shows great empathy and range of emotion. Miku's a typical tsundere archetype, but also is more caring and considerate than you'd expect. Kouki's a "free spirit" sort of character and brings that personality into the conversations and interactions she has. Hikage...yeah she's basically a lame bookworm sort of character that manages to become friends and a mainstay member of the DIY club, but I'd say she's the most boring one of them all, getting barely any sort of characterization.
Story is just as natural as the characters. Only the beginning, where the initial members of the DIY members join, especially Jakbo, have a bit of melodrama before settling in as mainstay characters. Other than some parts of the beginning, the show is pretty lighthearted, with activities of the DIY club ranging from a long range of things, as the craft can be very broad. And all of it is centered around a loose goal or idea about creating a treehouse. The DIY club does exactly that. From preparing the funds, to carving the wood, to making blueprints, and finally the execution, you actually get to see the DIY club go step by step in it's execution towards it's goal. Of course, the DIY club also has fun doing so, with fun interactions, going to the beach, and some character bonding moments, there wasn't any formulaic or activities that felt like the club was just "going through the motions." You also get to see the estranged relationship between Miku and Serefu become whole again, without any melodrama. Yes, that's right, the show's theme was pretty lighthearted, and there wasn't really any particular drama to speak of. Jakbo has a melancholic past and it shows in certain moments, but it just goes to show that melodrama really isn't required to have character development or make a good show.
Again, contrast this to Eizouken. The shows are similar in that both clubs are making one final project to present to the school for fun, but also to display their skills and perhaps attract new members. Yet, in Eizouken, I really felt a disconnect between the animation club's progress and the actual content of the episodes. There were explanations in droves about certain animation techniques, but the actual process was basically done off screen. I didn't feel like I could observe the animation making process step by step. Each episode was haphhazard, with some being completely filler or some mediocre "pen and paper freestyle" animation.
Same thing with art. Eizouken's art is pretty bad. Animation's also pretty bad. in DIY!!, the artstyle is actually quite pleasing to the eye. It's minimalistic, but not without purpose. It reminds me of Minami-ke's animation, but with more stylization and flair. Everything in the anime is bright and uses pastel color pallets. There's actually no shading at all, and most of the coloring is solid. Yet, it turned out great. Characters look bright and colorful, and it's just the little things that bring the show up the notch, like how the mouths and eyes, when viewed from the side look natural, and how the "back of the hair" and the front of all of the characters have different color color palettes to create depth. when compared to Eizouken's repetitive pen and paper animation style that they use sometimes, I felt like Serefu's daydreaming tangents were a lot more creative. The general paneling and framing of the show is just better, and indicative from when the animation decides to go on tangents when describing the dialogue or character interaction. This was also done with budget constraints too, which I find amazing. The artstyle is great, but the animation of DIY definitely suffers. There are slideshows, freeze frames, and some lack of details of the faces in far shots, but I didn't think it actually drew me away from the experience. Animations sometimes were a little rough and probably needed more key frames of in-betweens, but the show is smart when working with it's more limited budget, and because of smart pacing and planning, I didn't feel very impacted.
There's some poorly made CGI as always when it comes to anime in regards to certain background objects, like cars or drones, but just like how the setting is some "fourth industrial revolution," they're both so irrelevant to the story that it might as well not exist. Seriously, the story talks about how there's technological advances in AI and everything, but barely no expansion on that theme at all, and a vast majority of the show makes you feel like the show is set in modern Japan. There's just a little speck of some worldbuilding here and there to indicate that yes, this show actually takes place in a technological future, but in reality, it's essential SOL in modern times still and this setting that doesn't get developed is rarely mentioned, and as a result, rarely matters in the grand scheme of things.
thelastavocado
Do it yourself is a unique, original anime and it has many side's that made it unique. I'm going to talk about 6 things that I noticed while watching. Firstly, the building ideas' creativeness. The fact that the club house was once done by the early club members is interesting. Also anime explains how it works and processes it carefully. The final product of them has wonderful details and this makes it original itself, just as Serufu mentioned. Secondly, the idea of team work's importance. The club gains it's members day-by-day, even members who cannot join this officially became interested and decided to be a partof it. Once they gathered, it can be seen that every work that has been done was done as a club, not individually. They organized the funds, get the items they need by a special way and had fun while doing these things.
Thirdly, opening sequence's song. It can be seen that this anime is a cheerful anime, and the song of it makes it even more enjoyable. I watched every episode's opening sequence, just because it is really suitable for the themes the anime has.
Fourthly, the name choice of Serufu and the pure heart she has. 'Yua Serufu'...I haven't noticed that she has a name like this until she joined the club and leader justifyed it. This suits with the personality she has, which is pure. Her personality is just very amiable. She brings joy to the club, which the other club members declared this joy she brings is needed for them to have the courage to start something, then finish it properly.
Fifthly, the art style. Personally, I've found this artstyle really exclusive. Those pastel colors is really sufficient. The detail here is, characters' hair has a color in the front, and a different color hidden beneath it.
Finally, Serufu's pig. This just takes place in the beginning, but this was funny too. Every time Serufu's mom said 'pork' the pig hid himself and trembled in fear :D
To sum up, Do It Yourself is a nice, amiable anime to spend time with. There aren't much conflicts, but there is some character resolving. Dynamic characters don't have a change that effects the story, and the static characters just completes the story. I had a great time watching and hoped a second season to exist, but there isn't a second season..
ToxicRepeter
This anime really grows on you over time while teaching the value of not being caught up to times. The story takes place in a technologically evolved society. In the many shots were the girls' school is seen from above, it almost seems to be getting engulfed by the larger technical school around it, even the girls that go (or where supposed to go) there consider handwork useless ans outdated. Throughout the anime they learn to realistically construct anything they wish through teamwork while having fun in the process. The bittersweet ending with one of their members having to leave perfectly wraps up this wonderful journey.
Firechick12012
So...I initially passed over Do It Yourself!! because I had already been watching a bunch of other anime, so it wasn't on my radar. But by the end of this month, I was getting sick and tired of one anime I was watching, Bibliophile Princess, so on a whim, I decided to watch Do It Yourself!! just so I could have something else to focus on. This wound up being a good decision on my part, as while it's definitely another Cute Girls Doing Cute Things sort of anime, it actually does manage to stand out from the others by virtue of the fact thatit's all about making things by hand and being staffed by people who actually put some passion into the show and care about it.
The story goes as follows: Serufu Yua and Miku "Purin" Suride are childhood friends who had planned to apply to a tech-savvy school together, but the accident prone Serufu flunked the entrance exams and wound up getting shunted to another, more traditional school. Miku isn't too happy about this, and their friendship is strained as a result. Serufu accidentally ruins her bike while on her way to school, but a passerby fixes it up for her. The passerby, a classmate named Rei Yasaku, is the president of Gatagata Girls' High School's DIY Club, which centers on making old fashioned crafts by hand, but it's in danger of shutting down due to not having enough members. Thinking this might be the best way to repair her friendship with Purin, Serufu joins the DIY Club in the hopes of creating projects that could bring them together once more, with new members joining shortly afterward...assuming she doesn't hurt herself yet again.
From a technical standpoint, the animation is quite good. A lot better than I thought it'd be, actually. While it doesn't have much in the way of shading, sharp linework, or extremely bright colors, the actual animation is surprisingly kinetic. Characters move smoothly and fluidly, with a lot of careful attention given to body language and how the characters present themselves, like Serufu's meandering gait and how Jobko always has her hands in her pockets. The backgrounds have a unique, watercolor look to them, and for some reason the girls all have two-toned hair, though it's not as obnoxiously clashing as Healer Girl's characters have. While DIY's anime isn't the flashiest, the animators knew what they were doing and put their all into what matters most, like the nails, drills, hammers, and capturing the tactile sensation of drilling a nail into place. To quote another reviewer, DIY's investment in these details helps instill a sense of authenticity that buoys the show's ambitions to inspirational and educational heights. The soundtrack is equally pleasant, tranquil, and laid-back, though the opening theme is a bit too squeaky for my ears.
I am kind of mixed on the characters, though. They're not exactly the most groundbreaking or three-dimensional, which is fine, but they do have some subtle traits that do manage to make them feel just a little more than just one-note moeblobs. Serufu, in spite of her accident prone klutziness, actually does pretty well in school and is a competent artist. I could actually relate to Takumi, her love for a certain book series, and her insecurities, and Rei is pretty likeable too. But the other half of the cast fares a little less well. Shii doesn't really do much except act like a squeaky-voiced five-year-old who screeches "Meow!" all the time, Jobko bordered on being insufferable in the beginning, though thankfully she calmed down a bit later on, and Purin's whole reason for being a tsundere towards Serufu just came off as really petty and stupid. Purin, I get it, you're mad that Serufu didn't get into the same school as you, and it's understandable that you'd be mad at her about it for, like, a day or two, but it's not like the two of you can't see each other anymore! Her school is literally on the same area as the tech school you go to, and you two literally live right next to each other, for God's sake! And continuing to be unnecessarily bitchy towards her after the fact makes her come across as petty and shallow. I know she gets better at the end, but having to deal with her being a whiny brat over something that didn't need to be made into a huge conflict was just annoying to me.
But Purin's tsundere schtick isn't the only problem the show has. There's one particularly huge flaw that stops the show from achieving true greatness, I feel, and it's a big one. Does NOBODY have any concept of basic safety equipment or safety regulations?! These high school aged girls never wear goggles, cut resistant gloves, dust masks, and so on, yet they engage in a lot of woodworking, which in real life requires all of those things! One scene shows Takumi cutting into glass, and somebody posted on a discussion forum about DIY that it's important to wear breathing protection when cutting into glass, because not doing so is extremely dangerous. Every science class I took in school mandated that every student wear goggles, masks, or gloves before handling any kind of chemical whatsoever. Safety regulations exist for a reason, producers! As much as I like this show and its whole ethos, I'm concerned that somebody might watch this show and think they can use power tools without basic protection and wind up cutting their own arm off as a result. Stuff like that happens if you're not careful and don't follow safety guidelines! Which also makes me wonder why a school would even allow teenage girls to use woodworking tools without safety equipment. If something like that happened in America, the school would get sued to high heaven. Also, this is more of a personal nitpick but BY GOD Jobko's voice is annoying as fuck! Who's bright idea was it to make a 12-year-old sound like a dying chipmunk?! Just listening to her voice hurts my ears, and it borders dangerously close to Misaki Kuno levels of straining, unsustainable squeakiness.
I also wish there was a bit more detail on the worldbuilding, such as how technology managed to advance to quickly, but I do like that the anime just treats it as normal and not too big a deal, as this is just the world the girls live in. Plus, DIY as an anime is more about stressing that no matter how far technology advances, building things from the ground up with your own hands is still important and still has its place. It doesn't try to claim that technology and technological advances in and of themselves are bad, something I very much appreciate. After all, every new bit of technological advances started off as a DIY project at some point, didn't it? Do It Yourself!! as an anime isn't going to set the world on fire, but I don't think you should miss out on it, especially if you like iyashikei anime with a bit more meat on their bones.
EnshourT_
I would never thought an anime about CGDCT's with DIY would make me genuinely enjoy and love this Anime Original series more than I have to. DIY!! or Do It Yua Serefu!! (get it.. its a pun) is like a therapy that we didn't deserve but a therapy that we all need, it's a very feel good show/series about girls creating and making DIY stuff, it gives the same similar feeling as your Grandma's nostalgic and wholesome cookies whenever you visit her. While people talk about Bocchi The Rock, Chainsaw Man and many more popular series this season, this Anime was I think very underground, Inever heard people talk about it and I'm glad that I "Accidentally" found this Golden of a hidden gem. The Artstyle is very neat and clean, the characters/cast are hella enjoyable to watch they're not over the top, and the OP which is an absolute banger, the wholesomeness just never stops through and through.
As an Anime Original I would never really thought that It would exceed my expectation but it did and which is why I'm personally giving this a 10/10.
If you're in need of some feel good wholesome CGDCT's, hey this Anime is especially made for you.
Thank you for reading my poo poo of a short Review and have a nice day.
rikiki109
‟Have you seen that the MC name is Yua Serufu, like YOURSELF IN DO IT YOURSELF ? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” -fuck you Except this joke (yeah it is clever and funny I get it) and Self eating pork in front of his pet pig that always gets scared that might both be a bit too overused, this anime fucking slaps. CGDCT bros do be eating good with Do It Yourself and Bocchi the Rock, but it's not like if this Fall 2022 season is a banger for any type of anime fan anyway. Indeed, like I said this anime is very good and a great cure to depressionwith the dangerous amount of wholesomeness and cuteness in this beautiful and unique art style.
Talking about the art style, let me develop on it : It's not trying to be like other anime, or try to make the most stunning visual ever (I mean it's not supposed to be CSM anyway), it's just simple visual with clean lines that makes it very relaxing and adds a ton to the cuteness of this anime, it really makes the characters stands out in a very beautiful and futuristic background with mostly a pastel palette. Pine Jam really outdid themselves in an original anime (check out for the story review in a few moments) and I'm very surprised in what they can achieve, it's truly a great anime studio that made other insane anime like Gamers! /s.
The story is quite simple, a bunch of cute school girls doing cute things (which is DIY), so making a bunch of random shits in their free time together after school, it's literally an insane idea in a futuristic world where machine makes everything very fast and very great, reconnecting to their roots and making things by hand and selling it to the local community, it's beautiful. Each episode is so relaxing to watch, it's even totally accurate to how you use the tools in real life, they did put a lot of effort into it. The concept is a great idea for CGDCT and it's executed perfectly.
Before talking about the characters, I just wanna mention how much the Opening is so great, THEY EVEN HAVE SUNGLASSES AND THE DANCE IS SO COOL. All 6 members of the DIY club are great and nice characters that complements each others very well and they are all a a good fit for this anime. Yua Self, the MC, is always hurting herself from all the tools that she's using and it's hilarious, she's also very wholesome and wants everyone to be friends. Her childhood friend, Purin, is another banger of a character, a Tsundere that at first no longer want to do cute things, try to act up and be an adult slowly evolves and shows her true happiness in doing things with her friends and the friend that she had for most of her life, my favourite of this anime fr fr. Then there is Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII (wtf ?), named Jobko by the gang, she's an american loli genius that always acts cool with her money and english words, a great and funny character to the cast. There is Kokoro, a very energetic tan and ninja girl that moves by jumping from trees to trees between the two schools (yeah there is two schools in this show fuck it) with sometimes an annoying voice but imo it was fine. There is also Takumi, one of the first friends that Self makes, she's very reserved and shy individual that has great idea for things to build in the club, she's great. Finally, the elder and the leader of the DIY club is Rei, she's just the mother figure of the group that has been tinkering with shits for all of her childhood and teaches the rest of the club how to use x tools and all of the very detailed strategies. All of these girls combined makes for an explosive combo of wholesomeness and great DIY. Finally, I wanna note the very great characters of both Self and Purin's moms hehe.
To conclude, this anime is a must watch for any CGDCT connoisseur, it has great and unique visual, nice and unique concept with all great and different characters all put together in a work of art original anime by Pine Jam. There isn't much bad to say about this, if you're a fan of these kind of show, you can rush on it blindly. It's one of the best anime to watch after a long/tiring school/work/doing nothing lol day if you wanna just relax and watch something with a ton of cute and wholesome moments of school girls making furniture and stuff.
Smilomaniac
Much like its protagonist, the show is wholesome, charming, silly and positive. The art is endearing, the characters are colorful (if a bit trope-y) and the message is a simple but effective one - You can do things yourself and you'll appreciate the effort and result if you keep at it. It is a warm and engaging show that will fit you like a warm blanket during autumn. Not a masterpiece, not an instant classic, but plenty good enough to enjoy and lift your spirits. Often a show doesn't need to be more than this. From a critical stand point, the writing isn't great. The characters haveenough depth to them, but are essentially all gifted. Each of the girls involved are geniuses in one or multiple way and even the protagonist who is ditzy and unreliable, is a top student. None of this is essential to the story or has any particular benefit, besides maybe being a power fantasy for girls.
There is an overall theme of convenient technology versus practical handicraft and do-it-yourself know-how, about how we maybe should over rely on having others do things for us, but the show doesn't effectively communicate why.
Still, as a comforting slice of life show, this is plenty good enough.
All0Fiction
PEOPLE OF THE WORLD please support this anime in some way-somehow so that people will know that it can make money so they could fund the studio Pine Jam to make another season of this. Fanarts, positive attention, money, products, and other stuff I didn't even consider. 1 voice is not good enough to convince people to invest money in making a new anime season. They are not cheap. Pretty please, with the cherry on top. I want a 2nd season so fucking bad. Now the review. Experience: If you wanted to ever kill someone from chill you wouldn't use AC or Ice Breathing or Hyorinmaru. You woulduse this anime because it is the definition of chill.
This is as a hidden gem as hidden gems could be for me. This anime is one of the reasons why I always put more anime in my Plan to watch every season. Because you never truly know what could be just right for you. And cute girls with cute as-honey voices (MC's voice and personality are pretty much the main reason I am watching this one but the rest of the characters are starting to grow on me as well) doing their cute things could give my soul some true inner piece.
My condition for 9 is to be as good as 5 8's and to be one of those animes that I would be glad to watch on my deathbed or when I am close to dying. This does qualify. If I am watching this one before I die I will die in peace. If it continues to be this good for the rest of the eps then I am giving it a 9.
STORY:
This anime is the whole reason I didn't filter the CGDCT genre. The reason I considered doing such a thing is that most of the time, it doesn't have any. This is that case as well. Just watch some cute girls do their cute things and go on with a bit more happiness inside Yua Serufu (Yourself).
ART:
I have no fucking clue how to rate art but it looks smooth when it wants to be and even when it isn't it is because that was the point (usually comedy, scratch that, COMEDY). Basically, they knew what the fuck they were doing when they made this. At least it feel like that they did.
MUSIC:
Just put on this music when you are in a traffic jam and it will not help with the cars or the honking but it will help you feel a bit better.
CHARACTERS:
All of them are lovable as fuck and entertaining in their own way. But my hat goes off to the MC Yua Serufu. She is the best gal easily. She is the level of chill I aspire in life to be. Stoners ain't got shit on her. There is no stronger weed in the world that you can be higher on than in life. And she is higher than a Space Station. I love
Overall:
Every voice actor is at the top of their game and could easily do ASMR professionally, ALL the characters are lovable, the animation is SMOOOOOOTHer than silk and when it isn't it's is mostly because of the comedy, and the music is honey and sugar for my ears.
If you like the CGDCT genre this is for you.
BUT, if you don't like the CGDCT genre then this is for you.
If it changed my mind when I ignored 99% of this genre then there is a possibility that it would do the same thing to you.
Either way, make some tea and chillax with this anime mate.
*Thanos fist pose at the end of one of the Avengers movies* This will put a smile on your face.
RECOMMENDED SEAL OF APPROVAL.
This is my first review that I ever did. So if it is bad, then great. Tell me some advice on how to improve my writing because this is my second language and any feedback would be dope as fuck.
kuronekkosan
Do It Yourself might as well be the best anime to relax to! With an ensemble of impressive characters, pragmatic plot progression, reasonable character development and the perfect ending episode,the vibes of this anime was IMPECCABLE. In three words: Futuristic yet practical. Pros: 1. Serufu, the protagonist, is incredibly clumsy and to see her get through DIY which requires dexterity was fun. 2. The story is set in a futuristic era, post-fourth industrial revolution and is pretty realistic in its world building. No flying cars, but there are integrated AI for housekeeping and also drones to deliver goods to each house. The houses come with a designateddrone pad and there are schools which train students in this superior tech. Automobile designs are also advanced and yet life goes hand in hand with the old tech as well.
3. After a lot of shounen, I was just glad to see a group of girls just having fun without the ever permeating male gaze ruining it.
4. The age old "Need More Members Or Disband The Club" trope but the ending was pretty life-like.
5. The pet pig "Meat" of the protagonist needs a whole show of its own.
6. The variety of club members was fun to see. The characters and how they bonded with each other was, again, very realistic. The way they had each their strengths and weaknesses and how they figured out how to best work together promotes good team building and was very heartwarming.
7. Very relaxing to watch especially after a hectic day.
8. Enough tension in the plot to keep you interested.
9. Had a beach episode which was not fan service.
Cons:
1. The tsundere banter part was getting a bit exhausting. But there's scope for character development and is well explored in subsequent episodes.
2. There is not really an in depth backstory for the characters except basic necessities. Sometimes you have to know all the nitty gritties of your characters!
3. If you want a detailed explanation of DIY, then this won't be up to par. Most of the activities are explained very superficially and is often requiring specific tools. But personally, I did learn a thing or two.
4. There's a foreign tranfer student character and as much as the VA has tried to do justice to the character, I'm afraid it just didn't work out as well. The stilted Japanese they use shows how the character is still not very fluent in Japanese but the English speaking portions were not well expressed. (This might be a personal gripe though)
Being one of the last animes for my 2022, DIY did do justice and served me what I was looking for—which was something that is of low tension and calming. I would definitely love a second season to this!
KoraxCatalyst
I'm not going to lie, my life hasn't been too hot for the last seven months. After busting my ass to finish my university program and busting my ass even more applying to jobs over the last year or so, I've been left with extremely nebulous future in terms of any actual career. Of course, I'm not the only soul in this world who's experienced a similar level of existential disappointment. But unique to me, I also received a head injury around the same time as graduation that's kept me in a perpetual state of recovery since, meaning doing anything or looking at anything witha bright screen or text has been an hourly utilitarian calculation, where I can safely assume what I'm doing at the rate I'm doing it is making things worse, but I'm also too childish and pissy to concede the devices that have served as the teleological principles for the personalities of my entire generation. I'm no better or worse than any cringy fucking Tiktok zoomer who torpidly accepts whatever hackneyed braindead redundant ass content with shittily edited background music slides devilishly into their feed, I just participate while actively feeling the brain hurt I get. For fucks sake I can't even write this review without getting a headache but I guess that demonstrates the level of passion and endless time to kill on my front. This quagmire of a condition I'm in is not to be mentioned for some kind of self-flagellating pity party that masquerades itself as a review, it is, in reality—to emphasize what I mean when I say, despite how rough my life is right now, Do it Yourself! every week made me a at least tiny bit happier, and it's time I do not regret spending even if it messes with my brain somehow.
To be even more clear for the sake of the review, Do It Yourself is fucking great. The fact an anime original project could express such a level of emotional depth to such a visually polished extent, let alone a cute girls show, speaks to the kind of talent resting in an industry that is about to release like 15 fucking isekai light novel adaptations next season. But instead of going into a further diatribe about the collective dunning-kruger Narou-kei brainworm poisoning the producers who dupe these production committees into funding unnecessary projects, time to actually dive into what I believe makes DIY such a splendid show.
In order to concisely describe what Do It Yourself is about, I've posited the following summaries.
Do It Yourself is a show about a bunch of fleshed out anime tropes building shit and becoming lifelong friends.
Do It Yourself is a show about how analog human expression will continue to thrive even in the midst of rapid technological progress that could give less of a fuck about wood planks or tree bolts.
Do It Yourself is a show about a pubescent tsundere lesbian who learns to fall in love with her crush over and over again about a dozen times.
Each one of these explanations are all viable on their own, but even more so, they all fit cogently together as explanations for the show, for DIY is all these things and more. I'll try to use this format is a rough guide because talking about this show is a tad difficult, so bear with me.
Do It Yourself exists on a fascinating nexus of a specific subgenre of cute girl shows. One that has increasingly blossomed in the last half decade almost as a spin-off of the "cute girls club show," that being the awkwardly titled "Cute girls do a traditionally masculine hobby." Though, unlike those other shows that have so far served to merely carry its genre's water season by season, DIY seizes its own creative potential to push the emotional envelope. When I was first browsing shows for this crowded ass season and I saw this one, I was surprised—Do It Yourself! is an anime original project. You probably wouldn't be able to tell because its directed much of the time like a manga adaptation, but DIY is the unique brainchild of a man named IMAGO, which has been theorized to be a pseudonym for the award-winning artist Mitsuo Iso—the creator of Dennou Coil and last years' Orbital Children. When speaking of the other key creative staff, I remember a quote from Dai Sato (I think?) who was the head writer of Eureka Seven and Ergo Proxy. He ostensibly said that once you're in the industry for long enough and want to do anything big and cool, you have to make a name for yourself with an anime interesting and successful enough to grab the eyes of those who would be willing to give you more money for projects with higher prestige. For Dai Sato, this was Eureka Seven, and for little-known Pine Jam director Kazuhiro Yoneda, and small-time industry screenwriter Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, I think this was their attempt to do just that. Especially for someone like Fudeyasu, whom, up to this point had only exhibited his personal writing prowess for adaptations that were genuinely unhinged like Interspecies Reviewers and Dropkick on my Devil which are cult shows more than anything. This shit is like when Otaro Maijo wrote ID:Invaded and I was floored when it turned out to NOT be the most deranged thing I've ever seen, but tone it down by quite a bit.
And I have to give him a lot of kudos, the writing of DIY is splendid for a show of its caliber. The anime punches above its weight class in terms of its visuals, which are consistently commendable in their own right, but DIY also contains the kind of thought and care put into expressing its characters emotions that is normally reserved for character dramas or Kyoani shows. I swear to god I was five episodes in and I was like "When the fuck is the actual DIY shit going to happen?" because up to that point it had just been an SOL with sprinkles of character drama mixed in. A similar kind of show that attempts a greater degree of emotional depth in its own characters like Yuru Camp tries to integrate everything as much as possible, but different approaches are acceptable as long it doesn't waste my damn time. For DIY it pays off because it invests the audience in the personal struggles of its own characters, which are pretty tropey, and subtlety justifies why we should care that these girls become friends in the first place. When Takumi's backstory is revealed to the audience, of her effectively living through middle school as a closed-off recluse, I can understand why the DIY club and people like Serufu—who couldn't be fucking bothered with whatever neurosis you might have—mean so much to her. Hell, I could hard sympathize with Rei when she shares her baked goods with her friends, indicating that she hopes they will accept the more feminine parts of her personality that she isn't necessarily able to express around her family, whom are nice but fucking weird and structure their home lives around running a small business. The characters in DIY are fleshed out and consistent, including my favorite Miku, and I would like to spend a little bit of time on her if I may.
I find it fucking hilarious as a fan who doesn't really care for tsunderes OR osananajimis, that my favorite character in DIY is both archetypes in this kind of sapphic homunculus with moe sensibilities. Miku, the true light of my life, is in LOVE. Just head over heels for her neighbor, this strange newtype girl named Serufu who's intelligence can be matched by few. But she feels betrayed, "this girl didn't get into the same school as I did, does she not care about our connection? Is she like my dad!?" Such anxieties would get the best of us. Miku is the character with the clearest arc in Do It Yourself. In that she learns to accept Serufu becoming her own person and making connections, while also accepting the emotional attachment she holds for Serufu and accepting the friends she made in their time apart. In episode six, the ultra-wholesome beach episode that goes out of its way to not sexualize its own characters god bless it, there's a moment where Miku ties Serufu's hair up and there's this perfectly composited shot of Serufu looking into the camera appearing the most fem she ever has in the whole show. I went "Wow… she's beautiful, when the hell did that happen?" And I was awestruck like two seconds later when it hit me, THIS is what Miku sees. There’re multiple occurrences in the show where the perspective changes to where Miku is looking and Serufu magically starts presenting way more feminine, only for the camera to cut back to Miku blushing. Uh, ok DIY I see what you're doing here with this weird quasi-reckless apprehension. Quote "Serufu can just think while I do everything else for her," fucking end quote. Can people even bitch about queerbaiting when Miku just IS fucking gay? Either way, 1. I don't care. 2. there's a clear level of pathological detail in this show that many can appreciate, including me.
Honestly, praising the characterization as much as I am, makes me highlight the problems I have with the show that much more. The main problem with this show is, ironically, tied to its own genre. episode 7 onwards, DIY just becomes a cute girls club show instead of the character driven SOL show it was before. Some might ask, "aren't all cute girl shows character driven?" And while I would agree in principle, with this type of program the driving narrative force is the actual topic of the show. So, while DIY is correctly adhering to its conventions, it doesn't do anything to improve the previously established juicy goodness the show already had. And I do want to repeat, this show is full of tropes. So even though many of the characters are either well thought out, or have their moments of novelty, these are moe girl archetypes at the end of the day. I wasn't acting like "Haha Serufu is clumsy xD" basically at all, comfort is the emphasis this one. Additionally, when the girls are actually navigating their DIY crafts, I find it kind of… boring? Which is weird again, that I would complain about a SOL show being low tempo, but after being pleasantly surprised by the first set of episodes, for it to only retrograde back into a more bog standard cute girls show is disappointing. Shit’s still good either way, and they are effectively able to weave in emotionally resonant moments in the latter half, but it doesn’t hit the same.
If there's anything else I can praise DIY for, is its attempt to answer its own philosophical question. Every episode of DIY seeks to answer what it means to "do it yourself" and while it posits 11 different answers, I think DIY strives to leave the viewer with the most optimistic possible message for both the audience and the world DIY takes place in. Do It Yourself takes place in the near future at the beginning of the "fourth industrial revolution" and while that sounds cool, and Miku proselytizes on the virtues of her advanced studies in this field accordingly, life for most people hasn't actually changed that much. Technology has definitely made life more plain sailing and convenient like it always tends to, effectively making DIY projects kind of redundant at first glance. But DIY makes it very explicit that it's not about efficiency, it's about the agency of the individual progressing with and completing projects. Specifically, accomplishing fulfilling work using the tools at your disposal to create usable items from what would be pointless garbage. The girls working tirelessly on these projects over the course of months are able to form friendships with each other that may not have been possible if they were meeting people on their own. Kouki, who originates from some hyper-rich Indian family or some shit, is an utter fucking oddball that is crazy strong and talks like a cat for no reason. There is a clear point made that she struggled to find connections for her entire childhood, with the suggestion that the cat stuff comes from trying to craft some kind of distinct persona. Someone like her cannot necessarily function in society by any normal metric. Sure, she can go to an elite school and do decently, but does she friends, good ones at that? DIY isn't merely about venerating the agency of the individual to repurpose junk into worthwhile items, it's also about the bonds that you forge in the process of asserting your own agency, about utilizing the legacy of the previous generation to carve your name into the world.
I'll tell you, on top of being brain hurt, plus the lack of employment, the biggest thing that sucks about being an underemployed motherfucker living in the exurbs is the lack of companionship. Anyone I knew from university now lives in some city or is still stuck at my alma mater. And honestly 99% of the people who I went to high school with can bite me, which leaves little in the way in terms of real life connections. It's a lonely fucking time over here with all of my genuine relationships existing online, and I was hoping to avoid this trap by moving out around October but at this rate I'm probably stuck here until March, IF that. And with all the failures I honestly want to surrender, to give up on my dreams and waste away in my room until life forces me out of it NHK style. But then I watch shit like DIY and I'm like "Hey, I mean, if I keep trying I'll probably find something right? I'll be able to go to a city and meet people, right?" I mean, despite appearing well put together on the surface, Miku is kind of a mess that would've ended up burning out in college or socially stunted, unable to make friends. but she somehow made friends, and discovered how to be the tiniest bit more honest with Serufu in the process. So… that means something, I guess.
Have a nice day.
Sloth_Cafe
I really liked the idea of Do It Yourself being a Slice of Life anime about girls in a DIY club, but the actual execution of the show did not do much for me. The show wastes a lot of time on yuri bait material which would have been much better off left out. Miku and Serufu's relationship is a big part of the show, and I could not have cared less about it. Now I don't like yuri at all, but Miku's overly tsundere personality was difficult to watch at times, and kind of cringey. The characters make or break this kind of ashow, and I would call this cast mediocre. Serufu is basically Yui Hirasawa your generic overly energetic protagonist except her gimmick is that she is extremely clumsy. While handling power tools so that is a dangerous mix. She is not that bad, but she is very forgettable despite being the main character. Miku when she is not being an annoying tsundere is okay. Her and Jobko's anti-DIY feelings always seemed strange to me, but Miku does represent this strange antithesis to what the club is about. Juliet/Jobko is okay and is probably the most I have heard an anime character speak English before in a show. Her VA clearly is not fluent, but she is doing her best and is easy to understand at least. Sometimes she will tell others things that Miku told her was a secret so she has really is not a great friend, and is kind of annoying at the start. She gets better though later on. The other 3 are complete after thoughts sadly, and easily should have more done for each of them outside of their introduction episodes. As the show went on they were just there to fill out the numbers, and be a little unique from one another during conversations. The show was also lacking in comedy unless you found Miku's antics amusing. Which I did not. I am not saying the jokes were bad just that there was not much of that. I think the animals and robot jelly fish were actually more amusing than the human characters.
Now I want to talk about the highlight of the show which was the visuals. The backgrounds are pretty and detailed with this almost picture book type feel to them. Also they draw a lot of detail on those power tools as well. The animation is pretty smooth through out the series. The character designs are pretty good as well with everyone standing out compared to each other. Some people may find them unimpressive though. The story is fine, but the simplified version is something that you have seen before. The club needs to get more members, but they attempt to do this by actually making things to gain some attention from other students.
I really wanted to like this show, but by the end I was just ready for it to be over with because I did not feel like dropping it. I gave it a 5 out of 10. Anything less would be too low, and some people may find the yuri antics more amusing than me. It is a decent idea for a slice of life anime, but the show left a lot to be desired. Rather the show should have focused on other things than it did.
