Himouto! Umaru-chan Episode 8 Rant

BRING OUT THE KOTATSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 3/5 complacent clouds

Episode eight of Himouto Umaru-chan takes us through all the holiday activities of the Doma household. From Christmas presents to traditions of New Year… staying up to eat junk food to New Year’s Resolutions and even shrine visits…

It seems like Taihei’s salary man life, while practical, isn’t exactly the most exciting job. He’s caught at work on Christmas Eve while Umaru takes the liberty of lazing around even more than usual. Taihei does make it home early enough to spend Christmas with Umaru and even Kirie tags along. Hilariously enough, while Kirie spends Christmas Eve with the Doma siblings, Kirie’s older brother Takeshi, spends New Year’s Eve at the Doma household. Umaru reflects on everything that’s happened this year, from her secret friendships between Kirie and Sylphynford to all the fun times with her brother. In the end, Umaru wishes her brother well into the great New Year… since he takes care of all the cleaning, cooking and housework LOLLL

This episode was pretty pointless to the overall series but a Japanese slice of life manga or anime would not be completely without some sort of holiday special or celebration. To be honest they could have generated more conflict over Christmas or New Year’s but we just sort of walked through the usual routines. Next week Umaru will find herself in Valentine’s Day and I’m pretty excited for that since she’s such a popular girl at school. We saw a bit of romance hinted between Taihei and his middle school friend and current co-worker, Kanou; perhaps something will develop in that avenue of the series.