WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of My Senpai Is Annoying, "Each Other's Stride," now streaming on Funimation.
There are very few slice-of-life anime with a focus on adult characters without romantic aspects involved when the primary characters are members of the opposite sex. My Senpai Is Annoying had the potential to refresh the genre but chose to flip the script at the very last minute. This removed the focus of the show that it carefully and delightfully built up and its refreshing potential.
For almost the entirety of the first episode of My Senpai Is Annoying, the anime focused solely on Igarashi Futaba, a young woman learning the ropes of her sales job and her efforts to become a full-fledged salesperson for the company. It looked at her relationship with her immediate supervisor, Takeda Harumi, a boisterous but supportive person who worked hard to ensure Futaba's work and well-being were maintained. This is typical of a good and healthy coworker relationship, and the episode didn’t indicate any romantic thoughts or feelings. While there were moments of care and nurturing at play, they weren’t outside the scope of a coworker trying to be supportive.
One scene showcased Futaba falling asleep on the shoulder of Harumi while on the train back to the office. This scene didn’t appear to be blatantly romantic, as this is something a parent and child or friend and friend could have similarly done. There were also multiple scenes with Harumi patting the head of Futaba to signify good work having been done, indicative of Harumi’s caring feelings toward Futaba. Buying a vending machine drink for each other was something that appeared to be a gift of thanks or encouragement between coworkers. None of the actions provided in almost the entire first episode indicated any romance between the two individuals.
Within the last minute of the first episode, the two parties went out to eat and drink beer to celebrate a job well done. In and of itself, this is a non-romantic action, and hanging out with coworkers after hours was something Futaba also did previously in the episode. Harumi solidified his feelings of non-romance by indicating that he viewed her similarly as the child he thought he might have in the future. In response, in the final moments of the episode, Futaba asked why she couldn’t be his wife -- a response that seemingly came out of nowhere.
Up until this point, the show had the potential to be refreshing simply by showcasing a healthy working relationship between two coworkers. It also had the potential to continue to showcase a journey of hard work for a young woman still learning the ropes of her corporate job. It could have been focused more on typical sales office life, the day-to-day events of a young single woman navigating city life, or generally keep to a non-romantic relationship of a man and woman within a slice-of-life adult office setting. Instead, the last-minute romance threw off the balance of the show’s initial focus and the relationship that had already been shown.
It’s rare to find a non-romantic slice-of-life anime with main characters of the opposite sex who are older than high school. In the case of My Senpai Is Annoying, this rarity will unfortunately continue, with the show likely to find its place as a romantic comedy.