Kalladry
~~~_Based on the real life experiences of the original manga
creator’s time as a bookstore employee, the anime follows
the life of the staff while explaining how a bookstore
works._~~~ The first thing you notice is that the main
character is a skeleton. Just bones and clothes. The second
thing you notice is that the skeleton is freaking out
because a handsome foreign man is asking for help finding
yaoi manga, and the skeleton’s English is very bad.
If we ignore the skeleton and the fact that their coworkers
wear things like plague masks and knight’s helmets—we’ll
come back to that part—the series is actually a fun,
interesting and all-too-relatable look at working in a
bookstore. Lots of parts will be far too familiar to anyone
with retail experience, regardless of country or store type:
back room conversations, trying to explain supply issues to
customers, phone calls, internally freaking out when you
feel in over your head, that fantastic feeling when you can
get a customer _just_ what they want and it ends well.
Some parts seemed to be specific to Japanese bookstores:
specifics of shrinkwrapping books, for example, or their
relationships with publisher representatives. But it’s all
easily understandable, not in the least because Honda-san
takes the time to explain how everything works to the
viewer. Now, back to that obvious tidbit: __s k e l e t o n
.__ I thought at first I might be getting into a fantasy
slice-of-life: running a bookstore in the demon realm or
something.* The answer is more mundane, but by the time you
realize it you’re already hooked: the skeleton is how the
original manga creator anonymized herself. Similarly, all
the other coworkers, bosses and industry contacts also get
masks to avoid connecting the characters with their
real-life counterparts. *Anyone who has worked with the
public could argue that retail is, by default, in the demon
realm, but you know what I mean.
__Still, the visual of a full-on skeleton wearing the store
uniform and helping enthusiastic boys’ love devotees will
never not be funny.__
___Verdict___ _English dub?_ No _Visuals:_ A limited
animation style is used to great effect. It’s stylized and
doesn’t feel lazy, and made me feel like the manga (which I
read _after_ watching the entire show) had jumped to the
screen. Plus, I loved the bright colors and character
designs. _Worth watching?_ Yes. It’s a short 12 episodes
that go even quicker because every episode is broken up into
two minisodes. It might be Honda helping various manga fans
from other countries–apparently the bookstore is near a
popular tourist area–or bemoaning backordered titles,
commiserating with coworkers in the break room or explaining
how inventory is done. It didn’t get old, and I was
genuinely surprised (and disappointed) when I found myself
sent back to the title screen after finishing the 12th
episode.
