Here’s a depressing fact: the more prolonged stress you deal with, the earlier you head to the grave. And with a world filled with stressors, you’re likely experiencing detriments to your physical or mental health. But with therapy being absurdly expensive, what can you do? You can watch Mono (mono) and welcome some tranquility into your life. Because, judging by mono’s first episode, tranquility is what we’re in for.

From the mangaka who gave us the peak coziness of Yuru Camp; mono brings all the vibes of Afro-sensei’s magnum opus but trades camping for photography. But can mono interest as many people as Yuru Camp did? Well, let’s see …

Mono Episode 1 — In a Nutshell

The thing about meaning is that it’s quite random. The things that call to one person may repulse another. Why someone is passionate about something is oftentimes just chance.

For Satsuki Amamiya, what called her to photography wasn’t high-tech cameras or stunning vistas — it was another girl. Captivated by the photography club’s president, Sacchan eagerly joins the photography club alongside her best friend An. After their president graduated, the girls inherited the club and set out to buy their own cameras. But what, seemed like a straightforward task quickly turns the girl’s tranquil days into an unexpected adventure.

Random Thoughts

Everyone over 30 has something they miss. I miss hopping into a stranger’s car at 3 am and going on adventures with people I only recently met. Seeing Sacchan and An-chan eagerly make friends with someone they thought was a scammer and go on an adventure with them gave me a rush of teary-eyed nostalgia.

Slice-of-life shows and anime like to push the “high school is the best time of your life” propaganda. I vehemently reject that. High school was the worst time of my life. However, I miss the freedom that comes with adventuring at that age. As a teenager, you get a lot of leeway you don’t get when you’re an adult. Mono captures that beautifully. Sacchan and An-chana are teenagers and behave like them, and that’s refreshing. I’m tired of seeing 13/20-year-olds act like they have a 140+ IQ.

While that’s what I like about the show, I must admit, I know little about photography. Usually, I tend to review shows that have subject matter I’m familiar with and expand on it. But I only asked for this because of Afro-sensei, so in further reviews, we’re gonna learn about photography together.

Production Ramblings

For a relatively new studio (founded in 2023), Soigne came out swinging. The animation fits the vibes of the characters so well. It’s unfortunate, but sometimes studios need to animate characters differently than how they’re drawn in the manga. Yet Studio Soigne and Takuya Miyahara (character design) did right by Afro-sensei and the manga’s fans.

This is a slice-of-life show, and you know it. The soft feel of the animation, slightly muted colors, expression, and overall flow scream, “I’m here to make you comfy.” I’m so enamored with the style of the show that I hope Soigne steps in to handle the 4th season of Yuru Camp should C-Station really be off the table.

The voice acting was glorious. Never have I seen a VA fit a character so well as Haruna Mikawa (Sacchan) and Aoi Koga (An-chan) fit theirs. And that’s not a typo; I do mean SEEN. Their voice acting isn’t an audible experience; it’s visual. An sounds exactly like you’d expect her to sound. Her tones and inflection match what you’d expect from her expressions. And that excites me more than I can say. I’m expecting great things from mono.

Mono Episode 1 Photography Insights

Did the first episode of mono leave you wondering what cameras the girls used? It sure as hell left me wondering. While An’s camera was simple to figure out (a Panasonic HX-A1H), Sacchan’s was a bit harder. From my very limited knowledge and some internet snooping, it seems to be a 360 omnidirectional camera, something like the Ricoh Theta SC2 or SC Enthusiast Model.

Ricoh Theta even had a Hatsune Miku collab cameraso I’m assuming I’m right. Anyway, this is the first episode; we’ll delve deeper into photography later, ja ne!

Screenshots: Crunchyroll
© Afro/Houbunsha, Aniplex, Care