All of my reviews contain spoilers for the reviewed material. This is your only warning. 880https://magicplanetanimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/i40jbut.jpg?w=1568 What to make of Otherside Picnic? Named after a famous Russian novel to which it bears little resemblance and drawing on a twenty year tradition of Japanese net lore for its inspiration one might initially peg Otherside Picnic as a fairly heady intellectual kind of horror story. But while its certainly creepy enough in its most unsettling moments to earn the genre tag itd be a mistake to box this one in as being solely for those with an SCP Foundation addiction. 880https://i.ur.com/PKvTftg.jpg A more proper indicator of where Otherside Picnic is coming from might actually be its opening theme. A rollicking adventurous poprock tune with a romantic slant from accomplished anisongsters CHiCO with Honeyworks. Otherside isnt not a horror series but its important to consider what else it is an adventure anime and also a show with some pretty prolific lesbian subtext. Its not at all dour is what Im getting at. Instead Otherside is a surprisingly breezy watch. Its the story of Sorawo a depressed college student who through her vast knowledge of online urban legends wanders through a gateway to another world the titular otherside. When we meet her shes lying flat on her back in a puddle pursued by a mindinvading monster known as a kunekune and about to accept her imminent death. What or rather who saves her is a guntoting CanadianJapanese woman named Toriko who she quite quickly develops a very obvious crush on. 880https://i.ur.com/6y5G0eR.jpg Otherside Picnic follows the two as they grow closer make trips to and from the Otherside and contend with the many strange creatures that live there. Sorawo often gives a brief rundown of what these things are which is helpful if you like me only have a pretty limited knowledge of Japanese creepypastas. The net legend angle is a big part of the settings appeal so if the idea of even something as out there as the bizarre and disturbingly violent monkey train dream getting a nod appeals to you the series is a mustwatch. Really I was surprised at how much I liked Otherside Picnic in general. Horror isnt really my genre but Sorawo is just the right kind of relatable reserved nerd. Although I will admit the one thing the series is missing from the light novels is her delightfully gay inner monologues about how attractive she finds Toriko. Her character arc over the course of the series is fairly simple as she starts out as said reserved nerd and by the final episode having along the way developed what are essentially magic powers and having been through so much with Toriko is well decidedly no longer that. 880https://i.ur.com/I5ijswT.jpg On a less literal level the series also hums a simple theme of the importance of finding people who you just vibe with. In the finale this is all but stated outright as Sorawo and Toriko both recount how the other saved them. It gives Otherside Picnic a point adding some substance to its afternoon anime bingefriendly nature. Much of the rest of the fun of the series comes from setting details or technical aspects. The monster design is quite strong and combined with the often surprisingly good animation this carries the series weaker episodes. Theres also quite a few running subplots tucked in to the shows single cour. These range from fairly serious a lost group of US Marines who the pair eventually rescue to clear setup for seasons yet to come Sorawos apparent and only briefly touchedon ability to notquite mind control people the lategame introduction of minor character Akari to the just plain odd theres an episode about cats who are ninjas or funny the pair accidentally buy a multipurpose miniature harvester on a drunken spending binge at one point. 880https://i.ur.com/TeZNItz.jpg Its hard to imagine that Otherside Picnic will exactly change anyones life but like last years Dorohedoro its strong genre fare in a genre that is underrepresented in mainstream TV anime. That it is perhaps only the secondbest anime of the Spring 2021 season to revolve around a heterochromiac who travels to an otherworld that also has a lot of queer subtext speaks more to the strength of the competition than it does any problems with Otherside. This is a series I could see getting sequel seasons for years frankly as there is a lot of unadapted material and a lot of mysteries left unexplored. Perhaps if were lucky that will be the animes eventual fate. Either way theres a lot to love about a brief trip to the Otherside. Notes Disclaimers Usage of Anilists review feature does not constitute endorsement for Anilist as a platform the Anilist community or any individual member thereof or any of Anilists policies or rules. All views expressed are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons groups or organizations. All text is owned by me. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.