https://anilist.co/anime/6774/WelcometoIrabusOffice/ Note : Spoilers are mentioned wherever needed To say that Irabus office is odd is quite an understatement. Welcome to Irabus Office is a trippy episodic tale that explores problems of mental illness/disorders. If youve seen atleast one scene or clip from this show theres a good chance you might have felt that it looks off or weird. Its an odd but meaningful experience. Once I started to understand what the show aims at it became really easy to go with the flow of the show and I think you should give it a try too. And Im gonna share my experience. Visuals Irabus office doesnt have a single art style it sticks to and constantly switches between these different art styles. You have your traditional 2D Hand drawn art style with its colorful touch you have 3D/CGI objects scattered around everywhere in the backgrounds you have mob characters that straight up looks like cardboard pieces made by a kid for their science exhibition you have rotoscoping and more than anything you have a real 3D waifu named Mayumi. Not your usual 2D waifu that doesnt exist but an actual waifu that does exist Oh mY GoDDDD OK. Ignore the last part. What Im trying to say is that its an explosion of all these different art styles that keep on switching or blending in the Anime with a clear logic and symbolism. The switch between each art style is used to represent the psychological state of a said character in the show. As for what that symbolism is is strongly connected to each character that gets explored in each episodic story of the show. Characters and the bombastic Symbolism Theres no sane character in this show. Pretty much everyone of em is insane with each of em having some sort of mental disorder or psychological trouble. Irabu himself is quite the oddball. He sometimes a kid sometimes an adult and most times a talking anthropomorphic being. And hes the psychiatrist of the show. And Mayumi the 3D waifu is a Kuudere that has not much of purpose other than giving shots and fan service which Ill get to it later and finally theres Fukuicchi. He occasionally appears at the middle of every episode and gives a vague idea of each problem by directly addressing the viewer yeah he breaks the 4th wall. And the rest of the cast are your patients that look like they need some medical advice since their mental health is very unstable. The symbolism is what sold me to this show cause as surreal as that might be it represents the mental problem using animals. And sometimes it seems a little too perfect to the problem. It also switches between art styles depending on character mental/emotional state and sometimes used to portray a sense of realism. This sense of realism amidst the surrealistic visuals is a little rewarding and I think each of these individual stories are like a therapy session which is probably the main theme of the show. Story and Therapy The entire theme main aspect of the show is Therapy. Im not really sure how IRL In Real Life for all you boomers out there therapy sessions work but in Irabus office it generally goes like this and its this formulaic approach you see in every episode. Step 1 : Relax You cant think properly if your mind is filled with unnecessary thoughts. So its always important to relax before working on something. In Irabus office the characters will be relaxed by Mayumis vitamin shot while she exposes her body. Again Im not sure if a vitamin shot works in IRL but it worked Maybe fan service is the main point here . Step 2 : Whats the problem and WHY? The why is the important question here. Each character share their experiences to Irabu as for what might be their problem. OCDs Phobias Addictions Instability Insecurity PTSD etc. all have an origin for their problem. The aim is to find out whats the problem why its even a problem in the first place. And after that you go to the step 3. Step 3 : Solve Implement The characters in the show as weird as they might look are actually humans. Smart ones actually. They are smart enough to find a solution to their own problem its just that they are blinded by their overwhelming emotions. Maybe because of their fear or maybe because of something else they just turn their eye away from following the right path and just adjust to their current state which is generally where the whole problem lies. And Irabu just does that. He helps them to follow the path theyre constantly ignoring. And theres actually an interconnection between each individual episode kinda like an overreaching plot. Each episode actually starts at 16th of a month and end at 24th of the same month. So you start to see another session happening in the background while also following the current episode. I kinda thought it really doesnt have a need to interconnect these stories. It doesnt add anything too important to the episodic format but I dont hate it so its not really problem. We make our simple lives complicated The solution at the end of each episode is really simple. Summary Welcome to Irabus Office is an episodic psychological Anime about mental disorders and it does a wonderful job at portraying and delivering the message its trying to say.
90 /100
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