Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku

Ever since she was a young girl Komichi Akebi has wanted to attend the Robai Private Academy... because it is the only school in the area where the students wear sailor fukus. She applies and is accepted and her mother makes her a sailor uniform. On the first day she learns that the middle school girls no longer wear that uniform. She is given permission to wear it but it does mean she stands out from the other girls. Throughout the series she makes friends and gets involved in various activities.

This is one of those slice of life series that it is hard to express why it is so good. Most of the things that happen are ordinary and having finished it I'm hard pressed to recall details of many episodes. That might suggest that it is boring but it is far from that. The story is gentle with no material that could offend; the few scenes that could have lent themselves to fan service managed to avoid it... a good thing, especially given the characters' ages. The cast are likable with delightful character designs. The animation is very impressive; intertwined scenes in the final episode where we see Akebi performing a dance routine and playing in a volleyball match deserves particular mention as the music she dances to matches the sport scenes too. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to anime fans wanting something gentler than the standard fare.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.