Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Anime » REVIEW: ‘Insomniacs After School,’ Episode 8 — “The Congregation Star”

REVIEW: ‘Insomniacs After School,’ Episode 8 — “The Congregation Star”

Allyson JohnsonBy Allyson Johnson05/31/20235 Mins ReadUpdated:02/12/2024
Insomniacs After School Episode 8
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Insomniacs After School Episode 8

A series that understands the value of patience in storytelling, Insomniacs After School Episode 8 is a wonderful example of a slow-burn payoff. While Nakami and Magari haven’t quite professed their love for one another — suitable considering they’re teenagers — they have declared emotions that are new for both of them to be sharing. “The Congregation Star” is yet another strong episode of the series that continues to balance charm with deeper character introspection, an element that the best slice-of-life anime manages to strike.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

In Insomniacs After School Episode 8, the series, directed by Yūki Ikeda and adapted by Rintarō Ikeda, continues to pull on the thread of disappointment found in our adolescence and teenage years. The sensation is overwhelming, something captured in “The Congregation Star” as our characters, Nakami in particular, await their planner meteor shower viewing party. An event they’ve been working on for the majority of the school year so far, everything has fallen into place. Magari’s friends have begun to accept Nakami into their group, while Nakami’s childhood friend and student council member finds himself further integrated into the said group as well, even offering small tidbits about Nakami’s personality growing up, which so differs from who they’ve come to know. They’ve amassed a decent-sized group of students and community members alike who are interested in attending. Everything, all of their hard work, seems to be paying off.

But no one told that to the weather. They awaken on the day of the viewing to a downpour that effectively cancels the meteor shower viewing party, much to the group’s frustration. It’s that disappointment with hints of something greater that works its way under Nakami’s skin until the point where he can’t contain it and must rush out of the school and into the storm itself. Gen Satō is terrific, expressing Nakami’s emotional turmoil through, at first, bursts and starts, as his wails are aborted by his own will and the drowning weather.

This isn’t the first time the series has utilized weather and untenable forces to depict our characters’ inner states. That said, “The Congregation State” doubles down on that visualization as drainage pipes rattle from the storm’s output, and the rain soaks through Nakami’s clothes. He may at first be presenting an image of stoicism — or perhaps he’s simply too exhausted to muster anything else up — but the world around him demonstrates what lies beneath. The background visuals and scenery shots remain excellent even as the world is diluted by gray due to the storm, with the wind and rainfall adding textured frames to the episode.

Insomniacs After School Episode 8

The character designs by Yuki Fukuda, strong since the start, continue to add to the overall distinctiveness of the series. For all of the archetypes follow with characters who act as opposing figures to bring out the best in one another, the characters’ designs offer a refreshing difference compared to their contemporaries. Nakami’s awkwardness is inherent to his character, and this is shown through his attempts to smile, which are admittedly goofy. The characters aren’t so much drawn to be plain as they are to be recognizable.

Amidst all the highlights, the greatest strength is the heart of the series, which is Nakami and Magari and their growing friendship. As Magari admits as they hide huddled at a bus stop, she’s thought of him as “someone special” to her since their first nighttime adventure in Episode 1. Nakami is a sad character, something we’ve been given hints of up until this point. In Episode 8 alone, we’re shown small details of his home life, from a wrapped dinner plate in the present day to a memory of him running in sneakers too small so that he’d need to stamp down the heel of the shoe. This comes to a boiling point as he breaks down in front of Magari, spilling angry tears over the fact that no matter the precision he executes his planning or the methodical way he approaches life, there are some things — like sleep, like the weather — that will always be out of his control.

Insomniacs After School Episode 8 ends on an optimistic note, especially following Magari’s admittance of feelings that verge on more than platonic and the promise of more meteor showers to host their viewing party with. But the greatest takeaway from the episode, and perhaps what makes Insomniacs After School so much greater than expected, is how it deals with the small upsets of life as a teenager, which makes up the coming-of-age experience. The series doesn’t belittle its characters for their overwhelming disappointment and, instead, recognizes that it’s how teenagers would react to their end-all, be-all approach to life and focus the narrative on how they learn and group from such hurdles.

Insomniacs After School Season 1 is available now on HIDIVE.

Insomniacs After School Episode 8
  • 8.5/10
    Rating - 8.5/10
8.5/10

TL;DR

In Insomniacs After School Episode 8, the series, directed by Yūki Ikeda and adapted by Rintarō Ikeda, continues to pull on the thread of disappointment found in our adolescence and teenage years.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: Phil Dunster Shines in Otherwise Disappointing ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3
Next Article REVIEW: Loop8: Summer of Gods Provides More Frustration Than Fun (Switch)
Allyson Johnson

Allyson Johnson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.

Related Posts

My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 7 Marin
7.5

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 7 — “Capture Those Delicious Moments”

08/16/2025
DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 7
8.0

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 7 – “Feeling Kinda Gloomy”

08/15/2025
Slur / X in Sakamoto Days Episode 16
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Episode 16 – “Slice Slice Dance”

08/12/2025
Still from See You Tomorrow At The Food Court
8.0

REVIEW: ‘See You Tomorrow At The Food Court’ Is A Delightful Slice-Of-Life

08/11/2025
Gojo's Nerves in My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 6
10.0

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 6 — “I’ll Make It Happen. No Matter What, With These Two Hands”

08/10/2025
DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 6
8.5

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 6 – “We Became A Family”

08/07/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here