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

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.

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.

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.