Aru Asa Dummy Head Mic Ni Natteita Ore-kun No Jinsei

Oh boy. You thought that ASMR anime title last year was weird. Wait till you realize that there is a spiritual sequel after that! Uh huh. It’s like as though last season wasn’t weird enough, somebody had this weird idea, or should I say drew inspiration from that Dogeza De Tanondemita short. Because in Aru Asa Dummy Head Mic Ni Natteita Ore-kun No Jinsei, the dummy head now can speak! Oh man. I can foresee all the lewd and sexual innuendo comments this dude is going to make as the cute girls do lewd ASMR stuffs onto him. Yeah. Makes you somewhat feel alive, huh? What a great time to be alive!

Episode 1
Some poor guy got hit by a truck and he gets reincarnated into a dummy head mic! Of all the things… He finds himself in a room where Yuri Asakusa is trying to persuade her friend, Panda Kuramae to join her ASMR club. Of course the latter refuses and thinks that is only for perverts! In a way, she’s right. With Yuri blowing straight into the ear and Kuramae cleaning the other, you bet Ore-kun (dummy head mic’s name) is feeling so good! Yuri theorizes this dummy head might be some guy killed in an accident before talking about boyfriends. She tries to make it a challenge to see can find a boyfriend first but Kuramae is not interested in that either. Either way, it’s a win-win for Ore-kun because he gets to get THIS CLOSE between the girls. Yeah, this reincarnation life isn’t so bad!

Episode 2
Wait. Now Ore-kun is a bike seat?! How many things can this guy reincarnate into?! Or can he transfer his consciousness to other stuffs?! Anyway, Kuramae meets Ume Toranomon outside the store. It is hinted cutie Ume gets things her way because of how she flexes her cuteness around. She takes a seat on the bike and you bet Ore-kun is feeling the softness of a young girl’s butt! On the way home, Ume teases Kuramae for being lonely on Christmas and hints she can be there for her. She gets more than she bargained for as Kuramae plays along and is seemingly about to give her a kiss. Ume panics at first but decides to go along with it. Of course in the end, Kuramae just tricks her and flicks her head. Ore-kun must be feeling some sort of jealousy…

Episode 3
Now Ore-kun is… A CHICKEN!!! Time to get slaughtered… Oh f*ck?! WHAT?! Now he becomes chicken meat! Yuri buys some and enjoys it back at her clubroom with Ume. Damn, Ore-kun still has a conscious while being eaten?! Yeah, I’m sure he loves those soft lips nibbling his flesh away. What a different connotation on eating we have now! Kuramae is soon called because the girls can’t finish and they want her to help with the leftovers. Apparently they bought some chicken meat for ASMR but went overboard by eating too much. At first Kuramae declines but after smelling how good it is, she relents. Yuri has got the gall to even tease this as an indirect kiss, causing Kuramae to almost choke. They finish everything and Ore-kun is pleased with his ‘sacrifice’. Be thankful with what you have and don’t waste food!

Episode 4
Guess what Ore-kun is now? Yuri’s pillow! Oh yeah. She’s hugging it while having a video call with Kuramae. Yuri is told to go to bed early by her sister, Toto since she has to wake up tomorrow. Kuramae realizes the embarrassment of Toto waking her up every day. The little sister is the one doing this job? But soon Yuri falls asleep. Yeah, the video is still rolling so please enjoy Yuri’s cute sleeping face. Ore-kun of course has front row seats. Don’t mind the drool. This is the best! So effective this weird ASMR that it also makes Kuramae sleepy. Don’t forget to turn off the video!

Episode 5
Ore-kun… IS NOW A PACIFIER! OMFG. With everyone over to play house. Toto will be the mom and Kuramae the dad. Yuri will be the pet dog and Ume the baby! Oh yeah. That’s where the pacifier comes in. Suck on it! Damn, this brings a whole new different meaning to sucking now! Not that Ore-kun dislikes it. Yeah, it’s getting wet! More embarrassment for Ume as she is made to dress like a baby. Baby diapers too?! PLEASE, NO! As if acting like a big baby wasn’t embarrassing enough. But with Kuramae petting her, Ume feels a new awakening is at hand. Not that Ore-kun is complaining either.

Episode 6
A measuring tape! Tsurugi Kanegafuchi who is from the discipline committee summons Yuri. It seems she has heard rumours that her ASMR club is doing shady activities. But first, she points out Yuri herself has violated a few rules on her uniform. Ah, I see that’s where the tape comes in. She measures the length of her skirt and then proceeds to sexually harass measure the size of her boobs! OMG! Yuri doesn’t seem all that busty but yet those ungodly numbers?! Are you sure you know how to use a tape?! Or maybe Tsurugi has small boobs inferiority complex… Yuri accuses her of sexual harassment but Tsurugi manages to deflect and gives excuses. Before she can get back to the main topic, the bell rings. Time’s up. Gotta go back to class. Ore-kun felt he has been most useful this time.

Episode 7
I don’t even know what Ore-kun has become now. WTF this omniscient being in space. WTF?! IS HE GOD NOW?! Because the rest of the episode has nothing to do with this. We see Tsurugi working in her office when Kaori (Yuri’s mom who is also a teacher of this school) comes in to harass those small boobs! What’s this about Kaori liking small boobs?! Tsurugi trying to find a hammer to hit her since there are not witnesses around! Kaori also praises her for being hardworking but at the same time continues to flirt with her. She continues about Tsurugi not having friends. Not like the latter cares. Kaori notes she will cry after she graduates. No more small boobs to harass? Tsurugi claims crying is a sign of weakness so Kaori wonders if she will cry if she was the one who graduates. Then she whispers something shocking. Later when Yuri visits, she is surprised to see Tsurugi crying in her sleep. She claims she is just weak. WTF just happened?

Episode 8
Well, Ore-kun is no longer God but a normal microphone. Because Kuramae is now telling a ghost story. She relates this friend of hers (Yuri) was at the laundry washing her clothes. As she waits she notices somebody’s handphone on the table kept ringing. She takes a look at it and she saw lots of spam messages for her to look at it. When all the sounds stopped, now the mail has an attachment. It was a picture of her looking at the phone. Spooked, she realized this could mean somebody took this photo right in front of her. Then she notices an old woman spinning inside the washing machine watching her! Yuri emergency stopped the washing machine and took the lady out. She ran away screaming incomprehensible things. Yeah, who put the old woman in there?! Could it be…

Episode 9
Once more, Ore-kun is something edible. This time, some candy. Ume is left to accompany Toto since Yuri has something to do. Toto wants to grow up to be like her but Ume doesn’t have fond memories of that since she was fat and teased a lot. So she put in a lot of effort to look this cute and slim. Toto is impressed and seeing how cute she is, Ume feels jealous Yuri has this cute sister and wants to steal her. Yuri just got home and wonders what they’re doing hugging each other. Ume teases that she was talking bad about her. Yuri isn’t impressed but that is when Toto tells Ume all of Yuri’s bad habits! Her fart stinks?! Indecisive?! Opportunistic?! All this is because she claims Ume is better and prettier. The duo continue to be in each other’s cute company while Yuri is certainly devastated. Is she disowned now?

Episode 10
He’s a dog now! Looks like Kaori just got this pet dog and Yuri takes a liking for him. Even more so, Ore-kun is happy to hear Yuri wants to bath together! Oh yeah! Pervy dog face… Yuri is further impressed of this dog’s intelligence. Uhm, did she hear it talk like a human?! Must be her imagination. Mom says she is going overseas for a while. This means Yuri has to look after the dog. Of course, doggie so cute, Yuri doesn’t mind. Oh yeah, got to love those cute hugs with lots of love! Being a dog is the best! Until he learns the first thing Yuri will do to him when they get home: Castrate him! HOLY SH*T!!! NOT SO FUN ANYMORE!!!

Episode 11
Well, Ore-kun is back to being a dummy head. Yuri, Ume and Kuramae play the king’s game. And you bet, the king giving orders to do stuffs on the dummy head like blowing in its ear of do a confession. Finally, the order to kiss it and Yuri is okay with that since it is an inanimate object. Oh wow. Is this the moment Ore-kun have been waiting for? Suddenly Kuramae snatches Ore-kun away. What gives?! Even if it is an inanimate object, she can’t allow Yuri to kiss it because kissing is only reserved for the one you love?! Wow. Since when did she become a love expert? Why is she now acting like a maiden? She continues to kick up a fuss while shaking the dummy head profusely. Can he get a headache from this?

Episode 12
My suspicions are true. Yup, Kuramae is in love with Yuri. She has made chocolates for her but is too shy to face and give it to her. Now that Yuri has left, Kuramae thought it is over. But wait! What’s this dummy head mic doing here?! Suddenly Ore-kun transforms into his final true form! Holy sh*t! He has got a full body now?! He claims he has been watching her as a guardian spirit. Sure he isn’t a stalker?! He tells her to give it to her since he saw her making it all night. But how? Yuri has already left. Don’t worry, whatever this gravity ability thingy, Ore-kun will bring her to Yuri. He carries Kuramae as he makes his great jump! The fright of her life! Even more so when they land before Yuri. Didn’t a dummy head in black suit just fall down from the sky carrying her?! Oh wait. He’s gone. Kuramae is appreciative of this given chance as she sums up her courage to tell Yuri her feelings.

Omnipresent: Here, There & Everywhere!
Oh wow. What the heck did I just watch? I’m not saying the whole series was confusing to being with. I am rather questioning what the heck this series’ aim is. Because at the end of the day, it feels a lot like nothing burger if you ask me. That’s right. Nothing really much happening. Sighs. Feels more like knucklehead than dummy head… Heh.

Worst of all, I read the synopsis about this series being high schoolers trying to aim for ASMR Koshien. Like, WTF?! Is there even such a thing?! Of course there isn’t. But to think there will be some sort of ASMR championship, no matter how weird it sounds, hmm, maybe I thought maybe it will be interesting-cum-funny to take a look at this. Yeah, imagine participants trying to do ASMR but come off as pervy. So bad and funny, it might actually be good! But what did we get?! NONE OF THAT! In fact, all the episodes are standalones and mainly are not connected with each other. Safe to say, in many of the episodes in between if you watch in a different order, you will not lose much. What a disappointment.

Perhaps it is for the surprise factor because the main character can somehow have his consciousness in various objects, inanimate or not. My guess is that this is to stem the boringness if all the dozen episodes were just him being the same ol’ dummy head. Uh huh. There is only so much perversion one can make towards this before it gets stale and boring. And I bet that will come very quick. So in order to keep this whole thing fresh, that is why this strange circumstances of Ore-kun finding himself randomly in certain objects or living things. Why and how? Don’t know. Like as though there was some error in his reincarnation and isekai treatment and hence this whatever bug. Uh huh. Don’t think too much about it because you’ll never get an answer. As long as it is for variety’s sakes and Ore-kun gets to experience the tender touch of these cuties, that is all that matters.

Which brings me to the next issue of this series: Where the heck is the ASMR?! Okay, maybe it is me who is assuming this was going to be like its predecessor. However as you slowly watch the rest of the series, there is nothing that resembles anything close to ASMR. Maybe a few short moments but that is it. It is not like the entire episode has its main focus on ASMR and instead we have more of the cute antics from the cute girls. No wonder when each episode starts, they did not put up that notice like they did in its predecessor: To watch this with your headphones. Seeing how everything went, there wasn’t anything ASMR-like experience and this whole series could just be based on ASMR theme rather than its experience. Sheesh.

The characters are a paltry. You don’t really care about them and since each episode is about 3 minutes long, there isn’t much to say. They are quirky in their own sense but other than that, you shouldn’t care too much. What’s this about Kuramae having a crush on Yuri and perhaps it’s the reason why she never had a boyfriend or always put on that gloomy poker face? Is it because to hide her feelings for this kouhai of hers? Yeah. Looks like it. What’s this with Ume and Toto now becoming so close to each other that they could literally be family and could dump Yuri if they so wish? What’s with Tsurugi and Kaori’s relationship and it is hinted both might like each other but at this point, it all doesn’t really matter. In short, they’re just forgettable. They’re just there to reel and bait male viewers in because 2D girls are the best and cutest, RIGHT???!!!

As for Ore-kun, I can’t help feel a bit disappointed in him. Yeah, I have expectations of this guy when he ends up as a dummy head. Like I said, it is for variety purposes that he could randomly transfer his consciousness to other stuffs. But even as those objects, it feels his sarcastic and witty remarks just falls short. I don’t know, it just lacks the oomph that I was hoping for. Instead, they feel quite bland and well, not really exciting. I mean, at this point it feels that even if they don’t give him some voicing conscious, it will still be the same. Because the focus is more on the girls and what they do rather than Ore-kun. In fact, the funny part is that to show that Ore-kun isn’t some dead object, that is why when he speaks his mind or so, the girls sometimes feel like they could hear a voice. Hope it isn’t voices in their head! Strange. Yeah, your guardian spirit is a dummy head mic! Furthermore, he can’t die because how can you die again when you’re already dead? What the heck am I saying… The fact that he gets reincarnated like that proves that he is God!

So while it is good for him to be reincarnated in those objects that coincidentally have close proximity with these girls, it is not so good for us viewers. Not that we’re jealous of him but rather he is just boring too. On a trivial note, I understand Ore-kun like any other guy gets excited being this close to these cuties. But this also means in his original life, he must be a loser and has no girlfriend of his own, RIGHT?! Yeah, seeing his comments and reaction sometimes, I am thinking this is very likely. Because I am now having unholy thoughts this guy should reincarnate into a condom! YOU CAN SEE WHERE I AM GOING WITH THIS! But with the girls being more of sisters before misters, that will not be likely. Sad… Also, I’m waiting for the moment he reincarnates into a pantsu! OMG!!!

The biggest factor for me to take a look at this spiritual sequel is the fact that Tomokazu Sugita as the voice of Ore-kun. That’s right. Because of him, this is why this series was ‘fast tracked’ to one of the top spots of my watch list of the season. Well, he doesn’t disappoint in his role and sounds very much at home like how I expect him to be. But had his character had more role, he could’ve been a riot. Hence his role in Dogeza De Tanondemita sounds hell lot better than this in comparison. The rest of the other casts are Saori Oonishi as Yuri (Akari in Fuufu Ijou Koibito Miman), Akari Kitou as Kuramae (Tsukasa in Tonikaku Kawaii), Mayu Sagara as Ume (Kasumi in Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai), Miyu Kubota as Toto (Medusa in Jashin-chan Dropkick), Lynn as Tsurugi (Ayano in Engage Kiss) and Kaori Mizuhashi as Kaori (Mami in Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica). The ending theme, Katachi Ni Dekinai Monologue by Kotoko sounds rather okay since it has this jazzy vibes.

Art and animation are rather okay. It is pretty decent and it is only so since the series is only 3 minutes long. If you can’t put in any effort for that short duration, you’re better off not even animating this series. Of course, the girls here look cute as a visual eye candy distraction since we’re not going to have a lot of ASMR effect anyway. From teenage high school girls to a loli sister and a MILF teacher, all the girls here are just too damn cute to be ignored! To note, Ore-kun in his final form, I don’t know why he reminds me of Pepsiman but a greyer version… Animated by Ekachi Epilka, the same studio who did the predecessor ASMR series. So now you know why the art style looks a bit familiar.

Overall, this anime is definitely a disappointment when you look at the overall picture. You could say that they trolled and baited people especially male viewers to watch this short crap that eventually amounts to nothing. I hope they don’t make another spiritual season after this because I am definitely not impressed with this one. Even Tomokazu Sugita and cute 2D girls can do so much but they too cannot save this anime. Heck, because of that, it makes its predecessor look way much better than this garbage that only wasted our time. I hope you don’t need real ASMR therapy to get over this mediocrity. Yup, it wasn’t any tingling sensation down the neck and spine. Only the sensation of disappointment resonating throughout the entire body!