Heat up your vocal cords as a result of Yama Wayama’s Let’s Go Karaoke! is formally right here! As a reader of the manga and its comply with-up Let’s Go Household Restaurant!, which takes place a handful of years after the previous; I’ve been ready for this to drop ever for the reason that anime was introduced. The collection is a foolish, low-stakes slice of life anime that everybody ought to attempt watching as soon as. 

get two dudes right into a karaoke bar.

Put merely, the plot of Let’s Go Karaoke! is about Satomi Oka, a 3rd-yr center schooler whose largest fear is his voice altering, rendering him unable to sing a falsetto anymore. That’s till Kyouji Narita introduces himself after coming in second in a refrain competitors and takes him to an area karaoke spot.

He reveals to Satomi that the boss of his yakuza holds a karaoke competitors and the loser has to get a handpoke tattoo from the boss. Kyouji is in a troublesome spot right here! It takes a number of convincing, a drive house within the rain, and the promise of fried rice as fee for Satomi to finally comply with be Kyouji’s coach. 

Satomi’s fears concerning the future…

It’s apparent from the get-go that the 2 leads couldn’t be extra reverse. Their peculiar relationship begins off with Satomi not wanting something to do with Kyouji — why would a choir child need something to do with a yakuza? But, they’ve comparable struggles round singing. On this episode alone, we witness how Satomi’s insecurities about his altering voice manifest.

He isolates himself from his choir buddies, pretends that nothing is altering, and forces himself to sing the notes he can’t fairly attain anymore. He doesn’t wish to surrender the solo, however even he is aware of that he might need to. 

…collide with Kyouji’s.

Alternatively, Kyouji is struggling along with his personal singing insecurities. Satomi realizes that whereas they’re not the identical, they’re comparable sufficient that he doesn’t need something to do with Kyouji’s singing state of affairs. This alone is sufficient for Satomi to deal with Kyouji not as a yakuza per se, however as a fellow singer.

His confidence as a refrain member comes out and permits him to be brutally sincere with Kyouji – a stark distinction to how he feels about his personal singing. Whereas their relationship by the tip of the episode is flimsy at finest, there may be room for each of them to develop of their confidence; which is one thing I don’t suppose they’d have the ability to do with out the opposite. 

A be aware about being bizarre.

There may be an elephant within the room: the age hole between Kyouji and Satomi. Whereas it’s by no means explicitly acknowledged how previous Kyouji is, he is a lieutenant for his yakuza household. This, if I’m doing my questionable math accurately, would put him in his late 20s whereas Satomi could be round 14-15. 

It isn’t unlikely that some persons are going to be uncomfortable with that as a result of, let’s be actual, what might an grownup probably want a center schooler to show him singing over the number of different choices on the market? It’s doable to learn into it as bizarre and creepy, however I believe that’s misinterpreting the entire premise, particularly when it’s uncommon to see intergenerational relationships in anime and manga. 

Moreover, Kyouji is all enterprise about the entire thing. He’s merely on the lookout for a singing instructor primarily based on whether or not or not they’re good at singing. At no level does he make bizarre advances towards Satomi and lowering his character to nothing greater than a creepy previous dude is a disservice. 

(*1*)

A powerful translation into animation.

You would possibly acknowledge the animation from studio Doga Kobo, of earlier hits Oshi no Ko, Month-to-month Women’ Nozaki-kun, and most significantly Chiikawa. The animators do an excellent job at conserving issues easy with every scene, however particularly the one with Kyouji singing in entrance of Satomi for the primary time. His actions whereas singing have lovely animation, and there aren’t any awkward elements. The entire scene is purposeful in its actions, even with how foolish the entire thing could also be. 

Moreover, Wayama-sensei has a really distinct fashion and aesthetic, so it may be tough to convey that to life. But it surely’s apparent from episode one alone that the animators put a ton of arduous work into it. Each the leads, in addition to the ensemble characters, are animated with a lot life. You’ll be able to see the dedication that was poured into the anime. 

Some pacing points maintain this episode from being pitch good.

If there was one factor to nitpick, it was the pacing of the episode. Whereas the episode is devoted to the unique manga, there have been a few elements that had been somewhat rushed — significantly the ending scene. The pacing of it feels just a bit bit off for my liking, however that might be as a result of I’ve learn the supply materials and pictured it to be a sure method. That being stated, this was the one factor that stands out by way of negatives for a moderately prime-notch first episode. 

Let’s Go Karaoke! Episode one does an excellent job of introducing Kyouji and Satomi’s odd relationship. The 2 of them are, fairly clearly, at totally different factors of their lives, however by some means have one thing the opposite wants. And whereas their relationship is nothing greater than a reluctant singing instructor and a center-aged man, it’s clear that some type of friendship is forming. 

In the event you want one other good motive to observe this, there’s an X Japan song featured in its entirety. 

Let’s Go Karaoke! is on the market on Crunchyroll.

Characteristic picture ©2025 Yama Wayama/KADOKAWA/Let’s Go Karaoke!