Yuruyuri Happy Go Lily: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Yuruyuri Happy Go Lily: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 16, 2013

YuruYuri: Happy Go Lily is a sweet natured slice of life anime that may remind some viewers of similar fare like K-ON!, at least with regard to young girls joining an after school club. However, the fact that the title includes the word yuri may give those with a knowledge of colloquial Japanese an inkling that there may be a bit more—um—subtext going on in these relationships. Yuri is traditionally translated as “girls’ love” and tends to hint at romantic ties between females. That aspect may be shocking to some who might be coming to an anime for innocent enough adventures, but YuruYuri does retain a fairly childlike ambience even if it just slightly hints at something a bit more—adult.

Aside from the “romantic” angle, YuruYuri tends to be pretty resolutely straight ahead slice of life fare, with a gaggle of four girls joining an Amusement Club and then having various adventures. The series tends to pair different girls up together, perhaps yet another clue that there’s something just slightly more on this anime’s mind than mere “amusement”. The show has a fairly wacky sense of humor and should be enjoyed by those who don’t mind a little (and it is fairly little) naughtiness adding a bit of spice to the proceedings.

Yuruyuri Happy Go Lily: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

YuruYuri: Happy Go Lily Season One is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of NIS America with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This relatively recent vintage anime is still a bit on the soft side, something made even more apparent when the show delves into flashbacks featuring the four lifelong friends who are at the center of the series, flashbacks that have a kind of intentionally gauzy quality to them. The series tends to exploit pastels more than bright primaries, but overall colors are nicely saturated and line detail is crisp looking.

Yuruyuri Happy Go Lily: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

YuruYuri: Happy Go Lily Season One has a serviceable enough uncompressed LPCM 2.0 track that suffices perfectly well for this dialogue driven series. The opening and closing J-pop themes also sound bright and fun. Fidelity is just fine, though dynamic range is limited mostly to various characters freaking out and screaming.

Note: Though there's not a setup menu, the subtitles are optional on this release if you press the Subtitle button on your remote.

Yuruyuri Happy Go Lily: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is another NIS America Premium Edition which comes housed in an oversized sturdy slipcase which includes a hardcover illustrated book and two slimline cases each holding a Blu-ray disc. The on disc supplements are:

• Clean Opening (1080p; 1:31)


• Clean Ending (1080p; 1:30)


• "B-Side" Previews (1080p; 2:56)

Yuruyuri Happy Go Lily: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

YuruYuri: Happy Go Lily is kind of silly, and it's certainly not very erotic (unless your tastes are a bit on the peculiar side), but it's amiable enough and has a quartet of decently enjoyable characters at its core. This is another very handsomely packaged NIS America release which should be enjoyed by the anime's fans.