Komichi Akebi is a girl who lives out in the country and is about to start at the same middle school her mother went to. She has two dreams: to make lots of friends at her new school (having been the only member of her elementary school class), and to wear a sailor uniform, just like her mother did as well as her favorite Idol Singer. Unfortunately, despite her mother making a brand new sailor uniform just for her, Komichi soon finds out that her school's uniform has changed to the more modern style of blazers and collared shirts.
Despite this mix-up, the principal allows her to keep wearing her sailor uniform. Even though her sailor uniform makes her stand out from everyone else at school, Komichi is undaunted, and she sets out to make as many friends as she can.
Tropes:
- Academic Athlete: Komichi is shown to be very flexible and athletic in the first chapter, and managed to score pretty high on the entrance exams (top 5) through her own efforts (where many of her peers had to attend cram schools in preparation).
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In the manga, the Drama Club President first appears after the second semester has started; in the anime, she is given several scenes that take place in the lead up to the sports festival.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Hitomi Washio is reserved, aloof, black-haired, athletic, and well respected by most people who come across her.
- Always Someone Better: Minakami Riri is this to Komichi in the swimming area, being an exceptionally fast swimmer, to the point that she went to the nationals in elementary school, and beating Komichi during their swimming race, though she does acknowledge and respect Komichi's swimming skills and speed.
- Anime Hair: Kizaki has a downplayed case in her gravity-defying Girlish Pigtails, which still stand out in a cast with mostly realistic hair.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Downplayed with Kao; she and Komichi occasionally bicker, and Kao's favorite way of getting Komichi's attention is giving her a good smack on the bottom. She even tells Erika in episode 7 that it makes a good sound when she does it, much to Komichi's embarrassment. However, most of the time the two sisters get along pretty well.
- Arcadia: Komichi lives in the countryside, where she has an almost idyllic life with her mother and sister aside from how her father is often away from home due to work. Naturally, there are plenty of beautiful shots of the area.
- Author Appeal: Author Hiro confirmed that he likes drawing cute schoolgirls, as in this work and his previous one. He has confirmed nothing about drawing girls' feet, although this is ostensible as well.
- Body Motifs: Feet are constantly used throughout the series to reflect the girls' inner selves. The carefree, natural Komichi is often barefoot, while the beautiful but internally self-conscious Erika ponders sometimes about her secret odor problem, and Kei must also overcome her body shyness starting by her legs (note that feet and legs have the same word in Japanese language, ashi). This extends to scenes where the girls bond with each other, such as when Komichi and Tomono dry up barefoot after the rain, or the very opening, where the entire class is shown collectively napping in bare feet, symbolizing how after so many complexes, their innermost feelings can be finally uncovered and connected all together.
- Coming of Age Story: The series is essentially one for Komichi, as she adjusts to middle school while interacting with other girls her own age for the first time. At several points Komichi has to stop and consider her overall image and the kind of person she wants to be, especially since her Sailor Fuku makes her stand out despite her desire to be part of a group.
- Cool Big Sis: Komichi acts this way for her little sister Kao, leading to many loving, sugary moments between them.
- Custom Uniform: Komichi's Sailor Fuku is essentially this; while she and her mother were under the mistaken impression that Roubai Academy still used sailor uniforms, her mother still made the uniform by hand. Despite the misunderstanding, the principal still allows Komichi to wear it since it's technically one of the school's official uniforms, even though it's no longer in use.
- Cuteness Proximity: The usually aloof Hitomi Washio immediatly falls to Kao's cuteness and becomes instant friends with her, lifting her or carrying her over her shoulders.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Inverted. Komichi becomes friends with Minakami Riri after losing to her, at their swimming contest, with Riri complimenting Komichi for her swimming skills and revealing that she wasn't serious when she bet that she would get Komichi's sailor uniform if she won,and thanking Komichi for having given her some real challenge and excitement.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The anime's ending theme, "Baton", is sung by Komichi's voice actress Manatsu Murakami. The anime's opening theme, "Hajimari no Setsuna", takes this further; it's also sung by Murakami, along with the voice actresses of every member of Komichi's class.
- Fanservice: There are a plethora of scenes and scenarios that deliberately focus on the girls' legs and feet. There's also plenty of focus on the abs and chests some girls have, with the emphasis Hand Waved as a way of showing the girls are reaching the start of maturity and beginning to develop breasts. Though these moments may appear lewd, most are handled in a modest, naturalistic manner.
- Friendless Background: Komichi is a justified but less tragic example than most cases, in that due to living in the remote countryside, she was the only student in her elementary school. Of course, this feeds into Komichi's need to have friends in middle school in order to do all the things one does with friends, but at the same time leaves her somewhat insecure as the lack of social interaction with classmates means she has no experience interacting with anyone in her own age group.
- Idol Singer: Komichi is a huge fan of Miki Fukumoto, a famous idol. She's part of the reason why Komichi wants to wear a Sailor Fuku so badly, becoming smitten with it when she saw Miki wearing one in a commercial.
- Iyashikei: This is a very laid-back series about growing up and adjusting to middle school, with the school itself being located in the idyllic countryside.
- Loved by All: Despite Komichi's various quirks and the fact that she wears a very different uniform from everyone else, she gets along well with her classmates and teachers and becomes highly regarded by them. Apparently, Komichi's mother was pretty much the same way when she was her age.
- Male Gaze: While the series is mostly a laid-back story about girls in middle school, there's still some occasional lingering focus on the girls' bodies, such as Komichi's backside (which, in the manga, also includes very noticeable panty lines) and any time a character goes barefoot.
- Motivational Lie: In order to make Komichi takes her race against her seriously and put all her efforts in it, Riri bet with Komichi that if she wins Komichi will trade her sailor uniform with her own uniform, only to reveal that she was joking after winning the race.
- Older Than They Look: Despite being in middle school, Hotaru Hiraiwa looks like she's in elementary school.
- One-Gender School: Roubai Academy, the middle school Komichi goes to, is an all-girls' school. Her mother previously went there as well.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Downplayed with Komichi; while she wears shoes when she has to, she'll still take her shoes and socks off at the first opportunity, including during a track race in which she openly admits to run better barefoot (and she's right, as she ends up outracing all the rest of the class). The manga reveals she was accustomed to race that way in her previous, one-student class.
- Sailor Fuku: Serafuku is right there in the Japanese title. Even though the whole reason Komichi applies to Roubai Academy is to wear one and Komichi's mother even makes one for her, it turns out that the school has changed the uniform to a more modern blazer style. Despite this, the principal allows Komichi to keep wearing the sailor uniform since it was the school's previous uniform.
- Scenery Porn: The manga is home to dozens of gorgeous shots of different kinds of rural scenery, from dense forests to shimmering lakes.
- Schoolgirl Series: The focus is on Komichi, a middle school girl who hopes to make lots of friends at her new school, and her daily life unfolding at said school.
- Slice of Life: The story has very low stakes, focusing on Komichi's everyday life as she adjusts to middle school and aims to make friends.
- Smelly Feet Gag: Played for Drama with Erika, who gets embarrassed when Komichi discovers her sniffing her nail clipper after a pedicure and not liking what she smells (not necessarily rare for someone entering puberty). Komichi turns it back to a gag by sniffing directly and nonchalantly one of her own feet to check up if she smells too, which shocks Erika out of her embarrassment and makes her laugh. Erika being insecure with her odor seems to be a case of Early-Installment Weirdness, however, as later into the series she is often seen barefoot with other people without any care or complaint.
- Spirited Competitor: Riri clearly enjoys racing against those who can truly challenge her, using a Motivational Lie to make sure that Komichi would be fully motivated into racing against her, and hugging Komichi and congratulating her over her speed after she put a true match against her, admitting that she had never been more excited about swimming before.
- Tamer and Chaster: Zigzagged; while the anime does tone down some of the more blatant Male Gaze from the manga (such as shots of Komichi's backside), at the same time it also puts more focus on the characters' feet than the manga does. The anime also amps up the romantic subtext between Komichi and Erika at some points.
- Weight Woe: In Episode 10, Shijou has some angst over having a fuller figure than Akebi or other girls her age.
- Wham Line: During the moon viewing trip, Komichi goes to Togano to ask if she wants to have a birthday party with everyone else. Togano declines since "it's the anniversary of my birth parents' deaths."
- Worthy Opponent: Riri genuinely compliments Komichi for her swimming skills after winning their swimming match, having appreciated the challenge that Komichi gave her during their race.
