Umaru-chan can change forms from a stunning A grade student to a co-dependent otaku kid in a hamster hoodie.
Himouto! Umaru-chan is the story of a girl who truly gets the best of both worlds. When outside, she is the ideal high school girl with perfect grades and good looks; however, Umaru Doma becomes a typical otaku at home.
Despite its waning popularity, Himouto! Umaru-chan has been a slice-of-life that people of all ages have enjoyed watching. Its themes of self-realization and the transformation of an ideal schoolgirl into an otaku have made many fans project on the main character.
One of the more unusual aspects of the show has been the transformation of Umaru from a full-functioning schoolgirl to an otaku kid whose survival entirely depends upon her brother. This change in her appearance has resulted in heated debates among the fans who wonder whether it is literal or metaphorical.
1. Why Does Umaru Become Small?
Umaru Doma becomes small and transforms into a kid so that the audience can distinguish between her bishoujo and NEET personality. She does not literally shrink as the difference between Umaru’s grown, and chibi form is just an artistic way to show her character’s different aspects.
The series, however, does not make this apparent and keeps the audience guessing whether the teenage girl actually has magical powers that allow her to transform into a child, don a hamster hoodie, play video games, and leave behind the responsibilities of life.
Furthermore, there are situations where the other characters interact with Umaru-chan’s chibi version as if she really is a different person than her fully-grown self, which makes it all the more confusing.
For example, Kirie didn’t recognize Umaru in her childish form and thought she was Umaru’s little sister, Komaru. In another scene, we see Umaru changing into her normal size to prevent the cola from spilling on the floor.
Due to this, fans argue that there are too many interactions for Umaru’s transformation to be chalked up to being merely metaphorical. Fortunately, there is another opposing argument that explains why she does not literally change her form.
Umaru-chan’s chibi form, Komaru, is only to juxtapose her in her natural habitat in contrast to the perfect image that Umaru wants to maintain. The reason why people don’t recognize her is to repeat the idea that both of Umaru’s personalities are so different that it is extremely difficult to place her as one person.
It makes sense that a person like Kirie, who idolizes Umaru and wants to befriend her, would rather believe that the otaku she sees is Umaru’s little sister than her actual self.
Similarly, people who usually see Umaru’s over-achieving personality would prefer to acknowledge her to be a shut-in that plays video-games all day while eating and lazing around.
The scene where she changed into her fully-grown form to stop the drink from tipping can be chalked up to the change in her mentality.
From what we have noticed, Umaru changes into her chibi form when she lazes and geeks around. Her desire to stop the cola from spilling resulted in a shift in Umaru’s personality from carefree to concerned, thus causing her to revert.
Rather than assuming that Umaru physically changes sizes, it is feasible to believe that the creator wants to portray her childish personality in a chibi style. After all, Himouto! Umaru-chan is a slice of life and not fantasy.
2. What Is Umaru’s True Form?
I think we could argue back and forth about what Umaru’s original form is; however, the truth is that both her chibi and grown-up versions are real to some extent.
Every person has multiple facets to their personality, and all of them combined make up their character. Similarly, the fully-grown Umaru is the one that is an ideal student and a responsible teen; it is the side of her that she shows to the public to maintain a good reputation.
On the other hand, chibi Umaru-chan indulges in her desires by geeking out, eating junk food, and lazing around; it is the side of her that she lets loose when at home or around people she’s comfortable with.
Umaru’s true form is her grown version with the characteristics of both an ideal student and an otaku.
3. About Himouto! Umaru-chan
Himouto! Umaru-chan is the story of a girl who fits in both the ideal and otaku personality, which causes cuteness overload.
Umaru Doma is the ideal high school girl, one would imagine, but when she reaches home, everything changes. After wearing her favorite hamster hoodie, she transforms into a cute little otaku eating junk food all day long.
Making his older brother Taihei take her responsibility for doing house chores, she plays around with Nana and Kirei or competes against Tachibana, her rival.
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