‘Let’s Go Karaoke!’ Episode 1 review: “The Encounter”

Warm up your vocal cords because Yama Wayama’s Let’s Go Karaoke! is officially here! As a reader of the manga and its follow-up Let’s Go Family Restaurant!, which takes place a handful of years after the former; I’ve been waiting for this to drop ever since the anime was announced. The series is a silly, low-stakes slice of life anime that everyone should try watching once. 

How to get two dudes into a karaoke bar.

Put simply, the plot of Let’s Go Karaoke! is about Satomi Oka, a third-year middle schooler whose biggest worry is his voice changing, rendering him unable to sing a falsetto anymore. That is until Kyouji Narita introduces himself after coming in second in a chorus competition and takes him to a local karaoke spot.

He reveals to Satomi that the boss of his yakuza holds a karaoke competition and the loser has to get a handpoke tattoo from the boss. Kyouji is in a tough spot here! It takes a lot of convincing, a drive home in the rain, and the promise of fried rice as payment for Satomi to eventually agree to be Kyouji’s coach. 

Satomi’s fears about the future…

It’s obvious from the get-go that the two leads could not be more opposite. Their peculiar relationship starts off with Satomi not wanting anything to do with Kyouji — why would a choir kid want anything to do with a yakuza? Yet, they have similar struggles around singing. In this episode alone, we witness how Satomi’s insecurities about his changing voice manifest.

He isolates himself from his choir friends, pretends that nothing is changing, and forces himself to sing the notes he can’t quite reach anymore. He doesn’t want to give up the solo, but even he knows that he might have to. 

…collide with Kyouji’s.

On the other hand, Kyouji is struggling with his own singing insecurities. Satomi realizes that while they’re not the same, they’re similar enough that he doesn’t want anything to do with Kyouji’s singing situation. This alone is enough for Satomi to treat Kyouji not as a yakuza per se, but as a fellow singer.

His confidence as a chorus member comes out and allows him to be brutally honest with Kyouji – a stark contrast to how he feels about his own singing. While their relationship by the end of the episode is flimsy at best, there is room for both of them to grow in their confidence; which is something I don’t think they would be able to do without the other. 

A note about being weird.

There is an elephant in the room: the age gap between Kyouji and Satomi. While it’s never explicitly stated how old Kyouji is, he is a lieutenant for his yakuza family. This, if I’m doing my questionable math correctly, would put him in his late 20s while Satomi would be around 14-15. 

It is not unlikely that some people are going to be uncomfortable with that because, let’s be real, what could an adult possibly need a middle schooler to teach him singing over the variety of other options out there? It’s possible to read into it as weird and creepy, but I think that’s misinterpreting the whole premise, especially when it’s rare to see intergenerational relationships in anime and manga. 

Additionally, Kyouji is all business about the whole thing. He’s simply looking for a singing teacher based on whether or not they’re good at singing. At no point does he make weird advances toward Satomi and reducing his character to nothing more than a creepy old dude is a disservice. 

A strong translation into animation.

You might recognize the animation from studio Doga Kobo, of previous hits Oshi no Ko, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, and most importantly Chiikawa. The animators do a great job at keeping things smooth with each scene, but especially the one with Kyouji singing in front of Satomi for the first time. His movements while singing have beautiful animation, and there aren’t any awkward parts. The whole scene is purposeful in its movements, even with how silly the whole thing may be. 

Additionally, Wayama-sensei has a very distinct style and aesthetic, so it can be difficult to bring that to life. But it’s obvious from episode one alone that the animators put a ton of hard work into it. Both the leads, as well as the ensemble characters, are animated with so much life. You can see the dedication that was poured into the anime. 

Some pacing issues keep this episode from being pitch perfect.

If there was one thing to nitpick, it was the pacing of the episode. While the episode is faithful to the original manga, there were a couple of parts that were a little rushed — particularly the ending scene. The pacing of it feels just a little bit off for my liking, but that could be because I’ve read the source material and pictured it to be a certain way. That being said, this was the only thing that stands out in terms of negatives for a rather top-notch first episode. 

Let’s Go Karaoke! Episode one does a great job of introducing Kyouji and Satomi’s odd relationship. The two of them are, quite obviously, at different points in their lives, but somehow have something the other needs. And while their relationship is nothing more than a reluctant singing teacher and a middle-aged man, it’s clear that some sort of friendship is forming. 

If you need another good reason to watch this, there’s an X Japan song featured in its entirety. 

Let’s Go Karaoke! is available on Crunchyroll.

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Feature image ©2025 Yama Wayama/KADOKAWA/Let’s Go Karaoke!