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Oct 22, 2018
Before I get into the specific categories, let me just say that this series is a lot to take in for a 12 episode series, and hits some almost diametrically opposing points for me, often enough. I was in turmoil watching the show, because I had massive respect for all the intricate parts it was moving about, and this show truly does many things well. Unfortunately, even with so many good parts, there was still something... that just did not click with me. Like many great works of art, you can respect something without being particularly fond of it, but I always try to lean
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towards balancing technical review versus entertainment, so that I do not focus on one side too often. This anime was done very well, and unfortunately, was just missing some phantom SOMETHING from being considered a masterpiece for me, although it is still likely worth your time.
Story: 7
So, here is where the opposing points theory first picks up. As an art fan, nothing is more pandering and annoying than having an anime force-feed the audience the entire backstory through exposition in the first few episodes. It's annoying, and shows an inherent lack of trust in viewer. "Gangsta," is better in this sense, as it very rarely just straight up tells you what is going on. We are given the background of the world and the characters through limited interactions (usually through fragments spoken to Alex) and on top of that, have to sort through a web of politics and time, as the story flashes back to the past of the two main characters Nico and Worick, often. This is truly handled masterfully, but unfortunately, there is something about this world that just... doesn't seem to move. It has a very dynamic plot, and pieces are always moving, but there is just no sense of hope allowed in this anime. Not only through the plot points themselves, but through the lens with which the characters tell us they view the world. There is this ominous sense the entire show that things will go wrong, and that is just the way of this world. This sort of nihilist-fused pacing is strange, as the series is so interesting, but you cannot seem to get wrapped up in something so obviously set for oblivion. I also want to get out there that this show does something truly remarkable, which is blending multiple genres together effectively. It works most obviously as a sci-fi blended crime drama, but there is also a heavy element of almost-buddy-cop comedy, political thriller, social commentary, and many others. While it does not make a product that I would call remarkable, it does balance many things well, and that is, I think, worth some respect.
Art: 6
I do not think "Gangsta," is by any means an ugly anime, but there is something... absurdly monotone about it. The entire show's palette seems awash in beige and black, and I think this point most defends my idea of hopelessness. Some of the action scenes are well done, but unfortunately, many people (present company included) want to see beautiful scenic renderings and the like, but we do not actually get to know anything outside of the city it takes place (besides flashbacks). We're not actually even sure how it is positioned geographically. I did not read the manga, but I am not sure what the outside world looks like, although I assume from the character's conversations, it is at least better than inside. This focused, earthy art style is just not entirely appealing, and while it does a good job of creating that atmosphere I mentioned, I just do not think that atmosphere is effective for entertainment. Personal thing, that's all.
Sound: 9
I have never actually seen an anime attempt to voice a deaf person before, and to that, this show instantly raises high in my esteem. I otherwise had no complaints, and wanted to make special note that Alex's song that she sings in "BASTARD," later in the show was particularly lovely.
Character: 9
As I have mentioned being at odds with the art and story, I have to now defend why I gave this an 8 out of 10 rating. I personally did not think that any character did not stand out (except for the "mentally unstable killers," archetype that the enemies blend into, that was a shame) to me, and every character seamed uniquely human in that they had many layers, and often were at odds with themselves, as we so often are. There were so many small moments that made me question what I actually knew about these characters, and in a story full of unreliable characters, part of the joy was getting to the bottom of who they were. I actually cannot recall offhand a series that does such a mature job of crafting characters that have so many vices without being made to appear weak or ineffectual. Everyone in this show is struggling, and everyone has an implied bevy of trauma they carry around with them, and this trauma translates perfectly. Character's actions and relationships to one another so perfectly encapsulates the effects of trauma is was wonderful to watch. I cannot seem to justify writing down all my favorite moments, as this is a review now an essay, but honestly, the only ones you need to defend this claim can be found by looking at the main characters. Alex working through the guilt and trauma of her abuse are astounding, and the clockwork between Nico and Worick's friendship is so interesting, I still cannot tell if they are friend or foe, and that's a marvelous thing for an English major. I also loved that there is representation for an LGBT couple without it being token or taboo. It is just a passing realization, nothing more, and that is thoroughly human.
Enjoyment: 7
As I said, this show does many things right, but there are just a few too many things not done so. The atmosphere just did not mesh well for me, and the story and art really dragged down a brilliant character-driven story. It was enjoyable, but I usually binge whole seasons in a day or two, and I was much more satisfied watching this just a few episodes at a time. I think it is because I did truly enjoy it, but some little spark was missing and just did not hook me in, so I never had my heart racing for another episode, it was just my brain respecting the growth of all the things I did like. I don't think I fell in love with this series like I thought I was going to, I just wound up enjoying it.
Overall: 8
I've said it plenty already, but this is a good show that made a few choices that I could not get behind. I respect the artistic differences, and did not weigh them too heavily in my accumulative scoring. Still, I think that an 8 is a fair grade for this show, as the things it does right, it knocks out of the park, and the things it does wrong just sort of quietly fizzle. There was never any great breaking disappointment for me in the things I did not like, just an aching sense that I wish things were handled better, so even if I wanted to say it was a mixture of good and bad parts, that longing for the bad parts to be fixed suggests to me that the good carried the weight better than the bad tried to drop it, so "Gangsta," is a very good anime that could have been a masterpiece.
Recommendations:
1. Black Lagoon. I saw in many reviews that people were upset at these comparisons, and I find that to be strange. Black Lagoon and Gangsta VERY OBVIOUSLY share many similarities, and in their misguiding anger, I think people are just upset that you can compare the two. Yes, Black Lagoon is a far better crafted anime, but as they are entirely separate stories, recommendations are not contests, they are simply signifiers of some kind of shared sense of something while watching, be that character, plot, theme, or what have you. Black Lagoon and Gangsta are both sci-fi blended crime dramas, with dark, mature characters that you cant help but love and hate simultaneously. Both shows give us characters with questionable and unreliable moral compasses, and gives us just enough to love to balance out the hate. That is more than enough for a recommendation.
2. Darker Than Black. Both of these titles deal with the concept of "othering," or pitting supernaturals up against normals in a savvy political story full of action.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 5, 2018
Quick Summary:
This anime is a pretty standard paranormal school romance/ecchi comedy series. It does not do quite enough to stand out from the rest, but it has enough character to not just feel like a carbon copy. Enjoyable, if you find the genre enjoyable, possibly underwhelming or disappointing if you don't.
Story: 6
Boy meets girl. Boy is dense, girl is dense. Harem are attracted to his ineffectual, yet kind ways. Hijinks ensue. You've earnestly seen it all before, perhaps better, but do not let that keep you away otherwise. While the story definitely taps into ecchi waters (The Were-person character), I actually think this series is
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a little sweeter than it is perverted (although, again, it is that too). The story is rather lacking in most senses, it's just a light school romance anime, that so happens to have paranormal girls in it. The show does not go much further than that, and the romance is never romanticized (bad sentence, but the best way I can describe it). It is "sweet", instead of"melodramatic", and perhaps "silly" over "funny". I kind of watched it as an endearing copy of "Rosario," and the like.
Art: 8
I don't really think any particular part stood out to shock and awe me, but it is just overall a good looking anime. Not terrifically full of budget shots, nothing too distracting for complaints.
Sound: 7
I don't really cover sound in my reviews, I do not think this section should only mean a review of the OP and ED music, but as I do not speak Japanese, any of the nuances in the voice acting are lost on me, and I am not musically trained, so the soundtrack to an anime series can only ever be registered as good background effect, of which almost all anime succeeds when the series is good enough.
Character: 7
As with all harem comedies, the characters all fall into their types, and it's hard to suggest any character truly stood out as being unique. Although I of course came to enjoy all the characters, I've enjoyed their counterparts in a hundred other shows, so I gave it a 7 for keeping the status quo.
Enjoyment: 8
All that being said, I'm a sucker for a sweet romance filled with laughs, so I enjoyed it just fine. It was losing me a bit at the end (the modern trend of never having a character actually progress in their declaration of love serves only to irritate me, but I understand why they keep writing it) but I laughed in probably every episode, so worth it.
Overall: 7
Overall, not a bad show, not a great show. A solid "B" series, getting "awws," and "lols," in equal measure from me as a viewer. As mentioned earlier, if you dig these kind of animes, you'll probably enjoy yourself. If you're not a fan of these cookie-cutter type series, probably steer clear.
Recommendations:
1. Rosario to Vampire. Same GENERAL idea as "Jitsu wa Watashi wa," in that they're romantic comedies set in a school with a paranormal harem. Rosario is much more ecchi (as mentioned earlier) and Jitsu is a bit more sweet, and slice-of-lifey.
2. Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou. You lose the school element, but you still retain the general premise of a slice-of-life comedic romance with a cast of paranormal females pursuing a normal, male human.
3. Seto no Hanayome. While I think Hanayome is the superior title, both kind of revolve around the same principle of paranormal romance set against the backdrop of a overbearing paranormal father with gangster vibes (although Hanayome is explicitly so, and Jitsu is implicit, such as the scene where her father, while cleaning a katana, has the Wolf-person go out on a job).
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 6, 2018
This show is a healthy balance of exactly what you'd expect, and an interestingly fresh take on the ecchi genre. Before getting into my review, just know that this is a perverted comedy, but it is not only focused on physics-defying boobs for its shtick. Everything is fair game in this preposterous anime, and you'll likely never look at bananas the same way again...
Story: 7
So underneath the heavy-handed ecchi entertainment of the series, there was a lovely bit of satire going on as well (NOTE: not masterfully done, just enough to be interesting.) Given Japan's heavily conservative and collectivist culture stereotype, the premise of this
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show suggests "what happens if this was taken to a comedic extreme?"
This series gives itself a thoroughly (if absurd) set of rules to follow, and then makes ample use of building the plot around it. For example, wrist bracelets can measure hand strokes, so no one can draw smut any more, and as a result, a genius character learns to draw with her mouth. Funny, ridiculous, and something to obviously not be taken seriously. This underlying satire of conservative values destroying human interaction might be a little heavy-handed, but given how break-neck quick the series is as a comedy, it just sort of works. It's not brilliant, and perhaps would have done better if it did try to make a bolder statement, but as strictly an entertaining comedy, this was a solid 8 for me.
Art: 7
Nothing specifically worth mentioning here. The art is fine, gets the job done, etc. My only real issue, actually, is that the censoring on the show works against the point they might've been trying to make, and as a result, it is a little overkill. While every ecchi series ever will generally make use of a curiously placed chair, or stray beam of light to cover things up, the abundance of physical innuendo and gesturing makes a large bulk of the show bombarded with censoring. Still, a well made work, fairly average.
Sound: 6
I gave sound such a low score simply because I think there was too much lost in translation. Innuendo is heavily influenced by factors independent to the country of origin, and I assume more than half of the jokes made were way off base (they often don't seem to make sense whatsoever going by the subtitles. Often scenes just had the voice-actors screaming out body parts at random, and this kind of goes against the premise of a group looking to reintroduce dirty jokes into the world. Swearing is not a dirty joke, and while perhaps Crunchyroll is to blame (their subtitles are notoriously disliked in many circles) I just think this is a series that needed a better (larger) time dedicated to getting the subtitles right. I know this is not specifically a sound issue, but I imagine this is the best place to voice the complaint.
Character: 7.
You will love all the characters for the same reasons you were annoyed at the last ecchi characters, and you'll hate the same character types you hated before. There is not much innovation. Honestly, the only fun relationship really present was the light-hearted romance between the main characters (surely not original, but well written) and that of Fuwa. While the detached science nerd is nothing new (in western OR eastern media, mind you) her character was nonetheless hilarious.
Enjoyment: 8
All in all, I give it an 8 for it being just entertaining enough to keep me laughing more than wincing (although there was plenty of wincing). The show often seemed to not know what kind of comedy it wanted to be, but was not varied enough in its representation of comedy to be considered a full on parody of many tropes/cliches, like some ecchi have attempted. Regardless of this though, you still come to like the characters (at least, well... maybe the 2 main characters) and you'll likely laugh if you approach ecchi as casual comedic entertainment. I honestly think I like this series as much as I did because it never fully crossed over into being a "large tit/dumb characters" cliche that populate the ecchi genre.
It was pretty equal opportunity when it came to jokes revolving around body parts, and it made itself known VERY quickly that it knew it was an absurd series. It did not take itself too seriously, nor did it refuse to try putting any spirit or originality into its writing. I honestly found it pretty entertaining, if not worth a second watch.
Overall 7:
Overall, as mentioned above, I probably won't ever watch it again, but I'd definitely recommend it to someone looking for something different in the fan-service genre of entertaining absurdity.
Recommendations:
1. Golden Boy. While I hate to always toss out Golden Boy for a recommendation for series like this, it's hard NOT to, as it is likely the greatest ecchi series ever made. I think the reason why I recommend it in this case though is that both the series make ample use of perverted comedy, but there are also moments in which the series both attempt to stab at something greater than mindless entertainment for perverts. While Golden Boy is significantly more so, I believe both shows had a sense about that that I might suggest: "they've got heart."
2. Air Gear. These are both ecchi series that can offer something fun outside of gratuitous fan-service, and they both are absolutely ridiculous.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 6, 2018
I must admit, this review will be slightly biased, because I am a 28 year old life-long anime fan, and I often feel isolated in my interest, as I predominantly only talk anime with friends significantly younger than I. As a result, I'd like to think that I connect a bit too much with a character who is older and in a rather shameful relationship with her passion, so I will try to abstain from being too melodramatic in my review and criticism.
Story: 9.
Inasmuch as I absolutely adored this series, I gave it a 9 for one very specific reason: as a 10 episode series,
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the tension the series builds ends significantly quicker than I might have liked. Do not misunderstand, I HATE when series milk tension and do so by utilizing lazy storytelling and plot holes. Net-Juu no Susume, admittedly, wonderfully sidesteps this issue by stopping the rising tension at a serviceable moment, I just simply wish we got a full 12 episodes, perhaps to better flesh out the characters I came to love.
Art: 9.
Stylistically, Net-Juu is pretty, but not gorgeous. Admittedly, I might be biased because this season, Ancient Magus Bride came out and since then I struggle to view art elsewhere as perfect, but Net-Juu still does a great job. Morimori is a wonderful character, but where the show excels, in my opinion, is the way it can cohesively break between portraying slapstick anime-esque comedy bits alongside legitimate moments in which her social anxiety creeps up around her. The art style comically shows her anxiety as darkness swirls around her, etc, but the mannerisms she portrays when talking to people, when she is starting to fall into self-loathing are visible and masterful. While the artwork might not be flashy, I think there is something to be said about the masterful use of refrain and balance in the art direction.
Sound: 7.
As usual for my reviews, I do not stress too much on this area as it is not within my general knowledge. I can say that I loved the voice acting, and the music helped scenes move along, but never to the point of drawing my attention to their brilliance. I did not care for the opening or closing music, and so I just give it a solid 7.
Character: 10.
As my review has suggested thus far, character is where this series excels. It shouldn’t surprise you as a reader to assume that in a well-received slice-of-life anime, the characters are what truly keep everything afloat, but this takes it one step further. Many SoL anime I’ve watched revolve around Japanese high schoolers, and for many of us (from English-speaking countries or backgrounds, as I imagine you to possibly be, dear reader) this is only escapism, there is no real connection as we don’t necessarily understand Japanese school systems or share those experiences. However, a series about becoming cripplingly bogged down by the pressures of life and escaping to things like video games (or anime) might be something a little more universally understood by watchers. Perhaps embarrassing to admit, but I certainly understand this predicament. I think this connection makes Morimori’s character arc personal to an audience, and as we watch and hope that her life situation turns around, we’re enthralled by her humanity. There is also something to be said about the fact that unlike the NEET stereotype seen in other anime, Morimori chooses this life after having been in the “real world,” and does not bog down her family or friends with her irresponsible behavior, as wonderfully portrayed in “Welcome to NHK”. She chooses this retreat from society because she is lonely, and the watcher does not want her to succeed so that she can make “something of herself,” but rather we want her to succeed solely because we love her. That is a beautiful creation as far as characters go.
Enjoyment: 10.
I’ll be straight with you, I neglected homework (ironically) and binged this in a single sitting. I felt awful having wasted so much time consistently, but this was the rare kind of anime that just speaks to me on a personal level and does not allow me to walk away. I might have felt awful about wasting the time, but on a much larger scale, I felt as though I too were undergoing a change of character as I watched the main character work through her troubles. Real life doesn’t work as smoothly as anime, of course, and I would not even begin to suggest that this anime has the power to immediately change a life, but I can at least suggest that watching this anime made me feel better about myself and my own personal sorrows, and that is something.
Overall: 9.
I think I’ve said everything I’ve wanted to say, in a meandering and melodramatic fashion. This show just stuck with me, and took two fantastic ideas (struggling with social anxiety and developing relationships with people) and perfectly bound them together. It was funny, it was touching, and it was thought-provoking. It had some small faults perhaps, some of which I don’t even really feel like listing down, but it was damn near perfect. I am very happy to suggest that this show is a solid 9, and only because I do not think there exists a perfect show. Watch it if you’ve ever struggled with shame for being a nerd (and also, knock that off because being a nerd is the best possible way to live your life :D)
Recommendations:
1. Welcome to the N.H.K.: These two are entirely different shows, both in content and direction, but they both fundamentally pivot around the idea of adults who become shut-ins due to the stresses of life. Watch if you like the topic, do not watch expecting the same sort of feels.
2. Knight's & Magic: Again, entirely different tone, but both shows are about 30+ year old office workers who find joy by escaping the real world to a fantasy one. Of course, K&M sends him to a real world, and Recovery is only a video game, but this idea of learning how to happily socialize in an escapist scenario is present in both.
3. Gate: This anime has nothing to do with Recovery of an MMO Addict, but the main character is a 30 year old man who would much rather play his mobile game than chase a career honestly, even when he is sent into an honest-to-goodness fantasy realm. I honestly just recommend it because it is rare to see a 30+ year old character represented in an anime that isn't more serious.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 12, 2018
Haganai was, generally, an entertaining watch for me, but did so at the cost of committing several sins to get there. The characters are lovely and lively, and I feel that while they did slip towards stereotypes, they never fully embraced them, allowing the characters to feel more relatable or interesting. I would probably have give it higher marks, but the entirety of the second season seemed to bog down the story by placing unnecessary blockades to character growth, and I'll explain that in better detail further down.
Story: 7.
It's hard for me to ever give a slice-of-life anime higher than a 7 because a SoL
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anime is often character-driven, the plot or story falls to the wayside in a fair trade, as that is obviously the charm. The act of creating a club for social outcasts of various reasons was a fun idea, and executed mostly effectively except for the lingering fact the (opaque language so as to not spoil) they refused to acknowledge the club's achievement until the 25th episode. Do not get me wrong, I'm ALL about a slow burn in an anime, but that was too much. Especially as word (as of this moment, January 2018) of a third season shrinks further and further into the depths, we're essentially given what ruins so many romance animes for me. When feelings are finally put onto the table (romantic or otherwise!), I want to see the direction the show takes so that I can feel the closure for the characters I have come to love. This easy ending technique does not wrap up the story in an acceptable manner for me, so to that, I knock a point. There was also a brief period of transition between the two season that focused heavily on the main character's sister and another young character her age, and that was annoying. I won't make personal attacks, but I do not enjoy loli characters as a general rule of thumb, and having 2 filler episodes dedicated to only slightly tying in their characters was an annoying waste of an hour for me (I ended up skipping a few minutes here and there throughout, not something I am accustomed to doing).
Art: 8.
The art style is attractive. I cannot recall any moments of particular beauty, nor was the color choices or character design particularly breathtaking. I did note that many of the characters have a stylistically-upturned nose that I am not sure I've seen elsewhere, and that was interesting.
Sound: 7.
The sound department did its job. It was not heavily music-influenced, and the voice acting was all fine. I will note that the younger sister Kobato's vocal performance was hilarious, and the trademark laugh of hers was infectious and funny. The voice actor for Maria on the other-hand really struggled too hard to pull off a truly youthful sounding voice, and to that, I was not impressed.
Character: 8.
Obviously for a slice of life/school life comedy, the characters are what matter the most, so I will focus more on this section than the others. The characters were entertaining enough to keep me invested, but their perceived flaws were less bothersome than their written flaws. Allow me to elaborate without spoiling. Many of the character are very obviously described quickly, one might be a genius but a pervert. One is a tsundere, one is too detached from reality, etc. I could handle this fairly well, but the weakness we were supposed to observe from these characters did not bother me any as they were often charming in a sort of way. The flaws that were written unintentionally were the ones that kept me from fully loving them. (It is so hard to delve into character and remain spoiler free, woe is me T^T) For a show that seemed to market itself as a romantic comedy, all I will say is that the "romance," was completely mismanaged. Tensions were often left unaddressed, situations meant to grow relations fizzled out mildly, and until the final episode, any addressing of emotional depth was stunted or ignored entirely. There were hints of moments, such as why Kodaka had such a strange hair color, for example, but these moments quietly played their part and immediately swung back into the fold. Honestly, slight spoiler here folks, Kodaka's "Ehh? What did you say?" mechanic was heavy-handed and overly-wrought that it had, in my opinion, all the finesse of sewing a shirt with a hammer. Although the final episode addressed this, 24 episodes of wondering why they kept reusing the exact same response to every new situation was tiresome and bothersome and made me mostly hate Kodaka more often than not. Bonus points though, this is, I think, the first anime in my generally 300 history where I saw a character fart, and that's... an accomplishments of sorts?
Enjoyment: 8.
As I said, the various plot and character sins kept my suspension of disbelief from fully immersing, but for what it's worth, this is a DAMN funny anime, and when they aren't pissing me off, the characters will surprise you. It's fun, and accomplishes this often by evoking parodies of the school comedy genre that work because the plot itself allows them to stand outside the realm of what is "typical," in the genre, even whilst they follow, tongue-in-cheek, the exact same formula they all use. The story then is arguably a deconstruction of the school comedy, and this makes it all the funnier. As I am a sucker for a good romance, I believe this series squandered many opportunities, and did not offer a well-scripted scene of emotional realness until the very last episode, so despite how much I enjoyed it, it still kept me from giving it a full 9 or 10.
Overall: 7.
This is a good anime. It likely won't become your favorite, and it might not entirely mesh well if you're on a slice of life or school comedy kick, as this one steps a little out of the box when it comes to traditional tropes of the genre. If you start it, keep this in mind and unlike myself, try to watch it not as a romantic comedy or a school comedy, but rather, an amusing parody of both, that fails one and achieves the latter. Definitely worth the time if you want a casual laugh with fun characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 6, 2018
So here's the thing... I don't think this show is very good, and that is rather bothersome, seeing as how this series held the potential to be very entertaining (which is mostly was, do not mistake this as me suggesting I did not enjoy it.) The biggest problem with this show for me was that it sold itself on the premise of a ridiculous action show, and every episode worked towards a climax to such a tune. While it did a justifiably entertaining job when geared towards a silly action-packed romp, in my opinion, the show shined brightest during the quiet comedic slice-of-life moments, and
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this became problematic for me. I'll try to elaborate more clearly as I delve into the review.
Story: 7.
I ended up giving the story a 7 because it is an entertaining shot that just barely misses the mark. This leaves it in a "good," place for me; not great, not awful, just good. For example, the show is 100% built on an absurd premise: extreme fighting over half-priced bentos. The absurdity of this claim rests entirely upon how exactly wild the fighting is, and unfortunately for me, the fighting was often a bit tame for what the premise seemed to promise, initially. This forced me to instead fixate on the story outside of the actual fighting, in which case the show became a school-life anime, and this better delivered the absurdity, to me. The constant assaults, perverted misfortunes (cliche, but I'll always laugh at someone running around naked, call me old-fashioned) and miscommunications were always great. At the end of the day though, if I wanted a funny school-life anime, I would pick through the plethora out there that focus on doing exactly that more thoroughly. Perhaps I am just being picky (but that is, after-all, the point of a review?) but I wish the show would have had more interesting and crazy fights, instead of a few punches and kicks. It paid ample homage to fighting shows in many ways (including the obvious "alias" for fighting) but no one had a signature move and worst of all, the character's perceived power levels fluctuated so drastically between episodes I actually never got around to getting a head for ranking the fighters. I'll elaborate on that more in "Character." In all honesty, this show flung itself in-between two other shows that have a similar feel to me: Shokugeki and Dagashi Kashi. I believe that Shokugeki succeeds as the superior anime because (while the characters are a bit more fleshed out and nontraditional) it sticks to its premise and delivers absurdity expertly plated for the audience. The entire show is funny and entertaining, just like Ben-To, but where they differ is when Shokugeki begins a fight, I am 100% on board and in the moment. For Ben-To, the fights sort of run together and fizzle out. Ben-To succeeds against Dagashi Kashi though, in my opinion, because it does not focus too much on the slice of life aspect like Dagashi did. The absurd nature of all three of these shows does well with some "real life," basis in the plot line, but Dagashi captured the monotony of real life in its pacing, whereas Shokugeki is electric the whole way through, and Ben-To bounces between interesting moments for me. The final flaw for me is that there is no looming plotline throughout the story. The plot is literally just getting some cheap food when hungry, and this just brings us back to the issue I have between viewing it as an unsuccessful slice-of-life. There are moments hinted at, such as The Wizard's cryptic study abroad or Monarch Butterfly's past with the games. These are never elaborated on really though (I assume the manga does so much better) and the show ultimately suffers as being seen as episodic, which is not generally my half-priced cup of tea.
Art: 9.
While I am not educated in art technique, I can at least say that this was a pretty anime and it did not rely on heavy CGI graphics or budget shots, which is a particular pet-peeve of mine. The colors were vivid, the animation was smooth, and the character design was attractive.
Sound: 7.
The voice acting was professional, and the score was always fitting. I gave a 7 because no voice actor, song, or moment in the score stood out enough for me to recognize that, and to that, I must assume it just did a good job and succeeded in fulfilling the requirements of all three areas of sound.
Character: 8.
I've been going back and forth on my rating for this, but I think I'll just start speaking now and stop second-guessing myself. I gave this series an 8, and surprisingly, I did so for the secondary characters, not the main characters. Satou, Shaga, and Yarizui are all just tropes, and I loved them for the exact same reason I have always loved them. The fool with an iron will and a heart of gild, the cold "Kuudere," character who is detatched from the world but somehow warm to the main character, and of course a healthy sprinkling of cousin-complex love interest that is never viewed as one. These are fine archetypes, and we keep them around for a reason, but I often prefer them as secondary characters, leaving us with more dynamic and individual main characters. This show does the opposite for me, in that while Oshiroi and Asabi are both static secondary characters, they consistently had me dying with laughter as the absurdity of the character. I think the reason why this works so well is because, as I have probably said too many times by this point, this is to be an absurd show, and these two characters are by far the most absurd. As a matter of fact, these two dominated the comedy for me, most of the time, and was just another hanging factor that made me feel like I was just missing something from this show. My biggest complaint though was unreliable power levels. Satou gets demolished his first fight, but then very quickly into the series is shown as an able fighter, beating people known to be stronger than him. My problem with this is that even after defeating Nikaidou and Monarch, he still does not seem to have a name (aliases or otherwise). Later, he is thrashed instantly on two separate occasions by Othros, but then shows up the third time and it is implied (with a Laurel sticker) that he beats both of them himself, when two days prior and with no special training he could not beat them even with the help of the "unbeatable" Ice Cold Witch. Monk, Hairdye, and other guy (?) also seem to slip in and out of being actually powerful, and they still call him "pooch," (a slightly derogatory name for a newcomer) even though he has obviously proven himself a more able warrior. This constant power shifting did not sit well with me, nor did the decision to not mention a single time how Satou was getting stronger, which would have been a logical direction to take since Yarizui was literally his club president and always with him. In my mind, this opaqueness of character hurt them in my eyes and did not allow me to fully suspend my disbelief in order to truly enjoy the show.
Enjoyment: 7.
While I have lobbed some fairly critical comments against the series, let me back-peddle and suggest that I am more than aware that this show is not a masterpiece, nor was it aiming to be. It was an entertaining and ridiculous premise that aimed to be fun and quick to get into, and I believe it more than succeeded. While my attention did wane every now and then, I never strayed so far that I thought of quitting, and I laughed quite hard multiple times throughout the series. I think it was a "good," anime, and while I didn't get what I wanted, I could easily claim to have gotten a fair consolation prize instead.
Overall: 7.
I'll walk away knowing I probably won't revisit this show, and while I would watch a second season, I likely won't be scouring the internet looking for confirmation of such. I think this was a good anime that did something interesting. While it did not quite live up to what I had hoped to get out of it, it most assuredly did not let me down entirely, and I think it was just a above-average good way to kill some time. I hope that if a second season ever did come to fruition, it might take a glance at the success of Shokugeki and fix some of the areas that were bothersome to me, so that the show might reach the potential I believe it has. All in all, definitely worth a watch, but do so casually. I would not recommend this if you're looking for a new obsession, keep this one in the queue for when you need a quick laugh.
Recommendations:
1. Shokugeki (Food Wars). As I already mentioned, Ben-To would work very well as a palate cleanser or cool-down after watching Shokugeki. Although Ben-To was unique enough that I would not go so far as to suggest it was just "Food Wars Lite," or anything, they do have similar feels. Whereas Shokugeki presents an ever-present larger plotline lingering in the background, Ben-To is more simple, not really looking forward towards anything, just enjoying itself in the moment. I think if anything, you could say that Ben-To could be watched like a more casual Shokugeki.
2. Dagashi Kashi. I was not a fan of this show, but they have similarities between them. Dagashi Kashi relies on fan service a bit more than Ben-To, in my opinion, and Ben-To succeeds more as an interesting show because it does not suffer the pacing issues Dagashi has for me. They both deal with people caring far too much about common food to the point of obsession, and being carried too far because of these obsessions.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 6, 2018
It is difficult to write a review about a series so widely reviewed so many years after its release. As a result, I have taken the liberty to not view certain scenes as "cliche," as that adjective only applies to GTO as a result of the wake it left, and if these things seem cliche, it is likely because the massive success of GTO helped (along with others) to popularize it to the point of becoming cliche. Also, take the "7" I gave the artwork lightly. While, yes, the artwork was likely lovely for the time (and it stands up still!) my love of it
...
is clearly from a place of nostalgia. I also am an English major, so my understanding of artistic technique and criticism thereof is not worth much.
Story: 8
GTO will likely stick with me forever as just one of the most fucking enjoyable works I've seen in a long while. Just from start to finish you will be grinning throughout this anime, and I cannot stress enough that the situational and slapstick comedy will likely withstand any number of years well into the future. That being said, I chose an 8 because the anime does, in my opinion, suffer from several plot point and pacing issues. While it DOES balance an episodic nature with a background linear storyline, there are certain points where I felt like the story took too much time forcing us to fall in love with characters, only to then mash them into a collective "Onizuka's students," categories for the most part. While I'll elaborate more on this in the "Character," section of this review, I think it is vital to understand that the line between "Story," and "Character," is tough to draw. That is to say, the manner in which the plot progresses is not as important as the characters themselves in the meantime. The storyline is then fairly simple: Onizuka is an idiot we root for, and love him as the students come to love him.
Art: 7
I won't spend too much time here, as I have already made my prefatory remark above, but let me nerd out and attempt to describe a feeling I'm sure many of you reading this can relate to, and that's the beautiful moment when a work can both remind you of your childhood without forcing you to realize that the work was better in your memory. By this, I of course mean that there are so many older anime that were influential for both myself as a human and the genre itself that I personally can no longer palate. Yu Yu Hakusho, for example, is a tremendous series, but as I tried to rewatch it this year, I became incredibly bored and found that I had come to expect more from an anime, in terms of pacing and dialogue that such an older series was lacking for me. The wonder of Onizuka is that the artwork assuredly reminds me of all the 90s - early 2000s anime I grew up on, but the strength of its characters and story helps to secure it into a unique situation for me in which I can watch an anime that has all the beautiful old nostalgic art direction that I secretly yearn for when I'm feeling down every few years or so, but the benefit of a script and plot that do not feel dated to me. I gave it a "7" specifically because it does, indeed, seem "good," to me, as the review prompt ascribes to the choice of "7," and that is as fair a rating as I feel comfortable giving.
Sound: 9.
Again, I cannot claim too much mastery in the sound department, as I am not trained to speak of the category from a technical standpoint, so I will just say that the music was nice and fitting, while still giving me that dreamy nostalgic feel that the artwork did. Hearing L'arc in the OP was truly a blast-from-the-past delight for me, for example. That being said though, I gave this category such a high rating because the voice acting in this show is absolutely superb. I am not well-versed enough in voice actors to know if any of the talent were well-renowned for their various abilities, but I can say with absolute certainty that the comedic moments were executed flawlessly due to the mastery of the voice actors in my opinion, and delivery is of course everything in comedy. I was often laughing just as hard from the pitch or intonations of the lines as I was from the joke or situation themselves, and I think that speaks very highly of the work the voice actors accomplished here.
Character: 10.
Finally, the category I feel most assured of writing about. As mentioned previously, I think that the legacy of this show is entirely dependent on its characters, as the plotline itself is rather straight-forward (Problem arises, student hates Onizuka, Onizuka solves problem, student loves Onizuka). Interestingly, I had a bit of a mental struggle with putting my thoughts into words for this category because Onizuka himself is a bit of an enigma for me. You see, I am a practitioner of "dynamic, dynamic!, DYNAMIC!" when it comes to characters, but Onizuka some how succeeds for me despite changing very little as a character (or, perhaps, just less so since every student undergoes such a drastic change throughout the series). Often, I wind up hating characters like Onizuka, referring to them snobbishly as having a "Superman problem," and by that I mean a character who is chosen by the plot to be the hero, and struggles only mildly against problems due to their overwhelming positive traits as characters. This is interestingly NOT the case with Onizuka, as he is often the punchline or whipping-boy of the plot, and does not come ahead as a character until it is crunch time. While this last-second hero trope is also played-out to high heaven with most art, it somehow works for Onizuka, because his actions are often simple while still retaining the idea of being clever. Almost all other characters in the show are uniquely interesting, or even if they aren't, they are strong enough to not necessarily need something dynamic to make them strong (The Chairman, for example). One of the more interesting characters to me though was Uchiyamada, as he is clearly written to be the annoying "bad" guy, but his character growth is astronomical and maturely written. Slight spoiler, but in the beginning, the audience is lead to loath him as he calls students trash, but by the end of the show, he has learned once-again the love and power of educating that he lost somewhere along the way. Interestingly, while Onizuka has some small hand is creating the situations that lead to this, Uchiyamada actually gets there independently for the most part, and there is a wonderful moment in which a former student tells a beautiful story about a sunflower that created a legitimately heartfelt moment in which I was happy with the Vice-Principle. By the end of the show, I felt as though Uchiyamada acknowledged Onizuka's strengths WITHOUT liking him, and I think that is a character trait that makes me feel as though he was well-thought out and handled in a mature manner.
Enjoyment: 10.
What can I say that has not already been said throughout this increasingly lengthy love-letter? Every moment of this show was fun, nostalgic, entertaining and beautiful, and I can proudly say that I was so caught up in the show that I began to watch the live-action adaptation (2012) of it. Although I have about 300 anime under my belt, I had, prior, resisted all temptation of watching a live-action, and GTO was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for me. I was laughing to the point of tears often, I was legitimately moved by some of the scenes (Often with Tomoko, as I loved her side plots) and this will likely stick with me as a quintessentially "good," anime all my life.
Overall: 10.
Read above. I'm done fanboying about this show, and about ready to crawl into that dark place we all go when something beautiful comes to an end, and we're forced to confront the idea of retiring from the great game of anime-watching at the top, or venturing forth towards other beautiful tomorrows (spoiler alert: we never really give up, do we?)
Recommendations:
1. Golden Boy. These both fill the same hole in my heart in a perfect nostalgic/hilarious combination. While they are otherwise the antithesis of eachother (Kintarou is a genius college kid and Onizuka is a dopey dropout) they remarkably are still essentially the same character: Unexpectedly clever individuals full of humor with hearts of gold. I think the shortness of Golden Boy makes it a great cooldown watch after a GTO binge.
2. Yu Yu Hakusho. I know, I know, I shit on this series earlier, but hear me out! One of the joys, to me at least, of GTO is the cultural significance, and by that I mean the fact that it was airing nearly 19 years ago from the date of writing this review. While I think it is dangerous to assume to understanding Japanese culture strictly from watching anime, I also often argue that you can definitely get a feel for real-life historical issues, especially in slice-of-life, of course. Yu Yu Hakusho does a similar job, complete with silly "Yankee" pompadour hairdos, and 90's aesthetics for hair, cars, and color-pallets.
3. Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records (Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor): In hindsight, I have to wonder how much of the writing process for Akashic was spent rewatching GTO or subconsciously reflecting back on it. While I would never suggest that their storylines are similar (they both are strong independently, and I am almost always hard-pressed to suggest that show is bad for sharing similarities with other shows) I think that Glenn was meant to be presented as an Onizuka type. Glenn has a much darker background, and I personally think Akashic delves into emotion in a more satisfying manner that modern anime seem to execute more successfully, and Akashic has a significantly different genre even than GTO. Still, the similarities between Glenn and Onizuka as "lazy, foul-mouthed heathens with power when it counts" makes them fun similar watches.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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