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(*Updated*)

Grand Blue is an AMAZING MANGA and I highly recommend you guys to read the manga after you have watched episode 1 of the anime to get the voices in your head. Shifting away from the "on how to watch" (which is up to you), the adaptation is so far on point with the manga which makes me very happy! Within 4 episodes in, it looks like the format for each episode is going to cover 2 chapters of manga! This show is basically, If you like comedy such as Gintama, you will definitely love Grand Blue; a show about daily struggles of students ... during their college life; a setting that is not often explored by anime.

Story[8]; Without spoiling the story, the timeline is quite the same as Gintama's formatting their episodes. Not quite random, but random events that happens in unspecified, yet chronological timeline! That being said, Grand Blue's full of comedy including slapstick humor and exclusive college jokes that only college kids would understand! Perhaps a bit mature, but hell; Watch it! How would you experience anime without watching at least one episode huh? Do not skip on Grand Blue for sure!

Art[8]; I mean with comedy genre of anime, the animation/art is sometimes replaced by how much you laugh, but the art is okay or good enough to an average anime viewer. Unless you are elitist... everyone knows that art does not correlate to quality/enjoyment of the anime such as Ping Pong the animation. The animators are trying their best to adapt art style from manga which it most part it does, yet people just like to nitpick on the smallest pixel. The Animation is NOWHERE NEAR BAD!

Sound[10]; Opening is very catchy and it gives out this "dive vibe" and the ending song has this "closure vibe " that, in my mind, represents the great laughter, joy, and sadness , waiting for the new episode patiently. Voice actors, in this show, must be mentioned because they have to put so much energy for so many scenes that requires: screaming out of lungs, playing serious in a stupid act, and playing the straight man of course. It's not easy to voice act, but they have some very familiar voice actors that fits very well with each character.

Character[10]; Well, if you know your comedy with Gintama then you have heard the character type, the "straight man". Grand Blue basically formulates around a straight man with bunch of casts who are out of his/her "norms" that creates a ripple of unexpected events which are mainly comedic and i love it! And when you do such format you have to have some really original/funny/unique characters and ohh boy do they have it. Of course all of these characters are above the legal ages and attending college which makes these character more relatable to young adults such as me. You have the vast cast ranging from an Handsome stereotype who is an otaku, muscular alcoholics, the newcomer stereotypical MC that has high hopes on his new college life that ends up with the muscular alcoholics and starting to migrate to their new culture, and the cousin who hates the MC for being a dumbass for migrating to alcoholism, yet this is the few introducing characters in the anime; there will be much more awesome characters incoming later episodes that gives the show more color. The Characters interactions are the main seller of this show. Don't let other people tell you how the characters act in this show as dumb or stupid because, in my case, college students really do act similarly like the casts in Grand Blue!

Enjoyment[10]; This show is not for the weak or who do not get the college life... So it's not for everyone as the anime and manga's target audience are young adults or people who have experienced college. Of course outliers can enjoy this slapstick humor too. To give an example on how the anime represents the college life; a reference of different types of characters during an exam that have not studied for, showing their struggles within college classes which perfectly relates to students in real life college who failed or struggled with an exam(s) that professor made it absolutely impossible. There will be much more similar silly events around the theme of college life. All of those silly events are just comedic gold; ironically, very much like college! This show is already my most favorite anime of this year so far and deserve much more love.

Overall[10]; Grand Blue is not for everyone, but it does deliver the college type of feel and I kinda skipped the part about diving in this review. Let's be honest.. this anime might look like about diving, but it's mostly focused on character interactions and how you should view your life as student in college. Animation are very nicely done and can be wonky at times, but that shouldn't really stop you from watching it. This show is a must try for this season! If you are a college student or you just love comedy, this show is for you!

Updated Opinion; I have been following the community opinion on the Anime adaptation vs the manga and they are some key notes to be considered: Age of characters have been changed for legal purposes, some of the atmosphere is not the same as in manga and some events got changed due to time constraints. With the release of the 4th episode; this episode has been proven me that the anime has done justice on adapting from the manga chapters 7-8! The characters are consistent just as in the manga. Cannot wait for the new episode! People who like to complain and consider themselves as "Maestro Of Art Critique", they are definitely watching the wrong anime because like I said; Grand Blue is not for the weak!