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I originally rated this a 9/10, but over time I've actually come to appreciate it even more.

I'm not big into school life anime. I've been watching anime for over two decades now, so I've seen the setting so often that it's mostly worn out its welcome for me. I'm also a bit of a comedy snob in that I don't like a lot of comedy that makes its way into mainstream media (although that seems to be less and less these days), but the comedy that I do end up enjoying usually becomes some of my favorite stuff of all time.

So it should be considered ... no small praise when I say that Asobi Asobase has left a lasting, positive impression on me. It truly is more than the sum of its parts. Almost lightning in the bottle. The art, voice acting, tone, comedic timing, and music work together in such a way that I probably wouldn't be able to rate it as highly if any one of those things fell short.

There is no real plot to speak of, so for one looking for a narrative to follow or complex character development this might be disappointing, but these aren't things we typically expect of comedy anyhow. What really sets Asobi Asobase apart is its genuineness. Sometimes it's easy to forget these are fictional characters. It presents a view of the life of Japanese school girls that we don't often see: one where the cast is as awkward, unsure, and inadequate as most of us probably were in high school. None of the three main characters are academic geniuses or particularly athletic. They're just normal people (who happen to be exceedingly funny) hanging out and trying to have a fun time. The authenticity and passion of the creators seeps through.

I said at first I'm not into school life anime, but I think the most important thing is this: any story can be interesting if you tell it in an interesting way. Nichijou and Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou have both proven that in the past, and I'd gladly place Asobi Asobase alongside those two series.

You either get it or you don't, and it's quite clear from the score this has received the people reviewing it don't.

Perhaps the subtleties are lost on those with no knowledge of Japanese.

Perhaps people thought this was a true, studio produce animation feature. It's not. It was drawn, animated, and voiced by the same man, Takashi Taniguchi, who animates both as a hobby and professionally. He started his own anime production while still in university because he enjoyed it.

People ranting about the art and animation is equivalent to ranting about the art and animation of the asdf movies, or the lazer collection, or "look at ... my horse" end of ze world, schfifty five. These works are tongue in cheek, satirical, and self-aware. To put it succinctly, "lighten up."

I've given this 10 across the board. That does not mean it has Art as good as a Ghibli film, or sound design as good as a Jojo series. Things must be judged in the proper context, and in the context of a five minute youtube video created by a single person as a passion project, it is indeed worthy of the highest praise.

The humor hits all the marks. Most are immediately thrown off guard by the human-like faces on the animals, and by the same person doing all of the voices. I think the divisiveness probably first really hits when the bee, describing the last time the bear asked him for honey, does an exaggerated, sexualized mockery of the bear. If you find a grown man's girlish moans of a human-faced bee saying "lick lick" in Japanese funny, you'll probably enjoy the rest.

Most laudable is the voice acting, which constantly lampshades its low budget-ness as Taniguchi, instead of inserting sound effects, simply uses the Japanese onomatopoeia: instead of a building shaking he simply drolly states "go go go go, go go go go" (rumble rumble). And the carefully chosen gaffes "ぺーおれペンギンだよ" (Pe-- I'm a penguin!) that sound (and perhaps are) ad-libed add to the charm.

Like all humor, not everyone will enjoy it, but for those that do like myself, it has secured a special place in my mind of the vault of classics that the internet has produced.