Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Idiots, Tests and Summoned Beasts! (Baka To Test To Shoukanjuu)
Another great comedy anime, Baka To Test To Shoukanjuu (Idiots, Tests and Summoned Beasts in english) really kept me teary-eyed laughing on all 13 crazy episodes. The anime TV series, based on a manga of the same name, is a romantic comedy (with bits of ecchi on the side... really, should I mention that? LOL), fantasy genre anime that revolves around the "Baka", Akihisa Yoshii and his ragtag idiotic bunch of high school mates and their unique school that employs tests and "Summoning Battles" as a competitive style of rising up the academic ranks and the school's unique "caste system".
The most "Baka" of all Fumizuki Academy, Akihisa Yoshii. But not to be underestimated despite his extreme Baka-ness. He does have the characteristics of a stereotypical "loser-yet-chick-magnet" harem anime main guy character. Lucky prick.
Students take a placement exam upon their enrollment in Fumizuki Academy. Based on the results of their placement exams, they are placed in sections A to F where the classrooms' quality, furniture and added facilities dwindle respectively. Class A has luxury seats, desks, laptops and even a snack bar while Class F enjoys the comfort of a drafty dusty room in moldy tatami mats furnished with old wooden tables with broken legs and worn-out throw pillows for seats. Although lower sections may choose to engage in ESB's (Exam Summoning Battles where students battle as a section against other sections where they summon beings with strength depending their test scores on certain subjects.) to prove they are worthy of moving up and the winning team can have the privilege of exchanging facilities with the losing team
A one-on-one summoning battle between Yuuji Sakamoto of Class F and Class E's Class rep. Students who partake in a summoning battle can summon their "Avatars" only on a special field created by the teacher that permitted the battle.
Too bad for Akihisa, aside from being branded by their Disciplinary Officer, Tetsujin, as one hell of a "Baka", he ended up in class F. But more unfortunately for Mizuki Himeji whom Yoshii met during the placement exam. Mizuki is a very intelligent girl whose intellect deserves to be in class A but due to fever on the placement exam, she fainted and got a zero in the end thereby landing her in class F. Akihisa though, despite having "Baka" written all over him, is really a kind-hearted young fellow and is determined to give Mizuki the classroom she deserves. With the help of the "Baka" gang of class F, they're determined to win ESB's (Exam Summoning Battles) rise to the top, claim class A's facilities and prove to everyone that grades aren't everything.
Introducing: the "Baka" bunch!
The lovely, cute and buxom Mizuki Himeji. Yes, buxom. :) Although she is not really Baka, more of a genius really - she should be in Class A, she unluckily ended up with Class F due to health problems during her placement exam. She has a big crush on Akihisa, and is having a lot of problems expressing her feelings. No wonder, Akihisa always misunderstands.
Mizuki's cooking. Looks beautifully mouth-watering and delicious, but don't be fooled. Its Snow White's poisoned-apple-in-a-bento-box-meal and unfortunate enough for Akihisa, Yuuji, Hideyoshi and Kouta (the three other than Akihisa have no choice but to share his fate lest they break Mizuki's pure heart), their mouths are always at it's receiving end.
Yuuji Sakamoto. Akihisa's closest friend and Class F's Class representative. Very fitting for him since he's the only one who seems to be using his head in Class F and always has the best winning strategies during ESB engagements. Due to a loss in their first battle against Class A, Yuuji became the unwilling yet subservient boyfriend-slash-slave to Class A's representative, Shouko, who is madly and violently - yes, violently - in love with Yuuji.
Beacause of Yuuji and Akihisa's closeness, they are capable of communicating with each other without the utterance of words (usually accompanied by this dramatic scene. LOL). This is one of the series' best running gags and whenever this happens, Yuuji, succeeds in tricking Akihisa to do dangerous and stupid stuff for him.
The lovely and adorable Hideyoshi Kinoshita, What?! It's a dude! Yes, Hideyoshi is a guy but due to is feminine looks and features, he is always mistaken as a girl and is usually the subject of fanservice in this series. Too much sexual confusion that Hideyoshi is given his own gender in the series. (There's the men's bath, the women's bath, and there's the Hideyoshi bath. LOL)
Ooh.. lalah.. Hey! It's a dude! No! It's a Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi, having very feminine features is usually the point of fanservice in the series. Though he always stresses to everyone he is male, no one seems to mind his arguments and still get nosebleeds whenever he dresses up as a girl. This sometimes gets Mizuki and Minami real jealous whenever Hideyoshi gets the guys' attention thereby calling him a traitor, much to his own confusion.
Kouta Tsuchiya, AKA, "Muttsurini", which means, the silent/coy pervert, or as the subbing (thanks gg-subs for providing) on the anime went, "Voyeur". Kouta is Class F's resident pervert and is mostly seen with a digital camera on the ready for those "unguarded moments" Despite being always on the move and on the lookout for potential eye candy, the girls in the anime usually don't mind being compromised by this peeping tom, perhaps its because of his reticence and quiet disposition... and dark stealthy strategies. :) He is also seen keeping a large file containing every female student in Fumizuki's bust sizes and measurements.
Despite being a full-time voyeur and peeping tom, Muttsurini, still seems to be not so used to seeing "confidential" stuff and always suffers life-threatening heavy nosebleeds like this whenever he chances upon "hidden and exposed treasures"
Minami Shimada is the "tsundere" character of the series. Like Mizuki, she also has the hots for Akihisa but is unable to express her feelings because of her tsundere nature. Minami spent most of her life in Germany which made her very weak when it comes to Kanji and is also the cause of her failing in the placement exams where she was only able to answer number questions.
Miharu (a girl from class D who has a lesbian attraction to Minami) and Minami locking Akihisa in a double submission hold. Minami is usually the butt of Akihisa's jokes when it comes to her femininity. He claims, Minami isn't a girl because she lacks the modesty, finesse and the physique (particularly in the "chest department") of a real female. This in turn enrages Minami causing her to try and break the bones of poor dumb Akihisa in different submission moves.
This scene really cracks me:
Yuuji (lifts Shouko's skirt): Sorry, Shouko
Shouko: Yuuji, ... you pervert.
Yuuji: Gimme a break, I promise it won't happen again.
Shouko: Let's continue this in bed.
Yuuji: I said it wasn't going to do it again! I'm not interested in whatever the hell you're wearing down there!
Shouko (grabbing Yuuji's face): You take that back.
Shouko Kirishima is my favorite character in the series. Shouko is Class A's beautiful, soft-spoken and intelligent class representative and Yuuji's girlfriend-whether-he-likes-it-or-not. She is extremely possessive and crazily in love when it comes to Yuuji and more often than not, takes violent actions whenever he sees Yuuji as being "unfaithful".
Shouko always carries a stun gun/taser on the ready. Not for protection but for shocking Yuuji whenever he doesn't go with what Shouko wants to do. She also loves to poke Yuuji's eyes so he won't look at other girls and have him wear handcuffs with chains so he won't get away. Poor Yuuji.
What a face. This is one of my favorite LOL parts of the series. Yuuji, Hideyoshi and Akihisa are teamed up to go on a scavenger hunt. They separated to go look for the hidden items and everywhere Akihisa checks, something dumb and funny happens.
Yuuji (lifts Shouko's skirt): Sorry, Shouko
Shouko: Yuuji, ... you pervert.
Yuuji: Gimme a break, I promise it won't happen again.
Shouko: Let's continue this in bed.
Yuuji: I said it wasn't going to do it again! I'm not interested in whatever the hell you're wearing down there!
Shouko (grabbing Yuuji's face): You take that back.
Shouko Kirishima is my favorite character in the series. Shouko is Class A's beautiful, soft-spoken and intelligent class representative and Yuuji's girlfriend-whether-he-likes-it-or-not. She is extremely possessive and crazily in love when it comes to Yuuji and more often than not, takes violent actions whenever he sees Yuuji as being "unfaithful".
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is definitely one of the best new comedy series out there which I'd very much recommend if you're looking for a lot of laughs. Full of running gags, funny wordplay, witty comedy, tons of slapstick and crazy romance, every episode surely is one heck of a ride on the LOL-lercoaster.
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