Tag: 2007

Baccano! Review

Baccano! Review

By | | Comments 0 Comment
Baccano! anime series cover art
Baccano!

All Aboard the Flying Pussyfoot

Baccano! (バッカーノ！) has been called one of the best anime out there by quite a few “top anime” lists. But, it’s not actually that good. And, we can see that simply by looking at its ranking on MyAnimeList. It’s ranked at #203. That means there are hundreds of better anime.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time watching Baccano! But, I don’t think it’s as good as many people seem to believe it is. I rated it over 2 points lower than its average rating. And in this review, I’ll be explaining why.

But, before we get into the issues I had with the series, we need to cover the basics. What is Baccano! about? It’s about a lot of things. It’s a supernatural, action, comedy, mystery series if that gives you any indication. There are a lot of moving parts in this anime.

Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent from the anime series Baccano!
Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent

It’s hard to put the plot of this series into words. It’s about a bunch of people on a transcontinental train called the Flying Pussyfoot. There are gang members, mafioso, thieves, murderers, families of government officials, and more. And, they all clash aboard the train.

I’m not sure if that really counts as a “plot.” But, that’s what’s happening for most of the series. That’s not the only plot, though. There’s also another plot that has to do with the quest for immortality. There are immortals, people who want to become immortal, and people who want to kill immortals.

Like I said, this series is about a lot of things. And, while it’s not that difficult to follow (after Episode 1), it’s very difficult to explain. Speaking of Episode 1, I did not follow it at all. But, don’t let that dissuade you from watching. It gets easier to follow.

Thieves, Mafioso, Murderers, and Immortals

There are way too many characters in Baccano! I’m still not sure what the point of some of them was. Like, there’s some woman who works for a newspaper and dresses like she’s an assassin. She got a whole episode and I don’t know what she did.

But, even if we just look at the “important” characters, there are still too many. There are like three different mafia organizations, a gang, thieves, a murderer, and a different group of murderers. There are also all the various immortals and the people connected to them.

And, it’s not only that you have to remember all these characters. You have to remember how they’re connected and what their goals are. And some important characters, like Huey, don’t even appear in the series. You just have to keep track of how everyone’s connected to him.

Ladd Russo and his crew from the anime series Baccano!
Ladd Russo and his crew

To make things even more confusing, the series also isn’t linear. The stuff on the train is. But, the rest of the series jumps around to different years and follows different people. At times, it was hard to follow when all of these events were happening in relation to each other.

So, how could the series have been better? The simple fix would be to remove a bunch of the characters. Or, at least, we can reduce the number of characters we follow. There aren’t that many who are vital to the story. We can follow Isaac and Miria, one of the immortals, and maybe Jacuzzi’s gang.

That alone would make the series make way more sense. Why were we following Ladd Russo’s crew? Why was Firo Prochainezo important? Chane Laforet who? And, as I’ll get to in the next section, who cares about where Dallas Genoard is? It doesn’t matter.

Where is Dallas Genoard?

There’s one big question that gets asked over and over again throughout Baccano! “Where is Dallas Genoard?” It’s asked so many times and by so many different people that you’d think the answer matters. You’d think Dallas Genoard is going to be the key that ties everything together.

He’s not. He’s literally not important to the story at all.

Where was Dallas Genoard? He was in a barrel full of cement at the bottom of a river. So, dead? No. He’s not dead because he drank some of the liquid that turns people immortal. He’s immortal, drowning “to death” over and over again.

Why’s he there? He did something to one of the mafia organizations. I don’t remember if he attacked them or stole from them or what. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he’s at the bottom of a river.

Nice Holystone and Jacuzzi Splot from the anime series Baccano!
Nice Holystone and Jacuzzi Splot

Okay, but it’s a big deal that he’s immortal, right? Nope. He’s not one of the original immortals who’ve been alive for hundreds of years. He’s one of the recent immortals, of which there are many. By the end of the series, almost all of the main characters are immortal.

As I said, there’s literally nothing special about him. He has no real effect on the plot. A lot of people want to know where he is, and that’s why he’s “important.” That’s it. And, while Dallas’s story is the biggest example, his isn’t the only one with a boring conclusion.

Ladd Russo was one of the more exciting characters because he’s a wild card. Well, he jumps off the train and we never hear of him again. Did he die? It wasn’t said or implied. And, that kind of sums up the whole series. The ending didn’t feel like it resolved anything.

Final Thoughts

I gave Baccano! a 6/10 in the end. The first episode was bad because it was needlessly confusing. It didn’t even serve as a good hook for the series. The majority of the rest of the series was good, though. And then, the ending kind of ruined most of the interesting parts.

At its best, I’d give it a 7. But, as a whole, I don’t think I can rate it that high. It sets up too much and doesn’t follow through. And it tries to be deep at times when it discusses the meaning of life and immortality. But, it’s really not that deep.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

Discord Community

Discuss anime, manga, and more with our members!

Join Server
Sword of the Stranger Review

Sword of the Stranger Review

By | | Comments 0 Comment
Sword of the Stranger anime movie cover art
Sword of the Stranger

The Boy, the Dog, and the Samurai

Sword of the Stranger (Stranger: Mukou Hadan / ストレンヂア -無皇刃譚-) is an action-adventure anime movie from 2007. We watched it for September’s anime movie night in the DoubleSama Discord server. So, I’m a bit late to this review.

I’m also late to watching this movie in general. Not because it came out in 2007. But, because I really like samurai anime. Samurai are awesome. And yet, I hadn’t watched Sword of the Stranger until now despite knowing about it for years. I had seen the final fight of the movie before, though.

Anyway, the movie follows Kotarou and his dog, Tobimaru, as they try to make their way to a certain temple. One of the priests there used to be Kotarou’s guardian back in their homeland before they had to flee due to war.

Nanashi the samurai from the anime movie Sword of the Stranger
Nanashi the samurai

But, of course, Kotarou’s trip to the temple isn’t going to be simple. Soldiers from his homeland, Ming China, are tracking him down. Why? You’ll have to watch the movie (or read the next section) to find out. Regardless of the reason, Kotarou needs a bodyguard, and that’s where the samurai comes in.

When they first meet, Nanashi saves Kotarou and Tobimaru from the first group of soldiers. And, after that, he plans to continue traveling alone, leaving the boy behind. But, Kotarou offers to pay Nanashi for his services if they can reach the temple safely. So, as a broke ronin samurai, Nanashi agrees.

Along the way, Nanashi fights off some soldiers trying to capture Kotarou. But, more importantly, he becomes a sort of father figure for the boy. Nanashi teaches Kotarou to protect himself, ride a horse, and more. I wanted to point this out because I’ve seen people claim there was no character development. That’s false.

Child Sacrifice and Immortality

There was only one thing I didn’t like about Sword of the Stranger, the reason behind the conflict. Why does the Ming Dynasty of China want to capture Kotarou? He’s some kind of special child whose blood is needed to perform an immortality ritual.

Specifically, this ritual will turn Kotarou’s blood into the elixir of life. The Emperor can then drink this elixir and become immortal. Or, at least, that’s according to the astrologers employed by the Emperor. I don’t remember if this turned out to be real or not. But, everyone’s operating under the assumption that it is.

Also, the ritual killing of Kotarou has to be performed in a specific way at a specific time. The Ming soldiers construct a giant thing to use in the sacrifice. It’s a large, wooden structure that drains Kotarou’s blood in the proper way, somehow.

Kotarou and Tobimaru from the anime movie Sword of the Stranger
Kotarou and Tobimaru

The way the sacrifice needs to happen isn’t as important as the time of the sacrifice, though. There’s one night of the year on which the sacrifice can be made. And, if they miss this night, they’ll have to keep Kotarou captive until the following year. Again, according to the astrologers.

Now, I understand that people believed in stuff like immortality and the elixir of life in the past. But, that doesn’t make it any less of a dumb plot driver. There are so many other reasons for which the Ming could have been after Kotarou.

One reason could have to do with the gem Kotarou promised to give Nanashi in return for his services. This gem could have belonged to the Emperor. And, maybe the Emperor told his men to bring the thief (or whoever had the gem) back alive. You know, because simply killing them would be too lenient of a punishment.

Nanashi vs. Luo Lang

In case there was any doubt, the best thing about Sword of the Stranger is the action. There are plenty of fights and they all have great choreography. And, on top of that, we get more character development for Nanashi through these fights.

For the majority of the movie, Nanashi doesn’t unsheath his sword. In fact, he can’t. He has a rope tied around the sheath and hand guard of his sword preventing it from being drawn. But, why is this? Does his sword have some dark power that he doesn’t want to unleash? No.

Nanashi doesn’t draw his sword by choice. At one point, he was a samurai working under the shogun or someone else important. And, in the line of duty, he had to do things he wasn’t proud of, including executing women and children. So, when Nanashi left his employer, he vowed not to draw his sword again.

Luo Lang from the anime movie Sword of the Stranger
Luo Lang

Luo Lang is the strongest soldier of the Ming Dynasty. But, something you may notice is that he doesn’t look Chinese. He looks European. And, from what I remember, that’s because he is. But, he’s working as a soldier for the Ming because he wants to be able to fight other strong swordsmen.

Fairly early on in the movie, Luo Lang identifies Nanashi as a strong swordsman due to how he has his blade tied. He recognizes that someone who does that is probably pretty skilled. A less-skilled swordsman would be too eager to draw their sword.

I had to explain all that just so I could get to the final fight of the movie. Luo Lang and Nanashi finally get to have their fight, with Nanashi unsheathing his sword. And, the resulting fight is one of the best swordfights in anime. Everyone should watch it.

Final Thoughts

Sword of the Stranger is a 9/10. As I mentioned, the only thing holding it back is the whole elixir of life thing. If the plot had less to do with that supernatural stuff, I would have enjoyed it more. Why force me to suspend my disbelief in an otherwise realistic movie?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

Discord Community

Discuss anime, manga, and more with our members!

Join Server
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor Review

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor Review

By | | Comments 0 Comment
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor anime series cover art
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor

The First Gamble

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor (Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor / 逆境無頼カイジ Ultimate Survivor) is a high-stakes gambling anime. In it, our protagonist, Kaiji Itou, finds himself in increasingly more risky gambles. But, Kaiji isn’t a gambling addict — at least not at first.

Instead, he’s forced into these gambles as a way to pay off the debts he owes to a shadowy organization. Though, these debts aren’t initially Kaiji’s own. He’s not the kind of person to involve himself with an organization like this. But, he signed on as a guarantor for a friend who skipped out on a debt.

And thus, Kaiji begins his spiral downward into deeper and deeper debt. Of course, if he was successful in his gambles and got out of debt, there wouldn’t be much of a series here. So, what? Does Kaiji lose every time he gambles? No, because that wouldn’t be much fun, either.

Jouji Funai introducing himself from the anime series Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
Jouji Funai introducing himself

What this series does well is strike the perfect balance. If Kaiji wins all the time, it wouldn’t be interesting. And if Kaiji loses all the time, it also wouldn’t be interesting. So, there needs to be a balance between both to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Will Kaiji win the bet? Will he lose? Will some unexpected event throw a wrench in his plans? Even if you have a pretty good idea of the outcome of a particular gamble, you’ll never expect how Kaiji gets there.

And, this brings me to the first gamble Kaiji partakes in, which I also thought was the best. It’s a rock-paper-scissors card game with a lot of both luck and strategy. The luck keeps things from becoming predictable. And the strategy keeps you invested since it’s not all about luck. The later gambles aren’t like this.

Walking the Tightrope

The second gamble Kaiji participates in is my least favorite of the four in this season. As I mentioned, the first is a rock-paper-scissors card game. It’s also a limited format, meaning each player only has a certain number of each card. And, it’s a free-for-all.

However, the second gamble removes the majority of the things that made the first good. There’s not much strategy or luck involved. Instead, it’s all about overcoming your fears. That’s pretty much it. So, what is this “gamble?” It’s a race across beams high up in the air.

The first stage of this “gamble” is competitive. There are four lanes, each with 3 competitors. Whoever makes it across first wins. And whoever makes it across second gets a consolation prize. If you fall, you’ll get seriously injured. Oh, and your hands can’t touch the beam you’re walking across.

Kaiji Itou panicking from the anime series Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
Kaiji Itou panicking

This “gamble” is more than a simple race, though. Each lane has three competitors. So, if you’re not the first to cross the beam in your lane, you can’t win. That is unless those in front of you fall. And there’s nothing in the rules that bans pushing your opponents.

Now, this part is really only the setup for the next part. Those who made it through the initial round earn a spot in the second round. And in this round, the stakes are higher. It’s no longer a race. But, if you fall off the beam, you die. And if you touch the beam with your hands, you die.

Hopefully, you can see why I didn’t find this second gamble as interesting. The only strategy came in the first round when competitors decided to push or not to push those ahead of them. After that, it was all about bravery.

Tonegawa and Hyoudou

The third and fourth gambles are more traditional than the second. And, they’re one-on-one showdowns between Kaiji and the main antagonists. First, there’s Yukio Tonegawa, the proctor of the previous two gambles. And second, there’s Hyoudou Kazutaka, the leader of the gambling organization.

Against Tonegawa, Kaiji plays a card game called E-card. Each player has five cards, with four of them being “citizen” cards. Their last card is either “slave” or “emperor,” depending on the turn. Ultimately, this is another rock-paper-scissors-type game. Citizens beat the slave, the emperor beats the citizens, and the slave beats the emperor.

However, this game has far less strategy than the original rock-paper-scissors game. Instead, it’s more about getting lucky. So, to add in a bit of “strategy,” Tonegawa cheats. That’s it. That’s the extent of the strategy. And because of that, it’s not all that interesting of a gamble to watch.

Yukio Tonegawa playing E-card from the anime series Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
Yukio Tonegawa playing E-card

With that said, E-card is more fun to watch than the final gamble of the series. In this one, Kaiji plays a lottery game against Hyoudou. If he wins, he’ll receive 100 million yen on top of the 20 million he already has. And if he loses, he loses the 20 million yen and four of his fingers.

This is another gamble that relies entirely on luck unless cheating is involved. And, in case you were wondering, cheating is very much involved.

It’s kind of interesting to watch the characters come up with their cheating plans. And it’s kind of interesting to see how they out-cheat each other. But, I far preferred the actual strategy that was in play at the start of the series.

There’s a second season of Kaiji that’s rated a bit worse than this season. But, maybe it actually brings strategy back into the fold.

Final Thoughts

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor is a 7/10. I had it rated as an 8 for the first half of the series. But, I couldn’t leave it that high during the second half. And, there are more issues that I have with the second half than those I explained in this review.

One example is that Kaiji becomes a messiah-like figure for a bunch of other failed gamblers. It didn’t really make much sense. I don’t know why they were so involved in Kaiji’s later gambles. But, whatever.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Discord Community

Discuss anime, manga, and more with our members!

Join Server
Mononoke

Mononoke

By | | Comments 0 Comment
Mononoke anime series cover art
Mononoke

Shape, Truth, and Reason

Mononoke (モノノ怪) is not the same anime as Princess Mononoke — it’s better. This 12-episode series is based on the Monster Cat story told in Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror. So if you haven’t read my review of that series, I suggest you check it out.

This series follows an unnamed man simply known as the Medicine Seller as he wanders around feudal Japan in search of mononoke (spirits) to slay. However, slaying mononoke isn’t an easy task. Before the Medicine Seller can unsheathe his exorcism sword, he needs to know the shape, truth, and reason of the mononoke.

In order to illustrate these three pieces of information the Medicine Seller needs let’s use a familiar face, Mayoi Hachikuji from the Monogatari series (spoilers for that incoming).

The Medicine Seller's sword of exorcism from the anime series Mononoke
The Medicine Seller’s sword of exorcism

Shape refers to the physical form of the mononoke. In Mayoi’s case, although she doesn’t actually look like this, her shape would be the lost cow since that’s the type of apparition she is. Basically, by figuring out the shape, the Medicine Seller knows what kind of mononoke he’s dealing with.

Truth refers to what the mononoke in question wants. Once we have the shape, it only takes a little more work to get the truth. For example, a lost cow wants to guide humans astray from their path, thus getting them lost as well.

Reason is the final piece of information the Medicine Seller needs. This refers to why the mononoke appeared in the first place. The lost cow apparition appeared because Mayoi died while on the way to her mother’s house. Since she never made it to her destination, her soul lost its way.

Zashiki-warashi

It’s going to be tough, but I’ll be attempting to give you a brief summary of each arc of Mononoke without spoiling them (other than the shape). The first arc is Zashiki-warashi. These are Japanese spirits that often take the form of small children and perform mischievous deeds.

These mononoke appear before a pregnant woman while she’s staying in a hotel room which isn’t rented out to guests under normal circumstances. And unfortunately for her, the Zashiki-warashi found in mononoke aren’t exactly as wholesome as their counterparts from actual Japanese legends.

This arc takes place over the course of two episodes.

Sea Bishop

Sea Bishop is the next arc and takes place over three episodes. In this arc, the Medicine Seller finds himself aboard a boat with a rag-tag group of other passengers. Their boat then gets caught in the sea of apparitions and everyone has to figure out why this is happening.

This arc is set up more like a murder mystery. There was no murder committed aboard the boat, but the passengers are all hiding something which could end up being the reason the ship stopped where it did.

Chiyo from the Monster Cat story in Ayakashi also makes an appearance in this arc. She even references the events of Ayakashi.

Faceless Monster

Other than the final arc, Faceless Monster was the most predictable as far as I was concerned. However, that didn’t make it any less good. This arc covers two episodes and follows a woman who seems to have fallen in love with a mononoke.

But, this woman also has a new husband who is abusive towards her. Because of this, she wishes to escape from her unhappy marriage and be with the mononoke she loves. While that actually explains a lot of the plot of this arc, it’s the final twist that really wraps everything together nicely.

I think this arc had my favorite visuals of the entire series. The outdoor backgrounds are beautiful, and I liked seeing the different masks the Faceless Monster wore.

The Faceless Monster wearing a fox mask from the anime series Mononoke
The Faceless Monster wearing a fox mask

Japanese Chimera (Nue)

The Japanese Chimera arc is two episodes long and actually reminded me a decent amount of the Monster Cat arc from Ayakashi. It’s not really the same arc, but it had a similar vibe to it — I don’t think I can explain it any better than that.

In this arc, four suitors appear at the home of a wealthy woman hoping to win her hand in marriage. To do so, they will be competing in the art of incense smelling. This is a sport(?) that I could probably dedicate an entire article to at a later date.

Anyway, the mononoke this time around is a Nue, which is Japan’s version of the Chimera from Greece. Nue don’t appear all that often in anime but if you’ve seen either Boruto or Dororo, you may be familiar with them.

Goblin Cat

Oddly enough, Goblin Cat (Monster Cat) is the final arc of Mononoke and takes place over three episodes. Although we already had a Monster Cat arc in Ayakashi — which may be why this one is translated to Goblin Cat instead — these two arcs are very different.

Sure, the shape, truth, and reason are all essentially the same, but even if you already know it all from Ayakashi, you won’t enjoy this arc any less.

This time around, the story seems to be set in a later time period, probably the 1920s rather than some time in the 1800s. Because of this change in time period, the majority of the arc takes place in a “modern” setting, aboard a passenger train.

Also, Chiyo makes an appearance in this arc as well, though she has no memories of the other arcs. This could mean this arc takes place in an alternate timeline.

Conclusion

Overall I give Mononoke a 9/10, which I believe is one point higher than what I rated the Monster Cat story of Ayakashi. This series really just takes everything that made the Monster Cat story so good and improves upon it by turning it into 12 episodes.

As for the OP/ED, I definitely liked the OP for Ayakashi more than the one for Mononoke. However, I think the EDs for the two series are tied.

And, as one last fun fact, the Medicine Seller is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, the same guy who voices Meme Oshino from Monogatari and Arataka Reigen from Mob Psycho 100. All three characters interact with spirits in some way: fighting, balancing, or faking respectively.

If you enjoyed this review, click the like button down below and follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog and the benefits you’ll receive for doing so, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Discord Community

Discuss anime, manga, and more with our members!

Join Server
Manabi Straight!

Manabi Straight!

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Manabi Straight! anime series cover art
Manabi Straight!

Overview

Manabi Straight! (Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! / がくえんゆーとぴあ まなびストレート！) is a slice of life anime set at a girls’ high school in the year 2035. And, before I get into the details of this series, let me tell you that it actually made me laugh out loud. This is a good watch.

This series is also an original anime created by ufotable in 2007. You may know of that studio from both Fate/stay night: UBW and Fate/Zero, or the currently airing Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

So first let’s go over the setting, 2035. As is the case with many movies and series set in the future, Manabi Straight! misses the mark on what the future is going to look like. And, no, I’m not saying that the fact that the character Manabi having a hoverboard is too unrealistic, I’m saying that aside from her hoverboard we’ve already surpassed most of the technology in the series.

The only two pieces of futuristic technology in the series are a single hoverboard and a few holographic computer screens. Other than that, everything else is still essentially technology that was around in 2007 when the series was created.

That said, the fact that the series is set in 2035 really has nothing to do with the series. In any scene that doesn’t include one of the two futuristic technologies, it’s quite easy to forget that this series isn’t simply set back in 2007. Everything is so “normal” that the future setting is barely noticeable.

However, there is one plot point for which the time period is somewhat important, the declining birthrate. In this future, birthrates have declined to the point at which the school Manabi and her friends attend is struggling to stay afloat. This doesn’t have to be set in the future, Love Live! has essentially the same concept, but it works.

As for the general plot at large, the series follows Manabi and her friends in the Seioh High School student council as they do student council things such as plan a school fair. You may know by now that I hate school fair episodes in anime, but this is more about working towards the school fair, not the school fair itself.

But, anyway, the main draw to the series, as is always the case with slice of life anime, is the character interactions. A good slice of life anime needs good characters who interact with each other in entertaining ways, and Manabi Straight! delivers.

Characters

Manami “Manabi” Amamiya is the main character of the series. She’s the new girl at Seioh High School and makes a splash on her very first day. Despite only just transferring, she’s voted in as the student council president (mainly because nobody else wants the job).

Her personality is larger than life, as any good protagonist’s is. She loves to have fun and doesn’t take anything too seriously because she’s certain it will all work out in the end. But that doesn’t mean she’s a slacker. Even if she doesn’t take things seriously, she still works hard for what she loves.

Manabi also drop kicks a teacher on at least one occasion, so you know she’s a pretty good character.

Mika “Mikan” Inamori is the student council treasurer. Of the five main girls, she was the only one in the student council from the start of the series. In fact, she was the only student council member at the start because, as previously mentioned, nobody wanted to be in the student council.

She’s a nice, fairly outgoing girl, but she isn’t all that entertaining on her own. Instead, it’s the combination of Mikan and Manabi that’s the most fun to watch. These two seem to feed off one another, and while they don’t do anything too extreme, it’s the normalcy of their gags that’s funny.

Manabi and Mikan from the anime series Manabi Straight!
Manabi and Mikan

Mei Etou is the third, and technically final, member of the Seioh student council. She’s a serious, no-nonsense kind of girl who always puts 100% of her effort into anything she does. Mei is also a tsundere tech wizard.

Mutsuki “Mu-chi” Uehara isn’t officially a member of the student council, but she constantly helps out because she’s friends with the three girls who are. She also seems to help out the other various clubs and organizations around the school, and is a member of the softball team.

Mu-chi is the tomboy of the group and is occasionally at odds with Mei due to their differing characters. While Mei attempts to give off a “proper” aura, Mu-chi doesn’t really care what people think of her.

Momoha “Momo” Odori is the final of the five main girls and, like Mu-chi, isn’t actually an official member of the student council. However, unlike Mu-chi, Momo doesn’t actually ever do student council work to help out. Instead, she views the student council room simply as a place to hang out and talk to her friends.

Momo also carries around a video camera and constantly records everything that happens with the student council. There was also a “big” reveal about her at the end of the series, and while I expected something would be revealed, I was wrong about what it was.

Conclusion

Overall, Manabi Straight! is a 7/10. It’s not constantly funny, but when it is, it made me actually laugh. One such example is when Mei’s plan to get signatures on a petition is just a pyramid scheme. However, this series has its fair share of drawbacks too.

I think the one thing I disliked about this series the most were the colors. Not every anime needs to be full of bright and vibrant colors like Endro~!, but there were a lot of times in this series where I found myself thinking that all the colors are a bit too dark and dull.

Also, I didn’t think the OP was all that good, but at least the ED was different and had a decent song. I haven’t actually linked to OP/EDs in a while in these series reviews because a good number of them tend to get taken down, but here’s the Manabi Straight! ED for anyone interested.

There’s an OVA episode as well which is considered episode 6.5. I didn’t watch this episode until after the rest of the series, but it actually does fit into the series where it’s placed so you can watch it after episode 6 and it won’t really even feel like a special, just another episode. The OVA was also a 7/10 and I won’t be doing a separate review for it.

If you enjoyed this review of Manabi Straight! be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN, who requested this series review, for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about becoming a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

About
ダブル様 // Daily anime and manga reviews, rankings, and recommendations since 2017. Join our community.
Sitemap
Contact
For business inquiries and feedback purposes, contact: info@doublesama.com.