Baka to Test to Shokanji 01
While the name maybe weird, Baka to was surprisingly entertaining. Reading the winter season previews put up by Random Curiosity, I didn’t know what to think about this anime. It’s about a school that allows students to fight each other to climb up a caste hierarchy? Weird. If the first episode is to be a fair measure of what we can expect in the future, Baka to could turn out to be one of my favorites of the season.
The chibi designs are pretty cute, if I may say so.
Keeping it simple, the first episode simply set up the plot. Essentially, this school places all of its students in to classes (ranging from A-F) based on how well they did on the entrance exam. Class A has the best classrooms, materials, and perks while Class F has the worst of everything. A system has been put in place that allows lower ranked classes to challenge and battle other classes in fights that are essentially controlled by how well each individual fighter did on the last test. Winners get to take over the losers classroom, and anyone who loses all their HP is forced into remedial lessons. Interesting concept.
The story centers around a guy named Akihisa Yoshii, who is something of an idiot. Placed in to class F, he is appalled at the conditions of the classroom. Long story short, Class F decides to move up in the world, and starts by challenging Class E. I’ll let you watch the episode to see what happens after that.
The artwork was good- I liked how bright and lively the characters were. Visually, there isn’t a whole lot to complain about, other than the fact that most of the characters seem to look a little conventional. The plot was the most interesting thing about this series- it was nice to see a, what looks to be, fairly original comedy pop randomly out of the woodwork.
I’ll be following this series from now on, hopefully it’ll continue to impress and entertain me.
