Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is an idiot.
Oh god. The creators just completely gave up. I dropped the first season quite early on, but I refuse to believe that it was as bad as this first episode of this second season. This was completely dull in every single way. For some reason, the creators decided to introduce the new season with a beach episode, and a completely uninspired one at that. If this is supposed to be setting the standard, then I really don’t want to know what the rest of this season is going to be. Really, this episode somehow accomplished to not get even a chuckle out of me during the entire episode. It was just random unfunny banter, characters abusing their quirk that already was established in the first episode of the first season and the main characters trying to hit on girls while screwing up miserably. This seems to have been one of the most anticipated series of the season. Why? This was just like any other moe show, aside from perhaps some Shaft-esque visual ideas in the banter that looked suspiciously much like budget cuts.
OP: Boring song, but not the worst, and the visuals at least try out something interesting.
ED: A really bad joke.
Potential: 0%
Mayo Chiki
Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to live together with a cute girl who pretends to be a guy.
Now this was just stupid. It’s your standard bad fanservice comedy, but with the worst parts only enlarged. The result is a first episode that makes even less sense than usual. The entire premise of this series hinges on this girl pretending to be a guy, where for some reason it’s really bad if even someone found out about her. The problem is that this disguise is utterly terrible and yet this show tries to tell us that nobody figured it out by now. Heck, even when the main character catches her in the toilet (Locks? We don’t need no stinkin’ locks!) he still doesn’t get the hint, and needs to bump into her causing her shirt to burst open (no, really) in order to finally get the hint. The rest of this episode was filled with those bizarre leaps in logic, not to mention that the main characters is overly sensitive to females, making his nose bleed whenever they touch him. Who the hell found that a good idea?
OP: Why do these generic moe shows always need to have the exact same terrible OP?
ED: Again stolen from “Generic EDs 101”
Potential: 0%
No.6
Short Synopsis: Our lead character runs into a fugitive.
If there was one genre that I’d have to label as my favourite, it’d be the adventure/mystery genre. By far the most of my favourite series hover around those series, so because of that I was quite looking forward to this series. As it turns out, Number Six is an adventure series that’s really well acted. Against my expectations it takes its time to show the two main characters get to know each other, and as a result they’re both miles away from stereotypes, even though at first sight they may seem a bit cliched. With that, we come to a bit of a problem though: the pacing. This is a show with just 11 episodes; 12 if it gets lucky. At this point it’s impossible to say whether it knows what it’s doing due to this being a manga adaptation. However, if it can use its slow pacing, yet mysterious setting (that also was well portrayed from the eyes of a teenager by the way, and this episode only skimmed the surface) to actually build an 11 episode story, this can really turn into something special. It’s got the potential, a lot of attention has gone into both the characters and the setting, the soundtrack kicks ass: it has the ingredients. But yeah: manga-adaptation.
OP: Another good song that fits the show quite well.
ED: A simple ballad. Nothing special, but nothing bad.
Potential: 80%
The economy must really be hurting! over the past few years there have be SO MANY rushed/unfinished 12 episode series based on manga/vn adaptations It really seems like these studios just use the popularity of the source material to get people watching the show for moneys sake. I will not watch this, in fact I’m going to refrain from watching all 12 episode series for a while unless I read a review from you that has a score of 90+ then I will know if my time will be well spent watching it.
Actually it’s a light novel adaptation. There is a manga, but the light novel is it’s original medium.
what’s wrong with manga adaptations?
ljnl: they have this tendency to not fit in 11/12 episodes.
I’ve been waiting for your inevitable -10% on Mayo Chiki ever since I stumbled across the manga a week ago. The source material doesn’t even make sense, so there’s no way the anime could.
Also, your second picture for No. 6 appears to be broken.
Mayo Chiki… Why does stuff like this exist? I feel Im getting dumber by the minute watching it… I just rushed through it to find the said boob scene and lol, rating it 0% is being generous, that turd deserves -50%, it causes world hunger
Really liked No. 6! Shion and Nezumi are great, and the added scenes plus the overall visuals adds to what was already great in the novel. The music is also fantastic.
Looking forward to see how NO.6 pans out. The music is okay, but I wish they’ll sing the OP one octave lower. Thought my ears were giving out … :/
Like what the others have said, No.6 is an adaptation from a nine-volume novel.
Episode 1 covers the first chapter of the first novel. Going by the episode titles, we’ll get to the end of the first volume by the third episode, leaving us with around eight episode to get through the rest of the story… which isn’t that hard, actually, despite how it sounds. The events that occur next happen within a relatively short period (it’s pretty explosive!), and if they do it right, we’ll have a solid paced series on our hands.
Quick thoughts on the episode itself: fantastic music and visuals. Really enjoyed the scenes with Safu (which were not in the original story, although some parts of it were briefly mentioned later), and I just love how the twelve-years-olds are actually acting their age. Was also pleasantly surpirsed by how well the scenes with no dialogue worked.
Well, now with No 6. we have a Gay main character, times are A-changing haha.
Wow Psgels REALLLY hates comedy~
He really hates comedy aimed at 14-16 years old brats…
*14-16 year old brats
Well, BakaTest has it’s own charms. I won’t push you to like it, but if you give the first season a chance, you might come to like it too. BakaTest is peramanently on my ipod. I watch it when I’m bored.
I actually enjoyed that first episode of BakaTest. The seiza scene at the end really got a chuckle out of me!
I have to admit the jokes are old. Frankly, I can often see the jokes coming in this or Gintama or Sket Dance but that doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of them.
Wow, I was really looking forward to wathing No 6, but it turned out to be a shounen-ai. Now I have nothing against people who watch these types of anime, but I don’t want to watch something like this. I’ll drop this and act like I’ve never watched it. At least the other Noitamina show, Usagi Drop, is really good.
@Yamazaki: No.6 is not shounen-ai. Have you actually watched it and decided that it’s shounen-ai, or did you just listen to some overreacting fangirls or homophobes? There’re some undertones, I’d admit. But they’re in no ways obtrusive to the plot or storytelling as far as I can tell.
@Yamazaki: No.6 is not shounen-ai. Have you actually watched it and decided that it’s shounen-ai, or did you just listen to some overreacting fangirls or homophobes? There’re some undertones, I’d admit. But they’re in no ways obtrusive to the plot or storytelling as far as I can tell.
@tanukichan
Of course I’ve watched it. I wouldn’t have stated my opinion otherwise. The thing is, even the slightiest boy-love references are enough to make me avoid a show, and in this case it’s the freakin’ main caharacter who’s in this situation. Now you can say what you want but that won’t change my opinion, I’ve already decided to drop it. Everybody is free to watch what they like, after all, and even if this show didn’t have those references I still didn’t find it enjoyable. Of course, other people may have different opinions.
Wandering Bunny: well, here’s the thing: Baka To Test completely failed to make me laugh even whatsoever. Even bad comedies in comparison manage to get a chuckle or two out of me, but even that didn’t happen here. For me it completely failed its main purpose.
1st: Stop denying it, No.6 IS shounen-ai. There’s no doubt about that.Going into denial isn’t going to help you.
2nd: Someone asked why stuff like Mayo Chiki exist. There’s a very simple resaon why the SEXist.
Well, regarding No 6…..I’m not touching this one with a ten foot pole.
I’m not sure that No. 6 is considered shounen-ai. The light novels are classified as YA dystopian sci-fi. There are BL overtones though.
Hmmmm…I felt underwhelmed by No. 6’s first episode. I guess I was expecting too much from the premise;maybe it could’ve had a bit more suspense. I wish they highlighted the eerie and esoteric atmosphere that make many utopian/dystopian settings so interesting( one anime where this was done right was Toward the Terra.I’m actually praying No. 6, in its own way, follows in Terra e’s steps). It delved more on the character’s thoughts and emotions, so I’m hoping that the following episodes deliver more plot. While I am disappointed, I expect it can only get better from this point on since they’ve pretty much set up the stage for this story.
Also, short note for those who feel that the BL overtones are a severe deterrent to watching this show:
Really? You’re going to stop watching because they held hands? C’mon, I really doubt its going to get worse than that!Toward the Terra was in fact authored by Keiko Takemiya who actually helped pioneer the shounen-ai genre with Kaze to Ki no Uta. So yeah, while there were slight hints, it didnt make it any less of the great space epic it is. They’re probably going to throw in some ambiguous(or cheesy) statements and gestures here and there, but I doubt they’re going to go any further than that. It sure isn’t going to stop me. If the story is good, then I’m going to take this all the way to the finish line. But then again, if you don’t have the stomach for it, it’s up to you. You just might miss out on something good though.
Scratch that. You might just be miss out on something GREAT.
Oh, and regarding the soundtrack um,hitting all the right notes, I just have to say… I CONCUR!It’s plain awesome and quirky. It really does the trick in setting the mood!
Yeah, those who drop this series just because it has SLIGHT shounen-ai undertones are missing out on something excellent. Really, it amazes me how not many protest to yuri scenes in an anime but put in a scene of two guys holding hands and everyone starts protesting.
I wish more people would be like psgels, actually. He has his faults every now and then, but the one thing that I’ve always loved about him is that he mainly tries out every anime and evaluates it based on how good it is. He doesn’t ignore it simply because it may have something that makes him feel a little awkward, like BL. For that, I applaud him.
I believe his score of 80% is based on the first episode which didn’t really flesh out the setting or characters that much. I do think it will get a lot better, though.
I suppose in the future homophobia wouldn’t be as rife, therefore people wouldn’t see much wrong or controversial in holding hands, kissing or just general contact in a fairly normal context even though they might be the same gender. In that sense No 6 is making a lot of sense, whilst avoiding annoying BL or Shonen-ai genres. That’s pretty cool.
To be honest, this episode ended almost completely unexpectedly for me, I was so engrossed in the world and the characters that I didn’t notice 20 minutes go by and then it was over. That’s impressive, I really am looking forward to more now.
@Suzushina Yuriko
Yaoi & Shounen-Ai = Fail
Yuri & Shoujo-Ai = Win
That’s how I’ll always see things, and that’s also what all of my friends think. Obviously, girls think the opposite.
Now, regarding No 6, I don’t think you could put it in the shounen-ai category, at least that’s what I think, because, like many people already said, there are only minor boys-love undertones, I mean it’s not like the whole show is about the love story between two guys. But many people tend to emphasise the bad parts even if they’re slightly noticeable. All in all, the show looks good and I’m looking forward to the next episodes.
Regarding the other shows, Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni and Mayo Chiki, well, I’ve seen them and they’re plain awfull, their potential should be expressed in negative numbers. But, of course nobody had any any expectations from those two.
No.6: Aww man.. it’s basically shounen-ai? I was looking forward to this one too..guess i’ll have to skip it.
BakaTest: The first half of the original season was pretty funny, but the second half was totally uninspired, reused jokes, etc. I definitely will not be touching this one.
For everyone who just runs away whenever you see “shounen-ai,” STOP IT. Seriously. STOP IT. At least give the series a chance, watch one episode. I have no problem with people who are bothered by that and try out one episode and then drop it. At least they tried.
But for those people who are refusing to watch THE FIRST EPISODE because it’s shounen-ai, get over your own insecurities.
Here’s what happens in the first episode, and its not a big spoiler, two twelve-year old boys hold hands. That is it. You can’t really even call that gay behavior, unless you think for some reason children holding hands is expressing a sexual preference, in which case you are a moron. The rest of the episode was excellent. Great setting, great visuals, great characters, great sound. Don’t let your over-sensitivity to hand-holding (jeez this sounds absurd) prevent you from watching a potentially excellent series.
BWAHAHAHAHAH you guys are hilarious, just because someone doesnt want to watch a show because of Gay main characters everyone jumps on him (and yes No6. IS shounen-ai BL or whatever, just read the frikin VNs) Yeah in the anime it didnt show much just some kids holding hands but you know what? some people dont like even that!
And yet all the pc retards jump on people for not liking what they don’t like…and calling them homophobes etc. . .as if someone is SUPPOSED to watch something they don’t like just to please people who are to weak and insecure to not get their feelings hurt when someone doesn’t like a show/or whatever they like.
You guys are just too funny.
fact: NO 6. IS BL Period. next person that says otherwise gets to see an except from the VN posted here outlining some of the BL that is in this story(don’t worry it wont spoil the story at all)
fact: Nothing is WRONG with BL… some people like it ok so they watch it
fact: nothing is WRONG with NOT LIKING BL or not liking a show because it has bl in it.
so really, all you people jumping on others for saying they aren’t gonna watch a show becuase of whatever reason that you don’t like…. just go outside already, you can argue/insult/act all disappointed/complain about the world sucks becuase enough people don’t like homo-eroticism to people until you are blue in the face. You STILL aren’t gonna change that, in fact you are just gonna fuel the argument bigger and bigger until one of use decides they had enough and does something constructive with their lives instead of trying to please some faceless retards on the internet.
(oh and Im still gonna watch No 6. Ill just fast forward through the bl parts that I don’t like..hopefully they get edited out anyway but some parts probably cant be.)
I guess people kind of assume, that if you were creeped out with two kids holding hands in an anime, you would piss your pants if you saw two dudes walking in the street holding hands or something.
Also, I don’t know how much homoerotic stuff will be in later episodes, but the first episode had none. As a poster above said, two kids hold hands briefly and the context isn’t at all erotic. The end.
I’m honestly baffled that people saw the first episode as shonen-ai – I’m a big fan of pairings myself, and I only got brotherly vibes. Two kids, one of which is established as naive and friendly and the other probably having a boatload of trauma acted friendly. A degree of friendly that wouldn’t be blinked twice at were they girls.
But question: do they kiss later? Don’t post an excerpt, just answer this.
Because if they don’t even kiss… well, I’m not sure how much room to argue you have. Not even aarinfantasy has this as shonen-ai, and they even slapped that label on Hetalia. I don’t care how familiar they get with each other, or how much sexual tension it holds.
Revolutionary Girl Utena had guys sleeping with each other, remember? Simoun had two guys kissing too. Hikaru no Go and Gundam Seed both upped the sexual tension to the max without actually doing anything about it. In Gundam 00 Tieria was in love with Lockon and Ribbons was sleeping with Alejandro. In X Fuuma was fondling and licking Kamui whenever he got the chance, not to mention Subaru and Seishiro. In Haruhi it’s very likely that Itsuka was lusting after Kyon, just like everyone else. Yukito and Touya were boning each other behind the scenes in Cardcaptor Sakura, and along with Ashura and Yasha presumably in Tsubasa too. Yoite and what’s-his-name were going on dates in Nabari no Ou long before the spoiler reveal. Heck, Naruto kissed Sasuke and then the two went to spend the rest of series obsessing over each other. These series have two things in common: one, none of them are classified as BL and two, “the gay” didn’t detract from the story. Sugata, Takuto and Wako had the sexual tension and subtext equally distributed between all of them. And it’s a pretty long list for some things I just remembered off the top of my head.
…and just why would you want it edited out if you fast forward anyway? Homosexuals need more exposure in media, not less.
[/rant]
For those who kept saying No.6 is BL, just read the novel. BL is not the main focus of the story.
http://ninteenpointzerofour.wordpress.com/tag/no-6/
I was wondering if these people who said No.6 is BL ever heard the term called “Bromance”? One example: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
@Carbuncle whatever: Look, nothing’s wrong with NOT LIKING BL or not liking a show because it has BL in it. That I agree and I’m sure all the people who have been defending No.6 here agree with that. Nobody is going to force anyone into watching what they don’t like.
But here’s the problem: you and the ppl before you have been claiming No.6 as something it isn’t.
Fact: No.6 is NOT shounen-ai Period. If the original novel doesn’t have a BL tag listed under its title, then it’s simply not BL. Each and every subtext you may see remains just that: subtext. Like Anca said you can find this kind of subtext in tons of other shows, all of which are NOT shounen-ai by any means, and are watchable to anyone who don’t watch shounen-ai but can live with subtext.
Now if you don’t like BL undertones (BL subtext/gay hints/whatever you call it) in a show, be my guest and stay away from it. I couldn’t care less about your preference. But labeling a show BL when it isn’t one and you ask why ppl have a problem with that? See it whatever you like but it remains your opinion, don’t call it FACT, cause it simply isn’t.
Well, it’s normal to see mixed reactions to subjects like this. Some people are uncomfortable with seeing BL scenes, other aren’t, it’s just a matter of taste. Nobody has the right to judge people because of their taste. This is a blog, goddamit, it’s for exchanging opinions, it’s normal to see different comments from differnt points of view, but some people just expect everybody to think the same way they to.
All I have to say is, those who didn’t like No. 6 (for whatever reason) are free to drop it, and those who liked it are free to contiune watching it. Nobody’s right, nobody’s wrong. Personally, I enjoyed the show and I’m looking forward to the rest of the episodes.
Pip x Magwitch: The backgrounds are nice. The faint stink of counter-Enlightenment twaddle wafts from the portrayal of the city and its inhabitants. If it turns out to be another dirt farmer epic with a touch of “we’ve lost our souls!” or starts dropping quotes from The Tempest I’m getting off the boat.
@Perrin4869: You tryin’ to pick a fight or something?
@Psgels: Well, even if you say that, you seem pretty stoic to me~
Just an example: in the past week you gave 30% and below score to many many comedy shows. Now I realize many of those run on lolicons, but I find it mind-boggling to believe more than 2/3 of them arn’t mildly funny. I also rarely see you blog commedies~
But that’s cool everyone has his own taste.
@Wandering Bunny: After school behind the gym. It’s on!
Okay. I’m totally watching No. 6!
I loved the first season of Baka to Test and I found the first episode of this season really funny. I am amazed because it is one of my personal favorites but it got a 0% @_@. Usually I use the potential rating to filter out the shows I won’t watch…makes me wonder what shows I’ve missed out on.
Baka was fun as always.
Is not the jokes but the delivery and the characters that make this show great.
It’s actually pretty funny how so much rage and frustration came out of basically just two boys holding hands. If it wasn’t so sad, I’d find it pretty damn funny.
I think what many people are disturbed about is not only the fact that many are labeling this show as BL when it actually isn’t, but also that there are those who are still very ready to drop it because of that.
How would it sound if I’d say I would drop random slice-of-life X because I don’t like to see romance between a boy and a girl?! But yeah, I get it…deviant things are still deviant…
Man…this made my day ^^°
@Perrin4869: The winner gets the right to confess to whatever girl he likes!!!
(Even though technically there’s no need to fight over that, and it’s pretty sexist~)
@Perrin4869: BakaTest2 does very well in its genre.
Unfortunately, most people can’t seem to watch series in a relative sense (there is a difference between a series being bad in its genre and it being in a genre that you don’t like -> most people mix them together) and always fail to respect series that they didn’t like by failing to see the good points.
@EMChamp: Unfortunately, psgels is far from being impartial on anime reviews as well. I would never rate any series 0%, not after only one episode. Rating something as 0% is just like putting all the series you didn’t like indiscriminately into the same basket. Then again, his potential indicator is more like a potential that he blogs it indicator, not necessarily an indicator of the potential of the series. There is a major difference here.
However, if I were to write anime reviews, you would not be able to use my blog as filter since I would always put both the strong and weak points of series regardless if I personally like it or not.
Nah, i would say the 0% ratings are just right. Just two generic animes to fill up a slot.
Here’s how I see it. Just watched the first episode of No. 6 and I liked the usual high-techy stuff and the not-so-subtle beehive motifs. I like how they focused on the two MCs, while slipping in bits about how the lives they’ve led are completely different.
Now is it BL or shounen-ai? Officially, no. But the overtones, admittedly, exist. Even aside from the hand-holding, the MC is pretty feminine. Oh, and also, the hints that it’s gonna be a journey with just the two of them. How cozy.
My consensus: They are friends. Heck, the boys might even get a love interest or two. I find it interesting that no one even mentioned the tomboy girl. What happened to the couple T-shirts? The kiss for “reproductive desires”?
But yes, there will be BL overtones. Because one guy’s a bit girly and there are no hints of any other characters joining these two in a journey that pauses for snowball fights.
Now, the angry people are getting angry over comments like these:
“There’s BL? Skipping this one.”
“Ew, two boys hold hands? Pass.”
Reasons for anger:
1. Dismissing what might be a potentially good sci-fi/adventure because two friends seem uncomfortably close
2. Calling 12-yr-old boys holding hands gay. As if kids this age weren’t insecure enough.
Conclusion:
People passing on this show: Please go ahead. It’s your precious time you’re wasting. Heck, I will drop this faster than toilet paper if the story turns out to be boring.
But here’s advice: Don’t say you’re passing on it just because there’s BL hints. It shows insensitivity and that, bluntly, you’re homophobic. A racial equivalent is saying you won’t watch a show because the MC is black. Ex. some people sent letters to Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts (aka Snoopy), that they would stop reading his comics because he made one kid in school black.
Schulz told them to fuck off.
Thia guy really nailed on No.6 not as a BL show.
http://thecartdriver.com/no-6-episode-1/#more-15157
Naruto has more Shounen-Ai undertones than what I saw on No.6.