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REVIEW: Baka and Test Episodes 1-4 Streaming


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championferret



Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 765
PostPosted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:40 pm Reply with quote
I read this review twice, wondering if, somehow, i had possibly missed it. But no. Not a mention.

Somehow, a review of Bakatest has been written without any mention of Hideyoshi.
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Kalessin



Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 931
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:40 am Reply with quote
championferret wrote:
I read this review twice, wondering if, somehow, i had possibly missed it. But no. Not a mention.

Somehow, a review of Bakatest has been written without any mention of Hideyoshi.


LOL. True. But the best Hideyoshi stuff is not in episodes 1 - 4. A prime example of that would be the pool episode (episode 6).

Personally, I think that this show is fantastic. It's absolutely hilarious. The romance is definitely not the strongest ever, but that means that they don't focus on it in the same way that a more serious show would, and the overall result is much funnier. This is definitely a comedy that has some romance in it rather than a romance that has some comedy in it.

As for the clichés, that can be half the fun. They play very few of them straight - instead turning them on their head or taking them to extremes that actually make them funny rather than clichéd.

If you're looking for drama or romance, this is definitely not the place to look for it any more than it is in most of Shinbo's works (and this is definitely reminiscent of his stuff in various ways). This show is a comedy pure and simple. And it's a hilarious one to boot.
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TatsuGero23



Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Posts: 1277
Location: Sniper Island, USA (It's in your heart!)
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:50 am Reply with quote
championferret wrote:
I read this review twice, wondering if, somehow, i had possibly missed it. But no. Not a mention.

Somehow, a review of Bakatest has been written without any mention of Hideyoshi.


It's cause Hideyoshi is a trap. And Carl didn't fall for it. *ba dum bump*

Bad jokes aside (although all the yaoi jokes are hilarious), I enjoyed the review and agree that the guys really carry the show despite a good number of female characters introduced. Although really I don't have that much of a problem with them since they help move the jokes along or bring in new ones for the guys. I'm super glad Oonuma and Shinbo approached this series more lightly compared to Pani Poni and Negima and relying less on random pop culture jokes to fuel the series.

I also gotta thank funimation's youtube channel for introducing me to this series. With the synopsis and promo pics for this series I was fairly reluctant to watch it just cause it seem it would bore me. Definitely caught me off guard and now I can't wait for the DVDs. Definitely a fun little series for this season.
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mckg1



Joined: 24 Dec 2009
Posts: 287
Location: From Puerto Rico living in Japan
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:56 am Reply with quote
Lol, I actually just finished watching the first four episodes of this series over at the funimation video website http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=303
and i come to see if there is any new news on stuff involving anime when i see this review of the four episodes that i just finished a few minutes ago. I gatta say that i agree, this show is just plain old fun, and when done right, its a very good thing. I hope the Blu Ray release is sometime this year. I found this show more enjoyable then that vampire Bun anime. But thats my humble opinion Rolling Eyes . It deserves more attention then what is getting, i actually just watched it out of curiousity and found it very enjoyable Very Happy .
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7424
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:40 am Reply with quote
championferret wrote:
I read this review twice, wondering if, somehow, i had possibly missed it. But no. Not a mention.

Somehow, a review of Bakatest has been written without any mention of Hideyoshi.


Yeah, that was my reaction as well. I'm not a big fan of genderbending (unless it's a girl dressed as a guy sometimes) and can't stand shonen ai, but Hideyoshi is pretty fun to watch. He's the only genderbender I've actually enjoyed as a character since Shun Kisaragi in Greenwood. Probably because he hates it so much. Special bathrooms. Ha!

But the show is a great deal of fun even though the premise makes it seem like it would be an easy throwaway series just around to fill programing slots. It's hard to hate so many honest characters. Laughing

Emerje
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Kalessin



Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 931
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:23 am Reply with quote
Emerje wrote:
Yeah, that was my reaction as well. I'm not a big fan of genderbending (unless it's a girl dressed as a guy sometimes) and can't stand shonen ai, but Hideyoshi is pretty fun to watch. He's the only genderbender I've actually enjoyed as a character since Shun Kisaragi in Greenwood. Probably because he hates it so much. Special bathrooms. Ha!


Agreed. I generally hate it when shows have guys dress as gals or when they do genderswaps of any kind, but for some reason the situation with Hideyoshi is quite funny. Perhaps it is as you suggest, that it's because he hates it so much. I don't know. But it's quite funny with him, when in every other case I've seen, I've hated that sort of thing.
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kh_gal



Joined: 01 Sep 2009
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:44 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Which makes two reasons for optimism. Small optimism. A modest hope that as the series continues its romance will be a match for its comedy, and its girls a match for its boys. Until then, it's a gentle good time; no more, no less.


Small optimism? I thought this series was hilarious! True, they may have had some obvious cliches, but the series made those cliches work and avoided the serious pitfalls of the genre. It's not like your typical harem or comedy that relies solely on fanservice to tell jokes.
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Rednal



Joined: 07 Jul 2008
Posts: 134
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:19 am Reply with quote
To put things in their simplest form... the flaws this show has are not enough to prevent me from enjoying it, and I'm looking forward to being able to get the box set. ^^
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24207
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:31 am Reply with quote
Pretty bang on review, imo. My enjoyment of the show has increased with the introduction of Yoshii's older, big boobed brocon sister in eppie 9. It always amazes me how the introduction of a new, large-breasted character can really elevate the intellectual and artistic quality of a series.
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omoikane



Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 494
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:23 am Reply with quote
Quote:
As you'd expect, it's a weakness that makes the series far more viable as a comedy than a romance. A tendency encouraged by the writers' apparent misconception that girls agonizing over giving boxed lunches and guys being clueless about their intentions somehow constitutes romance.


Is this kind of snark necessary? It's obvious that those romantic cliches are played for laughs first.

I get the feeling poor Shoko will get a thorough lashing Sad
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Kyogissun



Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 676
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:28 pm Reply with quote
Eh, the show's hit and miss. Sometimes it's great, other times... it's not so great.
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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:31 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed the first few episodes, appreciating the humor and the focus on the boys. But as soon as the romance reared it's ugly head, I dropped it like a sack of crap on fire.

Can anyone tell me if the show keeps making attempts at romance, or is it worth continuing? I liked the focus on the male's silliness; I don't want it to focus on girls and romance for any reason. I just can't scrub the scuzzy taste of moe out of my mouth.
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championferret



Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 765
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:42 pm Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:
I enjoyed the first few episodes, appreciating the humor and the focus on the boys. But as soon as the romance reared it's ugly head, I dropped it like a sack of crap on fire.

Can anyone tell me if the show keeps making attempts at romance, or is it worth continuing? I liked the focus on the male's silliness; I don't want it to focus on girls and romance for any reason. I just can't scrub the scuzzy taste of moe out of my mouth.


You might be talking about episode 5; the worst episode in my opinion. However, after that it goes back on course. Episode 9 and 10 have been especially hilarious to me.

An aside, but your comment about moe makes me wonder if you even understand the term. This series is pretty moe whether it focuses on romance or not. Most of the moe is just courtesy of Hideyoshi...
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:57 pm Reply with quote
omoikane wrote:
Quote:
As you'd expect, it's a weakness that makes the series far more viable as a comedy than a romance. A tendency encouraged by the writers' apparent misconception that girls agonizing over giving boxed lunches and guys being clueless about their intentions somehow constitutes romance.


Is this kind of snark necessary? It's obvious that those romantic cliches are played for laughs first.

Except it still isn't funny. Really, of all the jokes in the series, that's the worst. Himeji's horrible cooking works because the absurd lengths the guys go through trying to avoid it.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:47 pm Reply with quote
I like how not all the genderbending deals with Hideyoshi. They keep making jokes about Minami because of her flat chest and for being so tomboyish. I think Minami as a boy is much cuter than Hideyoshi as a girl. Plus her summon is dressed like a prince or soldierboy. Are there any scenes where Minami abruptly appears in a boy's uniform kind of like how Hideyoshi suddenly appears in girl's clothes (without any explanation whatsoever, which is so funny).

This is not meant to hate on Hideyoshi, I think he's cool too, he's just a little too tsundere and is just sort of plain looking.
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