Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu review

After reading nothing but good reviews of Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (The Idiot, the Tests, and the Summoned Beings), I decided to see what all the fuss was about…

Baka Test is a comedy through and through. For starters, its premise is quite a nutty one – at Fumizuki Academy, students are separated into classes A through F depending on their grades, with F being the lowest. The higher the rank of the class, the more lavish a classroom they have. Lower ranking classes are able to battle higher ranking classes in order to win their better classrooms. The students battle in special “virtual reality” arenas using their own individual Summoned Being (Shoukanjuu), which is basically a costume-clad chibi version of themselves.

Their Summoned Being’s power depends on how well they scored in recent tests. The show centers around the colorful, eccentric students of Class F.

With a crazy, but unique, premise like this, and providing only rare and mild moments of drama, this show is a totally non-serious comedy. The humor is a mix of hyperbolic gags, slapsticks, and character-driven quirks. As one can tell from the high regard that this series has gotten, many fans believe the comedy in Baka Test to be refreshingly good and on the mark. For me personally, not every attempt at humor made me laugh, but the majority of it did, and there were quite a few scenes that were funnier than any anime I’d seen in a while. The episodes consist of either Summoned Being battles or slice-of-life adventures.

As for the characters who execute all the laughs, while none are particularly well-developed, they all play their part fittingly in the crazy antics of the episodes. Since the series is basically episodic and is not meant to be complex or serious, the fact that the characters are not exceptionally written is no big deal as long as they make you laugh. From Kouta (a.k.a. Ninja Pervert) who pops up with his camera every time he may have a chance to take an erotic photo of a girl, Hideyoshi, who looks like quite a pretty girl (like his twin sister) but is actually a boy, Yuuji, the leader of Class F who’s been henpecked by the soft-spoken but insanely jealous Shouko from Class A, and of course the titular “baka” of the series, the hapless Akihisa, whose Summoned Being has the unique ability to move outside the virtual test field. There’s also a love triangle going on between Akihisa and the two girls of Class F – the tomboyish Minami and the moe-esque Mizuki. Thankfully their love triangle isn’t as shoved down our throats as it could have been, and it provides more laughs than not. Some of the side characters such as the teachers and students from other classes are forgettable, but serve their purpose in the series well enough.

As I said, the humor is the driving element of Baka Test – its hyperbolic gags include Akihisa and Kouta getting exaggerated nosebleeds when the girls appear “attractive” in any way, and Minami mutilating Akihisa and Shouko stabbing Yuuji’s eyes if they look at other girls. Of course, these gags are all in good fun and are not meant to be taken seriously. But I can understand that they’re not for everyone’s taste and can go too overboard sometimes. However, there’s plenty of tamer, character-driven humor too, like the boys’ fear of Mizuki’s cooking, Shouko and Yuuji’s unofficial marriage license, and Akihisa getting the brunt of Class F’s battles.

The main thing that Baka Test is lacking, though it honestly didn’t hamper my enjoyment of it, is setting and character backstory. Very few details and explanations are given as to why, where, and how this crazy academy of Summoning Beings exists nor the kind of world that the series takes place in that would make such an academy significant. There’s also very little backstory for the characters – besides a few little blurbs, we don’t know where any of them are coming from nor anything about their home life (no parents are present in the series). This can be a little frustrating, but it proves that the main focus of Baka Test is the comedy and we’re not supposed to dwell on any details or complexities in the story or characters.

The animation of Baka Test, provided by the new studio Silver Link, is pretty decent for the kind of show it is. To match the light, comical mood of the show, mostly bright colors are used, especially for the characters, with dark colors being rare. As for music, the opening song “Perfect-area Complete!” is quite catchy and well animated. Nothing much to note about the ending songs except that the first one, “Baka Go Home,” features the male characters, and the second, “Hare Tokidoki Egao,” features the female characters. Strangely, “Baka Go Home” is used in episodes 1 through 6, then again in episodes 10 through 13.

I would agree that Baka Test is one of the funnier anime comedies to come out in recent years, additionally blending elements of sci-fi and school life with its comedy. Its humor is definitely not for everyone, but if you enjoy it (you should be able to tell by just the first few episodes), it’s worth watching. A second season is currently in the works so hopefully it will be as good as the first.