D-Frag Review
Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.
With that said, thank you, and onto the review:
If I could pick a show that I was most looking forward to from the Winter 2014 season, it would have to be D-Frag. Not only did it look like a show right up my alley, but it had a nice pinch of comedy, plus slice of life rolled into one, two of my favorite types of shows.
However, it took a while for me to watch it. I was a bit too full with some other anime shows. But in July, I decided to pick this show up, and hope that my expectations were proved.
Let's go to the plot of this show:
Story
Kenji Kazama, a delinquent student most known for being a member from the Kazama Party, has just started the school year. He hasn't thought of joining a club, that is until he meets Roka Shibasaki, the president of the Game Creation Club outside. From there, he meets the rest of the club, who is composed of the vice president, a first year, and the faculty adviser who mainly uses the club room to sleep.
After being almost forced to join the club, he tries to constantly distance himself from them. Until he meets other people in the school, and seeing how insane they are. Though he normally just comes back to the club.
Besides his friends, there's the real Game Creation Club, the Band of 14 Devils, the ex-student council, and one random member of the Game Creation Club who really doesn't do anything besides love jokes. But still, who cares? Kazama's school life has already gone to hell anyway.
This set-up actually plays off pretty well in the end, because not only does it offer some funny interactions with the club members, but we also get to meet some pretty amusing characters. Though stories don't normally have a impact in slice of life and comedy anime, this one did a fairly nice way of incorporating it into the mix of things. It was interesting to see some of the ways we got to meet the characters, and it was all very fun indeed.
Something in my mind tells me what I should talk about next.
Hello character ville!
Characters
The characters in this anime are all pretty well done. Of course there are 4 stand outs that I can't do anything but talk about. As when serious shoppers talk about:
Besides that though, let's go on with our main character:
Yes, I'll mainly be using commercial bumpers for pictures of the characters. They're so adorable, I really couldn't resist. XD
Kazama is our main protagonist, and the leader of a group of delinquents named the Kazama Party, who have known each other since they were kids. He is forced into the Game Creation Club by the other members after a incident in which the girls used their "powers" to ignite a fire. Because of this, Kazama is now the newest member of the club, admist his dismay. Well, in the beginning.
Though he can actually fight someone, he can never hit a girl because apparently he is no match against the other girls in the club. However, he does have some ways of trying to win some competitions, like one in the middle of the show where the girls and gals battle for Roka's bag, which he can outsmart some people. So yay, smarts!
The girls eventually declare him a wind elemental, due to his name. Okay, it's time to save..
Oh, oops! This isn't Skylanders.
And remember those straight man characters in comedies? Yep, he fits the exact bill of those, though at all times. Unlike Kei in Cuticle Detective Inaba, who happens to have some moments of this, here it's more frequently, which is much more fun.
So overall, I like Kazama as a main character and for his personality. Yeah, it's a bit cliched, but it's a nice balance, and he's very funny to watch in some moments, when something unfortunate happens to him, or when he yells.
Now onto Roka:
Don't let the cuteness fool you! While she may have moments like this, and her element is fire, be warned. Because she exceeds in ze power of darkness.
Roka is the club's president, and her main style of attack is putting a bag over her opponent's head, rendering them blind. She may be very tiny, but she can still possibly own you with her diabolical methods.
It seems that she also has a lot of extra bags around, and Hachi seems to be one of the only people who obsess over them. That is until that match comes around.
The Game Creation Club's most famous game is a game in which the players have to collect porn magazine. Very classy. Not to mention, a lot of the club members can actually get into it. I wonder what I would think of it in my universe.
Next up is Chitose:
Chitose is a second year who is the student council president, who actually beat one of Kazama's friends,who ended up becoming the vice president. She has such high authority, and besides the students. even the teachers are in fear of her.
Her main element is earth, and her tactics with it are very good. She might someday accidentally cause a burial. Besides this, she's also good with dirt.
She has got to have some of the funniest moments in the show with her disses to Takao. She also tried to feed Kazama her own lunch after he forgets it one episode, and drops something on the floor. And she picks it right back up. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at that.
Now onto Takao, who may seem like a rival at the beginning, but later takes a turn for the best:
Takao is the president of the Real Game Creation Club, which is in fact the actual Game Creation Club. Roka decided to leave the club, and create her own on negative terms. Though Chitose had a major role in doing so. However, the Game Creation Club had to add Provisional to their title in order to not be shut down.
At first, Takao has a rivalry towards the club, and challenges them at the school festival. However, when her club loses, she actually spends more time with the Provisionals rather than her own club.
She later starts having feelings towards Kazama, which lends to some pretty adorable moments in Episode 8, where she repays him for the infamous zipper shot that got him knocked out of the fight for Roka's bag temporarily until he got back in the game.
Becuase of this, several others give her the Boob elemental power, because they seem to always come in handy. Huh, who would have thought?
Here's the infamous zipper that popped off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5sEeHbJ9Q
Other characters include a first year student in the club who has the power of water, the faculty adviosr of the club who just sleeps mainly in the club room, the only male member besides Kazama who is mainly ignored, the members of Takao's cub, the Kazama Party, the ex student council who appear in the final episodes (including Barfy-senpai), Kazama's little sister, and a classmate of them who is a cute beauty.
Yes, I'll mainly be using commercial bumpers for pictures of the characters. They're so adorable, I really couldn't resist. XD
Kazama is our main protagonist, and the leader of a group of delinquents named the Kazama Party, who have known each other since they were kids. He is forced into the Game Creation Club by the other members after a incident in which the girls used their "powers" to ignite a fire. Because of this, Kazama is now the newest member of the club, admist his dismay. Well, in the beginning.
Though he can actually fight someone, he can never hit a girl because apparently he is no match against the other girls in the club. However, he does have some ways of trying to win some competitions, like one in the middle of the show where the girls and gals battle for Roka's bag, which he can outsmart some people. So yay, smarts!
The girls eventually declare him a wind elemental, due to his name. Okay, it's time to save..
Oh, oops! This isn't Skylanders.
And remember those straight man characters in comedies? Yep, he fits the exact bill of those, though at all times. Unlike Kei in Cuticle Detective Inaba, who happens to have some moments of this, here it's more frequently, which is much more fun.
So overall, I like Kazama as a main character and for his personality. Yeah, it's a bit cliched, but it's a nice balance, and he's very funny to watch in some moments, when something unfortunate happens to him, or when he yells.
Now onto Roka:
Don't let the cuteness fool you! While she may have moments like this, and her element is fire, be warned. Because she exceeds in ze power of darkness.
Roka is the club's president, and her main style of attack is putting a bag over her opponent's head, rendering them blind. She may be very tiny, but she can still possibly own you with her diabolical methods.
It seems that she also has a lot of extra bags around, and Hachi seems to be one of the only people who obsess over them. That is until that match comes around.
The Game Creation Club's most famous game is a game in which the players have to collect porn magazine. Very classy. Not to mention, a lot of the club members can actually get into it. I wonder what I would think of it in my universe.
Next up is Chitose:
Chitose is a second year who is the student council president, who actually beat one of Kazama's friends,who ended up becoming the vice president. She has such high authority, and besides the students. even the teachers are in fear of her.
Her main element is earth, and her tactics with it are very good. She might someday accidentally cause a burial. Besides this, she's also good with dirt.
She has got to have some of the funniest moments in the show with her disses to Takao. She also tried to feed Kazama her own lunch after he forgets it one episode, and drops something on the floor. And she picks it right back up. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at that.
Now onto Takao, who may seem like a rival at the beginning, but later takes a turn for the best:
At first, Takao has a rivalry towards the club, and challenges them at the school festival. However, when her club loses, she actually spends more time with the Provisionals rather than her own club.
She later starts having feelings towards Kazama, which lends to some pretty adorable moments in Episode 8, where she repays him for the infamous zipper shot that got him knocked out of the fight for Roka's bag temporarily until he got back in the game.
Becuase of this, several others give her the Boob elemental power, because they seem to always come in handy. Huh, who would have thought?
Here's the infamous zipper that popped off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5sEeHbJ9Q
Other characters include a first year student in the club who has the power of water, the faculty adviosr of the club who just sleeps mainly in the club room, the only male member besides Kazama who is mainly ignored, the members of Takao's cub, the Kazama Party, the ex student council who appear in the final episodes (including Barfy-senpai), Kazama's little sister, and a classmate of them who is a cute beauty.
Animation
The animation for this series was done by Brain's Base, who are also known for Durarara, Princess Jellyfish, and Penguindrum.
What I liked about Brain;s Base is that they normally change up the staff that works on character designs, and overall feel. The animaton always looks unique, and for that I praise them. Some studios tend to rely on the same director, character designer. (TNK for a while until Blade Dance) but this studio doesn't.
While this animation is simplistic like SNAFU, it still has a unique quality to it. It still offers at least some enjoyment to the viewer, and it isn't too complicated.
Sound
The score for this series was composed by Nijine, who has also done score for the series Baka and Test and Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
The majority of this score has a lot of happy, upbeat pieces. And while I was watching, my mood seemed to brighten with some episodes. Not only is this score super positive, but like many others, can blend into anything it wants too. which it makes super enjoyable for me.
The opening is a jammer that will make you bounce up and down in your seat. the ending doesn't have this effect, but it still is a pretty cute and unique track.
The Japanese audio brings out some of the best comedic moments of some seiyuus, which can crack some laughs out of me. It may not be the best for some people, but at least it's good enough.
Highlights include Katsuyuki Konishi, Kana Hanazawa, Chiwa Saito, Ami Koshimizu, Koki Miyata, Shizuka Ito, Megumi Toyoguchi, Jun Fukuyama (no s**t), Emiri Kaito, Akira Ishida, Yuuko Sanpei, and Eri Sendai. And a cameo from Nobuyuki Hiyama.
Verdict
So overall, my impressions of D-Frag are pretty high. Not only does this have some great comedy, but it has some story, plus great characters that I think could keep any viewer interested.
Really, this is perhaps my favorite comedy show of this year, though overall this ranks behind Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star, both of which are great as well. But this just seemed to click with me for the mean time.
I suggest this to viewers who want a good comedy series, and who have a couple hours to kill.
Score: 10/10
Positives:
Good story.
Fantastic comedy.
Great characters.
Unique score.
Negatives:
None major.
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