Ranked #4178

Gakkatsu!

Human beings love verbal contact with other human beings. Talking to oneself just doesn't have the same mental appeal as a rousing talk with one or more other people. This can manifest itself in several ways. The negative extreme of this love for word jousting can be found in one's penchant for needless bickering and constant arguing. The positive however is manifested in rousing debate in which new things are learned, and thoughts one simply would not reach on one's own are raised. Gakkatsu is a short little anime celebrating the entertainment and information one can glean from some good ole fashion debate.

Gakkatsu as an anime is one of those shows where it's quite difficult to look at it's MAL rating and really garner any sense of whether it was a successful anime or not. These short running shows with low ratings could very well have missed the mark, or simply have been held to a standard by MAL it wasn't even made to reach in the first place. Gakkatsu, in my opinion, is definitely one of the latter. Of course the animation is rather unique, the story practically non-existent, the characters nowhere near defined as individuals (though the characters still manage to be a whole lot of fun). None of that has any baring on the purpose of Gakkatsu. The purpose is to entertain. And it's highly successful at that much.

Without a doubt, one of the greatest things about Gakkatsu is the wildly random array of subject matters touched upon in each five minute episode. Everything from the name of the bump your bone makes on your wrist, to the dicey situation of dealing with the last piece of food, it's all touched upon here. It's as if the subjects for each episode were chosen by Mad-Lib they're so wildly out of left field. Without a doubt the episode that really sold me on this show was the entire episode dedicated to why girls make duckfaces... no really who does that? The spirit of debate runs through all things and the show does a rather nice job of wrapping up with this in mind, the spirit of debate living on until the end.

Another surprising strong point as I mentioned earlier, was the characters of Gakkatsu. What the cast lacked in back story and any real development, they made up for with bright, bold, and endearing personality. Sure they were all merely tropes and archetypes of well known school anime characters (the yankee, the nerd, the nice girl, the nondescript, the Nigerian prince, the rabbit, the samurai, you know them all surely), but they manage to be incredibly likable while adding numerous unique opinions and insight into the various debates. The anime takes the time to make them distinct which really adds to the overall success of the dialogue.

While it's true that originality and off the wall material doesn't always equal quality, Gakkatsu is an anime that manages to truly blend strange with hilarious. For what it is, Gakkatsu was a lot of fun and even rather informative at times. For a good time and a look at the uniquely human experience of lively debate, Gakkatsu is definitely worth your time.


PS: The bump on your wrist is called the ulnar styloid process. Don't ever let anyone tell you anime taught you nothing. read more

[Final Update: Finished Watching the Series]
Never underestimate a childish anime. From beginning to end "Gakkatsu" kept me entertained. Each character had their own charisma, and made the show more fun to watch. In terms of short anime, I have watched before, this really stands among the top. My only complaint was that it was too short.

Story: 9
The idea of a curious classmate leading a class in a discussion, made me curious. She leads the class not in discussing things in textbooks or about what they should be doing, but rather learning about life. They are not bound by the ideals of man, and with their innocent hearts come to conclusions about various things. This often leads to hilarious conclusions to perhaps complicated thoughts. That is one of the reasons this show is enjoyable. I would of like it if this actually happened when I was in high school. I would of never had a boring day if homeroom was like that every day.

Art: 9
The thing that originally hooked me on to this anime is the unique art it had. A sort of rock & roll animation with some grunge art. Right off the bat I knew this was going to be a unique anime. Also the chibi-esque animation of the characters made it speak to the rebellious mind of a teen. "I reject your reality, and replace it with my own". That's what this art screamed to me and that why I started watching this anime.

Sound: 8
Considering this was a short anime show, I didn't expect much from this anime in terms of sound. Well I was right, and my expectations were met, nothing bad or good to say about the sound. Of course, it's nowhere close to Beethoven's Symphonies, but it was a good fit for the show.

Character: 9
The thing that stood out most about the anime was the characters. Each was so unique that you forgot what the unique really meant. The energetic class president that brings up amazing debates with conclusions that sometimes confounded me (as well as made me laugh), and the classmates which include: the class rebel, the smartest guy in the class, a random bunny of a mascot, two foreigners (one from space), the nice girl in the class, the wise one, the quiet guy with a motorcycle helmet, and etc. The way they interact with each other makes the show what it is: "Gakkatsu", otherwise known as "Homeroom". The time which they spent discussing, would be very boring if they weren't so unique.

Enjoyment: 9
The anime overall was great. It may not be a masterpiece, but I sure as hell enjoyed it. The comedy in this anime is great. Even though it's only five minutes long, it feels like I watched a 20 minute episode. I'm looking forward to future episodes. Every single one so far was great.

Overall I liked this anime a lot, and I'm sure others will as well, therefore I will give it a 9 out of 10.
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After watching those extra wonderful episodes I can say this. If you would like to watch an anime with a smile on your face then this is the one for you. From beginning to end it was a great anime despite it being short. I would recommend this to anyone of any age group. It truly was any anime worth watching. read more