Ranked #2404

A-Channel

For any slow paced slice of life series, there is always a challenge of not being boring. A-Channel does manage to stay above the boredom zone (most of the time) making it a decent slice of life anime. It is a nice series which makes for a very relaxing watch

A-Channel revolves around 4 high school girls and their everyday lives. The setting itself is a bit overused but that doesn't mean that it's not good. The slow pace combined with the setting gives it a light and relaxing atmosphere. Despite the slow pace, rarely does A-Channel feel boring. The comedic moments are up and down, some are pretty funny while others don't seem to work. Considering the setting, it's pleasantly surprising that only a few of the events are cliche. However there is hardly anything memorable in A-Channel because the setting is not unique and it's missing that wow factor

Being a slice of life, A-Channel is mostly character driven. There is the Run, who is an airhead, Tooru, who is overprotective of Run and reckless, Nagi, who is level-headed and Yuuko who is very timid. The contrasting personalities of each character really makes A-Channel fun to watch and it injects life into the series. Individually the characters aren't very diverse which has it's own pros and cons. On the upside it prevents the series from being confusing and makes the it a relaxing watch, not making us think. Also, because this is a slice of life series, it is really not necessary for the characters to be complex. However on the downside the characters aren't very memorable and makes the characters seem two dimensional. It would've also been nice to see a bit more of the side characters as they hardly made appearances at all.

The art is very nice. The characters look very cute, the animations are fluent and the backgrounds are nicely drawn. The art matches the the lighthearted mood of the series and also gives it a certain charm.

The sound is also pretty solid. The OP, 'Morning Arch', is very catchy and upbeat. The ED is alright, it did feel like a proper closing though. There are also numerous insert songs which are sung by the seiyuus, which was a nice addition. The voice acting was solid, each seiyuu did a good job voicing their character in every given situation.

Enjoying a slice of life anime is something not everyone can do, and A-Channel is no exception. If you are not into the slice of life genre, then the slow pace of A-Channel can make the series feel boring. However, if you are into the slice of life genre, A-Channel is enjoyable, relaxing and can clear one's mind if they had a rough day.

A-Channel has it's flaws but overall it's a nice series. It fails to be something really memorable but it was fun while it lasted

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Does a good anime need to have a good plot? The answer is: NO! Take a certain over-the-top mecha-robo anime with plenty of drills (and thus male Freudian artifacts) for example; it's plot wasn't the most original storytelling, but that didn't stop the anime from being explosively entertaining.

But does good anime need to have ANY plot? The answer is undoubtedly: NO. If otherwise, the slice-of-life genre of anime wouldn't exist; and hits like K-On, Lucky Star, and Hidamari Sketch would never have gained the popularity that they did.

So is A-channel like Lucky Star, K-On, or Hidamari Sketch? The answer is still: NO. The latter three anime, although plotless, have some extra premise or setting in which the contents of the anime revolve around; K-On has the pretense of forming a band, Hidamari Sketch has the setting of an art school, and Lucky Star has an otaku as the lead. A-Channel, on the other hand, has nothing.

But is that a bad thing? NO! That just means that A-Channel is a slice-of-life in its PUREST form.

A-Channel portrays the easy life of four ordinary high school girls. The main focus if this anime is undoubtedly the characters and their interactions with each other. The biggest concerns or conflicts that the characters have are simple things like their weight, jealousy over different body proportions, or being over-protective of each other. The characters do ordinary things together like going to festivals, walking home in the rain, eating at fast food restaurants, singing karaoke, or playing in the snow together. There is no storyline at all, major, minor, or subplot; all A-Channel portrays are the sweetest moments amongst the smallest actions found in daily life. It's like someone cut out the most boring 23 hours and 40 minutes of the characters' days and turned the most lively 20 minutes of each day into a show.

The characters are what drive this show; they are indeed a good group to be friends with, being diverse and varied and yet not straying too far from the norm. We have Tooru, the clever troublemaker, Nagi, the ordinary one, Yuuko, the nice-bodied scaredy-cat, and Run, the airhead of airheads. Taken individually, these character may not seem like the most interesting ensemble. But when put together, it their interactions that make this anime shine. Character development doesn't come from the growth of the characters themselves, but rather that the viewer learns more about the characters as he or she continues to watch them, just like in real friendships. The diversity and depth of the interactions are astounding, and often it's the littlest of interactions that can send the viewer the biggest signals. (i.e. Yuuko showing slight interest in the idea of Run not wearing any panties.)

Being a slice-of-life, the production value of the show need not be very high. Most slice-of-lifes can get away with mediocre animation with a lot of still shots and mediocre sound with just an opening, ending, and a handful of background tracks. A-channel does exactly that. The animation is fine; the four girls look satisfactorily cute from most angles and distances, and the sound is alright, with an upbeat opening, a winding-down ending, and BGM that doesn't find itself to be to obtrusive to the ears. There is one praiseworthy aspect of the production, and it's the number of insert songs sung by the seiyuu. Often times, when wanting to show a collections of events, the producers would display a montage of clips accompanied by an insert song often times sung by the seiyuus themselves. This technique was most apparent during the karaoke episode, and I thought it was a nice way of letting the episodes flow rather than trying to directly tell the story. Voice-action, however, is a totally different story; this is the area where slice-of-lifes absolutely cannot skimp, and A-channel here delivers what it must. Each of the seiyuus for each of the character does a splendid job of delivering the right performance at each given situation.

So is A-channel something you should watch? Well it really depends. If you want something action, drama, romance, story, plot-twists, thrills, chills, or the like, then look elsewhere. But if you're into cute girls doing cute things from day in to day out, a light hearted slice-of-life comedy for a few laughs, I suggest you give A-channel a try.

Questions, comments, criticisms and compliments are welcomed whether you found this review helpful or not.
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A-Channel, is one of the biggest fails of anime.
A-Channel has comedy genre, but I can’t remember anything funny. Absolutely no bright moments, characters, OSTs or animation.

-Story line(1/10)-
There is none

-Characters(5/10)-
The only thing I liked about this anime is characters. I adore anime where we can see characters with different personalities.
Run - The idiot of the group. She reminds me Yui from K-ON!
The only unique feature about her is her forehead.

Nagisa - is probably the most likeable character. She is chilled, cool,calm and gets things done. Out of the group she is the funniest simply because she doesn't respectively get annoying.

Tooru - She’s funny. But, the only thing I didn’t get about her is her attitude towards Run, does she love her, or they are just frieds, this thing kinda annoyed me.

Yuko- She gets scared easily, she is the cutest girl out of the group, she’s clumsy. The only thing I liked about her is her look and her Japanese. (She was speaking at Kansai dialect).

-Animation(5/10)-
Usual animation, nothing special. Every episodes we see the same thing. It whole animation is dull, but character design was pretty O.K.

-Sound(4/10)-
If you can’t say anything good, say nothing.

-Overall(3/10)-
Overall, this anime is a poorly imposter of K-ON! and Lucky-star. Save yourself from the despair I had while watching this.
It’s not funny, it has dull characters, boring OST, absolutely nothing outstanding in animation, just big disappointment.
If you are a fan of anime without plot, funny characters, interesting jokes and so on, you may like A-channel...
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It follows a very analytic Review.

though I sum up my thoughts shortly so you can see where I am coming from.

I'm a big fan of Lucky Star, mostly because it was my first exposure to the Moe/SoL genre.
Konata and Tsukasa made the show for me but the other characters were great aswell (with some exceptions).

It also was funny and clever with its references. Even though it didn't offer anything great in story telling it was funny and a great view into the world of Otakus for me.

With A-Channel I found a similar experience, even though it lacks the witty references. It still gives you a bunch of cute likable characters and a school setting with episodical slapstick and archtype stereotypes.

I've seen some other shows like it (Yuru Yuri for example) but not actually hooked me again after Lucky Star.
Non but A-Channel. Thus it has a special place in my heart.

But I've critically and made a rather analytic review, examening it in great detail.

I'll give you my verdict here but if you scroll down you can see my reasoning behind it.

Story
6/10
It lacks a basic story other than "we are school girls and cute" but it was funny and gave you enough moe to like it.
I will not vote for it's Story content but for it's genre content instead. Thus a 6/10.

Art
5/10
I'd have given it a better score because I personally thought it looked really cute, but it was just too generic overall. Luckystar looked generic as well but at least was my first Moe anime back then and therefor did better imo than A-Channel

Sound
6/10
Other than the great VA cast the music was forgettable. Though second view might give me a clearer picture if I actually missed out some great score.

Character
8/10
Moe shows live from their characters. Even though they are just a bunch of Stereotypes, they run the show and you watch it because of them. A-Channel had a great cast imo, no character annoyed me (unlike Lucky Star).

Value (is not included on MAL but I include it still, it basically means my personal attachement to the show and how the world will view this show, does it offer anything to humanity or at least animefans, is it influential or groundbreaking?)
4/10
Other than my personal attachment to the show it didn't have anything of value for the future or the now. It's just another Moe schoolgirls show.

Enjoyment
8/10
I enjoyed this one a lot but not as much as Lucky Star of other titles of similar nature.

Overall 6/10
A Fine show, if you are into that kind of stuff.


_________________________________________________



And now the individual Points check em if you are interested:

Style:

Mood
(2) Fitting Moe + Cute
Likeablility
(1) Nothing amazing but I liked the animation style
Memorable
(0) Generic
Unique
(0) No, looks like luckystar or any other moe show, nothing great.

Points 3/8
Rating 4/10

Quality

Repeated frames
(1) Sometimes here and there
Fluid
(1) Yes but nothing spectacular
Pan Shots
(1) No but didn't add to enjoyability
Quality vary?
(2) No but not a big acomplishment...

Points 5/8
Rating 6/10

Backgrounds

Details vs. Immersion
(1) Generic
Memorable
(0) no

Points 1/4
Rating 3/10

Character Design

Likeable Designs?
(2) I liked them but seen better, still very cute!
Identifying Looks
(1) Sterotypical but clear
Variety
(2) distinced looks
Unique Memorable?
(1) As mentioned looked quite like Lucky Star and similar anime. Still recognizable.

Points 6/8
Rating 8/10


Animation

Points15/28
Rating: 5,5/10

Mediocre

____________

Voice Actors

Fitting
(2)Cute and believable
Fame? Exceptional?
Yuuki, Aoi, Kotobuki, Minako, Sawashiro, Miyuki, Ono, Daisuke, nuff said
(2)
Unique, unordinary?
Yuuki, Aoi + Sawashiro, Miyuki, made the characters basically
(2)

Points 6/6
Rating 10/10

Opening and Ending Theme

Did you like the OP? Catchy?
(1) cute but forgettable
Did you like the ED? Catchy?
(1) same as opening, even more forgettable though
Did the OP fit the show? Lyrics, Musically?
(2) it did and while watching pumped me!
Did the ED fit the show? Lyrics Musically?
(1) it did but I skipped it mostly

Points 5/8
Rating 6/10

OST

Fitting?
(1) forgettable
Likeable?
(1) forgettable
Noticable songs?
(0) cannot remember one
Oustanding, unqiue?
(0) not that I remember

Points 2/8
Rating 3/10

Sound

Points 13/22
Rating 6/10

Fair

___________

Plot

Premise
(0) Cute girls doing cute things... as if we haven't seen that before, but will get points because I like it, later in the next section
Pacing
(1) You can't do much wrong with a moe show, normal nothing outstanding.
Complexity
(0) None!
Plausibility
(2) One girl is dumb and need help from her friend to pass school. you can't do much wrong here
Conclusion
(1) Enjoyable but nothing mindblowing as you might expect

Points 4/10
Rating 4/10

Extra (non story part)

Comedy Points
(1) Funny but I didn't cry with laughter, Lucky Star did a better job.
Fanservice (aka moe-ness) Points
(2) very moe, loved the cute innocent girls
Filler unnessesary Ep?
(2) Everything is basically filly, but no bullshit episodes to remember
Special EP?
(1) The one that got me into this show was pretty good. (ep2)

Points 6/8
Rating 8/10

Story

Points 10/18
Rating 6/10

Fair

__________


Realism

Dimensions
(1) Stereotypes but have their strenghts and weaknesses, typical moe characters. Main character Tooru showed most dimensions.
Sensical Characters?
(1) Apart from Run all characters seem to work as they are intended. Run on the other hand feels like a blob of moe impossible to do anything on her own, which is cute but makes her unrealistic as hell
Stereotypes (if there is no development) Points
(2) Besides the Moe Airhead, all characters seemed less like your usual moe stereotype which made them more interesting as usual.
Focus
(1) though most characters got their fair share, Yuuko and Nagisa seemed sometimes less important (which I personally had no problem with, you will see why in likeability.)

Points 5/8
Rating 6/10

likeability

General
(2) All characters were likable non of them annoyed me.
Stand out
(2) Tooru has become one of my favorite little Girls from SoL Moe genre. She pretty much made the show for me. Mentional was also Run for the most helpless moeblob I've ever seen.

Points 4/4
Rating 10/10

Characters

Points 9/12
Rating 8/10

__________

Rewatchability

Full
(1) One day!
Several Episodes
(0) none stood out rather fully
Reasons?
(1) one more time with these Moe-tastic cast, other than that no gain.

Points 2/4
Rating 5/10

Sentimental

Keep or delete?
(1) KEEP!
Fandom? (aka attachment)
(1)Saving pictures of Tooru! Is waifu material. Other than that nothing more.
Remember?
(1) I do but not for it's content but it's characters and cuteness
First Exposure?
(0) Nothing new, but was best Moe show since Lucky Star for me.

Points 3/4
Rating 8/10

Historical

Achievements
(0) none that I know of, mentional might be it was made by studio Gokumi, which didn't do much yet.
Direction
(0) nothing new here. seen before, yet another moe
Influence
(0) unlike Lucky Star it won't
Watchable in Future
(0) most likely not
Non Animefans?
(0) no You need to be some otaku lolicon to like it

Points 0/7
Rating 0/10

Value

Points 5/15

Rating 4/10
Bad
____________

Enjoyment

Overall 8/10

Great

I enjoyed it greatly but not as much as Lucky Star
Evaluation based on importance for me:
Animation (1)*1
Sound (1)*1
Story (0)*0
Characters (2) *3
Value (0)*0


Score

Points 52/95 (does not include enjoyment)
>> 5,5/10

Rating 6/10 (includes enjoyment)

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I liked A-Channel.

Was it amazing?

Well no.

I'm going to be honest, it was a run-of-the-mill moe slice-of-life anime series that is supposed to entertain through hilarious incidents of normal day-today activities. Everyone is right when they criticize A-Channel. It lacks substance and is a subpar, repetitive slice-of-life anime with beach trips, summer festivals, school life and hang outs. It didn't make me laugh as hard as Yuru Yuri or Lucky Star. It didn't make me go "Awww!" for the cute touching scenes like in K-On! You possibly can't compare it to slice-of-life beasts like Lucky Star when it comes to uniqueness. Hey, at least the A-Channel girls did not have a club like the K-On! cast!

So why did I like A-Channel?

One of the main things people forget nowadays is the appreciation for the little things and learning certain lessons form a variety of experiences. Of course A-Channel is not a Clannad in terms of an emotional roller-coaster, but when in real life will your spouse come back because of a wish that turned time back and fixed the death? What I'm trying to get across here is that different anime can teach a variety of different lessons that we can apply in our lives. I've learned many deeper life lessons from Clannad about family and from Ano Hana about moving on, but I've also learned some general lessons about daily life. This is especially true after seeing Tooru progress through the series. Although development for Tooru is rather flat and lacks dynamic, she did remind me of myself at many times. Her cold attitude and distrust toward everyone in the beginning is pretty much how I am toward new people or just people in general. I share her same work ethic, get things done efficiently, respect older people, and help people where ever you can. Seeing Tooru all over Run definitely hit a soft spot for me. Why? Like Tooru, I only trust people who've I've known for a long time and learned to trust. It's hard for me to make new friends because of distrust of people that bullies instilled in me during my middle school life. Learning to make new friends and making new experiences is a vital part of living. It is something I always forget to do, yet Tooru's journey in this short series reminded me about that throughout life, you need friends, you need to have a lot of friends to live a happy life. Every time she learns some sort of lesson, I have this feeling of warmth inside. Even Run taught me a lesson. Despite the fact someone may be a bit torpid or even mean, there sometimes may be some goodness inside of that person. At many times I want smack people like Run upside the head at times, but in the end those people can be the most warmhearted people you can ever meet. Lessons like these, I know, remind me to do something trifle, yet so important to the actual living of my life. I liked the series not because it was entertaining, but I was able to take something from it and make that lesson mine.

I can't say I would recommend this to people who are familiar with the slice of life genre because it isn't amazingly funny or entertaining when compared to K-On! or Lucky Star. It will be repetitive to those who have seen many slice of life high school series. I can say though, if you try A-Channel out, you might learn a thing or two like I did. On the same token, you can say it's boring and move on to the next series: one that actually will entertain you.

Onward with the review:

Story (6): Most slice-of-life anime series have no plot. Just a simple get together and do something episodes that give a few laughs and may make you say feel fuzzy inside at the end. Again this is my standard for these types of moe slice-of-life anime series. This is not the judgement of entertainment I had from the series!

Art (10): What really blew me away here was the amount of detail put into this slice-of-life series. Most of these types of series are cheaply made and quickly released as a means to keep the audience's attention on the moe moe kawaii characters in the series. The amount of detail in A-Channel really added to the depth of connection I had with the protagonist. I know I'm exaggerating here, but I felt as though I was really in and feeling the setting. The details, especially depth perception and movement, were sharp and smooth. This was probably one of the most important factors in my actual learning from and enjoyment of the series.

Sound (9): This was the second aspect that really took me home. I really loved the background music, OP, ED, and Character Songs that were played during A-Channel. It really did add on to the mood of the series. I can't say the soundtrack was compelling here like in the soundtrack of Clannad, but the music was a major contributor to the emotional connections I was able to make throughout the series. In terms of character voicing and SFX, they were the same to me as every other slice-of-life anime series. Nothing special, just following the mold of slice-of-life high school comedy.

Character (7): "Wait! I thought you were able to learn lessons from these characters!?"

Yes I did say that. I also said I thought one of the above said characters was flat (no pun intended) and was not dynamic or interesting in any way. These characters fill in certain slice-of-life archetypes like Yuuko being the Mary Sue of the series and Run, the nice girl who is unfortunately the oblivious airhead. This is much like Mio and Yui respectively from K-On! Not that I have with said archetypes, sometimes it can get a bit repetitive. Yes, it's true. Girls do bicker and talk about the most trifle of things such as body weight, homework, or cute things, but I see and hear that already in real life. Yes, when exaggerated in anime form it can be very humorous, but this still doesn't dismiss the fact that I have heard these petty conversations that can get old and boring in a heartbeat. A-Channel pulls the character interactions and archetypes well, just like every other moe slice-of-life blob I have seen. There is no complex character development. Even Tooru, who goes through the most change, doesn't really go through THAT much change. Simply put, the characters were good, but not amazing or spectacular.

Enjoyment (7): While the comedy was humorous and managed to steal a laugh from me here and there I wasn't laughing hysterically like I did with Yuru Yuri or Lucky Star. The main selling point for me was the warm and fuzzy scenes in each episode. I was able to make a lot of connections and learned a few things from A-Channel. The entertainment level as a comedy was pretty low since I've seen many slice-of-life moe series already, but the everyday lessons learned from this series is something unique that I seldom get from most anime series.

Overall (8): No point in beating the dead horse. In short, if you like slice-of-life moe series despite the lack of depth the series presents, then by all means watch it. Maybe you'll take something from it like I have. If you're here find nonstop fits of laughter, this is not the anime for you. read more

The slice of life genre became quite popular recently, studios have been adapting more and more titles. It all began with the release of Azumanga Daioh and the genre is blooming ever since. A-channel also belongs to the ever increasing list of slice-of-life anime and the title is originally a 4-koma comic like K-on! or Lucky Star, which also have an adapted anime form. The anime was made by the relatively new Studio Gokumi, which is known for its other title Koe de Oshigoto.

The question about the show is: how is A-channel different from the slice-of-life shows listed above? The short answer is: there is no difference. A-channel follows the daily lives of 4 high school girls: Tooru, Run, Nagi and Yuuko. It's your standard high school setting with an almost all-female cast. Still A-channel turned out to be really enjoyable despite its flaws

Story:
Like in all similar anime, episodes can viewed independently from each other. There is no distinctive story that will develop throughout the episodes, there are rather stand-alone episodes which center on a certain event or setting. Since it was adapted from a 4-koma manga, it is a big question whether you can produce a continuous 20-25 minute long episode, or not. I think it did a great job with that. The episodes are nicely written; if some tension is built up during an episode it is usually resolved by the end of the show. A-channel moves with a really slow pace, so you might think it’s boring, if you're not used to the genre. I think the anime managed to put up a nice balance between the comedic and serious moments too.

Art:
The backgrounds are surprisingly well drawn in the anime. In fact there are very few occasions when someone seriously takes care of the backgrounds in a slice-of-life anime. The colors were vivid, they represented the mood of the scenes really good; overall it was a real eye-candy for me. The character designs are simple as they were in the manga, sometimes a little bit too simple for an anime adaptation. Most of the reactions and expressions were displayed through chibi faces, which they did a little too many times during the show. But the designs were appropriate.

Sound:
The background music wasn't anything remarkable, it was rather forgettable. The opening song 'Morning arch' on the other hand was very catchy and goes very well with the mood of the whole show. The songs at the end sung by the actresses were a nice addition and the lyrics also passed to the episode's story and mood, but they didn't make a great impression despite this. The ending song wasn't anything special either. The studio did a good job at selecting the voice actors for the show particularly with Yuuki Aoi, who almost single-handedly carried the whole show on her back. Kotubuki Minako and Fukuhara Minako already had some experience with the genre before and they did a good job with their characters too. The deep-voiced Uchiyama Yumi is a relatively new to the anime world, but her characteristic voice made Nagi unique.

Characters:
While the voice actors did a good job, their characters were just re-hashes from earlier anime. We can easily spot Azumanga Daioh's Yomi in Nagi, Lucky Star's Tsukasa in Run (I think it was intentional that they even share the voice actor), K-on!'s Mio in Yuuko's character (the producers managed to enroll Kotobuki Minako who had a role in K-on! as Mugi-chan, so I think she knew Mio's character pretty well enough, to play her counterpart in A-channel) and Mitsudomoe's Hitoha in Tooru (she can be also considered as a copy of Noel from Sora no Woto, since both characters have the same actress). While the characters are only copies from previous shows, their interactions and the story makes up for them, they really get along well together. Most of the stories somehow center on Tooru and events can be seen mostly from her point of view. We can also have some insights on other characters as well, but the only character, whose personality gets thoroughly analyzed is Tooru.

Summary:
A-channel is typical case, where a show offers the exact same thing we expect from it, nothing more, nothing less. Anime industry seriously needs more anime like this, where you get what you expect and the show manages to live up to the expectations of the viewers. A-channel is not the best slice-of life anime ever made, but is nicely done, and the studio managed to put up a heart-warming show from mediocre source material. It is the anime that you watch after a stressful day, when you finally get to sit down to relax. I can only recommend this show to those who like slower pace slice of life anime.
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Many people may not like A-Channel that much due to the fact that it bears a lot of similarities to other slice-of-life/school life anime in that it has 3-5 girls attending school and the end of the anime is either during Christmas or graduation. I can see why people may give a low score for A-Channel due to those reasons but I believe the anime deserve more credit than it was given. Many slice-of-life anime can get boring to some and I can see why. There's no real story and it's just the story of the lives of people who aren't real and you don't know. However, I felt that A-Channel kept this in consideration as I was not bored one bit. It may be due to the fact that I love slice-of-life anime but I don't think that was it. Sure, the anime had no real story but what kept me glued to the screen were the characters. The personality each character had was quite generic but the combination of these 4 different personalities and how it interacts in daily life was what made it unique. You had the girl who looked smart but has her dumb moments, the girl who seems perfect in every way, the air head, and the last girl who I will talk about later because I felt that her personality was the most unique.

The smart-looking girl may seemed typical. However, what really made me smile was that she was actually very pretty without her glasses and she has odd habits like the way she calls her brother aniki instead of onii-chan (aniki is normally used by a younger brother, not sister).

The girl who seemed perfect in every way is one of my favorite personality because this sets them up for so many comedic moments. I really don't want to spoil the fun so you'll have to really watch A-Channel to understand what I mean.

The air head is just pure laughter because they made her into an air head but not a stupid air head. She isn't dumb nor is she uneducated. However, the things she does for her friends really makes you want to laugh but can't help see it as something so sweet. My favorite scene would have to be the doll, again, watch A-Channel to really understand.

The last of our heroine! Her personality was simply unique. I felt that it was a combination of Nagato Yuki and tsundere with a bit of innocence and maturity within the body of a child topped off with a bit of moe. Yes, you may think that she'll be a super cute girl that you'll want as a friend one day but get this, alongside all those features, she also bears the wrath of an angry mother protecting her child. You'll understand when you watch the anime. You can't help but laugh at the things she does in some scenes, question what the heck or why the heck in another, or just have one of those "Awwww" moments. She has got to be one of my favorite characters in A-Channel.

There are two others but they're just comedic relief, but you see quite a lot of them!

About the artwork, normally, i dislike artwork where the arms, body, and legs of the characters are ridiculously thin but in A-Channel, I felt that the proportions of he body parts to their thin structure was just right and it did not bother me at all.

There is not much to talk about the sounds, it was like any other anime. The music really sets the mood but what music doesn't do that in anime?

There is also not much to say about the story line either because slice-of-life anime normally doesn't have one set story line, if any at all.. So why did I give it an 8? Because since it has no story it doesn't mean it deserves a bad score, but that also mean it can't really receive a 10 either. The smaller stories within each episode was great though, some I felt like it was a tad bit slow but some I felt was right on the dot and made me laugh.

Overall, I would recommend this anime to anybody that loves Lucky Star or K-On. Word of warning though, if you did not enjoy lucky star whatsoever then I would not recommend A-Channel. These types of anime are unique in their own way and it really takes a person that loves these types of anime to really appreciate them. read more

A-channel is a very cute slice-of-life anime. Although it may have a plot like most school based anime, I think it deserves it's own special category.

Story : 6
The reason why I gave this a "6" out of "10", is that the plot line sometimes gets old. You see so many slice-of-life anime, sometimes its hard to choose!

Art : 8
I gave this an "8" out of "10" because the artwork was very good, and gave all the characters a "innocent" air about them. I think the artwork realy what made me stick to it. :)

Sound : 9
A "9" out of "10" sounds reasonable, no? I personally think that all the Seiyuu did an amazing job at giving all the characters their own charm. Yuki Aoi did a great job at playing Tooru, Fukuhara Kaori as Run, etc. They fully expressed their characters personalities. Kudos to them!

Character : 8
These characters definetely made this series. Each with their little side quirks. Tooru with her desire for Run, Run-chan ditziness, Nagi's dieting and Yuuko's low self confidence with her figure. The side characters always help with the story as well. The characters definetely deserved that "8".

Enjoyment : 10
I enjoyed this anime quite a bit. It's hilarious and never quite serious. The funny quirks of everybody and Tooru picking on Yuuko -chan always gets to me. :)

Overall : 10
Overall, I really enjoyed this anime. It's a sweet and innocent alternative to the everyday anime. This is an anime that I know I will watch over and over again. read more

A-Channel is like K-ON! or Azumanga Daioh if the characters sucked and there was no comedy.

It starts off well enough. It has a really nice OP to pump you up for the antics to come. Fukuhara Kaori is back in the fold voicing a character much like her Tsukasa from Lucky Star. Kotobuki Minako of K-ON! fame is here too. They've even got Madoka. This is a nice cast lineup. Four girls in a high school slice of life with a cast like this, can it seriously go wrong?

The major falling of A-Channel is that it isn't funny. It isn't a slice of life with a gimmick, so you can't latch onto one. Most of it isn't moe, so you can't just D'AWWW at it. This is an Azumanga Daioh, where the characters are the driving point and the *only* driving point and they need to play off each other. When all of your characters save one are this uninteresting and simple, that leads to some serious problems.

You have Run, who's ditzy and spaced out. You have Nagi, who's literally an inferior Yomi from AzuDai. You have Yuuko, who gets scared easily and has big boobs. You have Tooru, who's shy but aggressive.

For each of those characters save Tooru that's all there is to them. Tooru gets a little bit more to her in that she really likes Run, she has this conflict where Run and the others are a year older than her, and she's moe. And she's the most interesting character in this show.

Ugh.

This wouldn't even be so bad if the show was actually funny. But it isn't. It makes some awful attempts at comedy every now and then but they all fall flat. Oh, Yuuko has big boobs so Tooru flips them up for some reason. Oh, Nagi's qq'ing about her weight. Oh, Run's talking to guys so Tooru's coming to scare them off.

Hilarious.

The show couldn't stop there though. Bad characters and no comedy? They had to take it one step further. On top of that, they force insert songs into every episode. EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. And each time except literally once, in one of the later episodes, it's shoe-horned in so jarringly that it just feels completely out of place. And awful. With lazy animation. Most of the time it's just the music played to stills.

The best that can be said of this show is that some of the music is ok, the OP is good, and the characters at least look nice.

A-Channel is awful. read more

Art (8/10)
Nothing too special about the art but it's nice to see that quite a bit of detail is put into everything. The characters are drawn well with a different look for each one, even the side characters. Run's trademark blank stare is what upped the score to an 8 because it was simple yet interesting to see at the same time as she is the only character (besides her mom) that had it. Scenery was illustrated quite well with a good use of color.

Characters (7/10)
Character archetypes were a bit typical but, nonetheless, enjoyable to watch. You have airhead-chan, overprotective chibi-tan, megane-san and "nice body"-sama. With good variety like this, it's hard to go wrong in the audience satisfaction department. Personally, I found each of the characters moe in their own way (maybe not so much for Nagi), adding to my enjoyment of the series. The comedy included with a airhead like Run and the teasing of Yuuko surprisingly never got old, even after 12 episodes. Overall, decent characters but don't expect anything out of the ordinary.

Sound (8/10)
Catchy OP and ED coupled with an insert song every episode makes for a great music-based anime. Sadly, A Channel doesn't focus on music but the sounds for this anime is actually better than what I expected. Memorable BGM pieces also added to my enjoyment while watching A Channel and I will definitely have to obtain the OST along with the insert songs in the near future when they are released. Notable VAs: Yuuki Aoi (Tooru & Victorique de Blois from GOSICK), Fukuhara Kaori (Run & Hiiragi Tsukasa from Lucky Star) and Kotobuki Minako (Yuuko & Kotobuki Tsumugi from K-ON!). Now I'm kind of disappointed at K-ON!'s lack of music compared to A Channel.

Story (6/10)
Seeing as this is a slice of life anime, I decided to be a bit lenient with the scoring. Through the twelve episodes, it was nothing but "cute girls doing cute things". Besides their daily activities in and out of school, along with the passage of time, there wasn't anything else that moved the "story" (if that is what you can call it) along. On the other hand, at least each episode didn't bore me to death so I won't say that the "story" is horrible.

Overall (7/10)
It was fun while it lasted but nothing really memorable was left in my head after the completion of A Channel. It's something that is good to watch to help you relax and kill some time. If you're looking for a good story, I think you should stay away from A Channel to avoid disappointment. However, if you are just looking for some anime to watch leisurely, then, by all means, choose A Channel. Just remember, don't expect something extremely captivating and unique or you will just end up getting frustrated. Instead, just sit back, relax and let yourself enjoy the wonders of "cute girls doing cute things". read more

A-Channel is a slow paced slice-of-life anime that can be considered part of the 'moe' boom. It contains little to no plot but a fair amount of comedy and perhaps situations that the viewer can relate to, making this anime worthwile for some to watch.

Story: 5/10

Being a slice of life anime, you can not expect this anime to provide you with a deep plot or dramatic tear-jerking scenes. This anime is very simple; it is about the life of four girls in high school. An episode of this anime would consist of several scenarios, most of which tend to be humorous and end with a punchline. Friendship is the main theme of this anime, as most of the scenarios tend to revolve around activities or events that show how close these four girls are. The later episodes have a bit more of a dramatic mood showing that Tooru is worried about being separated from her friends due to graduation from high school. This does not mean that the producers suddenly decided to add plot to a slice of life anime because the later episodes still contain the different scenarios and events which occur during high school life. The story of this anime can be compared to that of K-ON! or Lucky Star.

Art: 8/10

The art of this anime is nice and smooth. The way the characters are drawn goes well nicely to the light-hearted feel of the anime. The backgrounds of this anime are fairly detailed which provides a good effect for slice of life animes, as they are comparable to reality. Nothing much else in particular that I can address about the art of this anime.

Sound: 8/10

The music in this anime contains the generic anime feel, but still can be nice to listen to. Every episode there is an insert song, which felt a bit out of place for the anime but strictly speaking about the 'sound' of this anime, the songs were enjoyable to listen to. The voice actresses for this anime are all fairly well known and could be considered one of the main selling points of this anime if it was targetted at the 'otaku' community as the main audience. The voice acting was pleasant to my ears and Minako Kotobuki's Kansai-ben sounded very natural, compared to some other animes.

Character: 6/10

Characters for this anime were pretty cliched. Run is a clumsy girl who appears completely oblivious to her surroundings. Tooru is a short, inexpressive girl who adores Run and gets angry whenever boys approach her. Nagi is a level headed 'meganekko' (glasses girl) who is on a diet because she is cautious about her weight. And finally, Yuuko is a shy girl with appealing physical aspects and can not deal with scary stories. The characters, once again, can be compared to those in K-ON!.

Enjoyment: 7/10

Personally, I found this anime to be enjoyable because while this is a stereotypical slice-of-life anime which many can find unappealing due to the lack of plot and cliched characters, I enjoy watching slice-of-life animes which are based a fair bit on reality.

Overall: 7/10

I recommend this anime to anyone who enjoyed Lucky Star or K-ON!. If you haven't watched those titles, I would recommend this to most people who are interested in slice-of-life animes or those who enjoy watching relations between characters develop over the period of the anime.

Note: It is currently 1:05 AM in the morning. I am tired and this whole review might sound really stupid. I apologise if that is the case, but I still wanted to write a review for this anime. read more

A-Channel is your sterotypical slice of life/comedy, where four young girls experience adolesence in a high school setting. I was reluctant to even watch the series until one of my friends recommended it to me. Astonishingly, A-Channel was somewhat decent, however after completing a handful of episodes I realized that it was gradually decending in terms of quality.

The four main characters Nagi, Tooru, Run, and Yuuko strongly resemble the main heroines from K-ON!, especially Yuuko and Run. Yuuko is basically a watered down Akiyama Mio clone, and Run's airheaded qualities as well as her overall personality poorly attempt to mirror Hirasawa Yui's extravagant comedic capabilities.

Unfortunately, A-Channel can be portrayed as mediocre. Although the story may not obtain a high caliber of entertainment, the anime does have some commendable traits. I found the art to be rather pleasant, and this transformed this anime series from unbearable to a tolerable experience. The music also was also nothing exceeding average.

Overall I gave A-Channel a 6 out of 10. I would only recommend this if you are overflowing with free time and feel like experiencing something... you probably already have. read more

A-Channel isn't anything unique or special, it's just another story of some girls being themselves. Nothing wrong with that, and overall the show tends to be alright because of having such a simple subject matter.

However, the director decided it would be best to add in a character song as an insert song - EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. Alone, this isn't a problem; Honey and Clover for example did an amazing job weaving in an insert song in every episode, it fit what was going on and made the atmosphere and mood that much more immersive...but in the case of A-Channel, the insert songs were simply thrown in to fill in an entire quarter of the episode with a poorly done montage that had no relevancy or worth at all. I say the director because clearly this wasn't in the manga. This aspect really brings the show down a lot from how good it could have been, because aside these parts the rest of the episode is usually pretty entertaining.

As for nicer things, the art is a really crisp and bright style that's refreshing. The character designs, while not unique in design, are done in a unique style that makes them appealing and it's admirable how they were able to take such basic overused designs and make them have a fresh look to them simply by the style used to draw them. The animation is okay, but given half of every episode is a still-shot montage, there's not much good to say about it either.

The voice acting is also really well done, with the majority of the cast being voiced by rather popular seiyuu who deliver great performances once again. I'd like to say more but there just isn't much to say, it wasn't stellar or anything, but they did a fine job of making the characters more fun and likeable.

The music aside the insert songs was pretty good. I especially liked the opening and the animation along with it, which felt like they hired a M@D creator straight off of Nico Nico and had him do it, it looks exactly like the type of stuff you'd see there from the more well known creators and the song is very light and fitting of the show. The insert songs themselves aren't bad, they are pretty typical for character songs, but their use is what made them terrible. As music, they are on par with any other character song from any other show.

The series overall has a lot of charm and the characters are rather cute, but the show's one major bad decision really drags down the entire viewing experience. It's definitely not a bad show though and it's really pretty relaxing and nicely paced while keeping plenty of chill comedy mixed in (such as a character burning her tongue and trying to talk).

I recommend it to people who enjoy these sorts of shows - but I also recommend skipping the montage parts of the episodes. It's okay the first time, the second time...but then it just keeps happening and makes the show a chore. If you skip these sections the enjoyability of the series goes up a lot and I've noticed this being true for many other viewers of the show as well. read more

Based on the first episode and the fact that no one has posted a review as of yet, so I thought that I would give reviewing a try

Story: 7
Not much happens, but then again that is not what you would expect in a 'Slice of life' anime. The story is based around the main heroine Run, her friends and their interactions between classes, with a few moments from in class and after classes end, that seem to have been added to give a comical touch the show, this however doesn't work as we don't know the characters enough to make it fun.

Art: 7
The art is acceptable, the characters are normal for the time and the backgrounds mostly average with a few very detailed scenes seemingly added at random.

Sound: 8
I personally liked the OP, ED the in-show songs and the background music is more prominent than the norm, but it compliments the mood of the show in a great way.

Characters: 8
They are very superficial, but given a base of already accepted cliches, the airhead, the protector, the mediator and the rationally thinking. Nothing new but it has worked before and can certainly work again, it is difficult to say if it will work here, later episodes will show.

Enjoyment: 9
If you expect an easy going anime you have come to the right place, nothing unexpected happens just those warm and fuzzy feelings inside.

Summary/Overall: 8
Remember this is based on the first episode only. Overall worth watching if you crave more of those shows like Aria and K-ON, it'll leave you with little in the form of memorable experiences other than the feeling that everything is going to be all right. read more

[my native language is not english so I apologize for any errors]


CHARACTERS:

The characters are what make A-Channel. 4 girls with complete different personalities join eachother on the daily school life and even outside school. They may seem a little ''moe'' to you so that you'll get a feeling that this isn't the right thing for you. Wrong. Even if the characters may seem very silly and similiar to other characters like in K-ON, I'll guarantee you that this isn't true. While one characters is absolutely shy, smart and still very childish but not showing it, we have the total dumb, funny and lovely character for the yingyang effect. While another character is absolutely stunning, able to start a model career if she wanted it and a little bit of a tsundere attitude, we also have the character that doesn't give a shit most of the time, very ironical and probably gets irritated the most. With these characters you have a great start into a slice of life anime. They may not bee the most unique and special characters out there, but the combination definitely works.


ART & SOUND:

While the art is not really standing out, you still can recall A-Channel to be a very special drawn peace of art. There's nothing you can't point out that you haven't seen in other animes, but it's very nice to look at. While the art is really just on normal basis, so is the sound. You'll have the typical daily life music that plays in the backround. What makes up for this is the Opening, it's like a warm welcome into every episode and it makes you want to watch the episode, also, the Ending makes you miss it by the second it starts.
Still, if you're looking for something that pops into your eye and overwhelmes your ears, you're probably not right with this anime.


STORY:

Well, this is where A-Channel probably lacks the most. It leads you into something and you're waiting for this something the whole time. But it never really happens. While the beginning made me very curious, I didn't get more than they seemed to be giving me the next episodes. BUT, even though we don't get what it kinda promises us, we still get the hilariousness and absolutely worthfully moments over the entire show. We get to see that the charactercobination just works soooo good, it makes you want more. Run and Tohru may not get the deserved relationship/friendship they deserve, but A-Channel still shows you how much they care for eachother and how much that friendship group of four means to all of them. A-Channel mostly consists of this. What might change your mind to still give this anime a little bit of a higher rate than you thought you would give it, is the last episode.
What we never got in the whole series, is made up in the last episode. It sure isn't what I wanted to see, but it left me with a good feeling, I felt satisfied. It's always hard to find a good ending to a series, but A-Channel did it in a proper way.


OVERALL:

I have rarely laughed so much at a series like A-Channel. The humour is not likely for everyone, but if the humour sets right with you, you will enjoy this series A LOT. You can't help but to fall in love with the setting and the characters. Even though it gets really bad feedback lately, you should not get your mind blacked out by it, try it yourself. You will surely not waste too much time one 1 or 2 episodes, I promise.


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I'll admit, I wasn't going into this anime with much fervor. I had comparatively little hope, and I had heard almost nothing about this anime. This resulted in a dismal prediction: I thought this would suck. Bad. Though it did live up to my expectations, it had just enough story to sort of come out as merely pleasant.

I've watched very few slice-of-life sort of shows, and I may not be one to judge, but I did love the story. 12 episodes, however, isn't quite enough to fully finish a story. I found myself left hanging; this could have so much more potential. The whole "high school girls" theme seems prevalent enough and this anime is no exception. The ending felt rushed, but most of the time you lazily drift from episode to episode. If you don't like slice-of-life, DONT WATCH THIS. This has no major moral, lesson, or ending note; it melts your brain. Seeing that I have no brain left, I don't care anymore.

Story: 7/10

The art is cheery and friendly, with bright colors everywhere and the environment is full of light and happiness. There are no panoramic vistas, so don't expect anything exceptional or stunning. However, I did enjoy the artwork. The characters were drawn chibi-style, which I always enjoy. The attention to detail may have not been anything special, but it wasn't horrible either.

Art: 7/10

The OP is lively and upbeat, happy and cheerful. I always love the OP and EDs, and this was no exception. The ED was more slow and nostalgic sounding, but still carried a happy melody. What was most interesting, however, were the songs throughout each episode. Besides the OP and ED, a song sung by one of the characters was played somewhere through the episode. This was a pleasant surprise; each song was new and fresh, crisp and cheerful. There were three songs to listen to, and I was very satisfied.

Sound: 8/10.

The characters were nothing special; four high school girls. You got the leader, the slightly oblivious one, etc etc. Similar to both Lucky Star and K-On!; don't expect anything different. There were no especially tear-jerking moments, but the comedy was novel, and something to look out for. Many of the jokes were pretty subtle; other times, they were ridiculous. The characters' interaction were also so-so, just simple high-school life. Nothing stood out, but maybe simplicity made the characters seem more personal. I feel like newer anime tries too hard to endow the characters with unrealistic emotions and experiences; this simplicity was very gratifying.

Characters: 8/10.

Overall, this may not be your slice of cake. You may taste bitterness, maybe outright stupidity. However, I did appreciate this short but sweet anime. Though not overly completely satiating, like a whole piece of pie, this was just a sweet but fleeting taste, like a ripe cherry. Nothing overly dramatic or unique, yet delectable all the same. My final opinion? Try the first episode; if it's not your cup of tea, I'll hit you with a baseball bat. read more

I admit it. I watched this due to the rolling success of K-on! (Sorry!). But I probably would not have looked at this series otherwise. This anime was better than I had anticipated. You could say this was more of a guilty pleasure anime considering the other shows that came out this spring. What I enjoyed about it though was the fact that it felt very relaxing to watch. No cliffhangers no heavy drama, just light antics that had me smiling and laughing with the occasional "aww".

Story - 7
The beginning two-thirds of the series seemed to be more random and fun with interactions with different characters mainly to show the personalities of the main 4 themselves. The last third seemed to focus a bit more on the friendship particularly with Tooru. Overall it was funny and interesting but not all that compelling. I could have just stopped anywhere in this anime and picked it up later and not miss anything. But I think the main focus of this anime was clear from the start that it was simply to entertain their audience and I felt the series accomplished that.

Art - 8
I was actually surprised at how detailed most of the backgrounds and objects of attention were drawn. Even simple things like a piece of candy, a can of soda, or a sign above a door were nicely animated. Unfortunately I didn't really take note of it until I skimmed through the series again. Initially, everything looked and felt the same. Only the first episode had bits of animation that were different from the remainder of the series. Aside from that, the animation wasn’t extraordinary but I suppose it did well to emphasize the everyday atmosphere of the series and bring focus to the characters.

The art of the characters themselves were cute. I found Run's expressions to be uniquely different from the others but otherwise everyone else had fairly common faces and reactions. What bothered me in the beginning was how young the female teachers looked but it’s to be expected for a moe anime. Eventually I got used to the character design.

Sound - 7
The OP was very catchy. It captures the mood of the series very well. The ED is appropriate but not something I found myself listening on repeat. There were also random insert songs in almost all the episodes which did add to emphasize an emotion or experience a character may have been having but I felt they were a little irrelevant and served as animation filler. Granted I did enjoy listening to some of them particularly in the karaoke episode. Presumably all 4 seiyuus can sing, but an insert song in every episode felt a little unnecessary.

Character - 8
I had to give this an 8 because the secondary characters really made it worthwhile to watch. Yes the main characters were likable but honestly, the teachers and Tooru's classmates made this more enjoyable. Especially Sato-sensei whose character I questioned in the beginning but later came to appreciate. The only thing I had hoped for was more involvement from the male students. Their presence played a small part in revealing personalities but did little to add to the series.

Of the 4 main characters Nagi was my favorite next to Run. Her character had a lot of potential with" hidden talent/beauty" but the focus was placed more on the other three. Plus her seiyuu Yumi Uchiyama seems new and does not have a following like the others. I thought she did a good job (Kudos to her in ep 7) despite being relatively unknown. The remaining three characters have fairly distinct personalities that are easily identifiable through watching.

Enjoyment - 7
This was fun to watch although I did stop watching at some later point of the series since other shows were more interesting at the time. I forced myself to finish the series but the last episode I felt was more or less satisfying. By the end of each episode, I found myself in a good mood. It was like an appetizer before watching other anime, or a nice dessert. (If the image fits).

Overall - 7
It's a fairly good series. I felt the side characters were great and occasionally the main cast was fun to watch. Some tunes were catchy although a little excessive. The show presents mostly light-hearted comedy that focuses on friendship and the characters' everyday happenings in a high school setting. I’d recommend this if you’re looking for a cute, easygoing series to put a smile on your face. :)
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A Channel is the latest in the Moeblob wave to be made into an anime. It is adapted from a 4 panel manga strip (as is a lot of things in the anime realm these days).

To start, your enjoyment will be initially based on how much you like pure slice of life shows. If you're looking for something resembling a plot or story you're watching the wrong show.

The anime is undoubtedly going to be compared to other slice of life shows, but the one it shares the most resemblance to is K On. I'll put this out right now, as of the end of episode 2, this show is no where near as good as K on, in almost any facet.

Since slice of life shows depend greatly on the characters (more so than others), you'll be disappointed that the characters are not really memorable as of yet. All of them are pretty stereotypical so far, and if you're familiar with the genre, you'll instantly be able to make comparisons to other characters. Although, this is true in most anime, it's painfully obvious here.


Run and Tooru have the most personality, Tooru is pretty much built to be a fan favorite moeblob while Run is more or less the default main character.

Nagi and Yuuko have very limited personality, even less than their counterparts in the show. Most of the enjoyment people will get will come from Tooru (and people who don't probably just don't like the show.)


The first episode was rather slow, when the Lucky Star premier when they talked about food for like 5 minutes was more entertaining... you know the show is going slowly. The second ep was much more enjoyable.

Verdict:

Watch if you like the genre and moe shows. Pass for anyone else.
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A-Channel is another slice-of-life anime that doesn't stray far off from others of the same genre. It follows a girl, named Tooru, and her everyday life with her friends. There isn't much of anything else (in terms of story). Despite this, I really loved this series.

PROS

Once you start watching A-Channel, the very first thing you'll notice right away is the great sense of humor it has. Perhaps, this is the shows greatest strength. All the jokes are spot on and can be so funny that they will make you cry (at times). I'm confused why others have said that they don't find the comedy that funny (if at all). Obviously, comedy is subjective, and perhaps many people are turned off by the type of comedy in A-Channel. Nonetheless, I was more than entertained by the hilarious events that happened throughout the series.

Another aspect of A-Channel that is fantastic are the characters. Just like Konata in Lucky Star, I assume that most people who love this show, including myself, love Tooru the most. She has this presence of a person that is really protective -especially of her best friend, Run. She'll do almost anything for Run to please her. The other characters in the anime are interesting as well, although one is questionable, but I'll get to that later.

Friendship is the main theme of this anime, and rightfully so. Never before have I seen an anime so open about the up and downs of friendships. There are many times in certain episodes where this shines more than anything else.

CONS

As I said before, one character in this anime is a bit questionable, in terms of humor. That person is Sachiyo, a health teacher at the school that the main characters go to. He seems to have a weird fascination for foreheads (Run's in particular). It kind of made me feel uncomfortable. I know it was supposed to be seen as a joke and all, but really..... Some things aren't funny if not done properly.

As with most slice-of-life anime, A-Channel has no story. If you are expecting plot twists, new characters, and other things that regular anime shows give you, you won't find it here.

OVERALL

A-Channel is a great anime for those who enjoy the slice-of-life genre. It's nothing mind blowing or new, but it has a certain feel to it that is pretty unique compared to other anime series. If you are interested in friendships and how they work, I would probably suggest A-Channel to you. If not, then there isn't much to recommend here.
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So about 2 minutes in I was ready to drop this thing, but I decided to keep going for the sake of writing a more comprehensive write-up on why it's terrible. If there is one show that the spring chart summary tells you everything you need to know about it, A Channel is that show. There are four girls. They each have one character trait. There is no plot.

I have only watched the first episode but that is more than enough to explain everything that is wrong with this show and why it won’t get better. Because it boils down to one thing -- The studio that is producing this just does not care about putting any effort or quality into their work.

This entire episode revolved around the fact that Run is basically a toddler trapped in the body of an oversexualized middle schooler and her friend Tooru who, for some reason, is allowed to carry a bat around at school without being immediately arrested or whatever by the campus police and how she is like. . . I don't know, there's probably supposed to be yuri undertones or something to appeal to the 34-year-old Albion Heros watching this show. Basically any time any dudes try to talk to her, Tooru runs over and swings her bat around in an incredibly slow and lazy fashion.

Ah, yes. A perfect metaphor for the entire show, this act is. Everything about it just screams lazy. Like they copy and pasted 4 personalities that they thought would appeal to the moe cash-in crowd onto characters that were probably designed to gain as much appeal from each demographic as possible and then lazily animated everything in a really slow, boring fashion. I don't just mean normal boring, like, nothing is going on. Like Aria boring. Like, why do people watch this show? boring. No, this was slow even for a terrible slice of life show. I need to reiterate once more that while this supposed yandere girl was supposedly carrying out the one character trait that she even has other than 'blob of oversexualized middle school girl' she lazily trots back and forth and swings the bat at a speed of about 1 foot per 10 seconds. There's a ton of staring off into space as the camera slowly zooms in on **** because, let's face it, they have to find something to occupy all the time that was wasted by all of the people making this show and the people watching the show. Glasses girl and girl with long dark hair of course had barely any lines and even less personality than the other two girls. Their job is to just stand there and appeal to the other 50% of the audience that Run and Tooru don't appeal to. Additionally, the studio that created this show felt the need to waste a ton, and I mean a TON, of time on very simple and obvious phrases.

"Oh, it's been a while!"

"Good to see you again!"

"Yes, it has been a while!"

"I'm coming in the door now!"

"I'm taking off my shoes!".

So now that we've covered why the show is terrible, let's talk about what happened.

These middle school girls somehow got into high school despite being about 9 years old each and then uhhh Tooru gets jealous when she finds Run kissing one of her new friends or something. Tooru gets angry and attacks her in a very slow, wobbly way that just screams 'my own character motivations don't mean **** to me'. After that it skips forward to all of them being in high school together and knowing each other and everything. I would complain about the timeline jumping around but, let's face it, there's barely any plot going on here anyway. Additionally, that last scene was obviously super important for the backstory and development of 'dark-haired girl'. I learned about her that while shows like Mitsudomoe can take incredibly simple gags like misunderstandings and make them hilarious, there are in fact still characters out there that do them in the most trite, vapid, lame way possible and make me feel embarrassed to exist on the same planet as the people who made this show.

After that there's an about 3 minute long 'joke' of the girls just sitting around writing on their papers or something. I have no idea what was even supposed to be going on here. I guess this is the only way that anime fans can stare at middle school girls for 5 minutes at a time just doing normal activities like 'acting like babies with no mental function' and not get arrested for it. They all sit around eating lunch and talk about what they are eating as well as things that have no relevance to anything. They spend some time repeating the same gags over and over again, beating the idea into our heads that Tooru has some sort of gradeschool crush on Run and moves really, really slow except, you know, when she's running, and the fact that Run is in aidiot and has no idea where she's going or what she's doing half the time. Glasses girl and long-haired girl basically have no impact on any of these scenes either. They just stand around pointing out the obvious or telling the characters in the scene what is happening around them. Now, normally I would attack this for being an instance of characters blatantly telling us what is happening in the scene instead of showing us when it makes no logical sense for them to be doing so but. . . Well, I'm starting to become convinced that Run is actually legitimately mentally challenged and these characters job is to walk around with her and explain everything that is going on so she doesn't kill herself by jumping out a window.

"Sweet candy tastes better!"

Toward the end they try to make Tooru look really sad so we'll feel bad for these characters that have no personality and who we still know nothing about. Then there is some sort of 'heartwarming' we will always be friends shoulder pat. That's right, this show isn't just funny and cute, it's also heartwarming! Well, that's what the director is trying to trick us into thinking. I don't think anyone with even a modicum of good taste or a refined sense of critical thinking would fall for such a cheap trick. They take a moment to beat the same themes they've been shoving in our faces over and over since the beginning of the episode into our heads one more time and then cut to the ED which I immediately turned off because I have no interest in watching this girl put her socks on.

If you like anime at all, even if you are a fan of moe or slice-of-life shows, you should be personally insulted that some executive thought that they could sell you this show and that you’d just continue to lap it up without question. This is utterly terrible from every imaginable perspective. K-On! is at least well directed even if it’s not your cup of tea. This show is objectively bad in every possible way. read more