Ben-To

Ben-to is a good example of a show with a lot of potential for a rule-of-cool anime with a lot of dumb over-the-top action sequences but ultimately fails in regards to lack of any interesting characters to root for while having, in what I believe, to be sub-par fighting choreography and animation. I honestly really wanted to like this show, I really did, but the lack of any fun characters or engagement dragged on through each and every episode as the anime tries its hardest to be silly and over-the-top without carrying over the same charm it had in the beginning. It feels like ... it wants to be over-the-top but suffers from serious tone problems which don't integrate all too well with the silly premise and story they throw us into. Allow me to elaborate:

Ben-to is a show in which people battle it out for the tastiest and the best bento boxes in numerous department stores around the city. Each part of the city is governed by a different gang and turf and the such with many people having unique nicknames based around their fighting styles and personality traits. I'd argue that one of the most interesting things about this show was precisely that - I found all of this to be incredibly fun and interesting in a stupid way. We learn that there are several customs and honours that each ben-to fighter must abide by and each character takes the art of beating the everlasting hell out of each so seriously it's comical in that sense. The insane rumours these fighters conjured up about special people, the insane nicknames given and the general stupidity of each turf war having their own insane laws and the such was a fun and dumb idea and this works very well for the first few episodes or so as we see our main character who learns the joy of beating the crap out of someone just for some cheaper ben-to.

But, while this idea does set-up a lot of possibilities into what is possible and how insane you can go with this idea, the anime suffers from two problems which I feel hold it back. The first being, as I've said, a lack of interesting characters to care for, all of which are annoying mind you, but the show's gimmick begins to wear off really quickly as they don't really do too much with this concept. Sure, there are new fighters that join which add some more history and depth about this strange fighting festival that takes place but as we travel along the show, the cool and over-the-top fights seem to take a back seat to boring character backstories which are equally generic as they're uninteresting. That's not to say that the anime doesn't have some cool looking fight scenes, it's just that many-a-time I found myself bored with the character interactions and a few times I felt kind of disappointed with a fight that had been building up for a while and had no payoff as we suddenly skip past it removing all of the dramatic tensions of the moment.

The anime suffers from the same problem I believe the currently airing Keijo does; the gimmick is so stupid at first that it's fun when you first start but the lack of interesting characters begins to drain on you the more you watch and by the end, the novelty has worn off entirely.

The biggest problem with this show is the comedy and the characters that go along with it. The main lead is kind of forgetful, as they typically are for these types of shows, and doesn't really do anything all too interesting. He develops a passion for ben-to fighting but doesn't feel like he changes throughout the story, aside from gaining some random strength despite no training and no experience in the art of fighting. Hana was a character simply defined for her love for BL, frequently writing stories involving our main character. She also has an insane lesbian stalker named Ume Shiraume who is the biggest bitch I've ever seen. She frequently beats down on the main character for no reason for the most mundane things. I expect the creators wished for me to laugh at this but all I kept wondering was why this guy kept receiving the horrible treatment that he does. He is hit, slapped and has hit clothes torn off numerous times which all felt completely unjustified as he had never done anything to warrant this treatment.

In fact, all of the characters treated him in this fashion and it just comes across as mean-spirited. As an audience, we enjoy seeing a character receive karma for something mean they've done and it feels satisfying as a result, but here, all it does is make me feel as if the characters are horrible people. There was one scene in which one of the characters threw out the guy's game console for no reason and upon attempting to rescue said console, ends up hurting himself and ends up in the hospital. Granted she does show some remorse, but not before putting him threw more agony for no reason.

The only other two characters worth mentioning is the annoying blond lead, mainly defined for her tits and the white-haired girl, only defined by her quietness. All of the characters in this show are all caricatures of anime stereotypes and none of them are unique enough to break away from this mould. When the show clearly wants us to root for one of these characters, I find it generally hard to do so as I found them all so uninteresting making the scenes in which the narrative stakes are high (as high as you can possibly get while fighting for products on Black Friday anyway) feel weak and kind of dull. As the anime ran on, this problem only got worse. To be fair, there is an attempt at character development and intrigue in regards to the Kyou sisters but it's kind of integrated half haphazardly into the plot without having too much time to fully develop.

The art style was generally appealing to the eyes and the character design as well as the colour design was pretty spot on. While in motion, the animation did suffer from some animation error and at times it could look kind of jarring but nothing to take me out of any scenes. The music was pretty forgetful as a whole with the exception of the opening theme which is catchy as hell. The main thing with Ben-to is that it feels as if it wants to be silly and the over-the-top but it never gets to that stage and instead feels kind of lukewarm which makes the anime feel kind of forgetful. Ben-to is not the worst series in the world but it does leave a lot to be desired which is unfortunate considering how fun the show could of been if the characters were more likeable and if it were more over-the-top.

Ben-To starts off quirky and fun, a dramaticized issue that most college students face-- hunger, and a lack of money. These high school students duke it out in a grand royale for the half priced bento, to sooth their stomachs and wallets.

Personally, it was a pointless jumble of ecchi and repetition after the pool episode. Very little semblance of a plot yet, with meaningless characters getting squeakier and squeakier seiyuus. The characters are never really fleshed out in a meaningful way, and the comedy takes a dive after the umpteenth iteriation of it.

However, if you enjoy squeaky voices, wandering nonexistent plots, and seeing some dudes ... duke it out and see some boobies, Ben-To is for you. Personally, I had to drop it.

Just like there is junk food, there is also junk anime, and Ben Tou is a fine example. Anime regarding food usually have to do with cooking contests. How to gather the proper ingredients, how to cook them properly, and how to amaze the judges. On a basic level these shows are motivational, as they tell you about the beauty of gastronomy and how cool it is to be a chef. Ben Tou though has nothing to do with cooking, although it is about food. Instead of trying to show or say something, it is just about fighting for whom gets to buy canned food ... and prepared meals from the grocery in half price. So basically, you have a bunch of guys and gals kicking the crap out of each other on a daily basis, just so they pay half as much for their dinner.

So you will now be probably wondering if this is a fighting tournament show, with food discounts being the prize. Again, you are wrong because the fighting in the show is comical and definitely not exciting. They are kicking and punching simplistically without any choreography, and with violence always being bloodless and wounds magically healing in a few minutes. Which is a good thing, because if they weren’t the money they would need to pay for bandages and doctors would cost a thousand times more than a half-priced prepared lunch.

The most interesting thing about the battles is the way the girls fight, as they do all sorts of motions than make their boobs bounce and their legs spreading and revealing stuff. So you will now imagine this is some sort of heavy on fan service anime with fighting chicks, in the likes of Ikki Tousen or Queen’s Blade. And again you are wrong, because there isn’t much fighting or nude. Most of the fan service revolves around zooming on dressed boobs and legs but you hardly ever see an actually naked girl. Most of the duration is about the protagonist trying to get his hands on the discount obentos and having his ass kicked repeatedly by chicks. In fact, he is the only one getting striped all the time for pitiful reasons. Yes, he is another one of those wimp worthless protagonists who want to come off as normal. He is constantly beaten and yet he is surrounded by pretty chicks. So this is a harem, right? You’d now think there are a dozen chicks who love him and constantly try to get in his pants. NO! They just kick the crap out of him and strip him while looking for food. That is not sexy at all and it is definitely not a show aimed at girls.

So… is this a show about, I don’t know, the economic crisis? The fact that they go through all this trouble just to get a discount can only mean that they are in a very bad financial state and the whole thing could be a metaphor for the extremes poverty forces you to head for. And again NO IT ISN’T; none of the characters seems to show the least concern for money. They even appear to have a fine time spending most of their money on videogames, clothes, and just hanging out in fancy places. They don’t even MENTION they have financial problems. They are typical anime teenagers with endless magical money.

Maybe it is about the beauty of struggling for your food. It tastes better when you need to fight for it than just buy it. SERIOUSLY? How about growing it? It will be even tastier this way AND motivate the viewer to be a farmer or a gardener. At best, this show is telling you it is all about the money. YOU FIGHT FOR DISCOUNTS WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE FINANCIAL PROBLEMS! I guess it’s aiming at Twitter socialists.

Aha, I got it, it is a fighting shounen parody. It makes fun of fighting by making everybody going crazy about something as pitiful as a discount. At which case IT IS NOT FUNNY! I grew bored of the idea in just 10 minutes. You can’t stretch a single joke to last for more than a couple of episodes; you need to flavor it with more jokes. Yet this whole anime is based solely on making fun of a SINGLE THING!

So after all this deduction process you realize that this show is about NOTHING! It is a retarded screwball school comedy with a concept you get bored of in a few episodes. The production values are also nothing amazing, soundtrack and voice acting are passable, character figures are generic, and character personalities are stereotypes. I find no value in this show, and very little enjoyment if you are a seasoned viewer.

This is by far the best anime i have EVER seen. Honest to god this anime is,for me,one of the best of the bestest. Pick whateva you want.Story?Magnificent.Animation?Eye waternigly good. In fact i'm struggling to find something wrong with it for 2 days now..But since this is a review i had to,even if it's nitpicking.

Beware though i do freakin swear a lot and if you're the oversensitive kind of chap or girl take a hike cause i'll slap you silly,make you cry your eyes out and off to years of psychotherapy.

With that begins my review of this glorious anime called Ben-To...And i have to say ... what a great name for an anime..The pun is out of this world cause as it so happens our MC's name is Ben...Well no it isn't it's actually You Satou which to me sounds like the name of a Viking God or something equally great and eternal.This lad puts David Hasselhoff to shame. Little curly David is a little whiny bitch compared to Satou. Satou can take a punch in the nuts by Goku even and he won't feel a thing.That's how badass our MC is. He takes what he wants,when he wants it. He wants a silver haired bitch on her knees? He slaps her perky ass and gives her some D and leaves her crying and then goes to a bar for a fight. What more can you possibly want from an MC?

The story is also great. It's basically the creator's version of the apocalypse. The humanity has plunged into the darkness of war and we follow some high school kids who fight in order to survive. There's mayhem and death everywhere you look. So what does Satou do? He takes under his pretty wings 2 bitches,two prostitutes who sold their bodies to fat,disgusting middle aged men......But only to satisfy his sadistic urges.

Can you now tell me that this premise isn't interesting?One thing though..

This is some shit i just came up with.Ben-To has absolutely no relation whatsoever with any apocalyptic bitchslapping. Slapping it has,just not the one i described. So i fucked with ya enough,so let's cut the crap and see what this piece of shit is all about.

I take it you're not allergic to reading the synopsis so i won't bother with the premise. It's there for all to see. Now you must be thinking "what a fucking stupid anime"..And boy you'd be right. Now stupid isn't necessarily always a bad thing. Cause even a stupid premise can sometimes make for a good anime if you make an effort. And at first i thought that this might be the case with this one. I thought it was gonna be a parody or something of the fighting animes. Well sort of no. Cause after 1 or eps it's all downhill. Satou at the beginning was a somewhat nice lad. Mind you we have seen his kind over and over in animes..Yarizui on the other hand was the "airhead" with a knack for action and kicking the shit out of everyone. But as the series progress we are unfortunately introduced to some other characters.And that was it,that was my line in the sand.

Let me explain. I can forgive the show's idiotic premise. What i cannot forgive is wasting my time with characters who are as useless as a watch that has both hands missing. And if useless was their only prob that would be ok too..But they're also obnoxious to the point of meltdown. Take Ume for example. The only thing i recall her doing the most was kicking the shit out of Satou. Now i'm ok with slapstick comedy IF it's able tobring out some actual laughter. This wasn't funny,it was just idiotic and out of place. It's as if you're sitting now in your living room and i come over and punch you in the fez cause a dog was barking in fucking Alaska. The other annoying as hell trait of hers is that she's an absolute psycholesbian. So when Satou goes near Hana she goes berserk and almost kills him. And not in a funny way. In fact she abuses most of the cast and goes home with a tiara for it. Then there are the Kyo sisters who are just as annoying with a splash of in your face arrogance.

So you might be thinking now,it's not too bad,it's just them that ruin a small portion of the show,you're overeacting as usual. Firstly i hope your dick turns into a dead husk and it's not a small portion of the show. And it's not just them.If you take off the series half of the cast it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. They bear no weight whatsoever to the flow of the story. Even characters who are supposed to be part of the main thing are pushed to the side,doing absolutely nothing. The writers didn't make any effort at all to develop them,make them part of the show.

Animation and sound dept was bad. Bad bad bad. The overall animation was ok it had it good points here and there. It was when a "battle" ensued that things got all wobbly. The songs and VA were good. Just good nothing more nothing less.

All in all i think this was as bad as catching gonorrhea. It's not as interesting as it sounds and it sticks with you no matter what spoiling the relationship. It tried too hard to be silly and over the top that it lost it's way and became outright stupid to the point of destruction. I cannot possibly recommend it to anyone. Or at least anyone i like. And if you think it can't be all that bad,go ahead,be my guest.

It is with a heavy heart that I wasted my time on eight episodes of this anime and I really couldn't explain what kept me watching after episode four, because the fourth episode is the exact point at which the plot ran out of ideas.

Before you get your metaphorical panties in a twist, I'd like you to sit down and think: How much of a plot can a parody anime about fighting for your dinner truly have? As math would show, eight episodes too many. The first four are a pretty enjoyable, if refreshing experience, with well animated battles, some genuinely heart-tickling comedy and at ... least one girl you can feast your eyes on, if nothing more. I must admit it even got me interested enough to think I might actually watch it all the way and give it a solid grade, perhaps even get into the entire plot of the insanity that is Bento Brawling.

Alas, with the end of the ideas, came the end of the plot and the arrival of Boobs McMegane Blondie fetish character who insofar served absolutely no purpose, be it plot/comedy/character-wise, aside from her irresistibly huge rack and the fact she wants to do the diddly-do with her cousin. Her being but the first in the series of things gone terribly wrong in this production, because any other character (predominantly but not solely female) to come after that, exists exclusively to fill out the missing fetish holes the anime successfully avoided so far. I guess there's a couple ways to go about producing 12 episodes worth of nothing, eh? First you hook them on a plot suitable for an hour-long movie, then you shower them with the residues of fetishes you dreamt up a night ago.

All in all, yes, for most it's probably worth checking out for a very fine Absolute Territory-ish pair of legs but even that kind of melts down into nothing, leaving but emptiness that has already echoed through countless anime throughout the ages.

I'd place Ben-to somewhere between being a typical shounen, and a typical harem show.

The anime definitely tries to get far on a far-out concept and initial reaction of "ha-ha, it's about fighting about half-priced bento isn't that crazy?", but doesn't ultimately have enough style or sustenance to ride out 12 episodes. It relies pretty heavily on the hype of it's gimmick (and it is definitely one hell of a gimmick) then it does trying to flesh out it's characters or plot. The novelty in concept wears thin pretty quickly when there is no tension in the character interactions, or plot.

The characters are all typical ... shounen or harem fare. Though past being an average high-school self-insert type, the MC is as dense as some others in the harem genre. He does remain the typical everyman dragged into a strange new world by several cute girls, and adapts quickly and with minor stumbles. Remains to be the butt of jokes by every girl in the series at all times. The girls are all mean to him at virtually all times outside of the fights because. Just because, there's no end to that sentence. They're just supposed to be because he's the lone male MC that is human trash.


The girls are pretty much all typical run of the mill copy-paste character types one would encounter in a show like this. There's the stoic one, who is smart (though dense when it comes to social interactions), cool, and a bit of a badass. There's a glasses-chan best friend type who is obsessed with bl, and her gimmick is making everything about bl. Cousin from MCs youth who is very invested with putting her boobs on the MC at all times. The twins, who embody every trope about twins in one fell swoop, twincest, one is dumb, the other smart, one is a crybaby, one is serious, etc. And then the younger, almost moe, plucky cheerful unlucky one.


Outside of the fight scenes, there is nothing especially worth talking about. The show desperately tries to get us to like the characters, but does nothing new with their tropes, and keeps interactions between them fairly standard for the harem genre. It doesn't break any boundaries or toe the line outside of the formula.

The animation and character designs are pretty standard, nothing new or innovative, nothing especially strange. The show isn't ugly by any means. All the characters are nice, if not a little uninspired. The fight scenes are nice and well-choreographed, but with such uninvesting characters, it definitely lacks tension.

The music is fine, if uninspired. The seiyuus all seem to put in some good work. I'm always a fan of Emiri Katou and Yui Horie, so it's always nice to see them show up in things.

This anime was a little disappointing for me. I guess I had high hopes for this anime cause everyone in the comment section loved the anime! I feel like the idea and the animation was spot on, but the story, ost, and especially the characters were a disappointment. I was expecting the mc to be epic and not a typical harem anime weak chicken. I don't understand how this anime does not have a harem tag or ecchi tag. So many annoying characters, cause they are either wimpy or not cool enough. Like the ice witch was supposed to be strong, but the fighting scene, ... music, nothing made it look cool. I hated Ume the most how she kept on hitting the mc with no reason. That was the most annoying thing in this anime and how other characters were just bullying the poor mc. The story was terrible. It did not have any character development and left characters that were introduced like he/she was supposed to be important, but hasn't come back since. Just hated this anime in my OPINION.

Really horrible anime. Seems like the only thing is a parody. It seems as if the makers want you to take the plot seriously, but the serious vibe + ridiculousness of the actual happenings are a horrible combination.

If you're into watching very relaxed, light-hearted anime, this might be for you. But you'll be in for a surprise, as normally a light-hearted anime has light-hearted plot and minimal suspense, but in a believable situation. This anime is the opposite. Serious plot and fighting scenes, in a ridiculous situation. It is very hard to take seriously or even find comical.

If you decide to watch this anime, good ... for you. Have fun wasting however-long-before-you-drop-it of your life.

Review up to episode 3. Will edit as I watch more.

Just like there is junk food, there is also junk anime, and Ben Tou is a fine example.

Anime regarding food usually have to do with cooking contests. How to gather the proper ingredients, how to cook them properly, and how to amaze the judges. On a basic level these shows are motivational, as they tell you about the beauty of gastronomy and how cool it is to be a chef. Ben Tou though has nothing to do with cooking, although it is about food. Instead of trying to show or tell something, it is just ... about fighting for whom gets to buy canned food and prepared meals from the grocery in half price. So basically, you have a bunch of guys and gals kicking the crap out of each other on a daily basis, just so they pay half as much for their dinner.

So now you will now probably wondering if this is a fighting tournament show, with food discounts being the prize. Again, you are wrong because the fighting in the show is comical and definitely not exciting. They are kicking and punching simplistically without any choreography, and with violence always being bloodless and wounds magically healing in a few minutes. Which is a good thing, because if they weren’t the money they would need to pay for bandages and doctors would cost a thousand times more than a half-priced prepared lunch.

The most interesting thing about the battles is the way the girls fight, as they do all sorts of motions than make their boobs bounce and their legs spreading and revealing stuff. So you will now imagine this is some sort of heavy on fan service anime with fighting chicks, in the likes of Ikki Tousen or Queen’s Blade. And again you are wrong, because there isn’t much fighting or nude. Most of the duration is about the protagonist trying to get his hands on the discount obentos and having his ass kicked repeatedly by chicks. In fact, he is the only one getting stripped all the time for pitiful reasons.

Oh, of course, the ever present pussy/wimp/useless of a protagonist but otherwise “normal teenager” lead. He is constantly beaten and yet he is surrounded by pretty chicks. So this is a harem, right? You’d now think there are a dozen chicks who love him and constantly try to get in his pants. NO! They just kick the crap out of him and strip him while looking for food. That is not sexy at all and it is definitely not a show aimed at girls.

So… what… is this a show about, I don’t know, the economic crisis? The fact that they go through all this trouble just to get a discount can only mean that they are in a very bad financial state and the whole thing could be a metaphor for the extremes poverty forces you to head for. And again NO IT ISN’T; none of the characters seems to show the least concern for money. They even appear to have a fine time spending most of their money on videogames, clothes, and just hanging out in fancy places. They don’t even MENTION they have financial problems. They are the typical anime teenagers with endless magical money.

Ok, wait, maybe it is about the beauty of struggling for your food. It tastes better when you need to fight for it than just buy it. SERIOUSLY? How about growing it you idiots? It will be even tastier this way AND motivate the viewer to be a farmer or a gardener. At best, this show is telling you this way that it is all about the money. YOU FIGHT FOR DISCOUNTS! And you DON’T HAVE FINANCIAL PROBLEMS!

Aha, I got it, it is a fighting shounen parody. It makes fun of fighting by making everybody going crazy about something as pitiful as a discount. At which case IT IS NOT FUNNY! I grew bored of the idea in just 10 minutes. You can’t stretch a single joke to last for more than a couple of episodes; you need to flavor it with more jokes. Yet this whole anime is based solely on making fun of a SINGLE THING! Of course and you will get bored of it fast.

So after all this deduction procedure you realize early on that this show is about NOTHING! It is a retarded screwball school comedy without context and with a concept you get bored of in a few episodes. I already feel like dropping it right here. The production values are nothing amazing, soundtrack and voice acting are passable, character figures are generic, and character personalities are stereotypes. I find no value in this show, and very little enjoyment if you are a seasoned viewer who likes some context in whatever he watches.

without a doubt the worst anime i have ever seen legit nothing good about this show except the fights, terrible plot repetitive show with bad writing, fighting is legit the only thing that happens in this show, if you prefer plotless action i recommend this, the side characters are also terrible the show isnt enjoyable (for me obviously) the whole setup of this show was terrible who finds a show about fighting over food interesting or good??, the main character was terrible as well, i dont know if i will ever come across something as trash as this in my opinion nothing was good about ... this show and it is garbage