Binbougami ga!

Binbougami Ga is a comedic shounen series written by Sukeno Yoshiaki. The manga ran from 2008 to 2013. At the tail end of the manga's run Sunrise, the studio behind Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Code Geass & Love Live to name a few, worked on a thirteen episode anime adaptation. How well does the anime version hold up? Let's check it out.

Story:

Sakura Ichiko is blessed with great fortune, far more than a regular human possesses. In fact, she unconsciously steals fortune from the people around her, ensuring her own good luck. In order to maintain the balance betwixt fortune & misfortune, the Gods of misfortune send ... Binboda Momiji to Earth. Her mission, drain Ichiko's fortune and prevent her stealing anyone else's. This quickly results in various schemes and shenanigans as Ichiko tries to protect her own interests and the battle between the lucky girl and the Goddess of misfortune is joined.

The biggest issue with the series is that a good portion of the humour isn't just trite and predictable, but it's flimsy at the best of times. We get the stereotypical perverted monk/master/priest that's oh so generic and played out. We also get the masochistic gag character who just wants to be hit by pretty girls. The only twist to him is that he's a dog God in this. We also get the fan-service jokes, which basically operate under the assumption that shameless fan-service isn't shameless fan-service if it acknowledges that it's shameless fan-service. We also get references used as jokes. This series courageously acknowledges that such series as Dragonball, Doraemon & Lupin exist. Because those are just such obscure series that the audience might have forgotten them. All without making any kind of humorous statements about them that might elevate those references to parody.

That being said, the series does have its funny moments. A lot of the competitive stuff with Ichiko & Momiji works pretty nicely, when they leave out the monk and the dog God or hurriedly toss them to the refuse bin where they belong. The series is at its best when it blurs the boundaries of Ichiko & Momiji's relationship. Those moments where they seem more friendly and less like actual enemies. There are also some good comedic moments with Ranmaru. The more emotional scenes involving the three of them do work quite nicely at times. Aside from that, though, the more serious scenes tend to be just bland.

Characters:

The characters vary quite a bit. There are some like Ichiko, Momiji & Ranmaru who are decent enough for the sake of a comedy. Then there are characters like Bobby, Momoo & the trio of girls who really hate Sakura who exist solely for one repeated, unfunny joke or to add cheap, completely unnecessary drama. Which is also the primary reason that the scenes with the three main ladies are the best in the series.

Art:

The biggest problem with the art is that it's overly fond of fan-service. Or it would be, except that it magically doesn't count because the series acknowledges it. Does that line of non-reasoning actually work on anyone? On the positive side, there are some good visual gags here and there and some nice visuals for some of the altercations between Ichiko & Momiji. The negative and those few positives aside, the artwork is passable. Not good, but not bad either.

Sound:

The acting isn't badly done. The biggest problem with it is that there's a lot of exaggerated yelling. They got some skilled actresses for the leads: Uchiyama Yumi, Hanazawa Kana & Tomatsu Haruka have all given some strong performances before, but this isn't one of the better ones for any of them. Although, in all fairness, it isn't a bad one either. Their performances here are just kind of okay overall. There are times when they really work and there are times where they don't. The worst performances come from Shimono Hiro & Kawahara Yoshihisa. Not because they're bad actors but because their characters are incessantly obnoxious. The music is another aspect that greatly varies. Some of it is quite nice, I actually really liked the opening theme. Other parts of it are kind of annoying and not well done.

Ho-yay:

There are some points where Momiji and Ichiko not only seem friendly, but seem to be attracted to one another. Particularly towards the end of the series. Ranmaru also gets some female admirers, but they treat her like she's a boy so it barely counts.

Final Thoughts:

Binbougami Ga is one of those series that's highly mixed. Every positive aspect of it is balanced out by something negative. It's not a bad series, nor is it a good one. All in all, it's pretty mediocre. My final rating is going to be a 5/10. Next week I'll be looking at Kuuchuu Buranko. Until then, have a fabulous time.

Hmmm…….

You know, seeing the previews of this show a few months ago, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it.

Then again, as I said in the last review, comedy is a subjective art form and this especially goes into anime. For me, it’s like comedic shows like Sgt. Frog, Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt, Squid Girl, & Kill La Kill does better with me than the likes of Baka to Test, Love Hina, B Gata H Kei and Nisekoi. You can say some of them are the same but no…..they’re not.

I can see myself liking it but then again, it does have the annoying eechi show ... feel to it and I have been getting annoyed with those type of shows and the fact most of them may not be my thing.



Pretty, busty rich girl Sakura Ichiko has been blessed with an inordinate amount of good fortune, so much so that she’s actually sucking the fortune from those around her. To correct that massive imbalance, Momiji, a God of Misfortune, has come to Earth to “treat” Sakura—only Sakura isn’t so willing to cooperate. As part of an ongoing effort to remedy the problem, Momiji starts living with Sakura.



So……..that comedy thing of mine? Yeah, I saw myself laughing at a few moments in the show that are genuine but most of the time when they were referencing other anime (DBZ, One Piece, Lupin, etc.) or go overblown with the eechi/boob jokes, that is when I groan at that (I would say more but SPOILERS). I mean, it just felt very lazy writing like these are last minute jokes someone just came up with and decided to stick in there. There is also the heart of the show being that good luck and happiness comes from within and not from the material things although it does feel weak as it goes along and while it’s decent, some of the aforementioned comedy interrupt those moments and makes it seem very out of place and awkward. I can like kookiness in an anime and I think the show tries to have it both ways but sadly some of the time, I didn’t feel as invested in the story as much…….nor the characters as much either.



Ichiko Sakura is the most typical Mary Sue character in the show. She’s adored by all of the guys in schools but loathed by all of the girls but leads a very lonely life even though she has about every material thing in her grasp…..oh, did I mention she got boobs? Hell, her nickname on the show is Tit-chiko and thankfully that didn’t get used as much…..at least from what I heard. I can’t say she progressed but it didn’t felt like de-characterization and I did like the banter between her and Momiji and them getting at each other’s throats. In short for the other characters, Bobby the perverted monk and Momo’o the S&M dog god, whose both character traits gets worn out very early in the show. Keita is pretty much the straight man in the series and the rest of the family are decent as well, just not as interesting and I did like Ranmaru in the show as well as she’s one of the few characters that doesn’t annoy me as much. Also, should I give a fuck about Nadeshiko?



No? Yes? I heard in the manga, she’s more vital in there but this isn’t about the manga, it’s the anime version I’m reviewing and I say…….yeah, I don’t give a fuck about her at all.

The animation and artwork is okay, it is more of the typical art style that most anime people are used to. Then again, this is much up to Sunrise’s alley as them doing gag comedy isn’t new to them. After all, like I said, Sgt. Frog is one of my favorite anime comedies and they are responsible for that as well and they do succeed with what they’re doing, although I still do get mostly annoyed with it, too.



Musically, my thoughts on that is meh as well. The opening theme for the show is alright, I like the first 8-bit parts of it and other than that, it’s merely okay. Ending theme is also fine as is the rest of the score.

The FUNimation dub does help me get through the series as it goes along. I did like the performances of Brina Palencia & Colleen Clinkenbeard as Ichiko & Momiji, respectively as they do deliver the best performances of the dub. Patrick Seitz & Todd Haberkorn are pretty type-casted in the show (Seitz being the black guy although he’s damn good at it and Haberkorn playing the one guy with the nasally whiny voice), that’s not to say that were bad in it, that’s the opposite of that as they played their roles very well. Also, I did like Martha Harms as Ranmaru, a VA that I haven’t recognized in FUNi dubs in the past that could become more noticeable in the future.



FINAL VERDICT: The show does have its charms and I have thought of some moments in there to be funny and have some heart but it does tend to lose that quickly when some of the humor gets tired. It’s stupid and silly in both the right ways…..and the wrong ways, too. I will say that it is worth a watch but this is more of a stream it rather than buy right away. Just dip your toe in the world of Good Luck Girl first before owning any DVD and/or Blu-ray.

Ichiko is a rich, beautiful mary-sue of a teenage girl, who is adored by all of the boys of her class–but hated by the females. In short, she’s pretty much the stereotypical bitch, but underneath her apparent superiority-complex, she’s really a lonely child longing for friendship. She also has an excessive amount of “Fortune,” which causes her suck other Fortune energy from those around her. This causes Momiji, a god of misfortune, to try and steal Ichiko’s fortune, and a beautiful love-hate relationship is formed!

Binbougami ga! is a very silly series. In fact, it’s a really stupid series–sometimes in the positive ha-ha kind of stupid, ... and others times in bad sense of the word. In general it’s one of those shows that allows to simply relax and enjoy it for what it is and not vehemently critique it, although there are scenes that stand out as mediocre or subpar.

The dramatic aspects are by the far the shows weak-point, as it’s fairly mediocre all the way through. It’s a predictable action-comedy from the get-go, and pretty forgettable. Initially the execution alone is done well enough to make it enjoyable, but it’s doesn’t take long for the formulaic nature of the plot to override that. More often than not the the comedy makes up for all this, so it’s an enjoyable series for the most part

Much of the comedy relies on the specific quirks of each character. This allows for plenty of quality comedy for quite a while, but towards the end of the series they all start to lose their charm, and everything starts to seem tedious. Ichiko and Momiji are relatively more complex, but every other character literally has their quirk define them; every time Ranmaru shows up, the scene pokes fun at her tomboy demeanor, as with Bobby’s pervertism, or Momoo’s masochism.

Thankfully, the actual ending of the series (episode 11-13) breaks out of the formula, and gives us a satisfying conclusion.

What would you do if you had all the luck in the world, but only because you'd been leeching the luck and happiness off of the people around you? Well, you'd probably feel at least a little guilty, but you can't help it, right? If there's no way to fix the problem then there's nothing you can do.
This is the way our protagonist Ichiko Sakura approaches her situation, but there is an easy fix for her problem - she just won't take it because she's incredibly selfish. Ichiko herself was one of the main problems I had with the show as it tried desperately to ... justify her selfishness and make her likeable; if it had left her one-dimensional and unashamedly selfish I think I would've enjoyed the show a lot more, but as it was I hated her as a character and I hated when other characters would give into her because they saw her 'true self' instead of just outright being beaten in order to solve the conflict.
So what about the other characters, then? The show (wisely) doesn't decide to try and flesh them out or justify them like it does with Ichiko and instead mines their few character traits for jokes every second they're on screen, whether it's with the perverted monk or the masochistic dog. The jokes aren't very original but if you already watch anime regularly they shouldn't be anything more than mildly uncomfortable at worst, and who knows? Jokes about groping, BDSM and being flat-chested may be your thing - I won't judge.
The rest of the comedy comes from a mixture of slapstick and references to other anime which got a few smirks out of me personally, but comedy is subjective so your mileage may vary.
All-in-all I found the show pretty entertaining and I particularly liked the last 2-3 episodes, but there were bumps here and there that threw me a little and the humor wasn't entirely my thing so I can't say I loved the show or that I could recommend it as a must-watch. Good Luck Girl! isn't anything groundbreaking and if you don't subscribe to its particular brand of comedy there isn't much for you here, but as something to turn your brain off to it suits its purpose fine.

A pretty lightweight affair, one that didn’t particularly entertain me but didn’t throw me off to the point of making me stop watching it either.

Just as Pokemon’s super-talented villains that always fail to capture Pikachu, the Poverty God, Momiji, invariably fails to take Sakura Ichiko’s “happiness energy” despite her godly powers. The anime gets repetitive after a while because every episode pans out almost the same way, just with different settings and minor characters. Seeing the same pattern unfold over and over wasn’t all that great an experience for me.

That said, episodes 10-13 take an entirely different turn from the usual, though I’m not sure ... if that was any more successful. For an R-rated fare (in Japan anyway), the anime felt strangely childish, despite the all-too-often gratuitous nudity and sexual jokes.

The story had potential, and it could’ve no doubt benefited from being told in a more subtle and mature way, which is why the anime’s approach was disappointing. There’s a teenage girl who is spoiled and selfish because of her excess wealth and beauty. In comes a god, who wants to take away the girl’s good luck. The girl resists strongly and seemingly manages to keep all her good luck to herself, but through her time with the god, she slowly and gradually becomes a changed woman, one who is able to share her luck with others when need be. You could say the god is an anime-style interpretation of a girl’s inner growth.

I realize that I’m not the anime’s target demographic. I rarely ever watch animes (no worries, the irony of me joining this website certainly didn’t escape me), so I’m not familiar with a lot of the numerous other animes it pokes fun at. The more you know, the more you see; so perhaps those who are well versed in Japanese animes may find this enjoyable. For me, though, it was pretty mediocre.

p.s. I wish the anime had spent more time on the Poverty God, Momiji, because I liked her character design and felt she had too little screen time of her own.

Overall, Binbougami ga is painful and cringy to watch. References feel forced and the comedy is stale, with about 1 in 100 jokes hitting its mark... and yes, I understand that humor is subjective, but sheeeeesh.

A few of the character designs were nice though. I really liked how they drew Ichigo's eye lashes. That's not something you see a lot in anime. Also, whoever designed Momiji was spot on. Despite looking like somebody's Deviantart original character, her character design is a hilarious and stereotypical take on the impoverished hobo. Aside from these two characters, the rest of the show looks completely and utterly forgettable.

For what ... it's worth, the OP and ED are also quite good, but this is truthfully where the good qualities end, and nothing about this show makes it worth my time, especially not the repulsive comedy.