Nana Maru San Batsu

Quick review:

Do you guys like competitive "sports?" Do you get excited about seeing people compete with different ideologies and aspirations? Well look no further, you may or may not find that in Nana Maru San Batsu (which I will now call FFF)! It depends on what kind of taste you have. I personally would compare it to Chihayafuru because the concept of being the fastest in both respective sports is reflexes and finger speed. FFF surprised me with how well executed the journey is and how interesting a quiz bowl could be. I personally wouldn't do this at all, but I can see it being ... a really competitive thing and that's what matters.

What FFF does right is constantly developing the main character Koushiyama. Since he is the main character we are following, it is important that he doesn't get overshadowed by other characters, who are admittedly plot devices with no real development on their own. It's challenging to fit engaging characters throughout the whole run time due to the 12 episode constraint as well as obligatory rule explanations. However, FFF does it to a pretty good degree, putting characters in the limelight here and there and really showing their personalities. Koushiyama is undoubtedly the most developed of the cast, albeit perhaps a little too one dimensional. He has tremendous upside in the quiz bowl because he is a nerd to begin with. So naturally, he is rather decent at Quiz Bowl, but watching him develop into an above average player felt satisfying because the competitors all had more intense motivations and clashing ideologies about the sport. It made for an engaging narrative since there are implications like: do what you love and screw what other people say, move forward, relentlessly etc. It was really impressive for something that doesn't have a synopsis that'd pull much viewers.

The animation is okay, it sometimes used it to its advantage and visually show us the inner working of people's minds with decent symbolism. Other then that, nothing really stood out to me and the OST is likewise forgettable. Heck, I can't remember any track playing.

All in all, I came in with no expectations (as i usually do) and finished wanting more. It truly has potential and a longer run time would exponentially improve the development of characters. I really appreciate the passion displayed by these athletes, since I know the feeling of doing something nobody respected. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life folks.

Quizzes and more quizzes. They could be fun if the watchers feel the same interest in both the questions and the participants. If you don't like quizzes shows, then you immediately will consider Nana Maru San Batsu (Fastest Finger First) as a total waste of time, and the only fastest finger that you will end seeing is yours when you "change" for other show.

I had been thinking how to rate this anime. Should I evaluate the questions, should I rate the quizzes modules, should I rate the characters? After a lot of thinking, I considered there is nothing to measure here.

The story is the typical ... "nerd" with his glasses and every detail (Koshiyama). The destiny gave him the possibility to talk with a group of persons and ended joining the quizzes club from the school because Mari Fukami asked him. Then the story focuses on the game meetings against other schools, where Koshiyama finds a rival (Mikuriya). The climax appears when Koshiyama can't press the button faster, the inability to answer a certain group of questions, and when he challenges Mikuriya. So they spend a couple of minutes when Koshiyama starts analyzing the problems and figures a possible answer. That's all the story, nothing more. There are some unconcluded parts, for example, Mari's brother.

The characters are the typical members of a school club with nothing special on them. They are in that club because they like it and will participate in the events because why not? The background of most of the characters they like quizzes, they study them, they need faster fingers, and ¡hey I found a rival!.

The art and the music are what I consider standard nothing impressive here and nothing to complain about it.

Finally, the characters do a little monologue when they try to figure an answer. It is the same repetition from question to question so you could end tired even if you like quizzes. Will I recommend this show to you? Maybe but you will consider it tedious.

Nana Maru San Batsu or Fastest Finger First is an cliche anime similar to many school-based, guy joins a club'esque type of anime. It's about quiz bowl which is basically a competitive Jeopardy, with the main focus of answering the questions quickly and correctly.

Initially, I was expecting like an average 6 rated show, archetype characters, cliche story and so forth. Well, it turned out to be a lot worse.

Story (3). Basically, a nerd joins junior high, during the club ceremonies he is picked to join the "Quiz Bowl" team for a display game. "Now even though he is new to the game, he is extremely ... talented and smart because of his lack of friends, he spent all his time in the library". Also playing with him is his love interest which is passionate to the game, so you can guess who convinced him to join. The rest of the story can be guessed as any competitive club focused story.

Art (7). The art is well done, I only put a 7 since Toei Animation has a thing where they will drop the quality overtime. But for the first 4 episodes, it's consistent so no problems there.

Sound (5). The OST is barely heard throughout the episodes, which isn't bad but it could have improved the general tone and feeling. OP and ED are good enough, however I'm not counting them towards the score. The voice acting is decent enough, so no major complaints, but there are moments when there is lack of passion.

Characters (4). Every single character can be described in 2 sentences or less. They all can be put into a certain sub-group of a major archetype except the minor characters, in which case they don't have more than 1 emotion. Basically, its 1 or 2 levels above the average harem series, but still down there.

Enjoyment (1). One of my mains points for a non-action oriented show is dialogue, which is complete trash. Characters describing things in the least original way possible. "cough" Toei style "cough". In later episodes, there is a ton repetition, same thing is said within 2 minutes of each other, then repeated every time something similar is mentioned. If Toei could fix that, then this show would have entered at least a 6 on my scale.

Overall (3).
Story: Cliche
Art: Good
Sound: Not noticeable
Characters: Basic
Enjoyment: Dialogue completely destroyed it for me.

Hit the buzzer first. The difference in facing victory or defeat may depend on a single second or even less. The adventures of a boy who has the talent, but now needs to apply that talent into competitive quizzing against other people.

Fastest finger first was on my "Meh" watching list. I was kinda hesistant. But after watching 4 episodes, I probably will continue.

One of the things many people talked about regarded the main Female Character and her voice actor. I'll be honest, I wasn't a big fan of it when I first heard it. Not because it was bad, but because it did not seem ... to fit her character enough. However, after watching for a while, I started getting used to it, as I should be. She's smart and was responsible for getting Koshiyama into the world of competitive quizzing. But for him to succeed, he needs to learn the basics (which I can't even understand cuz im stupid). The anime shows that quizzing is more about being smart, but learning to deconstruct each question, breaking it down so that at the exact syllable, you will be able to immediately know the answer to the question.

Thing is, Koshiyama is not very good at answering questions fast. He needs to hear the whole question in order to come up with some sort of answer. This is when all these lessons come in, and he's taught the art of buzzing. Hopefully we can get more insight into the basics and see Koshiyama develop into one of the fastest buzzerrs in the series.

Theres not much to say after 4 episodes, but I wouldn't recommend this to people who want something "amazing" or awesome characters or a solid story. But, if you do have the time and you like something along the lines of competitive quizzing, then go ahead and enjoy yourself. It has a pretty nice atmosphere to it, and the character interactions aren't that bad.

In the end, it's all about being fast, and being the first to buzz.

I'm going to ask you a question. French for "a flash of lightning," this chocolate-topped dessert that got its name because it is eaten quickly is called what? The answer would be "eclair." However, for characters of this anime, the moment the consonant cluster "fl" for "flash" is pronounced, they have already pressed the buzzer and gotten the correct answer. Okay, one more. The three great festivals of Kyoto are Gion Festival, Aoi Festival, and what? The correct answer would be "Jidai Festival," and you might have already guessed that once the "A" part of "Aoi" was spoken, the correct answer ... would already have been determined. Okay, last one. Jumping flea in Hawaiian is the name origin of what instrument? The correct answer would be "ukulele," and some of the best competitors would have already known the answer when the word "flea" was spoken.

Growing up, I have always been fascinated with random trivia questions from a wide variety of subjects, and even now, if you tell me a totally random trivia fact and ask me "Did you know?" questions, I will always, and I mean ALWAYS be interested. So of course, when I found an anime that focuses on trivia quizzes, and leveled it up into an intense competition, it became an instant favorite.

Nana Maru San Batsu, or in English, Fastest Fingers First, or to be more accurate, 7 Correct Answers and 3 Mistakes—but I guess that wouldn't be a popular title—is a school anime centering on Shiki Koshiyama, a bookworm who somehow finds himself participating in a mini quiz bee competition at his school after being chosen at random. Shiki ends up being able to answer only one question, but that question was actually the hardest one. He gets the attention of his classmate, Mari Fukami, who is an experienced quizzer and was one of the participants that voluntarily joined the same quiz, but was not fast enough to answer that particular question. Seeing his potential, Mari invites Shiki to join the quiz club, where Shiki finds a new hobby in competitive quizzes where his knowledge on difficult topics stemming from his habits as a bookworm will prove to be extremely useful.

The story is very niche as I can't recall any anime that's so focused on academic competitions aside from Baka to Test, but even the premise of that anime is significantly different from Fastest Fingers First, so that's beside the point. This distinction alone, I believe, makes this anime's story deservedly unique and arguably, there should be more anime like this. Not only that, but it also capitalizes on the brains part of school competitions, which is already rare by itself as these types of anime usually focuses on sports, and by extension, the physical body. This appeals to me especially because I used to take part in these types of competitions all the time when I was in elementary and high school. The feelings of nostalgia make me yearn to be a part of those contests again. Sadly, I can't do that as a student anymore, but since I am studying to become a teacher, then I can guide my future students toward the same path, but I digress.

One more thing I want to point out is that this anime has that kind of story that is better to be watched again for some reason. It's like, I first watched this anime when I was 18 years old, and I rewatched it for the sake of this review, three years later that I'm now 21. For some reason, the story becomes more appealing as you grow up, so I'd recommend that you watch this anime, enjoy it, then wait some years after you've gained more worldly knowledge and experiences, then rewatch this anime. Better if you don't actively think about it.

Now, let's talk about the characters. Our main character, Koshiyama, is a fresh look at the so-called "overpowered main character" trope. Why do I say he's overpowered? His knowledge base alone is the overpowered thing about him, but the nature of the quiz bee suppresses the power his knowledge brings him. If he hears the entire question, he would be amazing, period. But since competitive quiz bees rely on competitors answering questions even before the halfpoint of the questions, even if you know the answer, it would not be so much of an advantage. This quality also makes Koshiyama a fresh look at the so-called "super rookie" trope because even though he catches attention later on, the anime still gives us an actual character development that portrays delayed gratification. These two points make Koshiyama a good character who's not rushed into glory, but instead, we are given a protagonist who gradually improves, and once again, is a fresh breath of air in this anime period where everyone is overpowered from the get-go.

For the next main character, my impressions of Mari Fukami are similar to Going Home Club's Sakura Doumyouji. Yes, I also thought that her voice was perfectly average, or in other words, perfectly portraying the average Japanese person in my opinion because that's how I feel it even though I do not know what the average is because I am not a Japanese person, to the point that I once thought that the two had the same voice actresses. Similar to Sakura's VA's situation, Mari's VA, Umika Kawashima, only had one role as a main character, before stopping for some reason. As such, I think it's a waste for these talents not to be nurtured for them to perfect their craft. I don't know if this is the case, but I think that many people would disagree with me and instead call these types of voices bad voice acting. They may have a point, but these voices appeal to me, and once again, and I hope that by some miracle, both Umika Kawashima and Miharu Kobayashi (Sakura Doumyouji's VA) or someone with a voice caliber similar to theirs would come again to the voice acting scene once more. Aside from her voice, Mari is also a character I'd consider good, but sadly, I was busy simping for another character whose name I won't say, but I believe you'd like her the instant you will see her.

Lastly, a quick comment on Chisato Mikuriya, who you could treat as the antagonist of the series due to his adeptness not only in knowledge but also in speed. He's literally me frfr, in the sense that I also feel a sense of rivalry quite intensely, and I always want to compete with people in terms of academics, knowledge, and things similar to those. My school life would've been complete if I was involved in a rivalry similar to Mikuriya and Koshiyama's. Sigh, such a shame.

Now, the music, especially the opening theme, because that's the one thing that stood out to me—"On My MiND" by Mrs. Green Apple. Yes, the same ones who sang Fire Force's iconic opening theme, "Inferno." It's so sad to think that such a different hype to an anime and the time they were released makes this much of a difference. Sure, Fire Force had 15x more audience than Fastest Fingers First, and that means by extension, Inferno has had more reach, and that's why it's iconic. However, in terms of catchiness, I believe that On My MiND is equally catchy and I hope more people will listen to it.

This anime is a dream come true for trivia nerds like me out there. Overall, such an amazing concept: interesting niche, characters with good development, a character who's literally me frfr, but not so sluggish on everything else. It focuses on its main premise on point without much derailment, which makes the interest of those watching it constantly glued to what they're watching. Now if we can get more people who are interested in quiz bowl to watch this anime, or if we can get people who watch this anime to become interested in quiz bowl, that would be nice.

Last question before I end, coming from the French word "revoir" which means "to see again," what do you call a long article that is a critical evaluation of something you experienced? Indeed, it is a review. And by that, I say au revoir, and I'll see you again soon.

I personally love the concept of discovering something you love and truly being passionate about it. This show is exactly that.

Story:
Good story, I love seeing characters strive to become better. The idea pf animating something like quiz bowl is definitely unique. There are certain stories are not concluded which I find annoying. 7/10

Character:
KOSHIYAMA: An intersting character, like i said I love seeing pasionate characters so I really liked him
FUKAMI: Honestly I didn't care much for her. She was really only there for the main female character appeal and her brother's backstory
SASAJIMA: Calm cool and collected, there could be more back story to him
MIKURIYA: His rivalry ... with Koshiyama was interesting but he's literally just another kid who likes quiz bowl,there could be some expansion on his character
6/10

Art:
I liked the character design and everyone is distinguishable. There are a few parts where the art is not so amazing but I can overlook that. 7/10

Sound:
Loveee the OP and ED! So catchy! Voice acting was good except for Fukami. Her voice actor isn't necessarily bad but her voice doesn't give a young high school student vibe like it should. 7/10

Other stuff:
The subtitles kind of ruin the curiosity of wondering when they will press their button. It would be interesting to see this dubbed.

It's not often you'll see an anime based around a quiz game. This is what initially brought me to try Nana Maru San Batsu. To quickly summarize some of my thoughts on the anime, I though the art and animation were average at best, and apart from the amazing opening song, the same thing can be said about the soundtrack.A lot of the characters were either annoying or uninteresting. The way the story is presented, it feels more like a shounen rather than the seinen it actual is. The major positive I can say for the series is that when it got to doing the ... quiz scenes the anime became incredibly interesting to watch. Often it feels like I'm playing alongside the characters in the show, trying to guess the answer before they do. As a result of this, I got a lot of enjoyment from Nana Maru San Batsu despite how average everything else in the show was.
While there could have been better execution, I was satisfied with my experience with this show.

Fastest finger first is over.
Finally, it was pretty bad.
The concept at the beginning was cool.
I don't know much about quiz bowl or even heard of the subject of it.
Which is the premise of the show by the way.
And I was semi excited to learn more about it through this anime.
And from the anime's view on quiz bowl presented to me.
It wasn't very exiting.
It was about these trivia super geniuses that can answer a question without hearing the entire answer through various techniques.
And apparently that is realistic to the actual thing.
... I think that's what ruined it for me.
I couldn't project anyone onto any of the characters in the series.
Also, the characters are very stereotypical and bland.
Even the voice actors got bored or at least weren't casted well.
So Fastest Finger First, I give it a 3 being generous.
Just not a very appealing anime to watch.
I wouldn't recommend to anyone.
This has been ur spoiler not spoiler review on Fastest Finger First

Press the buzzer before anyone else does!

The anime has some sort of flow and predictability of what the format of the next episodes are going to be like. The anime is about Koshiyama, a first-year student who was invited and convinced by Fukami and Sasajima to join the Quiz Study Group where they participate in regular quiz competitions against other schools. The aim of the game is to press the buzzer before anyone else and answer within five seconds. You can press the buzzer at any time, even before the announcer has completed reading out the question.

Now this anime isn't for everyone. From a title ... like Fastest Finger First and this short synopsis, you are getting exactly was you expected. There's nothing special about this anime. It's exactly as how the anime is described, there are no real surprises. This means that if this sounds like an anime that you won't like, then you probably won't like it and I wouldn't recommend you go out of your way to watch it.

The slow introduction of new characters and their unique sets of attributes which are useful to be part of the quiz team is what makes this anime special. Each of the characters have the strengths and weaknesses, but when they combine their strenghts, they become a strong team that are able to help each other depending on what type of question is being asked.

The subtle hints of romance between Koshiyama and Fukami is what brings to light to this rather simple concept applied to this anime. It's done not too over dramatically which is pleasing to see.

The voice acting is quite refreshing for the characters, especially for Fukami, who is the lead female protagonist. There is some criticism for Kawashima Umika, who voices Fukami because she is not very experienced in voice acting anime characters, but I find her natural voice to be fitting in this anime as voice actors sometimes over-do it and over-dramatise scenes where they are almost unberable to watch to the point where they are cringe worthy.

The OP and ED is quite catchy which fits the mood of this quick fast paced game anime.

The animation of this anime is passable. There's nothing wrong with it and I some of the character designs are unique. There are some characters who do look the same as other anime characters from other anime but overall, the character designs aren't bad.

Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying this anime. I do see reasons why people will not like this anime but for the select few who like a change in pace in anime and see something out of the ordinary, this anime is perfect for that. This isn't necessarily a good anime, but it definitely isn't a bad one. I recommend that you check it out.

703X

I was not expecting Nana Maru San Batsu to be good. Going into it, I though I was probably going to end up dropping it and giving it a 5 or possibly a 6. Though as I watched each episode, I just kept wanting to watch more until I'd finished all 12 episodes and thoroughly enjoyed it.

You might notice a marked difference in reviews on this site between those who watched 4 episodes and declared it to be cliched, and those who actually bothered to watch the whole show before giving it a full review. Not just in term of score, which we'd expect to ... be lower on average among people who dropped it, but even among the comments left by people who gave it low scores, but bothered to actually finish it vs people who didn't.

The story is very good. In contrast to what some people on this site seem to think, because they only watched a few episodes, this is not the story of some noob high school boy rising to become a star because he's just so wonderful. This is actually the story of a shy, nerdy kid making friends and finding something he's passionate about that he can actually share with other people, in contrast to most of his life that he's spent withdrawing. Whilst he obviously improves at quiz bowl through the series, at the actual game I would say he never even surpasses Mari Fukami, the girl who recruited him in and has some experience. He's more overall knowledgable than her, but his style and ability to play the game still need polish even by the end. The quizzing serves as an interesting central theme and provides some really surprisingly tense moments (the stakes are never too high that the MC and his friends can't fail) but the MC's journey through it is really not the main thrust of the story, the story is fundamentally about his development as a person with the sport of quiz bowl.The primary downside of the story is that there are some loose threads that don't really get resolved, and the fact that by the end of it, he's really just beginning and it might be nice to see more, but I can't blame the anime just because it doesn't get renewed. And the reason for the couple of loose threads is obvious, the point of this anime is most likely for promotion of the manga. That being said I think the show ends at a very natural conclusion to a first arc and they don't try and cram too much in, or try to stretch out too little too far. The pacing is just right and these "downsides" are really very minor points as far as I am concerned, it's not like we're missing big pieces of information, just little intrigues.

The art is very decent. This show clearly didn't have a grandiose budget and the art isn't always 100% on point, but it looks perfectly nice, there really isn't anything that egregious and there are moments where I think the art really shines.

The music is probably the weakest part. I'll be kind and say the music is... generic, though I'd go as far as to say that some BGM tracks sound almost ripped off. I don't know if it was supposed to be in homage or if they just didn't have the budget but a number of tracks sounded suspiciously familiar, especially in their beginnings. That being said, none of the music sounds bad so ultimately I can't give this a negative score, the music does the job it's supposed to do but nothing overall stands out. A lot of people have a go at Fukami's VA. I completely disagree. Whilst I will agree that her inexperience shows and you won't get as emotive a performance as you might expect from anime (the VA apparently is more experienced in live action dramas), this actually fits the character extremely well. Fukami is a pretty soft-spoken quiz nerd and the toned down performance absolutely works for her. And her voice sounds really nice, it's refreshing to have a high school girl in anime that actually sounds like she's experienced puberty at some point. There are only one or two points where I think the VA could have put a little bit more into emoting but overall she sounds absolutely fine. Maybe not as you might EXPECT, but certainly fitting for the character.

The characters are my favourite part. They're all VERY likeable people. It's extremely rare that I actually like the characters in mixed-gender main cast animes. Usually they end up acting like fucking tools and nobody responds appropriately and I end up just hating everyone in it which is why most of my top anime are all-girl main casts, I feel they're just written with better dynamics and make way more sense. In this case, everyone is very down to earth and they act normally. Well, with the exception of moments where characters have deliberately exaggerated moments of teenage-boyness. But I could easily imagine knowing these people in a school club in real life. They act like actual human beings.

Again people with only 4 episodes watched seem to be under the impression that these are all generic archetype charachters and they know everything they will do. Well most of them are wrong in their specific appraisals. As I said previously, the main boy never becomes some god and doesn't even surpass the main girl in skill. He starts off around the level of the otaku who joined because of the cute girl and ends up closer to the skill level of the cute girl. The reason he is main character is because of his POTENTIAL, which people can see because he has a wealth of knowledge from extensive book reading. If he could refine his game some more, which I'm sure he'd do if the series was longer, THEN he could be a really great player. Similarly there are predictions of "love interest" - Well, there are very minor implications that Fukami might like him but throughout the series they are just friends, with a similar level of relationship as anyone else to anyone else in the club. I'd also like to say that in the first episode the Main Boy sees the Main Girl's panties, because anime (although they never actually show the panty shot which is great because fuck that). Does she hold this as a grudge against him for the rest of the series? No. It causes a couple of moments of embarrassment (in a couple of jokes where he has to push thoughts of them aside) and by the end of the first episode she says "whatever I'm over it now come join quiz bowl with me". You know, like normal people (though fairly uncommon for anime characters).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these characters will blow your mind with their pure originality and never-before seen character traits, I'm just saying, there's a lot more to them as people than [insert cliche label here], in my opinion. They're incredibly likeable and I can really get invested into their journey and their interactions with the other characters around them. Which is what a good character needs to be. This isn't even mentioning that 4 episodes isn't enough to even meet all the characters, including the spanner in the works.

Overall, I really liked this show and I rate it at a solid 8. It's definitely something that is worth giving a go, unless you just really hate quizzes. I will repeat, this show probably won't blow your mind and be the best thing you've ever seen, but it's a very enjoyable and solidly put together show show that deserves a hell of a lot more love than a damn 6.8 MAL score. It knows where to best utilise the limited budget to minimise the downsides and a clearly competent staff have managed to produce an unexpectedly good product about an unusual premise, a hidden gem of 2017.

Quiz Bowl for anime/manga/games aficionados out there...MONDAI?!

Which female seiyuu who played the most alien character?

Mondai?!

Name the seiyuus who recently passed away this year.

Mondai?!

... Name a movie that was based on an on-line game.

Ok so enough of the overrated Jeopardy game, so now that this is over I really have mixed feelings about this anime, and there were no simple ways for me to describe it, so:

Story, fair 6.

Ok so for a change studio TMS has decide to go with an anime that has some sort of quiz bee theme in it, ok it wasn't that bad, but it ain't that good either, since we all know in a Jeopardy kinda of game show it all about luck and the knowledge you have, and no matter how you do your best it all boils down to luck.

Art; Mediocre 5.

As usual, to them Japs everything looks good as long as the cast were young and in a school uniform, there is only a one time panty shot and it ain't with Fukami Mari and with Kansai girl Sasajima Jinko, rather it was some unknown girl extra who is also in Buzou High.

Sound, Poor 3.

I may not have any opinion for the opening and closing theme, but I do have a fuss about Fukami's voice, it seems that for studio TMS to choose a mature montone seiyu in Kawashima Umika, who simply doesn't have that young tone, they should have gone with Tomtsu Haruka or Itou Kanade to do Fukai's voice, now for Koshiyama's voice, his seiyu, Horie Shun sounded a bit too gay in would have been better if Sonohara Akira's seiyu, Nagatsuka Takuma would have played his character instead of voicing that cross dressing fag character.

Character, fair 6.

Ok so it was suppose to be them Buzou High students that should be the main protagonist here , but in reality it kinda looks that the suppose protagonist would go back and fort of being a protagonist to a deuteragonist to a tritagonist , here the main character Kosiyama starts out as a protagonist and in the end he was reduce to a deuteragonist the same thing with Mari, she would bounce back and fort from being a deuteragonist to a protagonist sometime Sasajima Gakuto would be a tertiary to a protagonist, but if there is one character there that ticking me off is Sonohara Akira, he is one character that I wish that the club president would have punched him in his face.

Enjoyment, Good 7.

I was good when this is one anime where you get to learn a lot of trivia.

Overall, fair 6.

You get to know a lotta trivia, but on the entertainment side it was a bit lackluster, a season 2 may break or make this , but it will all depend how good will studio TMS do it.

Mondai?!

Which seiyuu who had a cameo role in a live Japanese move "Fujoshi Kanojo?"

Mondai?!

Which Deadnote seiyuu who played the role of Katsumi Kamio in the movie "Otoko-tachi no Yamato?"

Look, it doesn't really matter how amazing of a show you have if you start off with the most horrendous openings known to man. I can't actually believe a mangaka storyboarded this manga, got it approved by an editor, serialized it, kept it going enough for it to get an anime adaption proposal, and it actually getting adapted. It's crazy. This start is just that bad.
When you have a show be about a shy MC joining a quiz bowl club, how would you expect the first episode to go? Oh, how about looking at a hot girl's panties and getting convinced by that very girl ... to join the club? Haha thats so cute, funny and relatable, guys!
Look, I get it when an anime focused around romance/ecchi has a lot of ecchi scenes, but this is basically the last place where I'd expect that to be a main plot point. The author was probably thinking "well, I can't think of a hook to pull the reader into the story and can't think of a way to naturally transition the MC into the quiz bowl club. How about going with this? Everyone will naturally love it." It's such a lazy beginning. It really is.
It's at that point where I promptly stopped watching, as there is no way there was any way for the show to be half decent when they start the first 10 minutes of the show like that.

Starter for 10 was a film i think i saw a few years back but memories fade and by the rate mine are fading I will be in an assisted care home by 2021. But that film is about quizzes, more importantly the true king of the "Sort of after The One Show" slot for the BBC, University Challenge. I've always complained how I don't think its fair that most team members are mature students who really take the title to its extremes. They roam these isles, bouncing from Anthropology of Dragon Dicks post graduate courses to Four Dimensional Town Planning at the University of ... South Wales, with cackled laughter piercing from their bet sit. They are the true journeymen and women of a televised Oxbridge college circle jerk where you get a dressing down by an aged broadcast journalist.

Fastest Finger First takes this and puts it in a Japanese high school and tries to use a medium which relies on motion picture to rely the importance of pressing a button quite quickly. They answer questions, some of which are easy because you are born in the decadent west, and some you'll never get yourself, and then very few which are to pander to fan service and they have a boy to play the role of you.

We follow a squirrel looking kid with coke bottle glasses and a slight cows lick and he is nervous but reads things so he is better at quizzes than the general population, but he has a long way to go so there is room for progress and 60 manga chapters. He doesn't buzz in quick enough, and he has not rote learned the questions yet, because he has been doing this, as of episode 5, for about 4 and a half days. He has made a pretty boy rival, a few friends, and a slightly better understanding of quizzing. I'm sure he will win University Challenge by the end of the season, then stab Jeremy Paxman in the kidneys.

A lot has been said about the voice actor for the girl in your merry band of quiz-o-nauts, and from my limited knowledge of Japan, the actor sounds like a normal Japanese women speaking normally in a non-descript accent. You get used to it, because people naturally pick up emotional undertones in someone's voice after a while, even though there are very few coming through. It's just daunting because you come to expect that she will sound like a what a cat would sound like if had a firm ass and was serving you coffee.

To finalise, this show isn't a good show, but it has something that only quiz shows have: you can play along. You can sit there and see if you can get the question and answer from the three and a half syllables they use because the Japanese are the true super intelligent beings of east Asia and Kia can't make cars for shit. And when you do its fun, you feel a sense of pride that you can never get from watching cartoons your soul spirit is getting bullied in a real Japanese high school right now. The blonde hair dyed street thugs are continuing the tradition of sticking a lit firecracker up his rectum and making him do the Macarena and putting the footage on Weibo or whatever they use to publicly humiliate each other over there.

You can't play a long to Kill La Kill while watching, so this is objectively better. Like 12/19

I like it. It's still ongoing right now so the reviews are not that firm. I think it will develop into a greater storyline. There are still many more characters to be introduced. The characters are very likable. Although it's about 'quizzes' it isn't boring. It's more about the energy of the competition and the various play styles and the cooperation of the members of the quiz clubs.
The main character is a literacy lover, but he will develop furthermore. Plus the art style is good. The show also has a comedy vibe going on. And the music sure gets you excited.

I recommend to anyone who ... enjoys a good laugh and less romance and more games.

This show follow in the same line as many sports type anime, where MC comes to fall in love with a sport/hobby just from experiencing it first hand.

Don't get me wrong, im not trying knock the show down a few pegs cause of this cliche.
Stories about being passionate about what you love is all great.

I think what this show suffer from in my opinion is this feeling of slowness even during the actual quizzing (show depicting real time instead of super slow or fast). Story in the anime doesn't go into a grande tournament only just few matches here and there and competition between ... school in a form of a "meet-up".

I only would recommend this anime to those who want to kill some time, interested in quiz bowl or game show style question in anime form.

There are plenty of anime under the sun. That would mean some of them would be overlooked and that is just the cold, hard truth. However, as time rolls by, the overlooked shall become the cult. For instance, Nana Maru San Batsu.

The overall premise is (even I have to admit) the nerdiest to be seen yet (even nerdier than Real Girl so heads up, everyone). Here we have our typical high-school bookworm, Koshiyama Shiki, who one day discovered the joy of... wait for it... quiz! Splash it with Anime 101 art and Beyblade-ish animation, I personally wouldn't blame anyone to not even consider touching the ... first episode. However, anime such as this is what truly inspired me to be an anime critic in first place: to shed light for the overlooked, to inspire people to re-consider.

The most impressive thing about Nana Maru San Batsu is how it presents quiz as more than entertainment anyone would see on TV. There is art behind all kinds of quiz and somehow, quiz manages to capture popular culture and historical landmarks better than the most viral social media post. Moreover, all the characters come off as unapologetic in their passion (and sometimes, obsession) for quiz. For each and every one of these outliers, it is never about buzzing the light-bulb and winning the human-size check. They become strong, wise, and self-sufficient because they are trained to embrace adrenaline, changes, and swift responses. After all, isn't that what life is all about?

Nana Maru San Batsu may not be for everyone. More often than not, otaku love anime because of their loyalty, not their taste-making ability. However, should one wish to seek a palate cleanser, this is definitely for you. A cult following wouldn't hurt anyone and in fact, you could feel like one of the elites-- the selected few who had enjoyed the exclusive pleasure that was Nana Maru San Batsu.

#felixlovesanime

I agree with the rest of the reviewers of this show that the show can be a bit lackluster in some episodes when compared to highly-rated sports anime. However, this show still has the potential to set itself apart from the rest, due to the underlying concept of the show: how do you deal with information? The world is full of information and as humans there is a limit to what we can take in and what we leave out. I like how this show tantalizingly explores how an individual's interests can influence how he or she treats the information. If the show had more ... episodes, I bet the story would be more engaging to audiences who aren't interested in quiz bowls. Specifically I would like to see more quiet moments of the characters when they are by themselves and what do they feel when they aren't among their friends or competitors. What frustrations do they face and what are their side hobbies? What, other than interest, separates them from people who aren't participating in quiz bowl? What separates the participants from each and what do they share? I want to see the subtle ways their preparedness for the quiz bowls aids in their day to day activities that lie outside participating in the quiz bowl. If this can be accomplished the story can literally go in any direction. The show can still retain its niche as a show about quiz bowls but can even go further with being a show that revolves around the intimate theme of how different people chose to deal with information in different ways depending on what it is to them. Although the show's story, art, sound and characters didn't make a lasting impression on me, I still kept watching to appreciate how close it was to be an intriguing show.

I don't know but practically, it looks like I'm diverting from popular opinion once more (like how my entire life has been)

Basically, "I liked this show" is an understatement. I am so hooked with this show I pretty much have to wait in the wee hours of Wednesdays (SE Asian Time fyi) just to get to the latest episode.

Let me start with the thing I least liked: Art (6). It was fairly decent, can tell that the budget was pretty low. Nonetheless it didn't fail to at least animate what's basic.

Character (7). I know that such characters were already a stereotype: faint-hearted main character, a ... supportive co-lead, the club president seeing more raw talent, a rival, a playful and dreadsome character, etc. Nonetheless, it was good enough. They were able to complement each other in a sense that it gave some congruence to the story.

Sound (8). I know the issues with seiyuu (voice actors) and stuff. It boils to a common denominator as anything else at first glance: budget. However, they were able to fetch some popular seiyuus into the scene, so it might not be the case. They did their job well, I would say. (Nope, I left out my seyuu ships/bias in this rating).

Story (9). Being someone who wished he lived his youth in Japan, I found myself yearning for the experience depicted in this anime. I am a big fan of general knowledge quizzes or questions. The story seems to follow yet another stereotypical turn, but nah, that's the fault in the manga. Anime is merely an adaptation. I find myself hooked with how such a newbie adjusts and adapts, bringing out what he can.

Enjoyment (10). Like what I said in the Story, I liked this anime because I am personally into general knowledge. Each episode is a bunch of suspense and fun, and each week gives me such unbearable impatience. I find myself pressing on the pause button to guess along, trying to test my knowledge.

Overall (9). The anime is titled "Nanamaru Sanbatsu" and the translation "Fastest Finger First" diverted the focus somewhere else (from the goal: "7 correct, 3 incorrect" to the basic skill each player needed) and that is crap. But that doesn't belong to this score of (9). This score is because I diminish from my attention what is not that important for me, and I focused on what made me enjoy-- what makes me watch this anime in the first place. A lot of popular titles can't even make me sustain my focus and end up feel bland, but this one stole my attention.

*Review may contain minor spoilers*

Quizzing.

Story 7/10
This anime follows more the sport genre story line, some 'loser' with no friends or real talent, joins the quiz team to fall in love with it and give it its all. However I love sport anime so I do like this kind of story telling.

art 7/10
The art isn't anything special, just your normal art style anime, stayed consistent throughout the whole anime, I liked the intro to, and the buzzer system/ how they sometimes draw what was going on.

... Sound 6/10
Opening song was good, voice acting was good except for the girl MC she has a unique voice some people like it some people dont, I am one of those people who did't like her voice at all and really disturbed me in this anime.

Character 7/10
Your typical sport anime characters, got a loser, got some one who brings the loser in the club. got a upperclassman who is way to good and some one who joins because he likes the girl, nice development though.

Enjoyment 9/10
As a fan of sport anime, and this following kinda the same path, I like quizzing and thinking also, the only reason i can't give it a 10 is because of the girl MC's voice actor sorry.

Overall 7/10
Give this one a try, it is pretty good, and can be viewed in 2 different ways, you can view it very relaxing, or u can participate in what they are doing and get really hyped up about it.

Engaging. Entertaining. Elevating.

I've had a falling out with anime over the past year. Nothing was interesting. Nothing was new. This show isn't necessarily either, but it gives a new dimension to the hackneyed shounen dynamic of an underdog undertaking a new challenge in his life as a matter of circumstance which he found he
is surprisingly apt at dealing with.

But this show isn't just finding itself going through the 12 banal steps of the hero's journey like Bleach or Naruto. Such series become trite with repetition. Powers become bigger and larger and we lose the intimacy associated with smaller scale story-telling which ends ... up having larger bearings on audiences. This is perhaps why hero stories like Fate-Zero work so well, which expresses character intent, feelings and reasoning through all their past and present experiences. As a sports anime, this show wouldn't be good if it didn't use repetition as a tool to propel itself into our interest by staying one step ahead of what we're able to keep up with. Slightly more on that later.

However, I'm not saying Nana Maru San Batsu comes close to anything of a caliber which I just described. But its niche really shines by incorporating it into an academic-decathlon style that explores the real reason of interest to watch it:
rhetoric, syntax and diction. These three things and more all lead into the way language influences our understanding of others when they communicate with us. Therefore, especially being about a quiz bowl, this show addresses how we respond to questions and interpret them. This becomes the main driver of our interest, making us reflect on what we say and how we verbally express ourselves and are consequently interpreted.

Think of the sentence "I walked into a bar with that son of a bitch." Then, stress each word in the sentence differently each time you say it to yourself. The meaning will be different each time. This show explores that nuance in speech and interpretation. As a result, the audience becomes more aware of conversational stresses in words. We become more sensitive to character speech patterns and the way they interact with each other when they communicate, or attempt to.

If you're not interested in rhetoric, language, etymology, syntax or diction, then you are going to have a bad time. An even worse time if you don't know what most of the things I just mentioned are. This show is essentially a game of words=a decathlon called a Quiz Bowl, and characters have to answer questions faster than anyone else. But it takes it to a whole nother level where things start to get a little mindfreaky, and characters have to play a guessing game of what questions might be in full if the buzzers are to be rung before they finish in full. It stays one step ahead of itself, like any good show should do. Examples: Death Note, One Outs, etc.

Please consider this anime. It's worth the time imo.