Animegataris

After dreaming about an anime she used to watch as a child, Minoa Asagaya could not forget a particularly memorable scene. However, despite her best efforts, she cannot recall the name of the show. Due to this, Minoa asks for help from her fellow classmates at Sakaneko High School. Her conversation is overheard by Arisu Kamiigusa, the most popular and wealthy girl in class who is also a hardcore otaku. Yet even with her vast knowledge, Arisu does not recognize the show.

After discovering that there isn't an anime club at their school, Minoa and Arisu create the Anime Research Club, as they may obtain the answer to Minoa's mystery if they gather people who share the same interest. Thus, Minoa is exposed to a bizarre new world—the world of anime!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Asagaya, Minoa Main

Hondo, Kaede Japanese

Kouenji, Miko Main

Toujou, Hisako Japanese

Musashisakai, Kai Main

Itou, Setsuo Japanese

Aoyama, Erika Main

Inami, Anju Japanese

Kamiigusa, Arisu Main

Senbongi, Sayaka Japanese

Obata, Yui Main

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Nakano, Kouki Main

Terashima, Junta Japanese

Yang, Bei Bei Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Neko-senpai Supporting

Kondou, Hironori Japanese

Asagaya, Maaya Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Aoki, Kiyomitsu Producer

Ebato, Kenji Producer

Herek, Samantha Assistant Producer

Reviews

Dec 24, 2017

Stark700

Recommended

When I decided to watch Animegataris, the first thoughts in my head were if this show is actually about anime itself or something more. To be precise, Animegataris is essentially what I envision as a series about anime stories. It makes sense given the title by context and not to mention, this show seems to adapt such a formulaic story by expectations. However, the show turned out to be a bit more than what I had bargained for but in the end is quite a thrill ride.

To be honest, watching Animegataris felt like it was targeted to a specific demographic. At first, I wasn’t really ... sure if I was part of that category. The show itself takes on the world of anime and rather than using it as a theme, it tells stories through them. It’s super self-aware as every episode makes references and alludes to pop culture. For me, it didn’t take long to realize that Animegataris wanted the viewers to experience what anime is really about. And it all begins with the “anime research club”.

Taking place at Sakaneko Private High School, the club members essentially all shares their love for anime. Despite their different opinions, they all share a general fundamental view that anime is a form of enthralling entertainment. Minoa Asagaya, a new student is invited to this club by one of their members, Arisu Kamiigusa. It doesn’t take long for her to get hooked into anime. She gets enlightened by the very ideas of anime after participating in some of their activities, getting involved with their conversations, and accepting anime for what it is. To me, this show satires anime as a form of art. It makes many references from some of the most popular works of recent years. (ex. Re:Zero, Girls und Panzer, Boku Hero no Academia) It aims at anime fans in general with its ideas. As the story progresses, the anime research club encounters oppositions, most prominently, the student council. Absurdly powerful and reluctant, they enforce their own principles and practically go to war with them. It adds drama to the show, something that’s actually needed considering how plotless the series feels at times. Other times, the series’ plot focuses more on the adventures of the club such as going on to anime conventions and cosplay events.

As a show that satires anime, you should definitely expect a diverse circle of characters. Indeed, every character from the anime research club stands out in some way through their persona. We have the oujo-sama Arisu Kamiigusa, light novel enthusiast Miko Koenji, the athletic Yui Obata, delusional Kai Musashisakai, idol fanatic Kouki Nakano, and the club president Erika Aoyama. All of them shares a love anime although each member also shares a love for a particular type. For instance, Erika loves magical girl shows. Kai has a chuunibyou-like obsession with action characters/superheroes. Kouki has a love for idols while Miko is inspired to become a light novelist someday. The point the show is trying to get across is that all these characters embraces the anime culture and hope to share their vision to others. For Minoa, she starts off as a newbie but learns from the club. Each episode shows her knowledge growth about anime and she even begins to make friends outside the club. As a show with a colorful cast, their personalities indeed are also take notice. From the very few episodes, it’s shown that each of them are distinctive. The character chemistry and bond between them is meaningful as well. For instance, they all unite together against the council when they seek to abolish the club. They uphold their values and doesn’t back down. Even at desperate times, the club makes the best with what they have and love. To me, that’s inspirational.

By the time you go through a few episodes, I think it’ll become obvious that a majority of the show appeals to comedy. I already said that this show is very self-aware and makes references to anime culture. However at times, it also deconstructs the very aspect of anime such as breaking the fourth wall completely. It gives a sense of surreal feel that I haven’t seen done much in recent years. The amount of cosplay and delusional moments also makes an impact through the characters’ roles. (I’m looking at you Kai) The dialogues consists a lot of casual talk that blends between anime culture and everyday language. It’s very easy to get into even despite how deep it gets at times. There’s also a character (Neko-sensei) that brings a supernatural-like side to the show that is strangely addictive to watch. However, I will say that this show isn’t designed for anyone. The general audience may accept the show for what it has its offer but it won’t surprise me if someone finds the series to be particularly dull. There’s an abundance amount of repetitive jokes, some that I find to be absurdly amusing while others come off as dry. (Personally, I think the yaoi-jokes is way overused as an attraction) For the story itself, the show jumps between various styles often from slice of life adventures to dramatic ideal clashes. Hell, the final few episodes of this show can really surprise viewers at the direction it decides to take.

Adapted by Wao World, I was cautiously optimistic about this work. The raw visual quality of the show isn’t impressive as characters and setting looks average at best. The studio itself doesn’t have an impressive resume either so my expectations weren’t high. However, looking beyond the raw visual quality gave me a different impression. To me, this show even parodies its art style through actual storytelling. The deformed faces and cartoony character designs in specific episodes are done intentionally as a way to deconstruct anime tropes. Hell, even the OP song makes fun of the colorful art style with running gags of certain characters, especially Yui. Cosplay in the show alludes to characters’ persona to match their interest. For fan service, this is again usually portrayed more as a parody rather than shock value. Yui is the guiltiest example because of her athletic body but the rest of the female cast isn’t too far off either; specifically Erika and even Minoa at times. Character facial expressions and body languages are also noticeable for their running gags. I lost count how many times I had to laugh at Kai for his antics.

For a show as lighthearted as Animegataris, it has some surprisingly catchy music. Both the OP and ED theme songs are highly decorated with the usual gages from the show itself. It also feels like there are influences to the show’s OST. Some tracks sounds similar such as those from the show, Haruhi Suzumiya. Character voice mannerism definitely delivered in particular for characters such as Kai and Neko-sensei. I can’t say this enough but the voices of the characters in this show always sound alive and attracts attention.

As a show that was based on the original Anime-Gatari, this anime stepped up to the plate with its themes, style, and humor. I wasn’t sold on what it had to offer at first but after giving it a chance, it quickly won me over. It’s strangely addictive watching the everyday lifestyles of the anime research club. Every character stood out in some way from this show that I came to enjoy watching. While the story isn’t written well at times, it still stays honest with its general premise and genres. As an anime fan who has been watching anime for years, I feel serviced.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 1, 2018

Lyfa

Mixed Feelings

Animegataris is an unique anime, that was different from other anime. The first thing that you'll notice is the title, this anime has the word "anime" in it's title as well. Animegataris means "Anime Talking". From this title you can already indicate that this anime is an anime that talks about anime. This is exactly what is is as well. The story is set in an animeclub in a highschool, this club will do all kind of anime related activities like: watching anime, cosplaying, visiting conventions etc. Most of us animefans will totally love the idea of making an anime about being an animefan and ... this is also why this anime has been this well received for a while, I write for a while because after a certain episode the animequality all of a sudden goes down.

As mentioned earlier in the review, Animegataris is an anime about anime. You will often see references of existing anime coming forth disguisted as an alternate title (they can't really use the real names because that's not allowed).

When stepping in the first episode you will notice an interesting story unfolding already, a girl that is no animefan is entering the world of anime because she's curious about something she's seen as a child. You see like this how easy it is to influence a person, this is something that happens in real life often as well, it's like the saying "Monkey see, monkey do". The characters itself are pretty standard, you have the somewhat clumsy and clueless maincharacter, the rich lady character, the quiet girl character, the energetic girl character, the crazy male character and the "bishounen" male character. Not even one of their personalities is unique and as the story proceeds, only the clumsy and clueless maincharacter has a bit of character development. A major disappoint if you ask me.

After a while the anime goes down though. I'm not gonna write when exactly because I'm not gonna spoil it, however at some point it's strongly hinted that this anime was only created so well at first so it wouldn't get canceled for it's crazy ending. This is strongly hinted by the characters talking about anime being canceled after their first episode, and they said "I hope we're not being canceled at episode .. ourselfs". And trust me when I say, they would totally have been canceled if they would have pulled that crap from episode 1 on. Not only did the ending totally ruin the anime, it was confusing, it was a lackluster, it was random, and totally crazy. While watching it one's only reaction definitly has to be "What the bloody hell am I watching?...". This is sad though, because the anime did so well at first and then did this, it's as if the creators couldn't care less.

In the end I gave this anime overall a 5. Animegataris is a fun anime to watch, especially because of the anime theme in it, however do not expect a solid ending that's enjoyable to watch. The good thing though is that the "fun" stuff to watch is way longer then the crap they added towards it later, with that being said, it's still worth watching.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 20, 2018

blaice

Not Recommended

If I could say anything that seems to sum up my final thoughts, it is merely this—full of itself. The anime is like a stuck up piece of trash that sees itself as something greater than it is. All this show is, is one shitty attempted plot-twist after another. They even throw in a little pathetic attempt at "love?" and draw it out for a couple episodes, for no real reason. That also sums up this show to a tee—no reasoning. Everything that happens in this show is merely a convoluted fucking mess and the last two or three episodes ... really, really epitomize this.

Funny enough, even when they were droning on about the three episode cut in the third episode, I thought that this show may have potential and maybe the poor reviews were undeserved. Goddamn was I wrong. This shit is a travesty and a blatant try hard at being more complex and meta than it actually is. Know how to guarantee you have found yourself a conceited piece of shit anime? They use the word meta in the actual dialogue....

Everything about this anime is amplified garbage in the fact that the series starts reasonably enough and slowly devolves into an unfathomable nightmare full of cringe worthy attempts at humor, plot, and "meta" worthy anime.... Each time I thought the score I had given was low enough, I thought more about it, and had to make it lower. In fact, from the beginning of the last episode until its end, I went from a 5 to a 3.

Shitty convoluted, try-hard story; bad parody attempts; whiny terrible dub voice acting; and so much more makes the thought of watching this anime ever again make me feel nauseated.

Animegataris is like an affliction you hope to distance yourself from the second you finish it—if you can manage to do so.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Animegataris Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Oct 8, 2017	98 replies	by Alkimia »» Yesterday, 5:55 AM
	Poll: Animegataris Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Nov 19, 2017	55 replies	by Joshua_33 »» Aug 21, 11:38 PM
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