Grand Blue

Iori Kitahara moves to the coastal town of Izu for his freshman year at its university, taking residence above Grand Blue, his uncle's scuba diving shop. Iori has high hopes and dreams about having the ideal college experience, but when he enters the shop he is sucked into the alcoholic activities of the carefree members of the Diving Club who frequent the place. Persuaded by upperclassmen Shinji Tokita and Ryuujirou Kotobuki, Iori reluctantly joins their bizarre party. His cousin Chisa Kotegawa later walks in and catches him in the act, earning Iori her utter disdain.

Based on Kenji Inoue and Kimitake Yoshioka's popular comedy manga, Grand Blue follows Iori's misadventures with his eccentric new friends as he strives to realize his ideal college dream, while also learning how to scuba dive.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kitahara, Iori Main

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Kotegawa, Chisa Main

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Imamura, Kouhei Main

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Yoshiwara, Aina Main

Asumi, Kana Japanese

Hamaoka, Azusa Supporting

Yukinari, Toa Japanese

Tokita, Shinji Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Kotegawa, Nanaka Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Kotobuki, Ryuujirou Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Oohashi, Rie Supporting

Yamakita, Saki Japanese

Mitarai, Yuu Supporting

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Maeda, Toshihiro Producer

Furukawa, Shin Producer

Suzuki, Toshihiro Producer

Matsumura, Kazuto Producer

Reviews

Sep 28, 2018

Stark700

Recommended

College life is a bit different from high school. For those who don’t know, it’s like venturing into a society where some people live by the rules and others makes them. To me, Grand Blue came as a show that explored a carefree life while mixing in adult humor, diving elements, and drinking shenanigans. It’s one of those shows that is hard to not laugh your ass off once you realized what you’re in for.

Based on the manga written by Kenji Inoue, Grand Blue stands out more as a modern slice of life that adheres to a young adult cultural society. Here, we meet a ... guy named Iori Kithara who starts his new life as a college student on the Izu Peninsula. His place of residence happens to be a diving shop known as “Grand Blue” and thus where daily life adventure begins. Now, I should say right off the bat that a show like this relies on stereotypical humor with plenty of jokes in between. If you’re not ready for that, just turn back now.

Grand Blue’s storytelling mainly chronicles the daily life adventures of Iori although plenty of other characters are featured aside him. The main cast consists of diving club, also known as the “Peek-a-Boo”. He meets others including his cousin Chisa, Nanaka, Kouhei, Azusa, Toshio, and Kotobuki. Among this group, the male cast seems more like they are in love with drinking more than diving. The first episode immediately sets off the humor with the nakedness and adult jokes from the very start as we meet the core members. That is to say, Iori himself also lacks common sense when he attends his first day at college while being half naked. Judging from just this impression, it should be easy to recognize that the show love to make fun of its characters. It uses stereotypes that makes fun of college life such as young adults drinking and partying. Then, there’s meta-humor that plays on jokes with the nudity. It’s also self-aware being that it never attempts to disguise its humor. Certain characters are very aware of their actions regardless of consequences and this often sets off the wrath of others such as Chisa.

For the main female cast, it consists of a colorful group with a diverse range of personalities. The most level-headed person in the show is Chisa who takes many things in life seriously. She also loves diving and geniuely enjoys the feelings of being in the azure ocean. She’s like the anti-Peek-a-boo member in the show as she can’t tolerate being embarrassed. Because of this, there’s often a clash between her and Iori as the two gets into compromising positions. The end result is often Iori taking the blow and Chisa face palming herself. However, it’s also noticeable that she does care about Iori especially during brief flashbacks before them. Often times, I guess you could say that she misses her childhood with him and reliving those moments brings a peace in her mind. Then, we have Nanaka who seems to play the role of an older sister type for the main cast although at the same time, she also has an unhealthy infatuation towards Chisa. It’s the type of humor that makes fun of siblings but in a sarcastic way. Azusa is the senior student who behaves much more like the guys in the show. Her bisexuality is hinted at many times and often makes sexual jokes at others, especially Iori. Last but not least is Aina, a freshman who is much shyer compared to the others. She does go by another persona early in the series so watching her sometimes may remind you just how different her two personalities are.

Between the guys, a main selling point in the show is the character chemistry. Regardless whether you like it or not, there’s an abundance amount of humor when the guys interact with each other and it often comes off as absurd humor. The most prominent is between Iori and Kouhei. They are often observant but says things that may be interpreted in the wrong way. They often get into trouble with the women in the show too given their actions that disregards common sense. The two also gets into many bickering moments. Early in the series, the series also makes fun of the guys with porn jokes. And let’s not forget about the drinking. Pretty every male character in the series loves to drink whether it’s alcohol, beer, vodka, wine, or whiskey. As you may expect from action that results in consequences, the guys behave like drunks while stripping naked and causing questionable scenes. The series pokes fun at this type of adult humor by covering their private body parts with black censored circles. It’s the type of self-aware humor that you’ll witness quite often.

So now what? Is this series just a giant ball of meaningless humor? Or is it something more deceptive that people misunderstands? To me, Grand Blue stands out as a show that deals with adult gimmicks and stereotypes but makes it into a humorous flick. It seems like a popcorn entertainment and you’re not wrong if it feels like the story went nowhere in the end. However, the shows knows how it operates and inserts every joke with a clear intention. The guys in the series acts bold and behaves in ways that wild college students do. The girls are slightly mild but it doesn’t detract them from getting into the party on occasions. There’s a lot of running gags with the drinking jokes, nakedness, and misunderstandings. It’s what the series uses to sell its humor. If you’re in it for actual diving, there are some moments too with info dumps. Don’t expect this like a relaxing slice of life as it’s far too hyperactive to be considered as such though. Watch this for the pure entertainment and forget common logic. That way, you’ll grow to love Grand Blue.

Zero-G has honestly been an unimpressive studio. Their lineup consists of shows that I hardly see anyone talks about these days (Battery, Dorei-kun the Animation, Dive!!). Their production quality is hardly stellar either. Thankfully, they managed to step up to the plate and capture the magic for this show. It deserved a glorious quality and got treated such way with the beach setting, aquatic ocean, and sunny atmosphere. Character designs also feels real with the cast looking like they are college students (although Aina sometimes makes me question this) Fan service is literally in every episode but they take the extreme during party scenes and drinking segments. Finally, I love the way characters reacts that pushes the envelope to the extreme. Iori and Kouhei are prime examples of this while others such as Chisa and Nanaka also have their own moments. Expressions of shock, anger, and confusion is shown right to your face in ridiculous ways. Thanks to the talented voice cast, it brings the best out of those moments. The OP song also adapts a playful feel to showcase the themes of the show. The ED theme song makes fun of pop culture such as karaoke that’s so fun to sing along with.

As a fan of the manga, I think Grand Blue established itself as a self-aware humorous showstopper. Taking the risk of glorifying its humor made this show look like a joke at first glance. However, once you get sucked into Grand Blue’s themes, you’ll find love with this show. From the adult humor to the numerous character gags, it’s an anime that plays with itself. It’s a Summer sensation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 4, 2021

KyleRiley

Mixed Feelings

This is a short review.

So a lot of people said this was one of the, if not the, most hilarious anime out there. I will sadly have to disagree, but that's mostly a personal thing as I don't find a lot of the humour in Grand Blue particularly hilarious. Some of it is funny, and after episode 5 or so I actually started to like the show more but regrettably I cannot say it tops my list of comedies.

My issues with Grand Blue are the repetitiveness of the jokes and the general tone of the show. I'm not a young man (I'm over 30) who ... likes to drink or lust after women so I don't connect to the humour a lot of the time, and constant miscommunication is a big pet peeve of mine. I did not hate the show (well, I hated the first episode but it got better) but I wouldn't say I found it overly hilarious either. I did laugh a few times, mostly when the jokes were more akin to the style of humour found in Asobi Asobase, but overall I was more interested in the more serious, slower moments of the show. The diving was very interesting. I felt like the characters were pretty well written, the underwater scenes were gorgeous, and the voice acting was pretty great overall.

I had a habit of constantly comparing Grand Blue to Asobi Asobase, which may have been a mistake. I found Asobi Asobase utterly hilarious so when I saw Grand Blue shared similar characteristics (an anime that doesn't advertise how wacky it is, the ridiculous faces, the absurd humour, etc.) I instantly expecting something somewhat similar. Grand Blue is obviously targeted toward a different audience, and that is clear since 99% of the jokes in Grand Blue are either sex, alcohol, or dick related. I found Asobi Asobase more varied in its humour, and far more snappy. Grand Blue was fine and all but just not to my taste.

The abundance of male nudity was nice though.

6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 28, 2018

Nurguburu

Not Recommended

This is one of the most boring and unfunny shows that I've ever seen in my life.

Our main character moves into his uncle's diving shop, Grand Blue where he met almost all of the cast. I expected to find creative jokes and interesting characters but I was very disappointed.

The show barely try doing something new and becomes repetitive easily. The predominant jokes are: naked guys drinking, Kouhei and Iori fighting, forced misunderstanding and, to a lesser extent, Iori's friends harassing fellow virgin friends. I don't have any problems with this type of jokes (except the last one) but they are introduced so ... many times in a short time. Honestly, it's a little annoying. The worst part is that the show almost never try to have a cohesive pacing with the jokes.

The characters didn't help either. Along with the 95% of the jokes, they are generic and one-dimensional. Most of the girls (Azusa and Nanaka) are just fanservice figures while that the guys only exist for the sake of the naked joke (Shinji and Ryuujirou). The rest of them are more independent of the generic jokes but they're eclipsed by them. Chisa is a generic angry girl/cousin, Kouhei is the self-insert character, Iori changes his personality depending of the joke, and Aina, despite that falls in the category of shy girl, have some personality and she's the only decent character in the entire show.

The story is quite simple and linear. Is easy to follow.

Surprisingly, Grand Blue has good moments about diving that were well handled by the studio but they barely appear and with the unfunny jokes in the middle is hardly enjoyable.

The animation is mostly good and the opening is amazing. On the other hand, OST is forgettable.

Some people are saying that the manga is better but, here, I'm just talking about the anime version. I never understood why Grand Blue receives so much admiration. Basically, I was bored to death. If you are looking for a very good comedy, I recommend you to watch Asobi Asobase.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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