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

Aijima, Gouta Producer

Suzuki, Toshihiro 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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Feb 6, 2019

ktulu007

Not Recommended

Grand Blue is a Zero-G comedic anime from last year. I can't speak to the quality of their work in general since I only found thirteen titles listed for them and haven't seen any of them. It's based off of a manga by Inoue Kenji. Well, I like a lot of slice of life comedies so this may be relevant to my interests. Let's take a look. 

Story:

Our protagonist is Kitahara Iori. A young man who moves into his Uncle's place while attending college. Once there, he's immediately marked by the diving club, which is made up largely of drunken morons who can't keep their clothes on. ... They coerce him into joining, sensing a kindred spirit. The series basically covers Iori's exploits and club activities. 

Let's start with the massive, gaping issue with the series. It isn't funny. For the vast majority of it, we just watch these drunken idiots act like drunken idiots. It's like watching that group you always avoided at University very closely and that's just annoying. There's a reason you avoid the intellectual shrimps who just want to party in a loud, obnoxious fashion. Another thing the series seems to find absolutely hilarious is giving the characters stupid looking, exaggerated features. Which kind of contributes to the generally annoying atmosphere. Then we have the humour that centers around Nanaka wanting to sex up her sister. It's like the worst part of Yuru Yuri, except the rest of the humour is on par with it. 

Actually, any time this series touches on the idea of romance it's horrible in some way. Whether it's Iori getting caught being pervy towards one of his cousins, the aforementioned sister complex, the group of incels or the bisexual fan-service girl. 

Characters:

Another big problem with the series as a whole is that the characters are all horrible. You pretty much hate 95% of them within minutes of them showing up and they don't even have the defence of being well written characters. They're very shallow. Unfortunately, they're shallow in a way that makes them incredibly unbearable. 

Now, I'm not saying you need characters who are amicable for a comedy to work. The BBC's Black Adder serves as proof positive that you can have characters who are terrible people in a comedy and make it work really well. But that series has the benefit of clever writing and the writers made the titular character a charming rogue in every series save one. That factor, coupled with the cunning behind his actions does make him both interesting and funny. This series doesn't have any cleverness or charm to speak of. Which just makes the awful characters a slog to deal with. 

Art:

This is the one element where I can give the series some credit. The underwater scenes where we don't have insipid dialogue, shite facial expressions or any garbage character interactions to deal with can look very nice. If this series were just the seven or eight minutes of underwater scenery, I could enjoy it somewhat. 

Of course, it does have issues with really stupid looking facial expressions popping up constantly and the characters randomly taking off their clothes because Inoue apparently finds nudity to be the funniest thing of all time. 

Sound:

While Grand Blue does have some talented voice actors, it's also one of those series where they aren't allowed to have good performances. The dialogue is so over-exaggerated and the characters are so devoid of anything resembling complexity that it becomes nearly as annoying to listen to as it is to watch. The music is, at least, only sub-par. 

Ho-yay:

We have Nanaka with her romantic feelings towards her own sister. We also have Azusa, who is openly bisexual. The series also loves to make jokes in poor taste about people mistaking Iori for having romantic feelings towards his otaku friend. 

Areas of Improvement:

Having clever jokes instead of loud, obnoxious unfunny ones. 
There is literally no benefit to the nudity, just have your characters keep their clothes on. 
Just say no to the incest. At best, it's cringey and mildly unpleasant. At worst, it's fecking terrible. 

Final Thoughts:

This is easily among the worst comedies I've ever seen. It tries to force humour out of being loud and obnoxious but, ultimately, all that does is make it loud and obnoxious. You hate the characters pretty much within minutes of them showing up. The actors are wasted since you could just replace their lines with a crying baby and it would only be mildly more annoying. Ultimately, it's just an unpleasant, horribly written and devoid of humour work. I'm giving it a 2/10 and it only gets that high of a score because of the nice underwater scenery. If you really find drunken idiots charming, it may be the series for you. Otherwise, I'd suggest staying away from it. 

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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