Seitokai no Ichizon

Imagine living life as the vice president of the student council, passing the days eating snacks, playing games, and bonding with a harem of beautiful girls. This is exactly the kind of life that high school student Ken Sugisaki leads, or so he thinks!

Usually, the officers of Hekiyou Academy's student council are elected by popular vote, but an additional position is granted to the student who scores the highest on the exams. Ken, who historically has had below average grades, worked hard to improve them to be accepted into the student council, with the ultimate goal of surrounding himself with girls who fawn over him.

Unfortunately for the vice president, things do not go quite as planned. Not only do the ladies of the council continually rebuff his advances, they also prefer to focus on more important and "boring" activities, such as organizing school events and managing the other clubs. But a few minor hurdles like these won't stop Ken from chasing after his dreams, even if they seem a bit ridiculous.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sugisaki, Ken Main

Kondo, Takashi Japanese

Shiina, Mafuyu Main

Horinaka, Yuki Japanese

Akaba, Chizuru Main

Saitou, Yuka Japanese

Sakurano, Kurimu Main

Honda, Mariko Japanese

Shiina, Minatsu Main

Togashi, Misuzu Japanese

Toudou, Elise Supporting

Shimizu, Ai Japanese

Toudou, Lilicia Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Magiru, Satori Supporting

Kosuge, Mami Japanese

Echo of Death Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Nakameguro, Yoshiki Supporting

Yamamoto, Kazutomi Japanese

Takechi, Tsuneo Producer

Iijima, Kouji Producer

Oomura, Keiichi Producer

Okamoto, Atsuyuki Producer

Reviews

May 8, 2024

doo78

Recommended

Anime is full of grand adventures, epic tales and profound stories. It has the ability to take you to a completely different world. Yet, sometimes I just can’t be bothered with that. Sometimes all I want is to turn my brain off and laugh at some goofy people goofing off and being stupid. Seitokai no Ichizon is the perfect anime to lay back, relax and chill out to—it’s cosy, silly and light-hearted, and, honestly, I just can’t get enough of it.

In the very first scene of the first episode, “Understanding the differences in media” is written on the whiteboard. The characters joke about how they ... can make the anime more appealing than the light novel, with some self-deprecating jokes along with it. Out of curiosity, I decided to actually investigate the differences in media by reading the first volume of the light novel. While the light novel definitely has its appeal—one that’s slightly different from the anime—I think the anime’s funnier. The ‘difference in media’ I observed was the sheer power of visual comedy, voice acting and comedic timing. The anime breathes life into the interactions by adding so much energy and liveliness that’s only really possible in an audiovisual medium. On top of that, I noticed how the plot was shifted around a bit. Rather than adapting the story one-to-one, they took bits and pieces and mixed them with others, with different contexts, to make it flow a little better. So, I have to say, the anime and light novel did help me understand the differences in media. Thanks for bringing it up, President!

One of the big reasons I decided to watch this was that it’s a 2000s anime. I realised that I hadn’t watched many older anime and wanted to broaden my horizons by branching in that direction. Now, it’s very clear from the art-style that it’s an older anime, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Older anime have a certain appeal to them that’s hard to describe. Although I’d say animation quality has improved over the years—especially in action scenes—I might prefer the character designs and style of 2000s anime. For the record, that’s not nostalgia speaking. I was a little poopy baby boy when the anime came out so I can’t say “those were the good ol’ days”. Well, peeing all around the house probably was the good old days, but that’s not the point. Despite not having experienced anime in the 2000s, there’s a particular charm to them, similar to that of a childhood summer. With the art-style and general ‘vibes’, the anime radiates that feeling and makes it so incredibly endearing.

The anime revolves around the main character, Sugisaki, and four other girls that he wants in his harem. Every episode consists of them sitting in the student council room talking, chatting, goofing off, wasting time, erm… that’s about it…? It’s as close to a sit-com you’ll get in anime (I think? I’ve never actually watched a sit-com). Slice of Life is one of my favourite genres, so I love this kind of dynamic, but I’d imagine a lot of people would be put off by this. Moreover, there really isn’t much conflict at all. Stories normally centre around conflict, so without it you’d think it would just be boring. But, slice of life seems to be the exception, for some reason. This anime is stress-free and never takes itself seriously, which is nice every now and then.

One of the funniest things about it is how self-conscious it is. It might even be the most self-conscious anime I’ve ever watched. I mean, even in the very first scene that I mentioned before, one of the characters read a review that says ‘the story’s the same and nothing goes on’, taking a dig at itself. Not only that but it’s pretty much a parody of harems. It realises how silly the idea of a harem is, so it doesn’t take it seriously at all. It’s so goofy and ridiculous that it sometimes feels like a parody of anime itself. It knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try to be anything it isn’t. Something I noticed around half-way through was that they change the lyrics to the ending each time. And each time, it’s complete gibberish. Utterly random and super silly. In episode 11, the ending is the President mouthing off about how great she is and how you must vote for her for the whole ending. Sometimes the ending has the voice actors laughing at themselves, forgetting the lyrics or singing out of sync, and they kept all of that in. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think the voice actors had a lot of fun with this anime.

Something that stands out is the references. I know Gintama is supposed to have a bunch, but I haven’t seen it yet, so this anime probably has the most I’ve seen in an anime. It mentions Naruto, Gurren Lagann (even kind of spoils it), Haruhi, Index, Fullmetal Alchemist and even freaking Metal Gear Solid. I can’t remember if it was in the anime or light novel, but one of the lines is, “Don’t speak until Hunter x Hunter is finished!”. If Sugisaki took a vow of silence and became a monk to obey that, he still wouldn’t be able to speak (please finish HxH, Togashi, I’m begging). Also, they reference the light novel’s publishing company a bunch. They go so off the rails with the references that they often have to censor themselves to avoid copyright, which, in itself, is pretty funny.
What’s more, the anime breaks the 4th wall more than any anime I’ve seen too. The first scene I described is one example of that. But throughout they constantly say how Mafuyu’s characterization is being ruined by her BL love, or how Minatsu being good at math doesn’t fit her character, or how having a meeting about what to do with student absences is too basic and wouldn’t be fun for the viewers to watch. It takes all the rules about immersion and throws them out the window for the hell of it.

Now, in terms of the actual comedy, it is hilarious. The skits and gags are utterly absurd and it never takes itself seriously. It’s fast-paced with ridiculous situations, great one-liners and goofy slapstick. It’s not necessarily adult comedy, but definitely not pee poo childish humour either. The lack of emphasis on immersion and realism allows them to do the most nonsensical and stupid things. The bread and butter of the comedy is the straight man, funny man act, where one character will say something stupid and the other will retort, addressing how little sense it made. But the characters aren’t type casted into either role—it usually changes to fit the situation. Anime usually has a ‘comfy’ type of comedy as opposed to other media, for me at least. Though Seitokai no Ichizon made me laugh out loud time and time again.

The characters themselves are quirky and hilarious. Each with their own unique qualities and flaws, such that you can simply put them in a room together and it’ll be hilarious no matter what they do. Despite lightly fitting into certain character archetypes, they each have plenty of aspects that distinguish themselves from that and make them lovable by their own merit. The anime drops us in with them already being friends, so they’re close to each other from the beginning. This lends to the comedy involving each character teasing or making fun of the others a lot of the time, which is possible because of how quirky and goofy they inherently are. It reminds me of a bunch of teenagers messing around and mouthing off to each other, which is what they actually are. But it really does capture that youthful dynamic of being so rude and horrible to each other, in a loving way. They can only do that because of how close they are.

Despite how much they tease and poke fun at each other, the anime makes it clear how much they genuinely value their friendship. They truly cherish the time they have together and the safe space they’ve created in the student council. And whenever necessary, they stand up for each other and have each other’s backs. As cheesy as it is, that’s a true friendship being portrayed.
Comedy is such a powerful tool, especially with how it can contrast seriousness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s mostly jokes—the author even said it’s “90% jokes and less than 10% serious”—but there are a few moments where it strips back the goofiness and has some thought-provoking scenes. There’s a scene where they’re in Tokyo and watch the sunset silently together, and somehow it’s really beautiful. A few scenes like that are scattered here and there, and although they’re not what stands out in the show, they’re rather impactful because of how rare they are.

It’s hard to really criticise a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I would’ve said that the interaction between the girls was lacking, but then there was an episode when Sugisaki got sick and it was just them, and they held out together great without him. I suppose it could be lacking some climactic and memorable moments, but I’m not too hung up on that.
Overall, it’s so lovable, silly, hilarious and has some great moments shining through. I’m looking forward to season 2 of this, which is hopefully just as good. 9/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 29, 2017

BriefEd

Mixed Feelings

Most animes leave the fourth wall intact, presumably because 9 of 10 times it's broken the show quality plummets and the 10th time it neither adds or detracts. The only exception in the history of everything forever that has managed to make breaking it a fun thing that adds to the enjoyment is... NOT Seitokai no Ichizon, it's Deadpool.

When a plot can be summed up with 4 girls and one guy in the same room 95% of each episode, a big temptation for the writer is to throw in references to other things and start breaking the wall that shall not be defiled with breaking, ... except by Deadpool since he defiles everything anyway. In this anime there are loads of very forced pokes at numerous other animes, maybe a slight bit fun for those who've watched those animes but for everyone else it's mostly a waste of screen time since the segments often don't even come with a good punchline. (I didn't like most references even though I've seen the other animes)

The art and sound are only just good enough to be called "good" by 2017 standards, the characters however are sort of difficult to rate. The delusional guy constantly calling the girls his harem is on one hand refreshing compared to most other harem protagonists, but on the other hand he gets stale when compared to himself since the originality ended at just defining him as a guy seriously aiming for a harem. The girls also stick to their roles really hard but it works a lot better for them.

Way back forever ago this anime was probably one of the better but by modern standards it isn't impressive. The comedy is endless hit and miss, with more missing than hitting, however if you're bored and have watched most other stuff out there you may as well watch this too.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 13, 2024

AnimeExplorer21

Not Recommended

Ugh, where do I even start with Seitokai no Ichizon? I'm still trying to figure out why I wasted 12 episodes of my life on this snooze fest. I mean, I thought the premise was cute - four adorable girls and a guy running a student council? Sounds like a fun, lighthearted watch, right? Wrong.

I remember seeing a Facebook post with a screenshot of the girls and thinking, "Aww, this looks like a sweet anime!" But oh man, was I misled. The entire series is just... nothing. No development, no plot twists, no character growth. Just a bunch of boring conversations in a student council ... room. I swear, I've seen paint dry faster than this anime's pace.

And don't even get me started on the "plot". It's literally just the five main characters sitting around talking nonsense for 24 minutes straight, episode after episode. I mean, what's the point of even having a student council if they're not going to do anything? It's like the creators thought, "Hey, let's just film some cute girls talking and call it a day!"

There's even a scene where one of the characters says, "We need to make something interesting happen in this anime so viewers can watch." Are you kidding me?! That's basically the creators admitting they have no idea what they're doing!

I'm giving Seitokai no Ichizon a solid 1/10. It's a complete waste of time, and I regret ever picking it up. If you want to know what boredom feels like, watch this anime. But honestly, don't. Go watch paint dry instead. At least that's free.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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