Kaichuu!

This basically sums it up: It's a TRAP! XD

Joking aside, this anime is one of those sexually awkward types. And no, I'm not talking about the ecchi kind. The premise is supposedly about archery but that is quickly overshadowed by the fact that the cute looking girl you see in the picture is actually a cross-dressing boy who falls for another boy.

If you can get past all that (which I doubt, especially if you are a straight guy) and focus on the story, the plot in the anime is pretty straight-forward. You get the idealistic boy striving to be the best, the "damsel" who ... has feelings for said boy, and the generic ugly bad guy who gets pissed off by the idealistic boy and plots a sinister plan. The story really doesn't win points for originality despite it being the few, if not ONLY, Archery based animes around.

About the technical side, involving graphics, voice actors and the like. The general impression I get is mediocre. Nothing too special. Isn't bad, but isn't good either.

All in all, there really isn't anything new this anime gives us, so you can watch it if you want but you won't be missing anything if you don't. And if sexually awkward animes aren't your thing, then steer clear.

Kaichuu, what to say about it. It's short, it's cliched, it's nearly without any actual sort of plot, but hell I enjoyed it anyway. For the few minutes it took to watch this I was pretty entertained.

Story:
As far as the story goes there really isn't much to say. The length allows no room for any sort of actually engaging story. It is basically just there to fascilitate the jokes and as an excuse to have a cute guy in a skirt. They try and set up the story with an opening bit of narration talking about some archery prodigy who disappeared from the archery world. ... The story has no room to form, but they don't try to shove a story in our faces, which is in the end a good thing considering what this is. 6/10

Art:
As I happened upon the page for this I wasn't expecting much after seeing the length. I was expecting flash art, long still shots and disproportionate characters, but I was pleasently surprised. The characters actually look good, Sasaki is appropriately adorable and the animation is decently fluid. For what it is the art is pretty good. 8/10

Sound:
Once again, as I was with the art, I was caught off guard by the seiyuu. They brought a proper sort of proffesionalism to their respective roles, playing them rather well. Not once did I cringe at a badly delivered line or laugh at a horribly over the top exclamation, because they weren't there. The music was highly forgettable, but it served its' purpose well enough. My biggest issue with the sound was Sasaki's seiyuu. I understand he's a trap, that he wishes to be a girl, that he's as cute as a button, but none of that means that you will sound more like a girl than most girls do. Just a little tinge of masculinity would have helped establish the character as truly male rather than a girl who is just said to be a boy. 7/10

Character:
Seeing as there are really only three characters, there really isn't much to go on. Due to the short length the characters have no room to grow, there is really not much depth to them so they just kind of embody certain stereotypes so the jokes can be made. The high point of the charcters would have to be the main character, Tachikawa. He isn't a very good archer, but he has a passion for it and hopes to one day teach archery because of a promise he made to his grandfather. Simple backstory, but it actually provides a slight depth to his character that makes him at least likeable and relatable. Sasaki, the trap of the story is just a walking punchline. He provides the setup for tranny jokes and misunderstandings. Even with the realization at the end he still seems shallow although being quite cute. He serves the story well enough though which seems to be how most aspects of this ONA are like the villain of the story as well. There is nothing to say about him as he is even more shallow of a character than Sasaki. He is the jerk that gets his dues in the end. 5/10

Now despite the lack of depth for two out of three characters, the miscasting of one of the seiyuu, the complete void of any truly compelling story this ONA is actually pretty good. It took me a total of seven minutes to watch and and to be honest I was entertained for seven minutes. It's short, it's amusing and it has a cute boy in a skirt so what more could you ask for.When the manga it is based on reaches a substantial length, I hope that they release a true anime for it. Sasaki is a trap I'd be willing to fall into again. So if you have a few minutes to waste you wouldn't lose anything watching this. It's purely light fun that will keep you entertained. Really, what have you got to lose? 7/10

PROLOGUE
This series is filled with archery references but is not a serious sports anime. Although it promotes the ideals of sporting, it is in fact a lot more about a sexually awkward / gender confused pretty girl, running around in a revealing uniform. It has a lot of coming-of-age social drama in it but it never gets too serious. It has a story, which like in all sport series is simple and ends with someone getting their hopes shattered. And it is a story where everything is possible if you want it really bad. Training in order to get better has nothing to do with ... increasing the chances for victory.

ART SECTION: 10 [Pretty chicks in uniforms.]
The animation is average at best. The backgrounds are not very detailed. Characters share not only the same type of uniform but also the same kind of body type. Another case of having their hairstyle as the only way to tell who is who. In one scene they didn't even bother coloring everyone in, leaving them all blank. Motion fluidity is actually very good, as there was a lot of detail given to body movements during the archery club meetings. Even the visual effects are nice, without becoming great. There is of course plenty of fanservice for archery fanatics (don't get your yugake's dirty).

SOUND SECTION: 10 [Neat music, secured of themselves voices.]
Music themes are very atmospheric and generally manage to excite you during the few minutes they are playing. Voice acting was average but with strenght and appropriate tone for such a show. Trying to give accent to some of them was a nice touch. Sound effects are as neay as the visual effects. As for the dialogues… Well, how should I put it? The characters talk all the time about becoming better, transcending gender barriors, feeling the beauty of "the shot," over-bearing coaches, friendship, world peace, blah, blah, blah… All sports anime share this idealistic pile of stupidity and Kaichu is no exception.

STORY SECTION: 10 [Simple girl(boy?), simple story.]
As in all sports anime, it is the story of a rookie, trying to become the best through hardships and by experiencing lots of resistance to the person she is on the inside. Of course, some may see only an excuse for new transfer students and awkward sexual situations. The first episode alone is in fact a documentary about a genious archer and his mysterious dissappearence. The show really managed to convince me into accepting the premise of transgender atheletes as viable competitors; something I generally dislike. But there is no real progress in the story as an archer can't shoot arrows without a bow. There is no realism in it; just pretty girl chasing a guy she has no chance with. The plot is simple and generally predictable; yet the entire first episode could be missed if you get up to use the restroom (so make sure you go before you start watching). The ending is also simple but very sad and leaves you with a good final impression of the series; that all good things come to an end.

CHARACTER SECTION: 10 [Reverse harem/trap material.]
The characters have little depth in their personalities but are generally appealing. The leading girl has to live up to her desire to truly be a women on the inside and outside while attempting to seduce the man who knows her secret. In fact there isn't anyone at the school that is actually unaware of her real gender. The boy just wishes to surpass his grandfather so he can be worthy to pass on the Eishin style. Plus, all that sexual awkwardness keeps you interested in them.

OVERALL & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 10 [Don’t put your money on it.]
It was funny, sad, inspiring and sexual in the same time. It was short and with concrete plot. It even left a nice last impression. It wasn’t great in any way but it can easily be rewatched after some years as a simply nice mini episode about an idealistic girl and her awkward situations.

VERDICT
You could've watched the entire episode for yourself by now.

SUGGESTION LIST
Full Metal Alchemist, the story is longer but the main character is also short.

If you have ever asked yourself, "I want to experience as many anime tropes as possible within the span of one episode of anime". Thats an oddly specific want, but this anime will fill your needs.

The story:
There sure is a story. A "Crossdresser" transfers to a new school and falls in love with a boy. Why does this happen? Because its anime. They also do archery against the bad guy in the show (This is only 2 episodes of the anime). Most of the show is about a "Crossdresser" flirting with a boy. However, this is broken up with ecchi jokes. Rest of the jokes ... are just crossdressing jokes. It is the punchline for all, if not, most of the jokes. Even the ecchi jokes relate back to crossdressing 99/100 times. This anime only has 20ish minutes of runtime and oh boy. Do they try to fit every anime situation and trope within the time. These tropes range from romcom to battle shounen anime. If you blink, the story will be on the next trope.

The sound:
There sure is sound in this anime. Do I remember anything specifically? No, but music did played.

The anime/animation
It was pretty decent at times. It felt like I was watching a mid-2000's anime. The animation is mostly on par with other shows around this time period. Think slice of life sections from early Naruto

Should you watch it? Its 20 minutes. You wouldn't be lossing too much time to watch it. However, just be mentally prepared to watch mid the anime. If you are as chronically online as me, you can pretend the whole anime is Post/Meta-ironic. This brings the show up from a 5/10 to a 9/10. This is also the only reason why I watched this anime all the way through.

Yea, this is a really short series that somewhat funny but at the same time makes you kind of sit there wondering WTF Mate. Characters are not well developed for a reason (2 episodes 4 min each) and the main character makes me a bit off balance. Regardless if you have 10 min to spare watch it but do not be expecting much. There is archery but that didn't add any masculinity to the anime at all. For starting out people looking for an anime to watch, don't watch this, for people who love anime and love to claw their eyes out, ... watch it.

Until next time.