Reviews

Studio Gainax, before this production, was one of the biggest names in anime history. With such works as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, FLCL, Nadia, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, and Panty and Stocking, you would think they would stick around forever, but that ride to fame would be short lived. Some members who made Gurren Lagann would go on to form Studio Trigger (Inferno Cop, Kill la Kill) and some would follow Hideaki Anno and form Studio Khara (Evangelion Rebuild). While Gainax still picks up the pieces of what they used to be, they came out with a show called Stella Women's Academy Class C3-Bu, and while this show would seem to be cute girls doing cute things, that is simply not the case.

We follow new girl Yura Yamato as she transfers into an all girls school (go figure) and finds out that her roomate is Sonora Kashima, leader of the airsoft club at the school. While it takes some convincing, Yura joins the airsoft club and finds her place in the circle, the circle of airsoft pistols and rockets. Soon, Yura finds herself wanting more than just people to shoot so she trains harder and harder as she wants to be the very best that no one ever was. She then realizes that while her intentions are good, she takes the game too seriously according to her teammates and soon it comes to the point to where she loses not only her sanity, but her place in the circle of friendship.

Overall, this series was a surprise. It certainly takes a dark turn in some places, and while it CLEARLY WASN'T REFERENCING STAR WARS EPISODE III FOR 3 EPISODES STRAIGHT, it was a good show and a sign that maybe Gainax is not dead after all. The characters are enjoyable, the story certainly turns away from the average "cute girls eating cake and drinking tea (I have no bad feelings about K-ON, I loved that show)", and yes, there's even a couple of GAINAX ENDING clues along the way. If you like cute girls shooting cute girls, this is for you.

Jebus gives Stella Women's Academy Class C3-Bu: 4 YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE's out of 5.