I've actually been reading the 4-koma for a while now, so I knew what I was expecting. For those who aren't familiar with this anime being thrown around for what it's known for, SYD is fundamentally what you would imagine if adult humor had its own consciousness and manifested into a TV series. Double entendres and deadpan humor come from all sides of this show, and you will barely get a break. Of course, this means that this is definitely not suitable for kids. Don't let them watch this show.
So how does SYD fare in comparison to the sea of lewd that is ecchi and hentai lurking from Japan's questionable fetishes? Well, it's a surprise because this anime is not ecchi AT ALL. What SYD pulls off uniquely is its ability to be a innuendo-filled show without relying too much on visual, gratuitous display of female body parts. Heck, even the fanservice scenes are barely anything of service.
The main cast of characters contains the Student Council that serve as archetypes of typical Japanese comedy, which shouldn't be a surprise as 4-komas generally have that setup. The role of straight-man or tsukkomi is often given to Takatoshi Tsuda, the main character and vice president, and Suzu Hagimura, the council's resident genius and shorty. Meanwhile, the role of the funny man or the boke is presented through Shino Amakusa, the president and Aria Shichijou, Shino's best friend, co-pervert and secretary. While nothing can be much said about their characters as they're only often devices to set up the jokes, their differences with each other and with the supporting cast help make the comedy of the show consistent all throughout. Also, there's a little bit of characterization for Shino, who is my favorite of the cast (because black haired girl bias).
Despite the comedy being consistent at most, it never reaches a level of being genuinely funny—a few jokes here and there will make you grin, but nothing more. This becomes a problem as the show goes on, as its starting ground was barely above average to begin with. Don't get me wrong, I find sex jokes hilarious, but SYD suffers from being commonly executed in the same manner but with a different punchline. The jokes being animated from the manga were a plus, but it seems to fare in an underwhelming way on both mediums. However, since comedy is subjective, some may find it funnier than I did.
One difference I did like from the anime was its inclusion of a subplot, and the show seems to hint more on Shino and Tsuda's relationship undertones farther than its source material. They also included several original content that made me remember the earlier chapters in a refreshing way. Though the studio could have stopped there, they felt the NEED to add in more scenes to fit the runtime, and that's where I was sorely disappointed. These segments that have nothing to do with the plot or the characters suddenly appear for an unnecessarily extended amount of time, and it waters down the excitement to keep watching.
The biggest let-down was the final episode, which works as a parody of the series itself and the fourth wall monster let hell loose and everyone became so self-aware that this was an anime. As a matter of fact, I love fourth wall humor, but not when it's overused to the point that it's just a copout to extend past the 20-minute mark.
There's so much more SYD's first season could have done, like build on the existing character relationships past the comedy vibe (if they were going to add in subplots, why not do it all the way?) or add in more content from the manga so as not to rely on half-assed segments that should belong in another anime. SYD's forte is sex jokes, and it still pulls it off much better than any anime similar to it. Even if it wasn't as good as a comedy, it was still enjoyable to some extent. I wouldn't recommend this show to anyone, though, and that's not just for its NSFW content.
But hey, maybe the OVAs and the second season is better. Just not for this one.
