Ben-To

Times are hard, and in these days of global economic crisis and recession more and more people have joined the hunt to find the best bargains. As with anything in life though, experience is what counts, and veterans in the ways of saving money will usually have the upper hand in the war of the aisles. While there are a few young hotshots who have a natural talent for finding a store's bargain products, the truth is that wherever there are discounted groceries, there will undoubtedly be kings and queens who rule over them. Now it may sound as though that whole paragraph is nothing morethan a flowery representation of Ben-Tou, Asuara's light novel series (and its anime and manga adaptations), about Satou You, a highschool student who unwittingly becomes embroiled in an all-out brawl between people wanting half-price ready meals, but that's actually incorrect. Surprisingly, it's more akin to the reality of discount shopping than most people think, but while there's generally a lot of shoving, actual combat is ... uncommon. Ben-Tou has a relatively simple storyline that isn't encumbered with complex philosophical questions or existential uncertainties. The plot is straightforward, but very typically shounen in its repetitiveness and predictability, which may explain why there are attempts towards the end of the series to add a layer of depth to the narrative. Unfortunately it doesn't really work as the show spends too much time trying to be funny, justifying all out brawls in grocery stores (which never seem to attract the attention of the police), and servicing hormone crazed teenagers. The sad thing is that Ben-Tou has potential as a concept, but when it comes to execution the author, and then everyone else, seem to have left their artistic sensibilities by the wayside. There are some genuinely good flashes of inspiration in the narrative that come about because of the fact that each territory is "ruled" by the strongest fighter (or "wolf"), in that area. Sadly these sparks of inspiration never really amount to anything, and the anime becomes little more than a parade of characters, brawls, inane comedy and pointless fanservice. Given that this is supposed to be an action anime, one would assume that the emphasis would be on making the combat scenes look good, but unfortunately that isn't the case. The characters are decent enough, but the reliance on stereotypes can make some viewers think that the designers lacked imagination. In addition to that, the settings for many of the show's fight scenes are grocery stores, so it's remarkable that the post-battle shop floors remain unscathed. The animation quality is fairly reasonable, but it's not up to the standard that David Production are capable of (they made Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra), and the series can sometimes look like a rush job (which may explain the unusual postures and the odd jumps and glitches). The opening sequence features the song "Live for Life: Ōkamitachi no Yoru" by Manami, an upbeat rock song set against a backdrop of character introductions, action and fanservice that make a surprisingly accurate presentation of the show's content. There's also an additional introduction for episode four that focuses on Shaga Ayame while "Treasure" by Kato Emiri plays out in the background. The melodic ballad used for the ending theme, "Egao no Housoku" by Ise Mariya, serves as a nice counterpoint to each episode, and the rather placid sequence fits well with the idea that it's a post-battle scene. As for the rest of the music, although the series is well served in the variety of pieces on offer, the usage of particular tracks can seem a little repetitive. Ben-Tou likes to wear its shounen heart on its sleeve, so the dialogue is filled with juvenile sentiment and lots of shouting. Like almost every other action/harem/comedy/fanservice anime out there, the script is a little too reliant on familiarity with the genre, but within that there are a few decent little deviations from the norm (mainly about fighting for discounted food). Unfortunately the acting is pretty much what one would expect from this type of show - lots of effort and not much actual skill, but maybe that's to be expected. The four leads have little experience with serious roles, which isn't an indictment of their abilities, but rather an observation about the anime industry's propensity for churning out mediocre titles that cater to the minority of fans. Seriously, stop wasting talent. It's too hard to come by. In true shounen fashion the characters are about as one-dimensional as they come, and there's very little in the way of refinement throughout the series. That said, the main focus of the story isn't to develop each person, but rather to put them in situations where the warrior mentality can be prominently displayed. Unfortunately it doesn't work out that way as Ben-Tou is a veritable who's who of stereotypes, and pretty much every trait and personality associated with genre are on display, especially the wishy-washy lead male - Satou You. The problem is that viewers may become too familiar with a character's behaviour outside of combat, so watching them fight can often raise several questions, the main one being why does someone who is supposedly capable keep getting slapped around by Shiraume Ume. Like many harem lead males, Satou You seems to be a bit of a masochist. As a concept, Ben-Tou has some merit, but somewhere along the way a decision was made to try and appeal to a specific fanbase, and that's what ultimately lets the show down. The addition of multiple love-interests, inane comedy, innuendo and fanservice seem tacky at best, and can often feel more like hasty additions to the plot. Although there is some entertainment value in the series, this is mainly due to the fact that audiences can watch this as though it was a half-decent action movie. The truth is that Ben-Tou could have held up a mirror to the real-life tribulations of discount shopping, but sadly the show fails to realise its potential because it tries too hard to jump on the harem/comedy bandwagon, and this gets in the way of it being a true parody.

It's like Fight Club with Lunchables. As always, my reviews are spoiler free. But there isn't a whole lot to spoil here. When I first saw this series on the coming-season chart, I laughed at the ridiculous premise. Just read the description! Teams of high school students fighting over discounted groceries, all while following some sort of highly regarded honor code? "This show has to be absolutely mindless," I thought. It is. But that's okay, because Ben-To is completely self-aware. It knows you didn't come here for the plot. You came to be entertained. And you shall beentertained. Story - 5/10 As you would expect, the story is an absolute trainwreck. To put it briefly, at certain time in a certain convenience store, a special sticker is placed on food to mark it as discounted. Logically, there are dozens of people, waiting like vultures, to swoop in and beat each other senseless to save a few yen (sounds a bit like Black Friday, but I digress). There are leaders in these battles, such as Sen "Ice Witch" Yarizui, the president of the "Half-Price Food Lover's Club" that You Satou, the MC, happens to join. These leaders battle it out, claiming the sticker as a trophy of their victory. Those who fight with honor and abide by the rules of bento brawling are given the title of "Wolves." This is about as bad as a story can get. The reason it gets an "average" 5 is because it is able to build a complex system around this idiotic premise, a system which happens to be interesting and funny at the same time. The customs, titles, everything about it has been thought out to an unnecessary level of detail. Really, this is as much a comedy as it is an action series. Animation - 7/10 Ben-to is surprisingly well animated. The fight scenes are choreographed well, and there is a large variety of character models which each get their own style. There is a significant amount of blatant fanservice, if you're into that kind of thing. Sound - 4/10 It has a pretty bad sound track consisting of several background convenience store songs and corny action music. I have no complaints about the voice cast. I don't put much weight into this category anyway. Characters - 6/10 If you like cheeesy, over the top characters, you came to the right place. While the main character resembles Harem Protagonist #652, nearly every other character is highly entertaining (if shallow). You have the cold, calculating Ice Queen, the formidable "Kyou" sisters, the incredibly violent lesbian Ume who is constantly after Hana, who only joined the Half-Price Food Lover's Club because she wanted material for her yaoi muscleman fanfics. Lastly we have Shaga, who is one of the main fanservice magnets, and while the other girls were by no means left constantly covered, I felt she was the main source of the series' tissue material. Enjoyment - 8/10 Let me compare Ben-to to junk food. It's bad for you, has no real value, and you know deep down you shouldn't like it. However, that never stopped me from loving every bite of this anime. If you can sit down and turn off your brain for a bit, I promise it will leave a smile on your drooling, vegetative face. Other Thoughts My brain is too numb for thoughts, but I will leave you with a quote. "To the winners go glory and half-priced bento! — Ayame Shaga"

The Ice Witch,the Beauty by the Lake...These nicknames at the start of opening theme along with the upbeat song itself got me quite interested.The name was awkward in itsellf but what the anime turned out to be didn't make me regret watching it.The story is quirky enough to amaze you and at times it becomes hilarious.On the other hand,it puts forward a story that you can relate to,something that is relevant morally,an idealistic view-that you have to fight for your own food to aquire it and in that way,you can realiseits true flavour and worth.Bento has a central theme-food is precious and we should realise its worth and not just mindlessly eat it but appreciate the effort of so many other people that has gone into bringing it to us finally.Thus,the meals that we eat everyday shouldn't be taken for granted but rather treated as a precious commodity. The story starts with us being introduced to an ever-lazy protagonist Satou who does as much as he absolutely has to everyday.On a certain high-school night,when he goes to the supermarket to buy some cheap food suiting his limited allowance,that he first witnesses and gets dragged into a Bento fight and gets beat up awfully by an unknown girl who later turns out to be a senior at the same high-school as his and is the famed Western Wolf,'The Ice Witch'. Hungry and testosterone-fuelled youngsters who fight it out with all their might to get their hands on the exclusive half-priced bentos that are made available in the supermarkets after a certain fixed time at night is what the anime is about.But it not only the food that they are after but also Honour.Warriors of such kind aquire 'nom de guerres',i.e,Honorary titles that are given to those fighters of the Wolf grade.The beauty of the nom de guerre concept is quite fulfilling.The titles of the characters build up an atmosphere of excitement.Then there are pigs,dogs,boars and other types of fighters depending on their style of fighting. The battle-sequences are very good and smooth and you can feel the quality of animation at its best.They are very enjoyable and relatable.The music that plays in the background when battles happen gets you all fired up with its upbeatness and techno-beats. The greatest merit of Ben-to is that it manages to merge humour and seriousness seamlessly.All that packed in a mere 12 episode series.Saito gets renowned as 'The Freak',his honourary warrior's title.Situations lead him to earn his fame as the perverted freak.How he gets tangled in unwanted dire problematic situations which always seems to end with him being further recognized as a pervert is hilarious to watch. Two scenes are worth a mention-The swimming pool incident where Saito shows his,umm..,Radar to the public and the one where the Kyo sister mistakes him as the Ice witch in the hospital and makes her confession.They certainly should have you in splits.And there are other moments that have you laughing heartily too. Ecchi,you get it in good amount keeping in mind that its such a short series.Yuri abounds and is proclaimed by Shiraume,the student council president.God,such a dominating nature she has that not even Shaga,a.k.a,The Beauty by the Lake can avoid her sexy 'naked-in-the-bathtub' attack.She gets to know Shaga intimately in the bathtub and her bare-it-all moments with Oshoroi,her love,is tiltillating to the extreme.But all of this adds to the 'Wow!' factor.Assuredly,you won't forget Shiraume and her escapades anytime soon. The serious parts are not compromised though.The history of Orthros,the Wolf duo,is quite deep.The sheer ignorance and seclusion from society they were made to face just because they were to strong to win against strikes deeply in the heart.It portrays that when you attain great power,you become more the lonely.Sato lives up to expectations as he plays the befitting wolf with magnanimous pride in the end.He's not something exceptional but he does his job of a protagonist nicely. But there are some cons too.The Wizard could have been given more screen space and some greater role to play.In the end,despite being the West's strongest wolf,he ends up feeling insignificant as he leaves the country for studying abroad.Beardy,Brunette and Monk could have been more associative with the Ice witch and gang but perhaps they were purposedly kept as the loyal friends and fight-buddies.Hercules Combo turns out to be a manipulating wimp which disappoints slightly considering the terror he brought about at first. But all these are very minor things and not exactly flaws when you weigh them against the merits of the anime.So,in the end,not much remains to disappoint you. Orthros' unique combat style is one cool thing to watch.The God of Discounts idea is quirky but fun.The battle sequences are of quality and the friendship factor is well-fitting.You get comedy,you get some lovely ladies baring it all,action,and quirkiness.So,conclusively,Ben-to is a good light-hearted watch which can make your day.If you have pride,if you have honour,leave your thoughts aside and join in the fight with the wolves.Ben-to may not sparkle with class,but with its glamour and glitz,it sure does leave a lasting impression.

Ben-to is a good example of a show with a lot of potential for a rule-of-cool anime with a lot of dumb over-the-top action sequences but ultimately fails in regards to lack of any interesting characters to root for while having, in what I believe, to be sub-par fighting choreography and animation. I honestly really wanted to like this show, I really did, but the lack of any fun characters or engagement dragged on through each and every episode as the anime tries its hardest to be silly and over-the-top without carrying over the same charm it had in the beginning. It feels likeit wants to be over-the-top but suffers from serious tone problems which don't integrate all too well with the silly premise and story they throw us into. Allow me to elaborate: Ben-to is a show in which people battle it out for the tastiest and the best bento boxes in numerous department stores around the city. Each part of the city is governed by a different gang and turf and the such with many people having unique nicknames based around their fighting styles and personality traits. I'd argue that one of the most interesting things about this show was precisely that - I found all of this to be incredibly fun and interesting in a stupid way. We learn that there are several customs and honours that each ben-to fighter must abide by and each character takes the art of beating the everlasting hell out of each so seriously it's comical in that sense. The insane rumours these fighters conjured up about special people, the insane nicknames given and the general stupidity of each turf war having their own insane laws and the such was a fun and dumb idea and this works very well for the first few episodes or so as we see our main character who learns the joy of beating the crap out of someone just for some cheaper ben-to. But, while this idea does set-up a lot of possibilities into what is possible and how insane you can go with this idea, the anime suffers from two problems which I feel hold it back. The first being, as I've said, a lack of interesting characters to care for, all of which are annoying mind you, but the show's gimmick begins to wear off really quickly as they don't really do too much with this concept. Sure, there are new fighters that join which add some more history and depth about this strange fighting festival that takes place but as we travel along the show, the cool and over-the-top fights seem to take a back seat to boring character backstories which are equally generic as they're uninteresting. That's not to say that the anime doesn't have some cool looking fight scenes, it's just that many-a-time I found myself bored with the character interactions and a few times I felt kind of disappointed with a fight that had been building up for a while and had no payoff as we suddenly skip past it removing all of the dramatic tensions of the moment. The anime suffers from the same problem I believe the currently airing Keijo does; the gimmick is so stupid at first that it's fun when you first start but the lack of interesting characters begins to drain on you the more you watch and by the end, the novelty has worn off entirely. The biggest problem with this show is the comedy and the characters that go along with it. The main lead is kind of forgetful, as they typically are for these types of shows, and doesn't really do anything all too interesting. He develops a passion for ben-to fighting but doesn't feel like he changes throughout the story, aside from gaining some random strength despite no training and no experience in the art of fighting. Hana was a character simply defined for her love for BL, frequently writing stories involving our main character. She also has an insane lesbian stalker named Ume Shiraume who is the biggest bitch I've ever seen. She frequently beats down on the main character for no reason for the most mundane things. I expect the creators wished for me to laugh at this but all I kept wondering was why this guy kept receiving the horrible treatment that he does. He is hit, slapped and has hit clothes torn off numerous times which all felt completely unjustified as he had never done anything to warrant this treatment. In fact, all of the characters treated him in this fashion and it just comes across as mean-spirited. As an audience, we enjoy seeing a character receive karma for something mean they've done and it feels satisfying as a result, but here, all it does is make me feel as if the characters are horrible people. There was one scene in which one of the characters threw out the guy's game console for no reason and upon attempting to rescue said console, ends up hurting himself and ends up in the hospital. Granted she does show some remorse, but not before putting him threw more agony for no reason. The only other two characters worth mentioning is the annoying blond lead, mainly defined for her tits and the white-haired girl, only defined by her quietness. All of the characters in this show are all caricatures of anime stereotypes and none of them are unique enough to break away from this mould. When the show clearly wants us to root for one of these characters, I find it generally hard to do so as I found them all so uninteresting making the scenes in which the narrative stakes are high (as high as you can possibly get while fighting for products on Black Friday anyway) feel weak and kind of dull. As the anime ran on, this problem only got worse. To be fair, there is an attempt at character development and intrigue in regards to the Kyou sisters but it's kind of integrated half haphazardly into the plot without having too much time to fully develop. The art style was generally appealing to the eyes and the character design as well as the colour design was pretty spot on. While in motion, the animation did suffer from some animation error and at times it could look kind of jarring but nothing to take me out of any scenes. The music was pretty forgetful as a whole with the exception of the opening theme which is catchy as hell. The main thing with Ben-to is that it feels as if it wants to be silly and the over-the-top but it never gets to that stage and instead feels kind of lukewarm which makes the anime feel kind of forgetful. Ben-to is not the worst series in the world but it does leave a lot to be desired which is unfortunate considering how fun the show could of been if the characters were more likeable and if it were more over-the-top.

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