Binbougami ga!

What is something you would spend your 23 minutes on per episode, that'll make you very tired of laughing? The answer is "Binbougami ga!" Here's a review based on my opinions after completing the anime. 【Story】Rating: 8 Binbougami ga! is not only known for its humour, it also teaches the viewers a lesson in life about sharing, respecting and caring for others rather than being selfish; only thinking about ourselves. It also displays how anything is possible if we look beyond what's there. For example, Ichiko, the well known beauty queen of the class who's perfect at everything, totally self-centred, pretty much you can describe her asa "snob". Well let me say, even she can change into a more caring person with the help of Momiji, the goddess of misfortune and others. 【Art】Rating: 8 The art in Binbougami ga! is nice, although it's not the best I ever seen, however it can range from simple artwork to really nice ones. However I would want Momiji and Ranmaru to actually wear the school's uniform throughout the anime when they're at school. I mean wouldn't the school not allow students breaking the dress code rule? Having Ranmaru wear a blue outfit and sandals can quite make her stand out especially when she has bright pink hair and the binds wrapped around her chest. Although Momiji for the most of the time is wearing a uniform, but it's nothing close to the school's. Despite that, judging from the character designs, it's still nice and you can see everyone's characteristics. 【Sound】Rating: 9 The music and sound effects are pretty good but I would say sometimes, the voice acting may over-exaggerate a bit yet it still brings out the goods of this anime. I was really surprised when I heard Hanazawa Kana (voice of Ichiko) change her voice tone in this. Let's just say all of the Seiyū are amazing with the change of tone, expression, range and emotions of the voice. Great work guys!! 【Character】Rating: 8 The characters are just spectacular as viewers can see both the main character's two sided personality. For Ichiko, she may be called the beauty queen among the male classmates, but when you see the other side of her she can be a snob. On the other hand, Momiji can be really lazy but she gives out good advices to the viewers and of course, to our Ichiko. When you put these two together, they make the perfect pair and can create many memorable humorous acts. Although as I mentioned before that sometimes they tend to over-exaggerate, anyhow it brings out the joy of laughter to everyone. 【Enjoyment】Rating: 9 I really enjoyed watching Binbougami ga!. I laughed throughout every episode and I wondered to myself "how did they come up with that idea? that's awesome!". I just can't get enough of this with only 13 episodes, I hope for a second season to be on its way soon. 【Overall】Rating: 8 To be honest, at first I was reluctant to watch this however after completing the whole thing, I must say that Binbougami ga! has become one of my personal favourite anime. It is an excellent anime to watch when you want to relax especially having great big laughs in almost every episode. So if you're looking for a worth to watch anime, Binbougami ga! is the right choice for you. It is just marvelous.

Hmmm……. You know, seeing the previews of this show a few months ago, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. Then again, as I said in the last review, comedy is a subjective art form and this especially goes into anime. For me, it’s like comedic shows like Sgt. Frog, Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt, Squid Girl, & Kill La Kill does better with me than the likes of Baka to Test, Love Hina, B Gata H Kei and Nisekoi. You can say some of them are the same but no…..they’re not. I can see myself liking it but then again, it does have the annoying eechi showfeel to it and I have been getting annoyed with those type of shows and the fact most of them may not be my thing. Pretty, busty rich girl Sakura Ichiko has been blessed with an inordinate amount of good fortune, so much so that she’s actually sucking the fortune from those around her. To correct that massive imbalance, Momiji, a God of Misfortune, has come to Earth to “treat” Sakura—only Sakura isn’t so willing to cooperate. As part of an ongoing effort to remedy the problem, Momiji starts living with Sakura. So……..that comedy thing of mine? Yeah, I saw myself laughing at a few moments in the show that are genuine but most of the time when they were referencing other anime (DBZ, One Piece, Lupin, etc.) or go overblown with the eechi/boob jokes, that is when I groan at that (I would say more but SPOILERS). I mean, it just felt very lazy writing like these are last minute jokes someone just came up with and decided to stick in there. There is also the heart of the show being that good luck and happiness comes from within and not from the material things although it does feel weak as it goes along and while it’s decent, some of the aforementioned comedy interrupt those moments and makes it seem very out of place and awkward. I can like kookiness in an anime and I think the show tries to have it both ways but sadly some of the time, I didn’t feel as invested in the story as much…….nor the characters as much either. Ichiko Sakura is the most typical Mary Sue character in the show. She’s adored by all of the guys in schools but loathed by all of the girls but leads a very lonely life even though she has about every material thing in her grasp…..oh, did I mention she got boobs? Hell, her nickname on the show is Tit-chiko and thankfully that didn’t get used as much…..at least from what I heard. I can’t say she progressed but it didn’t felt like de-characterization and I did like the banter between her and Momiji and them getting at each other’s throats. In short for the other characters, Bobby the perverted monk and Momo’o the S&M dog god, whose both character traits gets worn out very early in the show. Keita is pretty much the straight man in the series and the rest of the family are decent as well, just not as interesting and I did like Ranmaru in the show as well as she’s one of the few characters that doesn’t annoy me as much. Also, should I give a fuck about Nadeshiko? No? Yes? I heard in the manga, she’s more vital in there but this isn’t about the manga, it’s the anime version I’m reviewing and I say…….yeah, I don’t give a fuck about her at all. The animation and artwork is okay, it is more of the typical art style that most anime people are used to. Then again, this is much up to Sunrise’s alley as them doing gag comedy isn’t new to them. After all, like I said, Sgt. Frog is one of my favorite anime comedies and they are responsible for that as well and they do succeed with what they’re doing, although I still do get mostly annoyed with it, too. Musically, my thoughts on that is meh as well. The opening theme for the show is alright, I like the first 8-bit parts of it and other than that, it’s merely okay. Ending theme is also fine as is the rest of the score. The FUNimation dub does help me get through the series as it goes along. I did like the performances of Brina Palencia & Colleen Clinkenbeard as Ichiko & Momiji, respectively as they do deliver the best performances of the dub. Patrick Seitz & Todd Haberkorn are pretty type-casted in the show (Seitz being the black guy although he’s damn good at it and Haberkorn playing the one guy with the nasally whiny voice), that’s not to say that were bad in it, that’s the opposite of that as they played their roles very well. Also, I did like Martha Harms as Ranmaru, a VA that I haven’t recognized in FUNi dubs in the past that could become more noticeable in the future. FINAL VERDICT: The show does have its charms and I have thought of some moments in there to be funny and have some heart but it does tend to lose that quickly when some of the humor gets tired. It’s stupid and silly in both the right ways…..and the wrong ways, too. I will say that it is worth a watch but this is more of a stream it rather than buy right away. Just dip your toe in the world of Good Luck Girl first before owning any DVD and/or Blu-ray.

I wasn't planning on writing another review for a while, but Binbougami ga!? surprised me enough (in all the right ways) that I thought I'd put pen to paper to quickly plug the series. If you're on the fence about watching this (as I was) I'll say it now: take the plunge. Every single episode made me laugh out loud, and 11 or 12 of the 13 episodes I could genuinely describe as 'outrageously funny.' Though Binbougami-ga!? falls short of a being a true comedic masterpiece, it still left me feeling like I had hit the comedy jackpot. Sure, there are underdeveloped/extraneous/trite characters I feelI could do without (Bobby, Momo-o), and sure, the plot is not exactly a fine-tuned machine, but Binbougami-ga?! delivers laughs time and again over the course of 13 episodes, to the point where its entertainment value far outshines its other shortcomings. Momiji and Ichiko are wonderful foils for each other, and the later addition of characters like Rindo Ranmaru only adds to this. To be sure, Momiji and Ranmaru have both wormed their way into my top-10 favorite characters. I mean...without getting too spoiler-y, I'm just going to tell you to watch the damn thing! I don't regret a minute; in fact my only regret is that it's only 13 episodes long!

Ichiko is a rich, beautiful mary-sue of a teenage girl, who is adored by all of the boys of her class–but hated by the females. In short, she’s pretty much the stereotypical bitch, but underneath her apparent superiority-complex, she’s really a lonely child longing for friendship. She also has an excessive amount of “Fortune,” which causes her suck other Fortune energy from those around her. This causes Momiji, a god of misfortune, to try and steal Ichiko’s fortune, and a beautiful love-hate relationship is formed! Binbougami ga! is a very silly series. In fact, it’s a really stupid series–sometimes in the positive ha-ha kind of stupid,and others times in bad sense of the word. In general it’s one of those shows that allows to simply relax and enjoy it for what it is and not vehemently critique it, although there are scenes that stand out as mediocre or subpar. The dramatic aspects are by the far the shows weak-point, as it’s fairly mediocre all the way through. It’s a predictable action-comedy from the get-go, and pretty forgettable. Initially the execution alone is done well enough to make it enjoyable, but it’s doesn’t take long for the formulaic nature of the plot to override that. More often than not the the comedy makes up for all this, so it’s an enjoyable series for the most part Much of the comedy relies on the specific quirks of each character. This allows for plenty of quality comedy for quite a while, but towards the end of the series they all start to lose their charm, and everything starts to seem tedious. Ichiko and Momiji are relatively more complex, but every other character literally has their quirk define them; every time Ranmaru shows up, the scene pokes fun at her tomboy demeanor, as with Bobby’s pervertism, or Momoo’s masochism. Thankfully, the actual ending of the series (episode 11-13) breaks out of the formula, and gives us a satisfying conclusion.

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