Last Period: Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari

[Disclaimer: This review was originally posted on May 4, 2018, after four episodes had aired. It has been deleted and then re-uploaded so that it doesn't get buried as a preliminary. However, no major changes were made to the review, as Last Period was consistent throughout its run, so no new points needed to be made.] If you’re ever unsure about watching something because it’s unpopular and has a low MAL score, here’s my suggestion: you should take one of your hands and quickly slap yourself in the face with it. Repeat this action until you have it burned into you that this is not agood way to judge anime. But, skepticism is always welcome, so if you’re just here to gauge opinions, here’s one: Last Period is one of the best anime of the season, as someone who tends to be a pretty big fan of comedies. I even thought Aho-Girl was funny, but maybe that was just me relating to cataclysmic autism. If you’re one of the many who love KonoSuba, or one of the few who watched Mahoujin Guru-Guru, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t like this one too. Is it as good as either of them? In ways, no, but that’s not exactly the point. The point is, it’s very much like those anime: a comedic adventure with lots of RPG elements, weird and quirky side characters, and the occasional meta joke. Last Period has more of an emphasis on meta jokes. One of the main characters, Choco, is acutely aware of being in a late-night TV anime that probably sucks dick according to normal standards, and takes pot shots at it with no mercy. (“Cramming money jokes into a guy’s dialogue is lazy writing.”) She is literally referred to as “Meme Girl” by one of the other characters at one point. Lots of it is clearly obvious for the sake of the anime being more fun, but there are some more subtle jokes as well, such as gachas being complete bullshit. Also, the Higurashi characters make a cameo. No, really. It’s clearly an anime that just wants to have fun with itself and doesn’t really try to impress with any sort of plot or character development. And that’s completely fine, because it comes with a lot of heart. There’s a Team Rocket knockoff called Wiseman: a trio of girls with a talking mascot, who questionably serve as the recurring villains of the series. They show up, cause some hijinks, and suddenly leave without really doing anything. There’s not much of an explanation or reason for them to exist, but there’s something genuine and nice about how playful their personalities are--even if you can combine them all as one character (which is kinda the point). I can’t exactly sell you the character of Wiseman in the form of a written review; in fact, I can’t really sell any character in this anime because none of them have particularly strong personalities by themselves--with the exception of Choco, whose presence is almost always some sort of oddity due to her constant deadpan look and repeated memespouting. That doesn’t mean they’re bad characters, because they work perfectly well in this series. What they lack in development, they make up for in charisma. They bounce dialogue off each other well, everyone has their own quick, witty comments to make; they don’t feel awkward or dull despite their lack of depth, which is why I say they work for the anime itself. It also helps that the character designs are super strong--like, good god does this anime have some gorgeous women. It’s about an average J.C. Staff production, so it’s not spectacular, but they maintain a respectable level of quality. Said character designs remain crisp and well-made, similar to Amanchu and also Shokugeki before it turned into a grade school powerpoint. It also features some pretty cute monsters that look like Pokemon. Also the anime has music and voice acting so 7/10 sound please click helpful on my review. The ED is really, really good though because Wiseman sings (sing?) it and the one with the glasses is hotter than two fire ants fucking in a desert. IDK where I was going with this paragraph or this review because I fell asleep while writing it and don’t care anymore but it needs to be posted because I saw that Last Period was getting shit on for no reason and felt the need to give my objectively subjective opinion on why everyone but me is wrong. It’s a good show. Story - 7/10 Animation 7/10 Sound - 7/10 Character - 7/10 Enjoyment - 9/10 Memes - Unyu/10 Overall - 7.75/10 (Range: 7.0 - 8.75) Favorite character - Meme Girl Favorite episode - idk, that one with the smartphone was some real Twilight Zone shit tho Recommendation level - Medium-high

Sugar. Spice. And everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girls. But Professor Nippon accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction... Back full of dicks. Thus the Powerpuff Traps were born. Using their ultra-supergayness, Choco, Haru, Gajeru and Liza have dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil. When I started watching Last Period, I thought it was farts. I was constantly memeing how it's a show about girls who won't even have their firsts (because they have pee-pees) and whatnot. After some 5 episodes, I changed my mind. This show is the Japanese Adventure Time, andquite funny too. From it's core, Last Period is a parody towards J-RPG games/cliches. If you don't know what J-RPG is, it is basically an RPG game, but made for Japanese audience exclusively and sucks ass. The great part about this show is that if you are like me, a person who hates J-RPG's for the given reason, you will love this show because it mocks them and it mocks them hard. However, if you love J-RPG's despite them being as given, you will/might still love this show because the show is exactly the same thing but actually funny and you don't have to grind 700 hours just to get a piece of gear you don't need. Basically, if you welcome self-irony, there is a great chance that you will enjoy it like I did. The humor of this show is a hit and miss. The first 2 episodes mainly annoyed me. There was one funny scene where some f-king thing crawled out from RNG character creation box, it had animal ears and most likely at least 20 words would have been needed to get a gasp of its gender identity. The way our main characters reacted to this character was priceless and nearly the same as my own reaction which made me laugh louder than I ever expected from this show. The whole series is full of scenes like these which may or may not do it for you. I found some things rather unnecessary, like the Team Rocket, but even they managed to make me smile couple of times. The sounds are great for the reason that - unlike in Xillia - they do not play the same battle OST for 50 hours straight in every single scene. Production wise, Last Period is practically J.C.Staff's version of KonoSuba. Some of the animation and reaction faces are purposely bad in hopes of adding to the comedy. The more you pay attention to it, the better it works. Smart choices have been made. When it comes to enjoyment, I don't like to think that something can be so bad that it is good. This series is successful at what it does, and that's pretty much all it had to be.

Last Period is J.C.Staff's take on Konosuba with the gacha-like "Happy Elements" elementary skills that are sprinkled in for some insane kind of fun. And therefore, it's not surprising that many game adaptations bear close resemblance to the actual games that they come from, but few come close in between, and this is a good derivative. The first thing that is noticed with gacha game adaptations will be the monotone characters and the same settings (albeit with a background or sprite hack of the same thing, e.g. just look at the same mayor with different personalities alike)...at least in theory. The characters are really nothing special, whilstthey do have their traits, and TL;DR, they are unique into serving their roles while providing some comedy in their adventures across the world that they reside in. Yes, they can be dumb and indecisive at times, but that's what bonds them together as a team, unwavering at the challenges on their way. And to the forefront, the memes carried out here (especially by Choco) are literally the fourth-wall breaking jokes that resonate with us when the show comes to pivotal points that doesn't click but able to join amongst the monotonous dialogue. As expected of J.C.Staff, I have no idea why they decided to helm this project, probably because the final product wouldn't look any better...but what a heck of a job they have done here. The bright, colourful and artistic elements play well here and I have to say, this doesn't contend with the quality that they have done for shows in the past, but it still shines here. And the music...one good, one bad, nah no kidding, they are both good. The OP by Haru and Choco is just plain easy and delightful enough to keep listening to (for at least an hour or 2 on end) while the ED by Wiseman really fleshes out the crew and its wackiness. Last Period is a decent but good comedy that flew under the radar for some reason. So unless you could care about repeating lines and comedy, gag jokes that just gloss over without you realizing that it is, this show is really hard to recommend. If all you ever want is light-hearted comedy that binds well to the overall setting, check this one out.

Overall, I gave this anime an 8/10. Contrary to many of the reviews giving a low rank to Last Period, I personally think quite a bit of thought went into the plot and gimmicks throughout the show. It genuinely did surprise me, because it is not the kind of humour I usually find in anime. It's been compared favourably to Konosuba, but I think the humour is entirely different. Konosuba's humour is character-driven. Here, the humour arises from puns and by characters breaking the 4th wall. For example, at one point they were referencing the Iphone v Android debate. Likewise, the show put in alot of effort into world-building and in changing the narrative style of the show. For example, in episode 5 they presented the whole show as a documentary. In episode 10 they attempted to make the characters self aware of the dating and clicker games they are a part of. It's fun, but it can kind of feel silly if the show takes itself too seriously, as it did in the last episode. The show works best when the characters are swept along by the cliches we have come to expect of the genre. The major failing for this anime is that it has no sense of justice and does not feel complete. Characters behave horribly and put other people in danger and are seemingly forgiven by the end of the episode. The MCs just sigh and move on. Likewise, the major reason for the entire season i.e. the guild's treasure getting stolen, stands on shaky ground. Personally, when the explanation is finally given, I did not find it sufficiently convincing. We are never even introduced to the higher ups who put the MCs in this predicament. I think this show could have gone a bit further in delivering justice, while still keeping the light-hearted isekai charm. Nichijou, for example, can get quite violent, usually against Yuuko, but we generally accept that this is karma and move on with a laugh. This show can get quite frustrating to watch, as characters we are lead to empathize with are put in dangerous situations with the culprits getting away scot-free. Episode 10, while brilliant, did not receive a proper ending in my opinion, which was a bit disappointing. The character designs are cute enough, and the world is well animated, but the music leaves a lot to be desired. There is nothing as striking as Konosuba's soundtrack here. Generally, if you are a fan of self-aware comedy shows like The Office or Parks and Rec, and you play mobile games: You may like this.

Where to Watch

Links may contain affiliate references

Merchandise

Links may contain affiliate references

Studio

Producers