Being a big fan of Bible Black, I approached Discipline with both anticipation (it might be good) and caution (it might be grossly inferior, being done by a different team at the same studio or something like that). After watching it through once, I have to say I still have mixed feelings, but of a different nature. To simplify it, Discipline is inconsistent. At some points, the animation is stellar and the characters are deep... but in others, those same characters aren't draw as well, the dialogue and story descends into absurdities, and I wonder if those parts were really from another anime but spliced in.Although some similarity can been seen between this and Bible Black, I don't think it is an appropriate comparison. They may have a few details in common sometimes, but BB was self-consistent and high quality... this, was all over the place in terms of pacing of story, details of plot, and mood (serious/comedy).
Moreover, there is too much random sex in this anime.
Not that they are too much sex scenes, but rather, they are too random and arbitrary. There's not much opportunity to gain any appreciation or knowledge of the characters, and the tension that was build in the graphic novel is lacking here.
For that matter, the art in the graphic novel (a slightly interactive PC game) was better presented. Given that the characters there had much more depth, it seems key members from the graphic novel team were missing from the anime planning and production team.
I can only guess, but, overall, I still have to say that it has mostly good points (I did rate it 7/10 overall), so I'll describe them briefly:
Excessive Ero Content:
I never thought I'd say that an ero/hentai anime has "too much" sex, but because the sex rudely interrupts the story and feels forced much of the time, and in addition, the characters have beyond-human sexual endurance (sometimes due to "special medicine", apparently, without spoiling what little plot there is), and that means for tons of long sex scenes, orgies, and a string of encounters that seems never-ending.
Excessive Unique Plot:
I won't spoil the details, but, the plot goes from a fairly typical school setting quickly into odd, and by the end, is totally unbelievable. I'm not sure if they meant it to be funny, or believable if you stretch your imagination, but I just laughed at it... I get the impression that the writing team just went crazy and put in whatever they felt would be potentially entertaining, forcing the various parts of the plot to link together, even if they didn't fit.
Excessive Sex Scenes:
Oh, wait, I mentioned this already. But, I should mention this again, because it seems that the only thing these characters do in this anime is have sex, dream about having sex, set up organizations in order to ensure they can have much more sex, and scheme and plot to force people to have more sex.
Summary:
This is a lot of mindless sex, with an over-the-top plot which is impossible, even for an imaginary world, and can be treated as entertaining if you don't worry too much.
However, the overall quality is inconsistent, and the story was better presented in the graphic novel. So, comparisons to said novel, or other anime (esp. Bible Black, by the same studio apparently) will show this as coming up short.
SiSimonian
September 15, 2011
Recommended
I usually don't review Hentai works because it's pretty much pointless. It's like trying to review a 5 minute porno clip. I mean what's there to review? How the bed was screeching or how the "characters" were moaning for the duration of the vid? No, although I guess some reviewers would actually attempt to describe such things (and some do). However, there is a hentai once in a while that offers a bit more than just two characters going at it until they drop from asphyxiation. That hentai is Discipline. The story is (for a hentai) unbelievably good. A guy named Tokuro Hayami transfers toSt. Arcadia school which is mostly populated by females. Now because this is a hentai and because we have one guy and a school with a lot of girls you immidiately know what's going to happen. Indeed it happens, not once not twice, but dozens of times throughout the whole series. But there is more to it. The male character is rumoured to have some kinda of a special sexual power, capable of pleasing every woman on the planet. Now all the girls in the school are after him, including the mysterious Leona Morimoto.
Discipline then turns into a peculiar but interesting combination of action/mystery/hentai kind of anime. There are a lot of secrets lurking around in St. Arcadia and after the first 3 episodes the main characters set out on a quest to uncover the truth. Moreover, the last episodes feature an amazing amount dramatic twists and turns and at some point you might actually forget that you're watching a hentai. I was absolutely dumbstruck when I finished watching this series, I mean how the hell can a hentai come up with such a complex plot? Usually these type of works follow an older than world pattern. Two representatives of the opposite sex = coitus.
The makers of Discipline however managed to turn something predictable into something that will genuinely suprise you. Some people will certainly complain saying that the development in this anime is ridiculous and unbelievable but I for one, enjoyed it.
As always when it comes to sound well, nothing much to write about. Though I guess the moans were realistic. Art style is strickingly similar to the one used in Death Note, I don't know if anyone else has noticed that yet but it's certainly a worthy thing to mention.
To sum it up, a very good hentai for those seeking something with an actual story.
8 points from me.
ClClap4Dynamo
April 14, 2011
Mixed Feelings
I watched Discipline because it was done by the same guy that was behind Bible Black. Now, I had played the computer game first, and I while the sex scenes were a little extreme for my tastes, the story wasn't too bad. When I watched this, I was highly anticipating seeing how it would unfold in anime form. Boy, was I dissapointed. This is Discipline-In-Name-Only. Same characters, and while some scenes from the game are maintained, it's a totally different story. First, there's the bastardization of two of the characters, antagonist Leona/Reona Morimoto (I'm calling her Leona from this point on) and Maiko Kaneda. Inthe game, Leona was this incredibly well done villain where nothing was sacred when it game to humiliating her enemies. She's described in the game as a demon-child, though unlike Bible Black this is just a way of describing her. In the series, she's still quite twisted, only she seems a lot more tame, and not nearly as twisted, and this I feel kills the character. She's also not quite as smart.
Maiko Kaneda, the other character from the game I enjoyed, goes from being a seemingly heartless girl (who's cruel but not as cruel as Leona) to actually growing into a more supportive role. In the game, Kaneda seems to care only about school, and is colder than a body on ice. In this series, she's warmed up a bit, actually helping people out. Again, this kills what I liked about the character.
The plot is also totally different, and some of the scenes they added in just completely defies the original game. While the game had some totally absurd scenes (like Leona showing up at school first in a Ferrari and then a frickin' Harrier jet), this has some things that go even beyond that on the absurdity index.
If you played the game, and you liked the game, STAY AWAY FROM THIS. This is like watching the Super Mario Brothers movie, or Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Even if you have a casual interest, STAY THE HELL AWAY. You'll thank me for saving you the time, and possibly money and or/bandwidth and hard drive space.
