MrLincecum: Baka and Test

Baka and Test: MrLincecum
Hello there! Skip the introduction and let’s get straight to the boobs!

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Oh… wait a minute? What’s all this in between the boobs? Is this… actual plot development? No no… it must be cleavage. The genre says ecchi so it has to be over the top ecchi madness with no plot… right? WRONG! I’ve got to say, I was pretty impressed with this anime. Not because it was the most spectacular anime around, but because it was so… weird…


I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anime that’s so stupid yet so irresistible. Half of the episodes I sat there wondering when the hell something important was going to happen, but I didn’t seem to mind the fact that most of the episodes felt like filler. Heck, even one of the most important parts came AFTER the episode had finished .

Well, so much for skipping the introduction, this, is Baka and Test.

Plot:

Baka and Test has one of the strangest plots I’ve come across in a while. The story takes place in a school where students are put into different classes based on test scores. These classes consist of the letters A-F [A being the best, F being the worst]. Since F class has the lowest test scores, they get the worst equipment and since A has the highest test scores, they get the best equipment. Some kid named Yoshi [YOSHIIIIII!!!!!!] tries really hard to get out of the F class he’s been stuck in for a while, but only fails to do so. He is joined by his friends in F class who also fail the test but also by a student named Mizuki Himeji who is actually really smart but through unforeseen circumstances she is put in class F.

[*breath*]

In this school, the classes can battle one another in something called a summoner test duel or something along those lines. Basically, a teacher picks a subject and seals off a zone or hallways as that subject and the power level of your avatar is based on how well you do in that subject. The class that wins get to swap equipment with the class that loses if they choose to do so.

[*breath*]

Now that I’ve unnecessarily explained everything you probably know already, let’s break it down. The plot is… well… fun. You won’t even want to pay attention to the details; you’ll just want to see everything happen, no matter how stupid just because you’re having fun watching it. I have to hand it to the makers of this anime, I had a blast. The jokes were funny, the characters were well thought out, and the overall atmosphere was incredibly enjoyable. The reason I say the plot is weird is because you really never know what you’re getting from this anime. You may watch one episode and have it be complete filler, or you may watch an episode and have it explain a characters backstory, or you may watch an episode and just stare at Himeji’s boobs the whole time and not know what the hell is going on, etc.

It didn’t feel very integrated which is something I didn’t expect completely, but it feels like the plot was just a little too random. There were some points where you could skip whole episodes and not have to worry about continuity, and there were points where if you skipped the episode you were dead in the water in terms of understanding what was going on. I felt like the plot could have been spread out more throughout the episodes to make each episode as important as the others. But that’s just me being a little nitpicky; overall, I loved the plot… even if it was stupid…


Oh wait… does that say ecchi in the genres? Oh… that means that every single girl in this anime is going to have breasts the size of mars and horny as all hell! I’m going to love this!
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What… the hell? There’s only one busty girl in the whole thing… and she’s the center of all the ecchi it seems like…
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What is this? This ecchi is good… but it’s not enough!
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Whoa… maybe the point of this… wasn’t the ecchi…
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For once, I can say, the ecchi was NOT distracting. I actually… *gulp* enjoyed it…

It was reasonable considering the plot was stupid to begin with. It’s a… nice addition.

Characters

It’s an ecchi anime! Who cares about the guy characters!? Let’s talk about bust size!
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Ok no, this anime actually gets the guys right…for once in an ecchi anime. They have personality, motive, and they’re not flat cardboard cutouts like the food at Burger King. Yuuji Sakamoto was cool, Kouta was just…Kouta… [Or Voyeur as he was called], Yoshii was actually pretty funny considering he wasn’t the same ditzy dunce that’s present in almost every other harem ecchi anime, and Kubo… my god Kubo… and don’t even get me started on Hideyoshi [WHO IS A GUY!!!! I don’t care what you guys think].

But, with every good bunch of characters, there’s always a few bad ones… ugh… get that girl with the orange hair away! If I don’t get an explanation about her obsession with Minami, then I’m calling bullshit on that one.

The girls are AWESOME! I think I loved every single one of them except the orange haired one. Minami’s my favorite though, boobs or no boobs. Himeji is just a walking fan-service magnet, I hate how she’s given all the attention because of her boobs, but she’s passable. Himeji and Minami both like Yoshii, and you can really see the emotional connection they both share with him. It’s not just a simple throw in plot, it actually makes good sense and it’s so ADORABLE OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In terms of character development, I don’t we’ve reached that stage of the anime where you can expect every character to have a fleshed out backstory, but the anime does a surprisingly good job at the characters it did cover. Shouko and Minami’s backstories are so sweet… and adorable… and heart-warming… and oh my god what happened to my testicles cute! You’re going to like these backstories… I guarantee it!


Sorry about the briefness of these character explanations, but you’ve got to see these characters for yourself, there are just no real ways to describe them.

Animation

Love it! Especially the boob physics! I also LOVE the way the characters look. They all have that unique look to them that you really can’t find with many other characters. The drawings look great and the settings and battle animations look magnificent. Only one major problem here…

There are seemingly no designs for characters that don’t impact the plot. Doesn’t seem like too big a deal, but in reality it kinda is. If I wanted to see white blobs on my screen, I would… well… I can’t say it but the point is I don’t want to see them! Put some designs for those characters. Even if it’s simple overused designs and you repeat it over and over again, it’s still better than nothing but a white outline.

Audio


Opening theme for S1 is fantastic… everything else is ok. I didn’t have problems with them, and they did their job pretty well, but these aren’t songs that I would necessarily go looking for after the anime. I wouldn’t put them in the same boat as Clannad or Angel Beats per-say. You’ll love them when you watch them, but they really don’t stand out that much.

Now go find that opening. Choreograph a dance for it and send it to me at P.O. Box 11324 Awesomesauce Lane. I would love to practice it.

Now here’s the deal about the voice actors, I watched the first season dubbed, and the second season subbed. Both were great! I don’t remember who played who, but I remember I was enjoying it. So don’t worry about horrible voices, worry about which character you’re going to have wet dreams about for the next couple of night.

Closing Notes


This anime caught me really off guard. I saw nonsense and boobs and got… well… nonsense and boobs, but it was good nonsense and good boobs… unlike anything I’d ever seen in an ecchi/harem/stupid anime. This anime was just so stupid it kicked a$$. Now I’m just waiting for the unavoidable orgy ending and we’ll be fine. In short, if you’re a fan of crazy nonsense that keeps the fun rolling, this is a must watch in all formats. Only thing that keeps it from elite status is the lack of integration of the plot in some instances. Hopefully though, I can prove myself wrong in the future, and give it a 10 because it gives exactly what you’re looking for and then some.

Final Ratings

Plot: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 9/10
Audio: 7/10
Genre: 10/10
Comedy: 9/10
Average Overall: 8.5/10
Personal Overall: 9/10

This has been MrLincecum, and this has been Baka and Test. You know I wouldn’t be surprised if someone made a hentai spin off of this. It would be 10x better than that god awful Dream Note crap. Oh wait, you’re still here? Crap! Cut that part ou-