Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts - Season 1by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 7 Fumizuki Academy divides students into classes based on their test scores (from A to F), providing them "suitable" classroom equipment (lush lounge areas in A to cardboard boxes for desks in F). Students also have an avatar they can summon for battle, with a teacher's approval, and classes can fight for the right to keep their amenities. The students of class F have a strategy to take on class A, and all fights take place in a virtual space using avatars with strength that correlates to test scores.I enjoyed this anime a lot more than I thought I would. The characters are diverse and extremely likable. There's lots and lots of crossdressing humor, as well as physical humor. There's bondage humor with the quiet class A rep trying to make the class F hers. There's Muttsulini using his ninja skills to try to get pictures of girls' underwear, but suffering from massive, uncontrollable nosebleeds. There's also Mizuki's deadly food, Akihisa's perverted sister, Hideyoshi's gender confusion and Shimada's lesbian follower. And a whole lot more! Every episode has something new to enjoy or laugh at. Some of it may be a bit cliche, but this combines it in a new way — plus, it's too well-done not to watch. I mainly watched the sub, but I did briefly check out the dub and the voices sounded pretty good. In the sub, I love Muttsulini's voice and the little squeak sounds from the avatars. Shoka's voice is also quite fitting (quiet yet dangerous). The character designs are great, and the animation quality with the characters is wonderful. The backgrounds often get forgotten though ... not that you really need them; there's enough so that we know where everything is and what's going on. There's a third disc that contains extras. At least half of these are worth watching as it contains little "shorts" like the crossdressing competition and the Christmas special. There are also things like the textless opening and closing. I didn't bother with these as I couldn't stand to sit through them during the show. This series definitely put a smile on my face. The characters and their relationships are enjoyable and memorable. The strategy that unfolds as the story progresses is pretty ingenious. This is a series to keep around for whenever you need a pick-me-up. It's just fun! Written: August 19, 2011
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