Stark700

College life is a bit different from high school. For those who don’t know, it’s like venturing into a society where some people live by the rules and others makes them. To me, Grand Blue came as a show that explored a carefree life while mixing in adult humor, diving elements, and drinking shenanigans. It’s one of those shows that is hard to not laugh your ass off once you realized what you’re in for. Based on the manga written by Kenji Inoue, Grand Blue stands out more as a modern slice of life that adheres to a young adult cultural society. Here, we meet aguy named Iori Kithara who starts his new life as a college student on the Izu Peninsula. His place of residence happens to be a diving shop known as “Grand Blue” and thus where daily life adventure begins. Now, I should say right off the bat that a show like this relies on stereotypical humor with plenty of jokes in between. If you’re not ready for that, just turn back now. Grand Blue’s storytelling mainly chronicles the daily life adventures of Iori although plenty of other characters are featured aside him. The main cast consists of diving club, also known as the “Peek-a-Boo”. He meets others including his cousin Chisa, Nanaka, Kouhei, Azusa, Toshio, and Kotobuki. Among this group, the male cast seems more like they are in love with drinking more than diving. The first episode immediately sets off the humor with the nakedness and adult jokes from the very start as we meet the core members. That is to say, Iori himself also lacks common sense when he attends his first day at college while being half naked. Judging from just this impression, it should be easy to recognize that the show love to make fun of its characters. It uses stereotypes that makes fun of college life such as young adults drinking and partying. Then, there’s meta-humor that plays on jokes with the nudity. It’s also self-aware being that it never attempts to disguise its humor. Certain characters are very aware of their actions regardless of consequences and this often sets off the wrath of others such as Chisa. For the main female cast, it consists of a colorful group with a diverse range of personalities. The most level-headed person in the show is Chisa who takes many things in life seriously. She also loves diving and geniuely enjoys the feelings of being in the azure ocean. She’s like the anti-Peek-a-boo member in the show as she can’t tolerate being embarrassed. Because of this, there’s often a clash between her and Iori as the two gets into compromising positions. The end result is often Iori taking the blow and Chisa face palming herself. However, it’s also noticeable that she does care about Iori especially during brief flashbacks before them. Often times, I guess you could say that she misses her childhood with him and reliving those moments brings a peace in her mind. Then, we have Nanaka who seems to play the role of an older sister type for the main cast although at the same time, she also has an unhealthy infatuation towards Chisa. It’s the type of humor that makes fun of siblings but in a sarcastic way. Azusa is the senior student who behaves much more like the guys in the show. Her bisexuality is hinted at many times and often makes sexual jokes at others, especially Iori. Last but not least is Aina, a freshman who is much shyer compared to the others. She does go by another persona early in the series so watching her sometimes may remind you just how different her two personalities are. Between the guys, a main selling point in the show is the character chemistry. Regardless whether you like it or not, there’s an abundance amount of humor when the guys interact with each other and it often comes off as absurd humor. The most prominent is between Iori and Kouhei. They are often observant but says things that may be interpreted in the wrong way. They often get into trouble with the women in the show too given their actions that disregards common sense. The two also gets into many bickering moments. Early in the series, the series also makes fun of the guys with porn jokes. And let’s not forget about the drinking. Pretty every male character in the series loves to drink whether it’s alcohol, beer, vodka, wine, or whiskey. As you may expect from action that results in consequences, the guys behave like drunks while stripping naked and causing questionable scenes. The series pokes fun at this type of adult humor by covering their private body parts with black censored circles. It’s the type of self-aware humor that you’ll witness quite often. So now what? Is this series just a giant ball of meaningless humor? Or is it something more deceptive that people misunderstands? To me, Grand Blue stands out as a show that deals with adult gimmicks and stereotypes but makes it into a humorous flick. It seems like a popcorn entertainment and you’re not wrong if it feels like the story went nowhere in the end. However, the shows knows how it operates and inserts every joke with a clear intention. The guys in the series acts bold and behaves in ways that wild college students do. The girls are slightly mild but it doesn’t detract them from getting into the party on occasions. There’s a lot of running gags with the drinking jokes, nakedness, and misunderstandings. It’s what the series uses to sell its humor. If you’re in it for actual diving, there are some moments too with info dumps. Don’t expect this like a relaxing slice of life as it’s far too hyperactive to be considered as such though. Watch this for the pure entertainment and forget common logic. That way, you’ll grow to love Grand Blue. Zero-G has honestly been an unimpressive studio. Their lineup consists of shows that I hardly see anyone talks about these days (Battery, Dorei-kun the Animation, Dive!!). Their production quality is hardly stellar either. Thankfully, they managed to step up to the plate and capture the magic for this show. It deserved a glorious quality and got treated such way with the beach setting, aquatic ocean, and sunny atmosphere. Character designs also feels real with the cast looking like they are college students (although Aina sometimes makes me question this) Fan service is literally in every episode but they take the extreme during party scenes and drinking segments. Finally, I love the way characters reacts that pushes the envelope to the extreme. Iori and Kouhei are prime examples of this while others such as Chisa and Nanaka also have their own moments. Expressions of shock, anger, and confusion is shown right to your face in ridiculous ways. Thanks to the talented voice cast, it brings the best out of those moments. The OP song also adapts a playful feel to showcase the themes of the show. The ED theme song makes fun of pop culture such as karaoke that’s so fun to sing along with. As a fan of the manga, I think Grand Blue established itself as a self-aware humorous showstopper. Taking the risk of glorifying its humor made this show look like a joke at first glance. However, once you get sucked into Grand Blue’s themes, you’ll find love with this show. From the adult humor to the numerous character gags, it’s an anime that plays with itself. It’s a Summer sensation.

ta07

"In Japan, the color blue signifies youth, a time of excitement and infinite possibilities" Hello everyone , this is my review of funniest show of this season and one of the best gag comedy i had ever seen in anime .. so Lets begin Intro: Imagine what you expect when you going to college, we develop a lot of preconceptions about what it would be like i mean New places, new friends, maybe a new girlfriend. Go to some parties, maybe find somewhere I felt like I could really fit in and all that wonderful dreamy thought. Well our main protagonist Imagination is no different than an average studentwho just entering the college. After graduating high school, Iori moves to Izu, on the coast, to go to college for mechanical engineering. “I’ll put all my effort into having the best college life possible!” he vows. “I’m going to meet cute girls, fall in love, and enjoy the pinnacle of youth with good friends!” He moves in with his uncle and, more importantly, his two beautiful cousins: motherly, long-haired Nanaka and tomboyish, short-haired Chisa. All of them work at the uncle’s dive shop, the Grand Blue; unfortunately, so do Tokita and Kotobuki, macho dive bums who pressure Iori into joining the diving club even though he can’t swim. Alas, Iori soon finds himself roped into their social circle, partying with a bunch of goofy jocks who just want to get naked and play all-male drinking games. Will Iori get to enjoy a cool campus life? Will he find love? Will the diving club ever actually get in the water? Well thats for the introduction part which sounds like an average college based anime or IS IT!, so let examine in our further review. Story: (7/10) Most of the time we see gag anime fail to deliver a proper story line and mostly involved in delivering some random funny events and scenes. Well Grand Blue is kind of done a decent job in constructing a story line. Sure we can say that its not a story based anime .However, Grand Blue does deserve credit in the sense that it doesn't completely devolve into comedy, as most events take place in a ocean setting, staying true to the foundation that it lay down. The Episodes are also loosely tied together, meaning that there is some degree of continuation. But in all we can say that its main purpose is to make audience laugh. Art, Animation and sound:(9/10) Art is beautiful considering how they have utilize the beauty of locations including underwater and seasore and present it in a beautiful and artistic way. Animation is great, studio done a decent job in adapting manga considering manga artstyle is already top class we sure expect in the hands of a decent studio anime is pleasant to watch. There are some part i like to focus on which Grand Blue done a tremendous job that is adapting face expression with the scenes. Grand Blue Dreaming is a stunning treasure trove of reaction faces. With influences from hot-blooded fighting anime, horror movie framing, and direct references to other franchises, like this Great Teacher Onizuka and that Evil sarcastic Face which taken from Attack on Titans. OP and ending is pleasant and beautiful as well as some underwater scenes are eyecatching. It also done a great job in sound department including beautiful opening and ending sound. There are no characters who unnecessarily shouting everywhere and trying to make audience laugh .Voice actors done excellent job in providing tone which goes exceptionally well with the scene Characters:(9/10) Characters are unique and excellent and each have there own funnier side perfectly well fitted for such gags Anime. We can see from absolute scumbags to a hot and weird otaku , from a shy tomboyish waifu material girl who has its own sadist side to a lewd Onee san including Airheads and some trouble some senpais. Grand Blue has all to offer what is necessary for a gag anime, characters range from lovable bastards like club senpai Tokki and Bukki to absolute scumbags, with Iori somewhere in the middle. He has a veneer of respectability that gets shattered the moment he takes a sip of beer. Also our fellow dorks like good-looking but skeevy anime fan Kohei (“Why isn’t there a club full of beautiful high school girls to be my harem?”) The female character are more kind of average than you might expect from this particular strain of comedy, with the exception of Nanaka, who is pretty one note with the unpredictable and Lewd Azusa. Chisa and Aina for me is kind of okay serving as a balance in between all these crazy characters. So Whats Lacking: Well if you see the Manga, its clearly one of the best comedy manga ever made. For anime i feel it kind of fail to adapt the proper pacing of the Anime and how to give Focus on some particular scene. We can see same kind of thing with some famous anime like Food Wars (after 1st season) and Tokyo Ghoul. On some scenes and some part of the story it feel bit rushed which makes viewers who already familiar with manga kind of disappointed. Other than that i dont find anything which are lacklustre in the Anime. The Bad: The other element that might not work for everyone is all the nudity and fanservice. The most explicit nudity actually comes from the boys in the club, who tend to strip when they get drunk. The women, however, in their skintight wetsuits, bikinis, or the occasional glimpse of underwear, are clearly supposed to be titillating. Well i can say that its not for everyone who dont feel comfortable in such thing like nudity and drinkin Conclusion: Grand Blue is fundamentally a frat house farce in the vein of something like American Pie or The Hangover in anime version. Its comedy definitely has lot of consistency when it comes to make people laugh. If you want a show who you can watch with your friends with enjoyment and laugh this show deliver all the things you needed. Funny events timing is impeccable, making great use of situations, and even manages to make repeating the same punchline funnier the second time. Overall its pretty good and satisfying show and definitely one of the best gag anime ever made also the funniest one but again you’ll have to really love booze jokes, funny faces, and gags about guys being caught naked with little censorship marks obscuring their junk.