Imperturbable

Gokujou Seitokai is a lovely, rather under-appreciated series. Certainly if it were defined by its genre (a school comedy), it would not stand out from the million other school comedies, all with more cute, young characters filled to the brim with moeness (and who induce purely visceral "kyaaa!", squeals, or nosebleed reactions). Gokujou Seitokai follows the formulaic school comedy idea fairly closely, and boasts a rather, if you will, cliché student council centric cast. But this is also where this series shines. I left something out when I said this series fell into the school comedy genre because technically speaking, this is asatirical school comedy. We need not go far to find evidence of this; just the title of this series alone has satirical elements to it. "Seitokai", as you might already know, means "student council". "Gokujou", then, is actually an abbreviation-- the full title of this series should actually be Miyagami Gakuen Gokudai Kengen Hoyuu Saijoukyuu Seitokai (Miyagami Academy Maximum Authority Holders Ultimate Level Student Council). I hardly need to point out it pokes fun at ridiculously long titles and names for things to make them sound impressive (think "ultimate attacks" in fighting anime series). Because of this satirical take, the series is not hindered but actually made better by its simple and rather predictable storyline. Art-wise, it's fair enough to not really bother you either way. The animation is less than stellar, and sometimes you're left wondering where the heck the characters are looking at since they usually seem to have far-off gazes to their eyes. It shouldn't bug the average anime viewer very much, though. I didn't even notice it when I watched it the first time around. Colour-wise, this series goes with softer pastel colours, and it really goes well with the vibrant cheeriness that Gokujou Seitokai exudes. The OP and ED are very good, in my opinion. Before I really get into the songs, I must say, it's particularly surprising that Gokujou Seitokai isn't more popular. It has an astounding seiyuu cast, with most (I'm talking 75% and above) being veterans and solidly A-list seiyuu. I won't elaborate too much on this since not everyone is into seiyuu (or even original Japanese audio), but if you are interested in seiyuu, I urge you to take a look at the cast. And although it has an impressive seiyuu cast, I can't give higher than 8/10 because there weren't any gut-wrenchingly mind-blowing scenes for the seiyuu to perform at their full capacity. Now, the songs. Tamura Yukari sings the upbeat, cheery OP. It works, to say the least, since Tamura has one of the most moe voices I know. Oh, and this might be a concern for less serious anime goers. You may find the protagonist (voiced by Tamura) to be a little too high-pitched. I remember it getting on my nerves before I got my bearings and got used to the relatively high-pitched voices for girls in anime. The ED is very good too, and it's sung by several veteran seiyuu. So... to put it shortly, I think this is a series I'd recommend to anyone who likes school comedies. It's suitable for all levels of viewers. Less serious anime viewers will like it for the hilarity, and people who've watched a gazillion school comedies will probably like it for the satirical elements. It also has vague (but very there) f/f vibes. It's played up for comedic value, but yuri fans will probably like it as well. (Anti-yuri people probably won't mind it, since as I said, it's played for comedy.) One thing to note, however, is that this does not have seinen-esque fanservice in the manner of cleavage shots or I-see-your-panties-and-get-massive-nosebleed gags despite the entirely female cast. Comedy and satire carry this series through.

kanauru

First Words : - Initially I dropped this series some years ago ( don't remember why ) and decided to pick it back up. - I find that this Anime is underrated and probably overlooked quite a bit. - It may seem generic, initially the puppet was what caught my attention. But the more I watched the more I found this series to be unique. - There doesn't seem to be a plot at the beginning but as the series goes on hints are thrown and it's slowly revealed. - While it seems completely like a comedy there is a nice amount of drama in it What It's About : - Mainlyit's a slice of life which revolves around the problems and situations that the student government council has to deal with. But unlike typical student governments they have more power than the staff themselves ( they also have quite of bit of money ), they even have their own Covert and Assault divisions. The fact that they are rich allows for quite a bit of creative and amusing situations. - While most of it is slice of life, there is a main plot hiding beneath everything. Rino is brought to the school by a mysterious penpal and as the series goes on the motivations and mystery is revealed. What I liked : + A variety of interesting characters while each character gets an interesting background, personality, and story. The series doesn't just throw characters and expect you to like them, they actually make you care about them. + Plenty of laughs to go around given the large cast of colorful characters and situations. + Each episode is accompanied with a different story ( while slowing revealing the plot ) which keeps it from being repetitive. + While it seems to be mainly a comedy it does take itself seriously at times. I found it emotional. + The fact it centers around a powerful student council keeps it fresh and interesting. It allows interesting situations not typical in a slice of life series. + Instead of slice of life from a student, it's from the perspective of the students that "control" the school. + There's actually some nice action going on + Cheery feel good Anime like others have mentioned + It ended up nicely, though there are still questions that haven't been answered. What I didn't like : - The ending somewhat brought up more questions for me. I'd explain but this is a spoiler free review. - Some questions left unanswered ( like the puppet ). - The twists aren't that big of a twist. Conclusion : I don't have much to complain since I found it to be a heart warming series. It has a more interesting take on the slice of life genre since the student council itself isn't your typical run of the mill student government. Overall I felt this series was definitely worth picking back up and finishing. I recommend this Anime for those who're into a slice of life with a student government twist and a comedy with some light drama.