As the Summer Season comes to an end, the Summer Anime releases also come to and end as they make way for the fall anime schedule. In this brand new segment we look back at some of the top anime series released this Summer, giving our thoughts as we review them. For our reviews we look at what we consider the most important factors as to what makes a great anime; the animation, the story and characters, before giving our final thoughts. We give our score based on a 5 star rating system.
First up for this segment is a Crunchyroll original, God Of High School. God Of High School is based on a Korean Web Comic (Manwha) written by Yongje Park. Crunchyroll worked with Mappa studio to bring this series to life. Mappa has track record of producing quality anime since 2012 having worked on some of the top anime series, such as Yuri on Ice, Kakegurui and Zombie Land saga and will also be bringing the final season of Attack On Titan to life. The 10 episode series was directed by Sunghoo Park, with scripts by Kiyoko Yoshimura and Manabu Akita designing the characters.
Animation
The animation style is very unique giving the series a different feel to many other generic anime series where all of the characters can feel as though they have just been copy and pasted from one series to another and just given a new colour scheme. Even though I would say that it is not my favourite art style, with many characters having somewhat pointy features, it does stand out from the crowded anime market and was not enough to take you out of the series. However the fighting sequences are absolutely amazing and stunning, a visual feast for eyes with everything just flowing seamlessly, honestly some of the best fighting animation I have been privileged to see.
Story
I will point out that I have not read the Manwha and have seen many comments from people who have read the series and they do mention that the animated series does seem to be rushed, glossing over some major points from the Manwha it is based on. Having said that I do really enjoy the story and although I have not read the series, I do feel that at times story does seem to come at you a million miles hour making it difficult to understand everything that is happening, and there is a lot happening. However something I did pick up on, that instantly drew me into the series, was the artwork in the credits that hinted the overall plot was going to have something to with Sun Oh Gong/Sun Wukong/Son Goku the Monkey King and I love stories that revolve around this mythic figure. I was right, and as the story unfolds the plot points all begin to collide revealing the truth behind the tournament. Overall I did really enjoy the story and if you’re into the old gods and mythology you should enjoy the series, if you just like a good action anime with plenty of good fights you’ll definitely enjoy this series.
Characters
The three main characters are; the main protagonist Jin Mori, a slightly dim-witted fun loving guy who wants to fight all the time, Daewi Han a silent yet very caring and strong fighter, he is also Jin’s friend and rival and finally a female companion Miwa Yoo, a strong willed fighter. So if I am honest not exactly all that original, although I am slightly over simplifying things a little and each character does have his or her own unique personality and motivations. The supporting characters including those in the tournament that are what you’d expect in common beat’em up such as Street fighter and tekkan, even including an American wrestler so I will admit that again most characters are not exactly original.
Final Thoughts
I did really enjoy this series and although it is certainly does have some floors, the action and story are all enjoyable and I do look forward to see a second season to continue the story. The Opening and closing credit music are the most original I have heard on an anime, with both tracks being K-Pop which is cool to add that extra touch of Korea for the Korean story. I would highly recommend this series to those that like a quick paced anime with of plenty of fighting and action. I would also recommend this series to those that love mythology and the story leans heavily on the old Asian gods. There is still plenty to come in season 2 with more to revealed with regards to what is really going on and there is still the completion of the tournament to look forward to.
3.75 stars out of 5
Andrew More