Anime: Seitokai no Ichizon

Important:This review is based off of S.S. Eclipse Productions- my personal favorite subbing group. Therefore, all sound and animation issues will strictly conform to what I have seen in their releases. Also note that all my reviews are done after watching the series at least two times.

A quick note:I am trying something new this time around. If you are finding the sections too long to read then ctrl->f "Hey!" and you will be directed to sections that have the main ideas of my paragraphs bulleted as well as my rating. Helpful? Please tell me so that I can either do this or stop doing this in the future. Thank you.

Premise: “I love you. I really love you. Can I date all of you? I’ll make you happy for the rest of your lives- I swear.” This is the basic premise to Seitokai no Ichizon. The line is said by the anime’s protagonist, Sugisaki Ken. In terms of making the viewer happy, Ken succeeds. Seitokai no Ichizon is a competent comedy that will entertain all viewers, especially those who are able to understand all of its references.

Background: Seitokai no Ichizon was first a light novel that was later serialized into Dragon Age as a manga and then turned into an anime. Seitokai no Ichizon is about Hekiyou Academy’s student council. In Hekiyou, the student council elections are all about popularity, meaning that one gets elected by his or her own aesthetic beauty. Seitokai no Ichizon focuses on the current student council which is made up of four bishoujos and one guy, Sugisaki Ken. Ken was not elected as a member of the student council, but instead got in by being the student with the highest scores. The anime has a very small plot and instead focuses mostly on the comedy which, in turn, mostly takes place in the student council room.

Animation: Over ninety percent of Seitokai no Ichizon takes place in just one room- the student council room. The room itself is not exactly impressively drawn, but it is decent enough that it does not really affect the viewer’s experience at all. In contrast, the inhabitants of the room are much more pleasing to look at. Each character has his or her own distinct stereotypical traits and, in addition, is easily distinguishable from one another. Character movements are limited in light of the anime’s setting. Therefore, it is a bit difficult to say that each character moves fluidly without much movement. The most animated character is, without a doubt, Ken. He is the main life of the anime and is animated thus so. His animation is convincing and befitting of his unique character. The other girls really do not move too much, so it is difficult to say that they move fluidly. At the very least, I can say that the lip synching was fine.
Color choice for this anime was, for the most part, very appropriate and thus helped to not only set the mood of the anime but also to captivate the viewer. There were some colors that felt a bit watered down, but in the end it really was nothing to be bothered by since it matched the setting. In terms of character design, I prefer the anime’s over the manga’s. The manga’s character design initially threw me off and made me stop reading it for awhile. The anime on the other hand, had much more solid character designs and were overall much more pleasing. It was easy to tell which character fit what stereotype and much easier to select a personal favorite.
The OP was decently animated while the ED was lazily animated. The OP introduces each character efficiently and cleanly but tells the viewer nothing about each character’s personality or what to expect from the anime. Basically the OP was visually pleasing but irrelevant. The ED was similar to the OP in that it expressed that the anime was about nothing. The clips in the ED range from the student council racing a bullet train to fanservice scenes. There was a lot of variety for sure, but it was not very fresh. The entirety of the ED was just five chibi figures running. Sure it might have been a little entertaining, but it was not very creative or memorable.


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+Decent animation
+Appropriate color choice and improved character design.
-OP and ED are mediocre at best.
=7

Sound: I personally enjoyed the OP theme but disliked the ED theme. The OP was sung by the cast themselves and sounded like every other decent anime OP. The ED was also sung by the cast of the anime, but just was not to my liking. Overall, I believe that both the OP and ED themes were appropriate for the anime but not astounding pieces of music. The BGMs for this anime were, of course, recycled often since it is only a twelve episode anime. The quality of the BGMs was standard- they were appropriate but not something that would be memorable.
The cast’s performance was more memorable than the songs that accompanied them. Each voice fit the character perfectly and hence worked out without a problem. For an anime of this type, voices are important to the enjoyment of the series. Of course, in all anime, voices matter, but for a parody anime, the voices have to fit the characters completely otherwise the jokes lose appeal and references are lost. Luckily for viewers, Seitokai no Ichizon’s cast does a great job matching their character’s voice and making sure that not one joke goes stale.


Hey! Read this if you can’t stand all the above writing!
-Mediocre OP less than mediocre ED
-fitting but boring BGMs
++Great voice acting.
=7

Story: The story revolves around the current student council of Hekiyou Academy. There is no real plot, but there is a sense of time in the anime. The viewer will be able to feel as if they are “growing” with the student council. If anything can be considered the plot of the anime, it would be the protagonist, Sugisaki Ken, trying to get the four bishoujous on the student council to become his harem. He is not really successful, or at least his success is not really official- the ending is open. Open endings are the scourge of the world- they make every anime worse. Why? Because usually there is some kind of development to lead the viewer to believe that there will be some type of conclusion. Since Seitokai no Ichizon had no real plot, an open ending will barely bother the viewer. It will still bother the viewer to be sure, but it is much easier to accept than most anime's open endings. Overall, the issue of there being no plot whatsoever is minor. With no plot, Seitokai no Ichizon has free reign over what its episodes focus on and the viewer will definitely enjoy that.


Hey! Read this if you can’t stand all the above writing!
-No plot
-Open ending
+Comedy makes up for no plot
=5


Character: This is Seitokai no Ichizon’s shining point. While each character is easily stereotyped by their appearance, the viewer will be surprised that characters seldom match their exterior. I’m not going to spoil the surprise in this review, but just know that getting to know the characters is just a bit of what makes Seitokai no Ichizon interesting. In terms of character development, there surprisingly is some. The viewer finds out about each character’s past and, gradually, how they turn into the person that they are in the anime. The characters will be more memorable to some and less to others depending on the viewer. I doubt that I will forget any of them due to their great chemistry though. In all great comedy, chemistry is extremely important otherwise jokes seen awkward and dull. Each character complements one another to create one of the most amusing animes that I have ever watched.


Hey! Read this if you can’t stand all the above writing!
+Great cast
+Character development is present
+Relatively unforgettable cast.
=8


Value: I would not hesitate to buy Seitokai no Ichizon on DVD. It is easily re-watchable and the jokes do not get old quickly unless, of course, you watch in rapid succession. The great thing about Seitokai no Ichizon is that it is easy to re-watch. When you think you’re done with the series you most likely will not be- that feeling will only last for maybe a month at most. After that, you’ll find yourself watching the episodes either sporadically or in their numerical order. Every time you watch, the series may be more predictable, but it will not get old easily. The quality of the DVD release is similar to the broadcasted version, so it’s nothing too amazing. If you’re looking for stunning visuals on DVD, you won’t exactly be pleased with Seitokai no Ichizon. But visuals are not supposed to be the focus of a comedy- sorry to burst your bubble. The quality of the visuals may not be the greatest, but the comedy that they offer is great.


Hey! Read this if you can’t stand all the above writing!
+Great re-watchability
-Meh visuals
+Good buy.
=8


Enjoyment: I am sure that you can guess by now that I greatly enjoyed Seitokai no Ichizon. It was a decent anime with great characters and jokes. Seitokai no Ichizon has many good references that most otaku will get, but occasionally there are some old references that some people might not get. This does not in the slightest detract from the experience, but those who get thrown off by not understanding references will be annoyed.
Seitokai no Ichizon’s selling point is its comedy, which is great. Sometimes though, the viewer will get in on each character’s back story which results in inevitable drama. The drama in Seitokai no Ichizon was interesting but not very great. Sure, I was curious about each character’s background and how they came to be on the student council, but it was not executed very well. Sometimes you get very confusing abrupt flashbacks that are misplaced and thus make whatever gag after it less amusing. Fortunately, these misplaced flashbacks are limited and the rest of the back story is satisfying.


Hey! Read this if you can’t stand all the above writing!
+Fun
-Mediocre drama
-Misplaced flashbacks
+Re-watchable
+Good references and jokes
=9


Final Words: Seitokai no Ichizon is a great comedy that should at least be checked out once. The characters work very well together to make an anime that is easy to re-watch and laugh at every time. The producers did not pull off some of the characters’s back stories as well as they could have, but these back stories make up only about ten percent of the anime. Watching this anime was a pleasure, and I hope that you will agree with my opinion.


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