The anime was something I was unsure to watch, with it's bright palette it didn't seem to suit the military genre and I didn't know what to expect. After watching the entire series I can safely say it's something that I enjoyed from the start to finish. The anime was hidden due to the strong Summer line-up such as SAO 2, Glasslip and Barakamon. It didn't get as much justice as it should have in my opinion.
With the anime following the comedy route, you see a lot of interactions between all the characters to make retorts and scenes as hilarious as possible. The story follows Momoka, a transfer student at a new high school and she gets roped into joining the Survival Game Club. The rest of the series follows Momoka meeting the members and their antics as the year progresses in the club.
They have games where they battle as if it's a real war and use their imagination to show blood and action scenes. With that being said, the battle scenes are something that I find really interesting. They take the normal scene and add special effects, slow motion, and music to make it different from the norm. The stunts and tricks they do amazed me due to the fact that it's something you don't expect from an anime like this one.
A big point that got me interested in this show, was that it wasn't only about survival games. With the show really making it emphasized that the anime would be about the club and their interests for survival, the anime has some episodes that stray away from that and bring out new concepts. You get an episode where Momoka gets a little too fat and has problems dieting, an episode where Maya tries to get over her dislike of natto, and an episode about modeling. The show isn't focused on one main idea and it does a great job showing that.
Characters are a big factor that can be a hit or a miss for almost anyone. The characters in this anime were unique to say. You're given someone who loves cosplay and solely joins the club for that reason, a girl who turns into a masochist, a model, and a senior held back due to misconduct. The cast seems pretty diverse and it adds for some really interesting interactions from them all.
Momoka is a character that really drives this anime from her facade and interesting personality. On the outside shes introduced as a sweet person, but is actually sharp-tongued and easily angered. She loves to get revenge and is the complete opposite of how people view her. She's someone you can't really connect with since her personality is all over the place and it really catches the viewer to see what she'd do next.
The other main characters all have unique personalities to keep some puns and jokes coming along the way, but some are obvious and you'll catch on right away. You get character develop for once in an anime with no story or plot to follow, surprising I know. You see change in the way Momoka views the club at first and towards the end. Her personality changes a little and you can see all the events that she went through did affect her in some way.
Art is something that i'm generally picky about, but this got me right away. With the bright palettes you get a sense that the anime isn't dark and it fit the mood of the anime right away. The scenes where the battles take place and the imagination of the characters make the battles much better and fun to watch. The background for each scene is top quality, the detail in the forests, backdrop and school are really on point. The guns are all really nicely drawn and has details that each one specifically only has and brings a sense of realism to them.
The sound is something that really brings out the anime and supports it greatly. With a wonderful opening to begin each episode, it's catchy and is one of the few that I never skip. Then you get an ending sung by the whole cast that gives a nice closure to each episode. The background music always fit each scene. With the anime having serious scenes and more mellow scenes, you get background music that fit each one and brought out the feelings that the characters are trying to give off. The voice actors in this anime are great. They all gave each character life and made it much more enjoyable to watch. Even the side characters have great voice actors and they all stepped it up to show emotion and comedy.
All in all I feel this is one that was over shadowed by the hype and praise that some anime got. I recommend anyone who just wants to watch a comedy and laugh till their sides hurt to check this out. It has great characters, wonderful art and a nice soundtrack to go along with it. It's not perfect, but it does a great job working with what it has.
