Survival Game Club! (Sabagebu!)

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

The title says it all, really ; it’s an adaptation of a comedy shoujo manga.

Characters

Momoka, our protagonist. She’s just transferred into a new girls-only high-school for the billionth time (because of her dad’s professional obligations), and she’s going through the motions yet again : act nice towards everybody and not make waves. That’s not her real personality (she’s cynical, impulsive and vindictive), but it’s less trouble that way. She certainly doesn’t want to make any actual friends or join a club, because what’s the point if she moves around again in a few months ? Unfortunately, she randomly stumble into…

Miou, the president of the Survival Game Club, who’s by all counts a complete lunatic. She rarely, if at all, bothers with her school uniform, and sometimes even comes to school in full tactical gear. How she gets away with such antics is a mystery, although it helps that most of the student body is madly admirative of her. Anyway, Momoka’s caught her eye, and she’s not about to let go.

Other members of the club include Boobs, who’s also a model on the side (and, er, that kind of model, it seems) ; the cute little girl who’s a bit too possessive of her childhood friend Miou ; and the monotone potted plant who’s in it for the cosplay aspect. I’m also not entirely sure whether the duck mascot is really sentient.

Production Values

It’s a bit hard to judge with NicoNico’s eyebleed-o-vision, but this is a bright and shiny series with distinctive character designs. Animation is average, but it’s good at selling the sight gags, and that’s what counts. The level of fanservice isn’t low, but not too cringeworthy either.

Overall Impression

You might remember last year’s C3-bu, which had a similar premise. Beyond the questionable decision to have the girls fight in school uniforms, it had them wear adequate protection and observe good gun safety. It pushed the realistic approach to have a lead with crushing co-dependency issues, and the havoc it wreaked on the group.

Here, the narrator goes out of his way to make it clear we won’t have any of that angst shit, and don’t care one bit about realism. It’s all about bringing the funny. The good news is that this is from the makers of the likes of Mitsudomoe and Love Lab (different studio, but same director and head writer), and they know about funny. If you enjoyed their madcap approach to comedy, and their precisely-paced slapstick, then you’re in luck, because that’s what they’re doing here too.

This made me laugh nonstop. Of course I’ll keep watching.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2014.

Published by

Jhiday

I've been kinda blogging about anime for years... but mostly on forums (such as RPG.net's Tangency) and other sites. This site is an archive for all that stuff, just in case.

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