What They Say:
When Kazama and his pals get their butts kicked by the Band of 14 Devils, it’s up to the Game Creation Club (Provisional) to come to the rescue! How will the girls fare against some of the nastiest delinquents their school has to offer?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While D-Frag hasn’t won me over in a big way, it’s definitely had its fun when it comes to the slapstick comedy route and what it’s trying to do with the cast. It just hasn’t made me a fan of most of the characters, though I like Kazama and Takao’s addition in the second episode made me enjoy her a lot since she brings a different kind of frantic to things. Such as the prologue here where a simple effort at school suddenly has her pretty much thrusting her chest into Kazama’s face, where both sides end up not doing all that well by it. It’s simple but effective in how it works. And it makes for a good lead-in before going with the idea of the Game Creation Club coming up with a new name since they don’t want to keep being called the fake club.
Unfortunately, because of the way school logistics work out, they don’t manage to get anything in before they’re simply tagged with Provisional at the end of the existing name. Which delights Takao to no end since it just delegitimizes them all the more. This doesn’t become much of an issue for most of the episode, which turns into a little more of an education for Kazama as while out with others, he learns of one of the worst of the delinquent groups out there with the Band of 14 Devils. Considering his own interest in becoming a better delinquent at the start of the series, it’s amusing that he’s so out of it when it comes to how the groups work within the school. But his interest gets the better of him since he ends up standing up to them which in turn gets him taken prisoner since they’re tougher than he thought they were based on appearance.
Amusingly, while the threats get underway, it turns against the leader quickly with some back and forth and before you know it there’s the start of a coup of sorts within the gang, something that Kazama does try to take advantage of. Naturally, things go from bad to worse when the club members show up and make their threats against the 14 Devils, which isn’t as bad as you might think since there are some very dangerous members in there. Does it come from their extensive gaming? Do they actually game? Or are they just twisted and violent as we see them take down the opposition with surprising ease. The more amusing part is that we get some potential information on Roka in that she may be a secret underground boss of the school, but it’s the kind of it doesn’t matter revelation. It’s just a gag that works nicely and leaves you wondering if there really is something there.
In Summary:
D-Frag works through some fun and amusing material as it goes along here, but it’s still not gelling together in a strong way. The concept is one that works well enough as it’s tried and true, but the characters are still very one dimensional, to the point where it’s easy to forget who all is actually in the club at times outside of Kazama and Roka. Getting Kazama caught up in some of the fun of the Band of 14 Devils, showing him what the delinquents in the school actually look like and operate as, has its moments. Particularly since the leader starts to lose control of the whole thing not too long after it segues there. The series is one that I continue to find has potential, but I suspect it will be largely untapped unless something really different happens.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
