What They Say:
The game tournament is down to the semifinals! Siou finally gets his duel with Kazama while Roka and Takao face off in a nasty game of musical chairs. Which contestants have what it takes to climb to the finals? Who will walk home victorious?!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
D-Frag has played it kind of simple when it comes to the actual game creation aspect of the club as it’s been more about how they’re all just goofing off for the most part more than anything else. But as the events changed in the previous episode and real competition got underway, we had some amusing moments as the competition moved forward and we saw some creative ways of winning and moving forward. But it also just moved the show further out of the bounds of “normal” in a lot of ways, which isn’t a bad thing, but it had been a mostly realistic based show in the episodes prior with what it was doing with characters and the competitive nature of it, just a little outlandish with the actions themselves.
As the competition moves forward here, we get more weirdness coming out of the gates with some of the creations that have surfaced, but it’s all just kind of material that’s a step above a montage since it’s adding more characters and expanding the scope of things a bit without really giving us anything meaty. Which is good, because the show doesn’t need more characters. Where the fun does focus some is when it comes down to the part of the semifinals where Roka and Takao are facing off against each other and just look plain exhausted but quite intense with what they’re dealing with. Their part of the competition? A very physical interpretation of musical chairs that’s just a step below combat musical chairs. There’s definitely laughs to be had with htat when you see the two of them bounce off of each other.
As it progresses, it comes down to the match between Kazama and Roka with the whole stick and can game that’s simple, up close and rather personal overall. It’s amusing to see how Kazama has started to take things so seriously and really works to go against Roka for his own intentions, partially because he can’t stand to lose. Watching him take it so seriously and really go the distance with it is comical to be sure, especially since it’s something that he gets proud about without thinking about what Roka might feel from it. Of course, it’s a situation that makes you feel like he should have thrown the game for Roka to win, which in itself is the wrong way to view such things since competing like this is all about doing your best and winning in the best way possible without cheating. And he does just that, but it feels like a hollow victory.
In Summary:
The competition event draws to a close here with the second episode of it and it couldn’t come sooner. Well, it should have come in the previous episode, but that’s just me. The show has some fun slapstick moments here and there and some of the interactions are amusing, especially between Takao and Roka, but the show just continues to fizzle out for me after a fun opening. The lack of direction and really doing anything with the characters is starting to wear on me and while it has its moments, they’re not enough to sustain the show in general outside of that.
Grade: C
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.
