Anime Review #3: B Gata H Kei

Warning: The plot of this Anime may not be suitable to minors.

B Gata H Kei is a TV anime series based on a seinen manga by Sanri Youko. Because it is a seinen, the expected fans are young male adults, usually of age 18-30. However, B Gata H Kei is also classified as an Ecchi, so under-18 viewers are really discouraged.

To learn more about anime classifications (Ecchi, Seinen, etc), click here.

B Gata H Kei is also a comedy. In fact, it’s probably one of the funniest Anime I’ve seen in recent times.

As always, while spoilers are avoided, some information about the plot may necessarily be included in this review. However, it is always our goal to make readers want to watch whatever we’re reviewing, as opposed to just spoiling the fun.

More after the break.

The Setting

The main protagonist is Yamada (that’s her last name, her first name is not revealed at the beginning of the anime. Will it ever be revealed? Watch the show). She is 15 years old at the start of the story, and 16 or 17 by the end of 12 episodes.

Yamada is a bishoujo, she is very beautiful and definitely popular. She comes off as a maniac’s dream, a girl who can’t think of anything else but having sex with a lot of boys. She even understands some fetishes, such as girls in nurse outfits, and keeps her own collection of porn magazines.

A headturner, everyone is stunned whenever she passes by, taking seconds to admire her beauty – and she knows it. She knows she’s pretty, sexy, and popular, and she plans on using these to achieve her goal.

What is her goal? Well, at 15 years old and entering High School, Yamada is still a virgin, and she doesn’t like it. Her goal is to collect 100 f*ck buddies (from here on referred to as FB) in High School, but she believes she won’t achieve this goal as a virgin (since she mistakenly thought guys would be turned off upon knowing she isn’t experienced).

To bypass this, she devised a plan – she’s going to have sex with a virgin guy first. That way, they are on the same level.

Everybody likes her, so it is completely up to her to choose which one she likes the most – but what she really likes is a virgin, and the first candidate she bumped into (at a bookstore) is Takashi Kosuda. Everyone describes Kosuda as either “plain”, “normal”, or “boring”… everyone, including Yamada herself! This puzzles her best friend, Miharu Takeshita, who knows of her intention of sleeping with many men.

Yamada finds Kosuda in her own school, having found out that Kosuda was actually her seatmate. And so the hunt, and the seduction, begins.

Nudity?

Let me answer right away a question that I’m sure has been nagging you – no, there are no nude scenes in this Anime. This is Ecchi, not Ero / Hentai.

Well let me correct that, there are nude scenes, but their private parts are covered with something that looks like a talisman marked with a demon avatar. Yes, everyone is hoping for a version without that damn talisman.

And no, this picture isn’t a spoiler. For all you know, this could be happening in a certain character’s imagination…

Symbolisms

Back to the Anime. For comic relief, most characters have alter-egos that act as their “God of Sex” (Ero-Gami). These “gods” have the sole purpose of guiding their respective personas to sex, but they are largely ignored by the characters themselves. In short, these “gods” simply represent their inner desires to have sex, and are not actual characters themselves.

One God of Sex, Kosuda’s, also act as a representation of his genitalia. For instance, when he gets aroused, the “god” is shown waking and rising up, and even stretching.

Elements of RPG are also incorporated in the Anime, probably because of the young adult target audience. For instance, after an instance when Kosuda accidentally touched her breasts, Yamada claims she “gains a level”, and at times she notes that she wants to do it that way since it will give her more EXP.

Like American Pie, there is also the concept of “bases”. However, in the Anime, these designated by letters, with “A” being the first base, “B” the second base, and so on.

Lastly, a cherry is used to denote one’s virginity.

More Yamada

The main selling point of this anime is Yamada, who, as said earlier, is a maniac’s dream girl. She really thinks and talks about sex all the time, to the point that it annoys Takeshita.

This screenshot is from a fansubbed copy from CoalGuys. I wanted to include the subtitle, hehehe.

Furthermore, the entire Anime revolves around her quest to seduce Kosuda, so it talks about what she, an adolescent girl, thinks boys her age want. This leads her to do extreme things, which mostly works, but sometimes frightens Kosuda (or would frighten any guy, for that matter).

A lot of her conversations with Takeshita are about how she is finally going to have sex with Kosuda and obtain 100 FBs, which can be attractive and funny at the same time.

There are also plenty of scenes were it looks like Yamada is playing with herself (Kosuda even explicitly noted one).

Other Characters?

There are other characters such as Kyouka Kanejou, Mayu Miyano, Chika Yamada, and Keiichi Kanejou, but discussing them here might spoil some important plot details. ^_^

Music, Voice, and Graphics

The Opening, Ending, and Insert song were all sung by Yukari Tamura, who also voiced Yamada. Yukari has a very distinctive high-pitched voice (she also voiced Tenten of Naruto and Mai of Kanon), which I initially thought would not fit well with the character of sex-crazed Yamada, but she definitely pulled this one off.

Yukari’s style of voice acting enhanced some of Yamada’s characteristics, such as indecisiveness at times, panicking, and immature. Yui Horie (who voiced Ayu in Kanon) voiced the more mature Takeshita.

The graphics is great (minus the demon talisman). Granted that I watched the Anime at 720p, but the drawing style itself brings out the best features of everyone’s body, and truly exemplifies Yamada’s beauty… and hotness, hehe.

Ratings:

• Graphics: 4/5
• Story: 5/5 (perfect for its target audience)
• Voice:4/5 (Yamada, Takeshita, and Kanejou were well acted)
• Music: 3/5 (opening theme is good, but that’s it)
• Entertainment value: 4/5 (very funny and can easily hook you up)
• OVERALL RATING: 4/5