Baka and Test: Class Wars, Love Rivalries and Comedic Chaos

Prepare for a laughter-filled journey into the world of "Baka and Test" with The ZONE Podcast! What if your test scores could summon avatars for epic battles? We're unpacking all the hilarious chaos at Fumizuki Academy, where students like Akihisa Yoshi, our lovable but dim-witted protagonist, navigate school life with avatars that fight based on academic prowess. Get ready for a deep dive into the comedic genius of this anime, the heartwarming love rivalry between Mizuki Himeji and Minami Shimada, and all the outrageous class wars that make this series a gem. 

Still chuckling? We also take a critical yet affectionate look at the show's comedic elements and their staying power. While some jokes might not hit as hard today, "Baka and Test" remains a must-watch for its sheer comedic brilliance. I rate it nine out of ten for its timeless humor! As we wrap up, remember to keep that nerdy spirit alive and stay optimistic because incredible things are just around the corner. Whether you're tuning in with your morning coffee or winding down at night, this episode promises to entertain and delight. Stay nerdy and enjoy the laughs!

Chapters

• 0:01 "Baka and Test Podcast Discussion"
• 18:19 Mixed Reviews on Baka and Test

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

welcome back to the zone podcast where we encourage people that's going to school to get good grades. I'm jeff blackestream and today's topic is baka and test. Without further ado, let's go ahead and get into it now. Baka and test this is one of the funniest anime I have ever watched. Like I kid you not, like. It is wild, almost immediate. The character interactions and all the shit going on like okay, don't make me reference.

Speaker 1: 0:44

It takes place at this big preparatory school called pumizuki academy in japan, where the finest and most unique um is implemented there, to where, essentially, they have avatars and these avatars kind of like gamify the whole learning curriculum, to where to study up in math history, blah, blah, blah. And these beings fight when a teacher gives uh approval for like a class war that they have between class f, class a, class b, class C, whatever, whatever. And depending on how well they do with their test scores in these subjects, their avatar strength is either weak or strong. So that's why there's a whole class hierarchy systems where the people with the worst scores are in class F and while the people end up with the best scores are in class F and while the people end up with the best scores is in class A and you can also tell that, while class F have like the worst supply of school supplies, class A is like living fabulously, like just ritzy type shit. And essentially this story revolves around Akihisa Yoshi, or Aki for short. He's like this idiot main character with redeeming qualities, like he's good with cooking Well, he has to be, because he's living alone while his sister was off doing her thing, but she came back in season two. His sister was off doing her thing, but she came back in season two. Uh, he's also like one of those main characters that's like thoughtful and kind and blah, blah, you know that typical stuff to where, um, some girls will like that sort of thing.

Speaker 1: 2:39

And speaking of which, let's talk about the main two girls. Uh, we have mizuki himeji and we also have uh minami uh, I'm forgetting her last, inami shimada, right, so with himeji, he's like this shy, innocent girl who's like one of the prettier girls. But you know, well, let me put, just watch the anime, because you kind of see why a lot of girls, a lot of dudes, like her and a lot of girls kind of envy her, you know, except for uh aki's sister, uh akira, where she's like way more endowed and, um, like a better well, not better, but um, she just had this figure to where the girls perceived her as being better, like, oh man, I wish I was, as uh had that figure and that type shit. But I'll get to the sister later Now. With Imagi she's actually pretty smart. The only problem was she was unable to finish her placement exam because she had a fever and at Fumizuki if you leave in the middle of exam you get a zero. So she ended up in class F but she didn't mind because as long as Akihisa was in there she wouldn't mind it.

Speaker 1: 4:11

She also has kind of a dark side where you can kind of tell in the anime and essentially between her and Minami they have like this love rival thing going on for aki to where they they like each other, they they're friends, but they're also like competing to be with aki and but me, to me she might be sunday. Uh, tomboy type. Well, tsundere. Uh tomboy type. Well, you remember plank from ed and netty? That's her running gag, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Uh, I would say that they're funny together when it seems like, whenever aki is being accused of being involved with another woman and next thing, you know they just act like crazy girlfriends, like that's the funny thing to where they act like, um, they're both his girlfriend but they're both competing with each other. It's like this whole love triangle well, actually love square because his sister, akira, has this brother complex for him and that part is weird. Like it's nothing new at this point. Uh, with all the different anime and certain sites that does that sort of have videos of that sort of thing going on. Uh, at this point it's like nothing brand new. But you gotta stop and think that baka and test was out in like 2007. So I would say it was one of those things where it was kind of new as far as like anime, like, uh, keep in mind that anime didn't really catch on to like what five, ten years ago, and back then it was like watching anime was more like a hidden passion, you know. So it was one of those things to where it just kind of caught you off guard. And that's the funny thing.

Speaker 1: 6:24

The jokes oh my god, the jokes and the gags and whatnot. I can't say anything that will give it justice. You're just gonna have to watch the anime and that's the funny thing. It's two seasons each with 13 episodes. There's some ovas too, and at this point, where things are coming back with a sequel, you're thinking like, where's the love for Bakken Test? Like, are there fans like bro? Like I'm pretty sure it's on Netflix or something like no, no, no, I'm gonna look this up. Okay, definitely Crunchyrollroll course. Uh, yeah, like it's on crunchyroll, I guess you can buy it on prime video. But, yeah, just check it on crunchyroll. Mainly is Bakken Test, summon the Beast, just the full title, just to let you know.

Speaker 1: 7:29

I should have probably said that in the beginning, but whatever, oh, yeah, I know I'm going to be random at this point, but there's some characters that I do like in this show. Like, for starters, there's the pervert character, koda Imagine Inata from, I hear, academia, but people actually like him in this universe and he's running around with this little camera known as the Silent Ninja Pervert and he's trying to get photos of girls with paintings and whatnot. And then there's this one girl that I don't like. She's from class A, aki, hold on, okay, I'm right, aki, aiko, that's right, right, right, right, aiko. I don't like her Because, like, she's pretty much like a foil to Kota and she like to mess around with Aki and Kota as far as like perverted things you know. Oh, just fuck with their heads. I'm like I guess I don't know what to tell you, but it is like that.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Real quick, let me just go ahead and talk about Yuji and Shoko. Now Yuji is like that older brother figure to Aki, to where he's gonna level with you every chance he gets. But overall, you know he cares for you, whatnot. He's like the most normal guy in this show, like he's not as studious, like he got bad grades too, but I guess you could say he's like the closest thing to average. The only thing that makes him stand out is his relationship with shoko.

Speaker 1: 9:16

Now shoko, she's like that crazy in love type girl to where you think uh minami and uh himeji is bad. This girl would is so in love with yuji because you know, like a hero complex thing going on. But it kind of went a little too far at this point to where yuji feels like it just better to just date her um versus just letting her out in the wild. But no, seriously, she like have this dude on a chained leash. She like tasers him with a stun gun, like pokes his eye out just so he doesn't look at other girls.

Speaker 1: 9:58

It's like she's that kind of crazy, like please, please, just watch the anime, please, like, give it a chance. I'm telling you it's a lot funnier watching it then listening to me talking about it. But that's just the main point of me doing this episode, to where I want to raise awareness for this anime and read the manga if you want to. I didn't read the manga just yet because I just never got around to it. But then again, for this review, probably for the best, because I don't want to spoil too much for you, I just want to give you an idea what this show is about.

Speaker 1: 10:35

Uh, talk about I guess that's it for you jen, uh, iron man, like he's this one teacher to where he runs the remedial class. Like, please, don't run out of points when you're doing class wars, because if you zero out he will show up and drag you to remedial course, and he's like one of those. Well, that's the reason why he's called iron man, because he's like this up his nails like very, you know, very rough um type teacher. You know, it's kind of teacher that everybody's kind of scared of. You know who else? Oh, hideyoshi, my boy, hideyoshi man. Listen, I knew from jump that Hideyoshi was a boy, but the running gag is that he's so androgynous that damn near everybody confused him for a girl and he has to keep correcting people.

Speaker 1: 11:30

But I'm like, nah, nah, I'm not buying it. Hey, some people like in youtube comments were like, hey, man, like it would have been as easy as like just whip your dick out. But yeah, it's not appropriate and fair enough. So I'm like, but no, I get it, I get it to where, like it could have been that easy. But no, it's not that for some reason, people just think it's just funny to just say that this dude might be a chick to a point to where they even have his own. He has his own bathroom, like you know what. There's a allegory I'm sensing here. But yeah, but yeah, who else? I mean Hideo.

Speaker 1: 12:17

She also has a sister that's in Class A, but she barely shows up unless it's like for a class or whatnot. She's like one of the more serious characters in this show and I guess you can say there's not much of a plot other than Class F is just trying to get better school supplies, better desks, because man, like, looking inside Class F, the shit is deplorable in there. But you know, they're just trying to get better accommodation for their school learning. That's all that is. Obviously, there's a whole bunch of tropes that's going to be sprinkled into the show like a whole bunch of references and whatnot, so be on the lookout for those.

Speaker 1: 13:09

Aside from that, aside from that, um, because I already mentioned how, like two girls and his sisters like into him and even though, like the sister, even though the sister had that weird brother complex, he also cares for aki in a sense, to where she's not playing any bullshit when it comes to the grades, like if his grades are slacking, she is on his ass about it and she's like really tough on him too. Like logical, like scary logical. Um, and that's the funny part, like this girl be gaslighting and tricking Anki to a point to where I'm like bro Akira scares the shit out of me. To where I'm like bro, I'm not you man, she loves her brother so much where he's not allowed to be having illicit sexual relations with other girls, but she's cool with boys. I just want you to let that sink in. And also, she's like always trying to kiss him, man. She's like no, you're my sister, stop it. And I was like why not? Not, don't you love me. I'm like, yes, as a sister, but not as a woman, like bitch bro, like I swear to god, like sometimes this is one of those anime where I'm like yo, y'all play too much.

Speaker 1: 14:57

I can't believe I'm saying this about an anime, but this anime plays too much. I just don't know what else to tell you, dog. Um, that all the characters that can't be all the characters, because I know there's like some minor characters, but did I talk about all of the kids case? That's fine. Uh, I just didn't think I going to blaze through it this fast. But yeah, man, not a deep plot, but I would say watch it for the jokes, watch it for the gags, like I could say the whole love triangle between Aki Minami and Himeji gets a little serious from time to time, but other than that, it's like the status quo of hijinks ramped up to 11.

Speaker 1: 15:59

And speaking of which rating time as an overall anime, hmm, I guess you can say I give it a 9 out of 10 only because I just feel like, uh, some of the characters, I wish they had a little bit more depth to them, like with aki. Yeah, like I said, he's like the idiot character, but at least he's like good at cooking and he's not a bad person, you know, like he can actually be like very thoughtful, even though he can be a total idiot too. Like the way he's depicted as an idiot is just so, uh, hilarious, like I'm. Once again, I'm just it's gonna have to watch the anime to see exactly what I'm talking about. But some of the characters feel a little one dimension. I can kind of forgive it, because everything else is so funny to where I'm like, eh, you know what, I forgive you. So overall, I give it a 9 out of 10. But as a comedy, 11 out of 10. It's just that funny dog.

Speaker 1: 17:09

When I was preparing for this review, honestly I was cackling at some of the clips that I was looking at like straight up. So, with that being said, I know lately these reviews are getting a little shorter, but then again, with me just going slow, I'm probably gonna have a little bit to say. But then again, some of these reviews to where I'm like, eh, you know what, it ain't that deep but it is worth talking about. Like even talking about it right now. I'm thinking like, yeah, I like talking about Baka and Tess, like it might be one of those shows to where you know what I'm going to get back into the habit of watching it every now and then, just to just to have something to laugh at. You know like sometimes life might get you down and you might need you know, laughter is the best medicine, some people would say so. Baka and test is probably one of those anime to where you want something to laugh at, you want something to like remind you that life isn't all that shitty. Watch pocket test once again.

Speaker 1: 18:19

Some stuff in there did not age well in my personal opinion. That's why I'm giving it like a nine from a critic point of view, but as a comedy, hell yeah, go for it, do it. I'm gonna go ahead and zone out of here. So remember to stay nerdy and remember that great things are coming. Have yourself a good morning, good afternoon and good night. Take it easy.