Saturday, January 25, 2014

D-Frag!

Adapted from the manga "!" by Tomoya Haruno, this slapstick school comedy with some harem elements is also known as . The show is not like other school comedies "Seitokai Yakuindomo*" or "GJ-bu", but instead it feels like an eclectic mix of "Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku" and "School Rumble".



The story revolves around male protagonist Kenji, a self-proclaimed delinquent who is actually a nice guy, considering his kindness gets him ensared into the school's game creation club, whose members are all quite eccentric characters.




Before long, Kenji is dragged into the club's pace of crazy antics and silly games, and he finds himself in the middle of a bitter struggle with the school's other game creation club as well as the target of Roka and Takao's affections.



Next to being a solid and enjoyable comedy show, "D-Frag!" reeled me in with the irresistible lure of featuring a cute loli voiced by Hanazawa Kana, a big breasted tsundere voiced by Itou Shizuka and a trap voiced by Shiraishi Ryoko.



The creators seem well aware that this series' strong point is the high moe factor of several key characters from its main cast, especially Roka and Takao. In fact, they couldn't have picked better voice talents to voice these two irresistibly cute girls.



Likely a conscious choice by the studio or director, aimed to reel in more viewers. A tactic that definitely paid off as far as I'm concerned, considering that watching Roka and Takao's shenanigans is definitely the highlight of each episode for me.



Alas, moe characters featuring great voice work cannot carry a series by themselves, luckily "D-Frag!" has been an entertaining comedy so far, although it isn't particularly the greatest show in its genre.



While "GJ-bu" and "Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku" had a limited main and supporting cast, "D-Frag!" seems to have a rather large supporting cast with even more side characters being showcased in the opening sequence.



Noticed that similar anime series like "School Rumble" also feature a significant amount of side characters, which can make it seem as some of those characters exist simply to enable specific comedy situation or are but tools to move the plot along.



Considering that "D-Frag" is slated for a single cour of twelve episodes, wonder if we'll really have any significant appearances of all these supporting characters. Or worse, if the studio tries to cram in sub-plots to feature all these supporting characters, that might leave some main characters painfully underused.



Blonde cutie Roka is voiced by Hanazawa Kana, she also voiced Nadeko in "Bakemonogatari", Ruri in "Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai", Charlotte in "IS: Infinite Stratos", Kobato in "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai", this season she also voices Kosaki in "Nisekoi" and Rumi in "Tonari no Seki-kun".



Saitou Chiwa voices feisty student council president Chitose, she's tackled roles like Aika in "Aria", Humora in "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", Senjougahara in "Bakemonogatari", Tatenashi in "IS: Infinite Stratos", Francesca in "Strike Witches" and Honoka in "Stella Jougakuin C3-Bu".



Rival club president Takao is voiced by Itou Shizuka, she previously voiced Hinagiku in "Hayate no Gotoku!", Koko in "Jormungand", Kaori in "To Aru Majutsu No Index", Haruka in "Amagami SS" and she also voices Hisa in this season's "Saki Zenkoku-hen".



Koshimizu Ami voices club advisor Minami, she's tackled roles like Kallen in "Code Geass", Horo in "Spice & Wolf", Hiwako in "Gingitsune", Ryuuko in "KILL la KILL", Tenma in "School Rumble", Mugino in "To aru Kagaku no Railgun S" and Charlotte in "Strike Witches".



Trap Sakuragaoka is voiced by Shiraishi Ryoko who also voiced Hayate in "Hayate No Gotoku!", Kanako in "Nyan Koi", Kaede in "Mahou Sensei Negima!", this season she also voices Mako in "Saki Zenkoku-hen".



Quite enjoyed "D-Frag!" so far, despite it being a run-of-the-mill comedy anime, it's nonetheless a solid show that might be worth your while if you're looking for a school comedy like "Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku" or "School Rumble".
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