DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyBishounen Tanteidan
NOVEL ComedyMazemonogatari
MANGA ComedySeishun Kijinden! Nishio Gakuen

REVIEWS

• 

  ThalVatti

  80/100
  Elegant, beautiful, and artistic "child's play"

  1. Be pretty

  2. Be a boy

  3. Be a detective

  

  A magical pairing that once made history, is here again to revive whatever hopes you had on Shaft after Owarimonogatari's ending. In the beautiful storytelling of Nisioisin and the imaginative and creative team of Shaft studios' team, Bishounen Tanteidan is here to appeal to everyone with its charming characters, crazy screenplay and dialogue-packed plot that is sure to make you amazed at the mere thought of such a creative piece existing.

  Doujima Mayumi is a regular high school girl whose eyes were always up to the sky. When she was a child she saw a beautiful star that she was never again able to see afterwards. Upon stumbling with Manabu Soutouin and a club full of self-proclaimed "Pretty detectives", they go on a hunt for such star. From that point on it's started the adventures of such club, with the premise of a child's play, and all the determination to be pretty, be boys, be detectives, and be a team.

  First of all, witnessing one of Nisioisin's pieces is always a treat. The way he deals with the storytelling and is able to be innovative, though never losing his essence as a writer. Such show perfectly in this anime, with fresh and mostly unexplored themes, an astonishing set of characters and an involving progression with dialogues that will keep you on the edge of your seat as well as take laughs off of you when you least expect it.

  Still on the subject of unique characters, to which we owe a special shoutout to the designer, Kinako, many of them deserve special attention, not only through the way they are portrayed, but also in the way they are portrayed by each other, each interpersonal relationship is unique in its own right, for example the way Mayumi refers each of the members with special names such as "Delinquent-kun", "Bare legs-kun", etc. Such character interaction helps enrich what's considered to be the most important point in all of Nisioisin's narratives, the dialogues.

  Not to be underestimated though, is the team involved in the art, which was able to perfectly transmit the work made on the manga by Suzuka Oda and translate it to a style very familiar in Shafts productions: the scuffed face expressions, the slow-mo captures and switch in artstyle for dramatic or comic effect. Shaft is well known for such characteristics that made shows like Monogatari and Nisekoi so unique. It was being highly discussed as to what was the future of this studio, upon the massive wave of talents leaving, but if such pieces continue to be created, I believe their future looks very bright

  Another art sector that amazed me throughout the entire narrative was the soundtrack, with tracks by Masatomo Oota and Kousuke Moribe. The tracks filled me with joy and highly resembled other works from the same studio. Which was great, because Monogatari, [I'm sorry for using Monogatari as an example so often] for example, has my favorite OST of all times. Bishounen Tanteidan has tracks that complement the narrative and are the main element that make Bishounen Tanteidan so elegant in its worldbuilding.

  With all that said though, what are the downsides?

  

  Though not highlighted in the segments above, the story itself isn't really impressive per se, the story is mostly a catalyst to the other elements the piece has to offer, which is to a certain extent disappointing. Of course, even if the story were to be better, it would probably get ofuscated by its characters and screenplay. But from an analytical standpoint, those elements do lack and are pretty much all that's holding this piece from reaching greatness, you can, indeed, resume the story in the fact that it's just an elementary schoolers child's play.

  Conclusion:

  Regardless of it not being presented with a great story, all of its other elements are perfect in its harmony and good enough to make you fall in love with the show regardless of its lack of a clear progression. The art, screenplay, soundtrack, characters and narrative all merge to what's, from my point of view, Shaft getting back in form, and another great piece from Nisioisin. I completely recommend this anime to anyone, and everyone with some free time to fall in love for something new.

  
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• 

  ptooey

  70/100
  A fun exploration of beauty, identity and growth

  "Conclusion" is spoilery, be careful.

  Story: 6.5
  Simple but fun anyway. The plot is a little bit weak but the mysteries are interesting so its fun nonetheless. Don't expect this show to blow your mind with its themes or mind boggling plot twists, the interaction between the characters is what drives it forward. The show makes use of nonsensical situations to teach different lessons and while "plot" is not a very good way to describe the connection between each lesson, the growth process of each character is very interesting to watch.

  Characters: 6.5
  They are extremely fun and unique. The way they interact with each other is incredibly entertaining and even when acting separately, they still have enough in them to keep you engaged in what is happening. At first I wasn't super intrigued by each one of them and it took about four episode for them to win me over, though this delay was only caused by my disappointment in the lack of a bigger plot. One thing that made me like the characters even more was the dialogue and voice actors' performance.

  Character Development: 7.5
  It was good, but that's it. Mayumi went through interesting growth during the show but the other characters didn't have as much time to be explored - or rather, the show chose to not explore them. Despite the lack of development we get enough out of them to know they are actual people that live and interact with the world so I guess its fine. Even with this lack of exploration, the show holds itself well enough with Mayumi's growth as an individual. The way she changes is really interesting. Her thematic struggles are not always explicitly shown to the audience, but even when nothing is said out loud, all the pieces to figure out what is holding her back are always shown beforehand. This keeps the audience engaged, and the viewer feels a sense of accomplishment when the character finally realizes what they have shouted at the screen for the last 20 minutes.

  Conclusion (SPOILERS): 8
  It is a good finale. We get to see the results of Mayumi's growth, seeing her bring everyone together in the final episode. Manabu's speech was also great, basically explaining what kind of person Mayumi is and how she has grown during the story. Still, I have some issues with the way they went through with Yokuya. At first he was set up as this mysterious figure with multiple theories about his intentions. The thing is, while those theories where being presented, we took a full 180 with the world's atmosphere and style. The background art was more realist, as was Mayumi's classroom, and even Naganawa was a very common 14/15 yo girl (in the sense that she wasn't over the top like all the other characters, and acted more like her age). On top of all that we get to see Manabu's brother and his journey growing as a person. I think the best approach to the finale would be less of a "there's a big scary scheming villain" and more of a "not everything in the world works like a mystery novel". Taking a more realistic view on the world towards the end, realizing that this little fantasy is something that they will probably graduate of but still live the moment to their best efforts is a great message and complementing it with a "even if there are no big villains and most people are just people, our dreams, hopes and beauty lie within us" is more like the show. Heck, the story even made the point to tell us that Mayumi stopped trying to reach the star and in doing so she actually became a more realized and happy person, basically incorporating the star she longed for so much. Understanding that beauty and dreams are not external while trying to be the most beautiful self you can is a fucking great message, and I don't think that there was a need for a final villain to make that statement. So, at least imo, the show could have ended in the same exact way, just remove the "Yokuya is baddy bad baddie" development.

  Animation: 8
  The animation is very solid throughout the show, and while it is certainly beautiful, it doesn't stand out too much.

  Soundtrack: 8.5
  There was never a time where I though "hmm, this OST is kinda weird", or even thought that any of them were less likable than the other. Actually, I really loved all of them. I'll definitely find the whole OST and download it (if not available on Spotify). They fit the show's vibe really well, are interesting on their on and incorporate a considerable variety of genres (going from classic music themes to more synthetic sounds and music throughout all episodes).

  Enjoyment: 8.5
  I really enjoyed the show. I just won't give a it 10 because I didn't get as invested in the Fudatsuki arc. The start of the arc was pretty strong with interesting mysteries, but the last episode was pretty weak imo (despite the lesson Mayumi learned being pretty cool and Fukuroi being an interesting character). The comedy was great, I love the style of dialogue and overall it was a really satisfying watch.

  Art: 10
  Shaft really came back with this. Literally every scene is amazing, the colors are gorgeous, the character designs are on point, the backgrounds are super interesting and fucking beautiful, the lighting is amazingly done. There really isn't a single thing to criticize on the art, and honestly in one of the most visually interesting things I've seen in a long time.

  Voice acting: 8
  I just really, really love the the way every VA delivers their lines. I think its a "Shinbou style" kinda thing, because the show is very similar to the Monogatari Series in this aspect. The only voice I didn't like very much was Hyouta's, but I didn't exactly hate it, just not my favorite. Despite not loving his voice, his and everyone else's dialogue is just amazing. I think this only happens when Shinbou directs a Nisio Isin work. Part of it is definitely because the way Nisio writes his characters, but I wonder if Shinbou explicitly asked the VAs to deliver their lines like that. I really love this style of dialogue, and the VAs did an amazing job. My favorite performances were from Sakamoto Maaya (Mayumi's VA) and Murase Ayumu (Manabu's VA). I really enjoyed Murase's delivery, especially since its a very different type of performance than what I was used to coming from him. Maaya on the other hand was less of a surprise and more of a "ah shit, now I remember why she's one of my favorites".

  Directing: 8
  I really don't know much about directing, so ignore my ignorance lol. What I do know is that Shinbou Akiyuki is a fucking genius and I absolutely love him. Shinbou was Chief Director but the Director was Ootani Hajime. Unfortunately I don't have a clear image of what his style is like so I'll probably check the episodes which he worked in Monogatari and Sangatsu no Lion. What I definitely can see is that Shinbou was a pretty big influence in Ootani's work (at least judging from what I already saw).

  Storyboard: 9
  Well I know a little bit about this one but take my word with a grain of salt and go check the anime for yourself for a better understanding. The storyboarding in this anime is fantastic. We see the characters from super interesting angles, sometimes from far away (for example, every time they are in the art club room), and at times very close to a character's eye or face. The shots are always engaging, going through someone's eye and then coming out of other character's eye, or with specific placement of things in the ambient (again, any time they are in the art club is when this is most noticeable, other example is when Mayumi and Fukuroi are in the music room). The shots always have a great sense tridimensionality but somehow we always have the characters standing out the most in the scene (again, take a look at the art room, even if everything is super shiny, beautiful and interesting to look at, we always look at the characters in the sofas, like they are magnetic or something). I think this has to do with the thirds of a scene, but I don't know enough to give an explanation (I'll link an article if you want to read more about it). Its like we are watching a play, and the characters really stand out from the background, while also blending in perfectly with the atmosphere of the world.

  Final words:
  The show has some really fun moments, great comedy and characters, and the way their relationship evolves is really satisfying. While we see characters trying to deal with their internal struggles, we are presented with the theme of beautifully being the best version of ourselves that we can. Fun ride, nothing too impressive in the plot side, but grate production and fun characters make up for it. As a final comment, my scores are definitely influenced by my bias towards Nisio stuff, and above all, my love for Shibou. I hope you found any value in my comments, and if you agree or disagree with anything I said, you are welcome to tell me so.

  ---

  Final score: 7 (or just smiley face :)
  While I know this wasn't the most incredible of shows, it was super fun for me. Took me a while, but the characters eventually did grow on me and I really wanted more content to watch, tho I don't think there will be a second season since the finale wraps up pretty much everything it needs to.

  ---

  Article about the thirds thing: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-the-rule-of-thirds/

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• 

  ThatsBananas

  80/100
  The Beach Boys and their Misadventures

  Before this review begins, a quick spoiler notification:

  There will be spoilers for the entire show as we discuss every single arc in the story. This is all in the Story category, and follows a spoiler free general discussion. I will alert readers of when we discuss the arcs themselves. Thank you for your time.

  

  After brushing off the affects of puberty, Nisioisin, author of the popular animation Monogato, created what has become to be known as the Beach Boys. It seems that the horny author has once again teamed up with studio Shift Key to show that the studio has what it takes to do something other than Magic Girl Madoka and Monogato. The show is a detective show taking inspiration from the likes of Nintendo’s very own Ace Attorney, The Hardy Boys, and the good parts of Erased and creates an anime with great dialogue, interesting characters, and a story that is very entertaining to watch.

  To add a little background, the Beach Boys is about a purple haired crossdresser who has the ability of better-sight and her good friends the Beach Boys, for whom this show is named after. The Beach Boys get wrapped up in several mysteries which are partly due to everyone in this show being high off of some sort of cocaine, or because of the purple haired crossdresser being a better-sight seer and seeing shit.

  Now that we are all caught up, this review is going to be told in 5 parts: Story, Characters, Animation/Music, and then My Enjoyment, followed by a Conclusion. Story and Characters are by far the meat of this review as they have the most to talk about. Animation/Music and My Enjoyment are somewhat on the shorter end but I wouldn’t say that they’re too short.

  

  SToRy

  The show goes through several arcs in its short 12 episode run as it tries to replicate the format of Bakemango while hoping we don’t notice. Each arc is, for the most part, self contained and as such one could watch a single arc in the entire series and be left satisfied. Now Bakemangatronics is probably what I would consider to be almost identical in pacing and in format which is not a bad thing. If anything the Beach Boys comes off as a spiritual successor or a fan game.

  The Plot Structure of each of these arcs varies from arc to arc but at the end of the day the general format of our little rom hack show is that there’s a conflict/mystery that arises, the Beach Boys attempt to solve it, there’s a second conflict that is created because of the solving of the first conflict, and then a resolution to both of the conflicts. Despite there being a somewhat noticeable formula, the arcs never get stale or repetitive, taking our good loveable Beach Boys to a variety of locations and scenarios throughout the series.

  Nisioisin’s spot to shine is the dialogue and boy does he shine. The dialogue is clever and unique, there are puns to be found throughout as there always are, and the characters have their unique dialogue structure which is always a treat. What more is there to say than I’m once again impressed with the dialogue of this show as I always have been with the horny-boy himself.

  Many people, myself included, compare this show to Nisioisin’s other famous work, Monogatron. I have even done so in this review. If we’re to be completely honest, in the world where we are never going to get another season of Monogratuity, this is a good replacement, and in many ways outshines that of its spiritual predecessor. One example is that there is a severe lack of horny-boy jokes that exist in this show. Of course there is one or two that could be found throughout the entire show, but they are nowhere near as frequent as Momotaro. To some, that may take the appeal away but personally I can’t stand the amount of times those jokes appear, so having very few within the Beach Boys feels like a breath of fresh air.

  If I’m to divulge away from comparing this show to Mogotropica, this show reminds me of older detective shows such as Ellery Queen, or older detective books as the aforementioned Hardy Boys. This is not a bad thing let me say, rather a good thing because I rather enjoy these two examples.

  Now that we’ve done a brief overview of the plot and discussing the generalities, let’s divulge into discussing the individual arcs themselves.

  __The First Arc: Super Star Bros Ultimate__

  The first arc consists of the first 3 episodes and follows the purple haired crossdresser as she tries to find a star that she saw years prior. The trick is, this isn't just any star. This is the ultimate star that shines brighter than all other stars in the night. While looking for this ultimate star she comes into contact with the blue boy who catches her after falling backwards. This blue boy is not just any blue boy, but he is the head of the Beach Boys, a secret not secret organization that helps many solve the mysteries that haunt their lives.

  After long talks the crossdresser decides to have them help her out, which leads them to having a barbeque on a beach in the middle of the night after flying in a helicopter. Just an ordinary Thursday if I’m to be honest. After searching some more, the Beach Boys come to the conclusion that what the purple haired crossdresser saw years ago wasn’t a star, but rather an illegal satellite that was shot down by a nuke. Hold on let me read that again… “illegal satellite that was shot down by a-” What?!? Not only that but this satellite was shot down in the middle of the day and was only seen by our lovely purple haired crossdresser. Not to mention it was done by a nuke!

  This causes the second conflict: purple haired crossdresser is now a target of the state. In other words, she is on the FBI’s most wanted list. Now personally that’s good for me because it takes their attention away from the several war crimes that I’ve committed against the 7 nations I was a citizen of. Maybe I should remove that from the review. I’ll remind myself to do so when I’m finished writing.

  This introduces us to the new organization the “Twenties”. Most likely named after the age that they want to be because they all look 40, these people are not good. In fact, they are bad. They capture our purple haired crossdresser and a crossdressing blue boy (ok mr. horny-boy please explain what the immense amount of crossdressing is for?), and then chaos ensues. This is all resolved after the yellow boy is captured and then the twenties are captured. Imma be real I was high as a kite while watching this episode so I’m just gonna say this: everything was resolved in a good way and everyone lived happily ever after.

  Now this arc is honestly one of my favorites from the show and it’s not because I have a bias because I like space. I swear! This arc does a wonderful job introducing us to the main cast of characters and even gives us insight to the red boy and blue boy. I liked the two-conflict format of the story and it went places I would have never guessed it would’ve gone, good job horny-boy, you win this round.

  __The Second Arc: Children with Gambling Problems__

  The second arc consists of the next two episodes (4 and 5), and while the first arc was amazing, this arc improves on almost every front. We follow the purple haired crossdresser as she meets a pink boy who slips her money. Jokes on you that wasn’t money! It was counterfeit money! How exactly a middle school boy obtained the methods to print hundreds of counterfeit bills is beyond me, but I digress.

  The bills are taken to the Beach Boys as they figure out that this is for a secret club for middle schoolers. Not just any club, this is a gambling club! The Beach Boys head out to the casino which is held inside a middle school gym and find that there are tables, slots, and anything else you can imagine would be in a normal casino. There’s even bunny girls! (horny-boy you’re beginning to walk a fine line...)

  Everyone other than purple haired crossdresser plays at the tables (blue boy told her she couldn’t because her better-sight ability would be cheating wink wink nudge nudge) with white boy at poker, black boy at slots, yellow boy at roulette, blue boy at blackjack, and red boy at baccarat. Purple haired crossdresser doesn’t know the rules to any of these games which in all honesty is understandable because I don’t even know what baccarat is. I stick to more simple games like blackjack. Did I ever tell you that I was down to 1 dollar when playing with my friends and then after a few more rounds came home with 40 bucks?! Insane!

  Anywho, white boy wins big at poker and then is challenged by pink boy. After a little bit of playing, purple haired crossdresser removes her glasses and puts them back on for about 1000 times and realizes there’s a secret dude behind white boy who is invisible to the naked eye and is helping pink boy cheat. Blasphemy!!!

  We find out that this is because there is a group creating these invisibility cloaks like Harry Potter and are basically investing in the pink boy to test the cloaks out in the casino. Clearly they work because nobody is catching on. The Beach Boys, after figuring this out, head back to the casino and have everyone dress as employees with the purple haired crossdresser as a bunny girl (horny-boy i swear…) and have the blue boy crossdressing as a girl (again? does blue boy have something to share with us?). This time blue boy plays blackjack and purple haired crossdresser calls out pink boy for cheating. The casino shuts down, everyone goes home empty handed, and pink boy becomes depressed.

  This arc is a lot better than the first and if it had space that would make it that much better. Writing is a lot better, the mystery is a lot less mystery and more about “how the fuck do we stop this school”, and honestly I enjoyed the casino setting a lot more than the beach setting. We get insight into the white boy this time around which makes viewers believe that the other characters are coming, and of course, you can’t have an arc without blue boy going as a girl. I swear blue boy has something to share with the class, and I stand by that!

  __The Third Arc: Snorting Paint__

  In the third arc, the beach boys decide that it is a very good idea to start renovating the art room that they call headquarters. Why do they do this? Not really sure. I mean they are, what? Middle Schoolers? Do they even have the clearance to do such a thing? Anywho while working on the ceiling, a hole reveals itself and then everyone simultaneously decides to send the purple haired crossdresser up into the ceiling to “check things out”. Now if I were in that situation, I would say something like “Ew, no, I Could probably fall and die and there might be spiders up there”. That is to say that this purple haired crossdresser has balls of steel. Metaphorical balls, in any case.

  Up in the attic, the purple haired crossdresser finds that there are not 1, not 2, but 33 paintings just chilling up there not really doing much. It is now the job of the beach boys to find out what the heck the paintings were doing up in the ceiling. Oh shit wait hold up these paintings are actually really famous paintings. Wait a minute… these don’t have people? Now I’m no Leonardo de Caprio, but going through the trouble of recreating 33 paintings from around the world without any people in them is just tedious and kinda dumb.

  After discussing it some more, we find that these paintings were likely made by an old teacher fired for some reason, in other words, a criminal. (This makes 2 people on the FBI’s most wanted list) We go to the auditorium and find that there is a gigantic painting of the auditorium with nobody in it. The rumor surrounding this painting is that the people in the painting were ‘stolen’. Enter the teacher who was fired and badabing badaboom we find out that she made her students paint over the previously present students in the painting to ‘steal them’.

  Look, I don’t know if you could tell by my very short summary of this arc compared to the others, but this arc is just plain uninteresting to me. I think that the storytelling is still extremely good and the new teacher character was pretty dope and reminiscent of the Gaen Izuko from Mobogobo. Otherwise I’d say that this arc was just not fun to watch. That’s a lie, it was fun to watch, but nowhere near as interesting as the first 2 arcs.

  __The Fourth Arc: A Lolicon’s Struggle__

  We open our fourth arc with the purple-haired crossdresser walking down a corridor when she meets this tiny loli that calls her a bunch of names. You may be wondering why I decided not to add an introduction sentence to this paragraph and the reason is quite simply this arc doesn’t take any time to mess around and instead puts us right into the action. This loli calls her a “mere mortal” and shames her for her crossdressing abilities. Now I know that it may seem far-fetched, but I came up with the crossdressing joke before this episode aired so I must say that there is a copyright on the crossdressing idea and I will be suing Shift Key shortly after this review goes live.

  Anywho the loli disappears and when the purple-haired crossdresser comes to the art room she is met with the beach boys surrounding a big thing. I’m not exactly sure what it is supposed to be, and quite frankly it looks like a modern art piece that takes 0 effort yet is work hundreds of thousands of dollars cough cough banana on a wall. After some discussion, it is revealed that the loli is indeed the fiance of the white boy! In other words, this loli who seemed to be having a midlife crisis at the ripe age of 8 is the fiance of quite possibly the most powerful member of the beach boys.

  White boy states that the big thing (from here on I will be calling it the Loli’s Muse) is made by the loli herself and that we have no idea how it was brought into the room. Similar to the paintings, it is a question of how the Loli’s Muse was made, as it is too big for the loli to bring in herself. That is, unless she’s secretly the hulk in disguise. Loli Hulk. Don’t get any ideas internet. White boy pleads the purple-haired crossdresser to become friends with the loli because the loli has no friends and none of the beach boys want to become friends with her because 1) she was denied access to the beach boys, and 2) she pushed blue boy down the stairs. I’m not joking, this is what drives the plot.

  Purple-haired crossdresser (which is a canonical nickname I guess cause it was mentioned in the show) becomes friends with the loli and finds out that she only pushed down the blue boy because he wouldn’t allow her to come with the beach boys on a vacation. Ok, look, I’m ok with petty characters, but this loli chick needs to chill out with the pettiness goddamn. We also find out the way the Loli’s Muse was put into the room. Did you guess it? It was a secret room underneath the table in the art room where the carpet was cut and restitched. Of course!!!!! How come I didn’t think of that? Did you? Don’t lie you didn’t think of that and if you say you did stfu you didn’t. Even if you did you didn’t.

  This arc is kinda hit or miss for me. It reminds me a lot of the previous arc, but the bad stuff done better. The loli chick is extremely petty, but at the same time it is hilarious watching a literal 8 year old with the vocabulary of a chuunibyou. Overall a solid arc, could’ve been better, but could’ve been a whole lot worse.

  __Fifth Arc: Running over Children__

  It’s student council election time, and because of course it is, the middle school’s election, despite promising an election based on freedom and individuality, is extremely rigged in the favor of one candidate. This candidate is the one endorsed by the current student council president, white boy. But uh oh! The candidate who had practically a 100% chance of winning the election was recently run over while on their walk home! Who could’ve seen this coming? Certainly not I for the way that the viewer is told is so abrupt that it is hilarious. Like just imagining the circumstances surrounding that is just hilarious, imagine being the only candidate anyone would vote for in an election but then you just fucking get run over and can’t run anymore. That’s just so fucking funny to me holy shit.

  Enter this bland guy. By bland I quite literally mean it. While every character in this show has proved to be high off their gourd due to some illegal drug, this guy is just straight normal. No funny gambling scheme behind it, no FBI watchlist, no 8 year old chuunibyou, just a normal guy who does normal things. You know, I’ve become so accustomed to everyone in this show being batshit insane that a normal, functioning human being is jarring to me. I think there might be a problem with me.

  After researching into the car accident some more, the purple haired crossdresser is ran over herself! And it was none other than the bland guy too!!! Man here I was thinking that he was just a normal dude but I guess everyone’s got their fucking drugs in this show. Luckily, purple haired crossdresser survives but now everyone is sad and doesn’t want to be the Beach Boys anymore. The purple haired crossdresser is like “NO! WE’RE A TEAM” and other fun jazz like that. This immediately changes their minds and the purple haired crossdresser with her new found friends, wins the election.

  This being one of only two 3 episode arcs in the show, I quite enjoyed it. I’d say overall the second episode of the three felt a little lacking but other than that I quite enjoyed it. The concept itself wasn’t all too incredible, but I think that the way that the plot took itself as well as the 3 new people who were brought in this time around were all quite good.

  Throughout the show, there are moments where I would wish that the story would move a little faster than it does. Yes, I’m aware of the pacing that horny-boy likes to have and I’m aware of the very dialogue heavy writing that I signed up for, and to be completely honest I really like slow paced shows and dialogue heavy shows. But still there are moments within the show where I would wish they spent a little less time on a scene, or a little more time on a character. Cough cough the fucking glasses putting on and off for 1000 times in the second arc. For the most part I don’t have this issue and in fact this issue only popped up a few times in the entire show, but if I had to criticize this show for anything, that would be it.

  

  CHaRaCTeRS

  There are six main character people within the game and throughout the series you get to interact with most. Obviously with a large cast such as this, one could never spend a whole 12 episodes with each and every one. If you couldn’t tell, that was sarcasm.

  Mayumi Dojima is the purple haired crossdresser that we get to follow throughout the show. Voiced by the same person as Shinobu from Manogambo, she is probably the most realistic character if by realistic you mean not batshit insane. As stated previously, she has the power of better-sight which basically means she has HD glasses on at all times which also serves as x-ray glasses. This comes in handy when trying to look through shit which seems to happen a lot more than I would like to admit. Ironically, the only HD glasses she has on throughout the duration of the show actually hurts her eyes more than helps. As someone who actually wore glasses for a time before switching to contacts, why? Why subject yourself to the pain that is glasses? Digressions aside, throughout the story we get to see our purple haired crossdresser go from outfit to outfit, which as the name suggests, falls within the category of crossdressing. In the wise words of a friend of mine, seeing her in the bunny outfit in episode 5 is reason 492949 to watch this show. That said, he said it ironically and also is not into lolis so don’t go cancelling him.

  Our next character is the blue boy himself Manabu Soutouin. As the leader of the Beach Boys, it is his goal to solve all the mysteries that come forward within the show. His main schtick is that he’s into aesthetics, whatever that means, and means that every single case that he picks up is for the sole reason that the mystery is beautiful to him. How a mystery can be beautiful is beyond me but let him live his life I guess. Blue boy will often go undercover as a knockoff Hatsune Miku and use that disguise combined with purple haired crossdresser crossdressing to do the sneaky sneaks. How nobody sees through the disguise is beyond me. He doesn’t even sound like Hatsune Miku!! Blue boy has to work on his microwave impression in order to pull off a good disguise smh my head. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that this dude is in 5th grade so don’t get any ideas.

  Next up, let’s see, who to cover next? Red boy? Yeah let’s go with him. This guy is a delinquent and I mean a real bad boy. What makes him so bad? Oh he can cook. Absolute scum of the Earth! This guy is basically the bartender of the group and he basically makes really good food. Other than that, he’s a voice of reason for the purple haired crossdresser. He has some of the best dialogues with our purple haired crossdresser and is honestly a really cool dude. Maybe Tokyo Avengers is making me like delinquents a little too much idk. He’s always at odds with white boy which an interesting detail, other than that he’s a solid addition to the roster. Red boy for smash!

  Since we mentioned white boy, might as well do him next. White boy is the student council president of the middle school that all of our characters attend, well apart from blue boy. I already mentioned that he’s always at odds with red boy, but I did not mention that this guy is pretty much the main source of the horny-boy jokes. Basically this guy has a fiancee at the ripe age of 14. The catch? His fiancee is a first grader. I don’t know about you, but when I heard that, the “not okay please move on show please I beg of you I don’t want this joke going on any longer please” alarm inside my head was going off at all hours. An oddly specific alarm I know but you’d be surprised how often it goes off. Besides that, this guy can imitate any voice. Like you name a voice and he can imitate it to perfection. I’m pretty sure that this is illegal in several countries around the globe but I won’t press any further.

  We’ll follow up with the yellow boy and his deal is that he likes his legs. A lot. So much so that he violates the school’s dress code everyday with wearing shorts instead of pants. Not only do his legs look really good, but apparently theres some muscle in there as well because he can ride a fucking bike and catch up with a car that’s easily going 45 or 50 mph on the highway (80 kph). I’m well aware that bikes can go these crazy speeds but let’s not forget that this guy is a fucking 1st year in middle school which is the equivalent of a 7th grader. This man can probably compete against Usain fucking Bolt and not break a sweat and he’s 12. Soon this man’s gonna need to follow the speed limit because of how fast he can go god damn.

  Taking up the rear and the final member of the Beach Boys, we’ve got black boy. He wears an oversized lab coat everywhere which just looks like an inconvenience to be completely honest. Like I understand if you’re trying to fill the shoes of a mentor or a role model, but come on at least wear a lab coat that fits you. This guy’s ability is that he can create really good art. If he wants to recreate a famous painting, he could and would do so in such a perfect way that even the purple haired crossdresser with her better-sight ability couldn’t tell a difference at first glance. Speaking of first glances, black boy can tell if a piece of art is fake at a single glance. Whether this is out of jealousy or purely because he is a fan of the arts, he can sniff out counterfeit works of art with ease.

  Overall we’ve got a whole bunch a weirdos. From a first grade fiancee to Usain Bolt competition, there would never be a dull day at the Beach Boy headquarters. I quite like this cast. There’s enough variety to keep things interesting but the cast is never so large that I can’t keep up with the amount of characters. Each person has their own schtick which is a great way to identify who is who. If I see food I immediately know it was made by red boy. If I see art, I know it’s black boy. So on and so forth. To top things off, each character has their own dialogue structure that goes like this:

  Blue boy: always screaming at the top of his lungs about aestheticism and the beauty of things
  Red boy: realistic and casual
  White boy: formal and refined
  Yellow boy: childish and jumpy
  Black boy: he’s like ferb. not talking much but saying so much when he does

  The side characters are interesting as well. Most of the time they too have their own schtick that they follow. Unlike the main characters, however, the side characters’ schticks are less general and more pertaining to the arc they represent. What I mean here is basically there is generally 1 or 2 side characters per arc and they stick to that arc or in a few cases appear in 2. Overall, wonderful cast of likeable and sometimes horny characters.

  

  aNiMaTioN aND MuSiC

  Of course what else is there to say other than full points to my favorite studio. Call it being biased, but Shift Key’s animation (regardless of how the story goes cough cough the fireworks movie) is always stellar. There’s a simplistic aura about the animation and even then every shot is so complex that I could pick a single frame and find several things to discuss. Background characters are rarely shown which allows the viewer to keep their eyes on the people of interest. Not only that but all of the set pieces have this larger than life feel to them which provides a lot of eye candy for the viewer. Character designs are awesome, and overall the animation is once again incredible from studio Shift Key.

  As for the music, it’s once again very good. There isn’t anything outstanding from the series in terms of background music, but the OP and the ED are just a bop to listen to and the OP is my favorite OP of this season. I’m sure if I went out of my way to listen to the soundtrack of this show on youtube, I’d enjoy myself, but I can’t remember any bgm standing out to me where I have to listen to the song.

  

  My eNJoyMeNT

  I very much enjoy the horny boy’s writing and this is most definitely one of the good ones. While I can’t quite say that it reaches the heights of Monogatari, it definitely serves as a very good spiritual successor. This said, there are some episodes where I did not quite enjoy as much as others but at the end of the day that is what we expect from shows. All of the characters are great, the animation is always stellar, and the music is addicting and fun.

  Beach Boys was one of the few shows this season where I would always watch first or close to first when it came to ‘end of the week anime catchup’ that I always do. I knew I was going to like the episode I was in for, and that no matter how badly of an arc it may be cough cough 3rd arc, I knew it was going to be better than a good chunk of this season. Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Beach Boys and their misadventures.

  

  CoNCLuSioN

  At the end of the day, you don’t get much from studio Shift Key anymore that isn’t a new season of an already existing IP, so to see a new one that is just as good if not better than their older stuff is amazing. Not only that, but it shows to us NISIOISIN fans that the guy can do much more than horny writing and in some cases can create extremely good pieces of work. Because I’m that kind of guy, I’m going to rate each arc and then do the final scoring and thoughts.

  First Arc - 8.5/10 - I think that this arc was such a good introduction and honestly it further proves my point that NISIOISIN does better when his ideas are new, rather than doing new seasons of old stuff.
  Second Arc - 9/10 - The best arc in the series in my opinion. The atmosphere, characters, and plot are all absolutely fantastic and leave a lasting impression that this arc is numba 1.
  Third Arc - 6/10 - My least favorite arc of the series, but by no means a bad arc. I think that while the plot is still fantastic and that the new character was great, the overall feel of this arc just didn’t do it for me and honestly was rather forgettable.
  Fourth Arc - 6.5/10 - While better than the third, it rehashes a lot of the same beats as the third arc which, again while done better, just doesn’t shout “Oh this is a good arc” to me.
  Fifth Arc - 7.5/10 - This is what an arc we like to see is like. While a lot of the mystery is just not present here, the overall plotline and atmosphere is stellar. The ending was a little rough for me which keeps it away from an 8/10, but overall a fantastic way to end the series.

  Overall I say that this show is an 8/10. Some great stuff here and some not so great stuff here, but you can’t complain when the characters back up what makes the show already good. The writing from the horny boy is, as always, amazing, and I would most definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Mogobomo, and even ig you aren’t there’s a little something for everyone.

  Thank you for reading, and have a nice day.

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