DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionGod of High School

REVIEWS

• 

  Schlinky

  55/100
  You want to like it but just can't.

  God of Highschool, another action anime that has fallen flat on its face. In this review I will go in depth on why God of Highschool did not live up to our expectations.

  Pacing issues played a huge role in the decline of the show as a whole. Trying to cram in multiple chapters was one of many mistakes MAPPA made while making GOH. Not only does this make it feel rushed it also feels as connections between characters are rushed. As an example it takes many chapters for Jin, Mira, and Dawei to form a bond while in the anime it took one episode making it feel rushed and unnatural. Everything just moves very very quickly jumping from one thing to the next which brings me to our next point.

  Other than pacing issues the plot also was the biggest factor for me on rating GOH. In the webtoon everything gets explained in a organized manor. The first 3 chapters are about Jin, Mira, and Dawei and their motives for fighting in the tournament. We get none of that in the anime along with that we get little to know backstory on them at all. The main plot is a complete mess jumping around cramming as many chapters as they can in 23 minutes. As of now most of our questions 12 episodes in mind you have not been answered making the anime extremely confusing. At this point most of us are not even watching for the plot anymore just for the animation, and "cool fights". Like I've said it moves very quickly with little to no explanation jumping from one confusing plot point to the next. There was no plot to be found in this show which was very disappointing GOH had a lot of potential.

  There are a few good things I can say about GOH that is the animation, and soundtrack. The soundtrack fits particularly well some may argue about the OP, but the OP for GOH is not terrible. The animation is stunning to me it is perfect for the show. Animation reaches its peak during fights making the show just a little more bearable for me. That's about all I can say that is good about GOH.

  In conclusion, should you watch this anime? Only if you really wanted too I recommended the Webtoon for this particular series. The webtoon pacing, and plot actually make sense. What I found to work reading and watching at the same time it will make GOH more understandable and enjoyable. To me this show had a lot of potential it was one of those shows you want to like but just can't.

  MAPPA defiantly should have sticked to it's source material. Although I do believe Crunchyroll had a role in how the show was going to be panned out MAPPA isn't all to blame. They should have slowed down so consumers could understand the main concepts instead of skipping right over them. I feel GOH should have been at least 25 episodes instead of trying to cram over 100 chapters into 12 episodes. However I also do feel MAPPA, and Crunchyroll made this anime a pointless action anime which is sad to see as the story is much deeper in the webtoon.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  MiNiSoTaN

  60/100
  The God of High School is a mediocre attempt at creating a new mainstream shonen anime

  MiNiSoTaN'sThe God of High School Review

  __Introduction:__Hello. My name is Neill or "MiNi." This will be my in depth review of the anime adaptation of Yongje Park's Webtoon Series: The God of High School . With all my reviews I will score the anime discussed based upon 5 categories that include: Story, Characters, Art, Music, and Personal Enjoyment. Each category will be given a score between 0 and 10. The ending score will be what I determine the show deserves overall. Keep in mind I will be talking about spoilers that occurred during the anime along with possible spoilers of the manga. Now, without further ado, let's get into this. __STORY (6/10):__ The God of High School's story starts simple enough. We follow our main cast as they set out to compete in a combat tournament aimed at high school students. Before we even see this happen however we are met with a scene of criminals being flattened by a giant hand supposedly sent out by a shady individual. From the very beginning we know that some sort of super natural presence is known within the show. We don't know what it is or how to control it, but we know it's a real entity which will most likely play a pivotal role throughout the show, and it does. The main hype around The God of High School is the action and the fights and honestly this is where it is at its best. The absolute beautiful animation coupled with amazing choreography makes for some of the best action in modern anime. Hand to hand combat is something pretty difficult to master without it seeming stale or repetitive but the God of High School defies these odds and keeps each fight unique and to be anticipated. Alas, this is really the only strength of The God of High School. There are some underlying sub plots, the main one being this strange cult trying to interfere with the God of High School tournament. Which in all honestly is a very lame concept for a main arc villain. Cults are just really borrowing to watch because there's never any exposition of them, they're just always there and always have been. There is never a face or a name to put onto the villain which gives no motivation into wanting to continue the story. Several times I felt very fatigued watching this show because I didn't exactly know what I was watching it for. What was the point? I started watching to try and see the goals of these characters achieved, but as the show expanded and try to develop it got so inflated I didn't exactly know what was going on. Daewi Han goes from trying to get money for his dying friend, to know just competing for the heck of it because his friend died but he didn't want to let his other friends down. Mira Yoo goes from wanting to find a husband to help her obtain the family sword to obtaining it on her own yet still competing to not let her friends down. Mori Jin is the only one with a goal that doesn't end within the first few episodes because he wants to find his grandpa. Another big plot point of the series is the use of charyeok which is essentially harnessing the power of a god to fight in battle. Think of it like your quirk from My Hero Academia. The problem is that we never really learn what this is or how to obtain it. You apparently not everyone can obtain it, but some people need years of training where as others just have a feeling for it. This is extremely lazy writing. Take for example nen in HunterXHunter. There is basically a whole episode dedicated to how it works, the different types, how to obtain it etc. From that point on we have actual knowledge of it. Compare that to The God of High School. There is no explanation or justification to its use. Sure it looks cool, but the plot armor is so thick that we are never exposed to its inner workings. This could be due to the fact that the season is only allotted 16 episodes, which is understandable, but again it must be judged for what it can do in that amount of time. There's also an alarming amount of unnecessary side plots and characters in the show including but not limited to Mira Yoo's wedding and the back stories of every single fighting opponent. My answer is the same to all of them. I really just don't care. I'm barely invested enough as it is with the main character's plot, but trying to introduce me to more characters with more backstories just to write them over a few minutes later continues to rub me the wrong way. Too much attention to serviced to other aspects to the show that were left too weak to stand on. Overall The God of High School's story left a lot to be desired. It continued to try and push the envelope and enlarge itself as something much larger than it actually was. With proper focus on the main story along with a more compelling villain and better lore exposition, it would have been a much more convincing attempt. __Characters (5/10):__ __Mori Jin__ Although childish at heart, Mori is a likeable character for his lackadaisical nature yet powerful demeaner. There's no doubt he is destined for something greater within the show. Although we don't know exactly what his purpose is, he's shown to be the most compelling character within the cast. His goals are simple to get stronger and to find his grandpa. Throughout the show he doesn't necessarily mature much from his youthful nature, but rather matures in his style of fighting. Mori is an overall solid main character you can't help but root for. __Daewi Han__ The most adult-like of the main trio, Daewi has the typical "cool guy" attitude. He likes to avoid conflict and focus on himself in order to keep his focus. His main goal was to win the tournament to help his friend that was dying. Unfortunetly he died before the tournament completed, now he's kind of just there. I think Daewi had a lot of potential to be a better written character than he actually was, but unfortunately he doesn't have anything moving him forward besides the plot. I think he's an excellent character who deserves more within the story. __Mira Yoo__ Mira is the only character of the main cast who I'm indifferent too. I think it's nice they have a female fighting alongside her mostly male counter parts, but her story isn't really one I'm all that invested in. She wants to unlock her family sword, but how that happens is kind of just left up in there air, but never receive a definite answer. It doesn't really matter since she still gets it from just determination during a fight later in the series. Mira's story is the only that most people, myself included didn't much care for in the series. __Ilpyo Park__ This is the "main" side character within the season. His main purpose being that he knew Mori's grandfather and he inherited he nine tailed fox's power, yet he still lost to Mori somehow. I didn't really understand his character or why he was so focused on when he didn't play that prominent of a role. The characters within The God of High School were not one of its strong suits. Most were one dimensional that already served their purposes midway through the season. I was hoping for a lot more but was met with an underwhelming performance across the whole cast. __ART (9/10)__ The animation quality is nothing to scoff at. The God of High School reaches the pinnacle of modern animation throughout its 13 episode run. Motion capture was even used for some of the fights which was super cool to see. The amount of colors in motion throughout the fights was incredible to see. There was so much going on throughout the fights yet it all was fluid and easy to follow. As stated previously, the God of High School is at its best during the fights and for good reason, they're amazing to look it. It fills you with a a small dose of adrenaline watching the characters fight each other. I hope to see other shonen anime follow the style MAPPA did with this one, exceptionally brilliant. __MUSIC (7/10)__ The God of High School's soundtrack isn't particularly one I loved. It was fine, nothing besides the opening and closing themes stood out to me. The opening theme was actually one of the cuts that did surprise me. KSUKE - Contradiction (ft. Tyler Carter) was a super interesting take on a shonen anime opening. Normally you think of something on the side of anthemic or metal when it comes to shonen, having a electronic dub-step club banger great you was a welcomed surprised. Its closing theme WIN by CIX also followed this root albeit to a much more melodic tone. The sound quality throughout this season met expectations well. __PERSONAL ENJOYMENT (6/10)__ I was pretty excited for this anime leading up to the summer 2020 season. Unfortunetly I was disappointed with this season overall. I will admit I have not yet read the webtoon, which I will try to do before the second season airs. I felt there was a lot left to be desired all around the board from character motivations, to major plot points, but about everything fell flat for me. My enjoyment came strictly through watching the action, and as a shonen, that's basically your job which I think The God of High School succeeded in. It's issue comes when trying to throw all these sides plots, characters and lore and me without explaining anything. I hope there is an improvement in season 2 because this show does have potential. __Final Thoughts and Score:__ Thank you all for reading, make sure to follow my page for more anime reviews! __Favorite Episodes__ Episode 1 "Set up/Stand up" Episode 2 "Renewal/Soul" Episode 5 "Ronde/Hound" Episode 12 "Fox/God" __Official Scores__ Story: (6/10) Characters: (5/10) Art: (9/10) Music: (7/10) Personal Enjoyment: (6/10) # __FINAL SCORE: (6/10) OK__ @MiNiSoTaN Did you really read the review, or are you just looking at the score?
  Continue on AniList
• 

  Auran

  25/100
  GoHS is a series of action sequences held together loosely by what amounts to the literary counterpart of duct-tape.

  If I were to attempt to encapsulate the idea of GoHS within few words, as the brevity the digital age would have you require, I'd simply say: Battle Shounen on steroids. The more I ruminate on it, the more comfortable I feel at the phraseology of my likening. For indeed, the show exhibits nothing but a gross accentuation of the attributes idiosyncratic to the genre, while consistently outright ignoring the literary conventions for forming and maintaining an engaging narrative, much to the dismay of everyone who has the ridiculously unreasonable bar of expecting more in a story than mere mindless clash of swords/fists. The rule of cool permeates the very fabric of this adaptation; it is comparable to allocating one's skill points solely to one attribute. What should be a mere experience enhancer is mistaken for the main dish and is thence expected for one to stomach a plate filled with naught but condiments and spices. Needless to say it doesn't make for a particularly hearty (nor tasty for that matter) meal. Vague conceptions and aphorisms aside, I shall get on with the meat of the discussion.

  As far as any work that features action compounding with fantastical elements go, what is paramount above all else is establishing what exactly those elements ARE, how it ties into the world and its mechanics, as well as the capabilities of the characters relevant to the story. And GoH has NOTHING, and by that I mean not even a SEMBLANCE of this very rudimentary understanding of how stories work in its arsenal. Gigantic swords are conjured from the sky, otherworldly creatures resembling Stands are summoned, anything ranging from elemental magic, cathode ray guns, regeneration, and even teleporting whole cities goes in this story with no apparent explanation to what even is the source of this arbitrary and inconsistent litany of distinct skillsets. Eventually, in episode 7, they chalk all of it up to a mystical power that transcends human knowledge borrowed from the Gods. This helps absolutely nothing; it's still impossible to gauge what our heroes/heroine are capable of, thereby obscuring the level of danger they face at any particular time. It's unimmersive as it is anticlimactic, why should you care about a battle that you cannot make anything out of? Anyone can survive anything, some random god can decide on a whim to bestow you powers. It successfully kills off any excitement one can have over analysing how the tides of battle can potentially change in either combatant's favour. Shows that aren't too keen on building the combat system from scratch tend to instead use internal monologues to give us a sense of the state of battle. This, while not being nearly as satisfying as deducing so yourself by extrapolating from visual cues, works absolutely fine. Too bad they decided not to do that either. As audience, you're but a detached onlooker, witnessing an alien occurrence play out, furrowing your eyebrows at the inexplicability of it all.

  The cast is a reskin of the stock characters you've seen a couple hundred times by now. You got the hot-headed and bubbly mc who just loves fighting for the sake of fighting, the stoic and taciturn kick-ass going at great lengths for the people he values, and lastly the uptight and more ordinary tritagonist who mostly assumes the role of the Straight Man in the comical scenes that ensue. On the supporting cast too, the trends naturally follow, but with the added handicap of not being explored at all, unlike the mc's, whose motivations we at least were allowed some minimal disclosure of. There's the enigmatic rich businessman whom we have as much insight on in the end of episode 13 as we do in the beginning of episode 1, some deranged cult leader who just wants to see the world burn, an antagonist who wants to crush people and have as much power as possible because... uhh, you know what forget it, they're stock characters, perhaps better suited for theatre. Though it should be mentioned, my remarks here oughtn't be construed as claiming a uniquely realized cast is a prerequisite for a successful anime, that is not necessarily the case. If the narrative is gripping by itself, inoffensive and simplistic surrogates may very well suffice. But when it's already nothing to be proud of on those respects, this could only be seen as an aggravating factor in inducing head scratches.

  There are two subplots seemingly interconnected with the motivations behind the tournament and the fate of the heroes of our story, but it is too unbaked to the point where even addressing it feels like giving it more than its due. "There is a cult-like organization discontent with the usage of charyeok?" Okay... "Mori's grandpa is constantly moving because baddies want him, also he has something to do with NK?" Sure... "Park Meijin and the commissioners have a plan involving the GoH to awaken the key?" What it is, what it is for, how GoH helps it manifest, why everyone and their mother is vying for it, these are all great questions; but well, how about more flashy animation instead? It's all a bunch of vagueries in an attempt to hold in place a series of action sequences, they could be more accurately described as passing remarks than plot points, given that they're mentioned once and never elaborated on again until they're literally at your doorstep. In the unlikely instance where you do get some expository direction, it'll be by means of brief info dumps that are unrelated to the scene in question. I legitimately had to look up the episode synopses in order to remind myself of these plot elements, not because the storytelling is too dense to take in, to the contrary, because there is so little info to go on when interpreting what the hell just transpired that it isn't a feasible nor a worthwhile endeavour.

  In short, this is a well-animated fighting compilation that would work perfectly fine as a long-winded trailer for a fighting game. As a full-fledged narrative building up on itself it is an absolute joke.

  Edit (1 Oct 2020): The final score of the review has been edited from 3.2 to 2.5 to better reflect the content of the critique. Additionally, some typos are amended.

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• ANIME

  ActionKami no Tou: Tower of God
• ANIME

  ActionHUNTER×HUNTER (2011)
• ANIME

  ActionNARUTO
• ONA

  ActionBaki
• ANIME

  ActionOne Punch Man
• ONA

  ActionWu Shan Wu Xing: Zhuo Yuan Shen Huo
• ANIME

  ActionJujutsu Kaisen
• ONA

  ActionYingxiong Zailin
• ONA

  ActionShuumatsu no Valkyrie
• ANIME

  ComedyGokuu no Daibouken
• ONA

  ActionOemojisangjuui
• ANIME

  ActionYi Ren Zhi Xia 2