joana55 - 2017-06-10 16:44:12

As much of a fan as I am for epics and whimsical adventures, there are times when my escapism is quenched by the anime that are actually closer to home. Well, I say that, but not only have I never been in a school-club in my life, I doubt it’d ever be close to what GJ-bu gives.

The story for GJ-bu is… Uhm… Why can I not seem to remember? Oh right, because there really isn’t any over-arching story to speak of. GJ-bu simply depicts the club-life of the GJ-club. (Or GJ-bu, as in Good job, very hilarious…) Every day is special in its way, yet you could still put the episodes into pretty much any order and you won’t lose out on much. If you’re a fan of slice of life and comedy, then you’re definitely in the right place.

The characters are nothing special really, and they’re not packed with tons of depth, but if there’s one thing they can do, it’s being funny. I personally really enjoyed the whole cast, with all their unique quirks and gimmicks.

You know what? The animation for a slice of life show shouldn’t be anything ground-breaking, but I’d argue GJ-bu has some fun bits animation going on when it’s not even necessary. I suppose the lack of need for good animation for the majority of the time let the animators experiment. The art-style’s memorable, at least.

Music? Can’t remember much, but the opening was fun enough, even when the lyrics really didn’t make much sense.

I don’t think I’ve been clear enough on what this anime delivers. It’s just a fun slice of life comedy that’s enjoyable and actually made me stick around to watch the rest. Usually uneventful anime aren’t my thing, but this anime in particular managed to hit a lot of the right marks for it to work. It’s not for everyone, of course, but I personally enjoyed a lot more than I expected.

Good job, GJ-bu, you get an 8/10.

marley.powlowski - 2015-05-13 22:07:52

Each Character had their own kind of cuteness and it was pretty heart warming to see

clementina05 - 2014-11-14 23:42:40

[Old review is old.]

GJ-Club is about a group of middle school kids who from a club and drag an unsuspecting boy into their shenanigans. The show focuses on their various comedic situations and hilarious events that happen in their day-to-day lives after school in the clubroom. Every day is a big laugh with the members of the GJ-Club. When this description pops up on the seasonal anime chart, I usually turn and run.

This show is another case of the desperate slice of life show to fulfill what the current otaku crowd wants to see out of the moe genre. Every year there are dozens of these and none of them have a drive or storyline. They only provide a place for characters to reenact overused situations and recycle unoriginal skits in a lazy attempt to fill the already short runtime. This scriptwriting is used to death in more well-known shows like Lucky Star, YuruYuri, Acchi Kocchi, and many more. The moe crowd in the anime community loves it to death, latching onto a formula that proves financially successful enough to result in dozens of clones per year, accumulating hundreds of the same dreckish shows in the past decade alone. Fetish-driven production in the industry, businesslike and monotonous, kawaii faces and bubbly openings. Not a fan.

Even though the show starts out innocent enough with only a few characters to focus on, it doesn’t take long before the number of girls in the show increases and the situations lean dangerously close to sexual exploitation. Notice when the female cast grows a sudden desire to be the main character’s little sister for one scene, satisfying the target audience’s imouto fetishes, but even moreso later on when the anime appears to showcase eight underageage girls (even by Japan’s appalling standards) in swimsuits having a water gun battle in the clubroom while the male is safe from any form of degradation for means of fanservice. Unsurprising in the general identity of anime, that doesn’t stop a monstrous feeling of disgust towards the treatment of girls that look no older than pre-teens as objects for an otaku audience to lust over. An abundance of maid outfits and catgirls certainly doesn’t help the case in the long run.

So the script for the show is more easy exploitation of what sells, but surely the studio has the decency to give it their best shot at animating it, right? With our good friend Dogakobo I’d say not a flying chance considering its reputation as the studio that truly doesn’t give a crap if the animation is good or not. GJ-Club is predictably average in animation quality for its time, but taking into account the sheer lack of visual effort of most of Dogakobo’s shows, at least the characters move smoother than usual. The drawings get pretty expressive during the scenes when needed, even without resorting to blurring or stretching to cut corners, and the faces are able to get more wacky than usual at other selected moments. It’s nowhere near what I’d consider good overall animation (the backgrounds and juvenile designs aren’t anything great), but that was a nice little extra that made the show a bit more bearable.

The music for the show takes it’s cues from Lucky Star, consisting of delightfully lifeless tracks that do absolutely nothing to enhance the scenes. They only stick out because of the pitiable attempts by the creators to quickly find background noise so that they don’t have to worry about another production aspect. For example, the music stoops to the point of having entire tracks composed in 8-Bit style, as if the composer looked up generic compositions on Soundcloud and randomly threw them in. Top it off with more methodical flashy visuals and annoying songs for the bumpers, and the music category does nothing praiseworthy either.

Overall, GJ-Club is a very bad show, and anyone who says otherwise either boasts the lowest standards humanly possible, or is covering up pedophilloic tendencies that should be checked out right away. That’s not some snappy comeback, this show is in no way beneficial for one’s mental health outside of light escapism, regression, or underage attraction. It is contrived to the highest level, insulting to a higher one, and it astounds me that so many people rate it on levels that compete with shows that showcase an effort to be genuinely good. Perhaps not as insatiably forced as entities like Haganai or Familiar Of Zero, but GJ-Club still rides on the formula of exploitation for whomever buys, and that gets nothing from me.

GJ-Club (2013):
2.4/10

zemlak.mireille - 2014-03-26 05:45:30

The GJ- Bu... what more can I say? If you've watched this anime already you know how cute the characters are and the charms that each of them contain inside their tiny (or ample) anime bodies. For those of you looking for a reason to watch this show, I'll help you out, so lets get this show on the road!

GJ-Club or GJ-Bu, is a slice of life anime, which means there is no major plot. Sorry for those of you who love those plot twists and dark mysteries, but this anime is literally just a group of kids hanging around in a club. Nothing much happens. Heck, the anime knows this and skips over the cultural festival which is all too common in other school anime.

You might be thinking, "There is no plot, how can the story be an eight out of ten? Well the plot isn't important for a slice of life, its the writing and how well they portray the characters. Slice of life anime need a completely different set of rules to review them, so I'll tell you this: This anime... is hilarious. The plot isn't there at all, but it kinda develops by showing how the characters change over time, or the habits/characteristics (Mao, you're so cute when you bite lol) that we all know and love. There's no large plot hanging over the whole anime, its just a sitcom anime style. Though there is no plot, the characters do get closer to each other and learn the good and bad traits of the others. It transitions extremely well, such as referencing "Ore-man" again and again. Which is probably the funniest part of the show, in that they reuse their old gags in a new and refreshing manner.

The writers do a great job in writing the jokes and though there are scenes just filled with moe to the point you gag, other times you genuinely laugh at the ridiculous scene that plays out.

There's nothing special about the animation, but it does have its charms. The characters are cute and there are a lot of attention to detail and background styling. The chibi versions of all the characters are insanely cute, and the animation just finds a way to be charming but not over the top... besides "Oh! Jesus." The animations are what to be expected of a slice of life animation such as this, and doesn't deserve much praise, but it fits the style of the anime, so I'll give it an eight out of 10 as well. The dance in the endings are perfect though, so that's what boosts this to an eight and not a seven.

You might be thinking, man this guy is giving this anime too much credit... actually no I'm not. The sound track of this anime is so cute that I have to give it a 10 out of 10. Its just something that's required. Listen to the first and 3rd ending and tell me no. Just tell me they aren't the cutest thing.

So since this is a slice of life anime, there has to be a really good character cast or else it'll fall on its face. Luckily the character cast of this anime is actually really good. Ignoring all the cliches for a moment, the characters are memorable, especially Mao with her carrot top forehead. Although they do fit in some cliches, they manage to mix traits of the stereotypes that we know on the internet (best source of information guys :D)

The main character, Kyouya Shinomiya or "Kyoro," contains a mixture of the helpless main character and the womanizer. In the beginning of the anime, we see him as a bit of a weak character who accepts whatever. But as we go through many episodes (including erotic hair brushing) it seems there's more to this character than it seems at first glance. As in most protagonists, he's the nicest person you'll ever see, which allows him to win the favors of the rest of the female cast... which is every single other character. Now what makes him enjoyable? The fact that he conceals his emotions and is a yandere at heart. I'm just kidding. Well its just the fact that he has so many good traits that his interactions between the other characters are cute. Also Ore-man is amazing as well as the cross dressed version lol.

The jojo pose is fabulous.

After we go through the main character, we reach the short loli of the group. She's the tiger president, Mao Amatsuka!!!! Not only is she a tsundere, but she's also a loli, enough of one to dress as a third year elementary student to get the kids meal. She has her share of cute moments as well and her characteristic of getting angry and biting Kyoro is what she's known for

Next is her sister, Megumi-chan (Smiley God). She's a bit of a silly one, since she has the older sister personality when she's the younger sibling, but that doesn't bother us. She's always baking sweets and making the tea in the club. But the thing that's hilarious to me is even though she's fairly skinny, she has a weight complex. She's always trying to conceal the fact that she weighs more than her sister Mao (let's be real tho, everyone weighs less than Mao).

Shock! O^O

In the genius corner, we have Shion Sumeragi, who is my favorite character out of the whole cast. She acts like the pervert in this series (all series must have one), but she's the most innocent out of all of time. She is an airhead, tries to act moe, and is probably makes the most scientific references out of all the characters I've seen. But she has no common sense. Her interactions with Kyoro are always fun, since she always comes to him for advice on how to do simple tasks in real life, similar to Sakurasou with Mashiro and Sorata except toned down quite a bit. She's just the ideal type of character and for me one of the most enjoyable characters out there. The Gap moe is strong with this one.

Finally is Kirara Bernstein. Oh, mai, gawd, its a cat girl. I've always wanted a legit cat girl in an anime, but finally its here. Not one of those girls who is from a race of cats, but just a girl who has a bit of a personality disorder. She constantly eats and is one of the more quiet characters, but every moment she's in is extremely hilarious... also did I mention she has super human strength? Also she can't hold her alcohol (poor Shion).

TL;DR. The characters of this show are what make up the show. They're lovable, adorable, and cute all around, but its what they do and what they do to each other which makes this anime gold. I love these characters.

Now there are the younger siblings, but they have a minor role and if you watch the series you'll see how adorable they are too... except they all like Kyoro so if you like the brocon stuff GO GO GO!!

I enjoyed this anime so much. I've always had a soft spot for slice of life animes and this is no exception. This made me laugh every single minute while watching since all their material is pretty original and doesn't feature any immature jokes (not that I wouldn't laugh at those). They're just chilling out and doing what they want and this anime knows they are, so it doesn't try to do anything fancy.

Get out of here! Don't spin my maid >:C

GJ-Bu just gave me an anime experience that every anime should give me. It leaves me filled with satisfaction after watching it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but again, this is my opinion and I am a bit partial with slice of life anime like this, but I still feel that GJ-Bu is definitely worth your time to watch. Maybe on a rainy day you can marathon it. Its just a relaxing show, and you don't have to think too much while watching it. The show knows what its capable of doing, and does just that. It doesn't try to be something else, it just says, "Hey, we're a slice of life anime, and we like to just chill out."

I would recommend you to watch this if you don't care that there is no plot. Gj-Bu is filled with moe, but if you can get over that it is an extremely enjoyable show. Remember, its here to entertain you, not to make you rethink your ethics or life choices. There's nothing to learn, so sit back and relax.

I leave you... WITH SOME MORE JESUS!

P.S...

Yandere sister :D

shania.bednar - 2013-07-20 17:13:05

An anime for those that love adaptions of light novels and for those who love watching a comedic, nonsense but fun-filled anime. The story itself though is quite detached as -SPOILER ALERT- the clubs function isn't explained and nor are the backgrounds of the characters (even though one can say that the function isn't explained as it adds the nonsense but comedic manner of the club). Hence if you are one of the people who enjoy deep characterization in anime such as Attack of Titan (although I've only read the manga) or Zetsuen no Tempest, then maybe the story of GJ-bu will not be appealing to you. There is a timeline of events especially at the last episode but the story itself is not deep. BUT, like I said and will reinforce here, if you are one to enjoy light hearted, comedic, nonsense filled stories, this is definitely for you.

The animation in GJ-bu is not as top notch as say Angel Beats but is definitely high quality. Characters that are not the focus of a certain shot or sequence are not seen to be at a standstill and the motions from characters are smooth.

The sound is of high quality but due to my bias of contrast in sounds such as loud explosions to quiet talking in one episode (like Gundam), I did not rank it as high (just don't take my ranking of the sound in consideration).

The characters in GJ-bu are diverse but are developed in some way throughout the 12-episode anime. Whilst their backgrounds are not explored (hence lacking deep connections with the characters) it is obvious that they are different from each other. The audience can definitely find enjoyment in watching the characters such as Maou (sama xD) interacting with the male protagonist. As the characters are given their own unique personality whom are interesting and funny, I believe that makes up for the lack of character background.

Overall it's a hilarious anime that is filled with funny jokes and interactions between the characters. To be honest, I was kind of sad that the anime ended in episode 12 but knowing that -SPOILER ALERT- the GJ-club is now in the hands of "Ore-man" xD, I'm quite satisfied with the ending of the anime. Go watch GJ-bu!!!

wmraz - 2013-06-08 02:14:11

When I first started watching this anime, I thought "well, it will be just another harem anime, nothing special". But this anime actually surprised me, and altough there is 1 episode left to air, I think this was one of the best anime in this season.Story (7) - There isn´t an actual plot in this anime, since it´s all about comedy, but just from watching their crazy club activities, and the way the girls in the club tease Kyouya, I always end up laughing at every single incident. The only thing I find weird is how time goes on so fast. In 11 episodes, it seems like 2 years or so have passed. Other than that, I have no complaints, it´s a good comedy.Art (8) - The art is very interesting, and altough it seems weird at first, you´ll end up liking it after a while. The characters designs are very well made, and for a comedy anime, this art is really good. The comedy moments, which happen all the time in this anime, are much better having an art like this, other than having a more serious-looking art.Sound (7) - Nothing special, the regular soundtracks for a comedy anime. The opening is interesting though, try watching it one time at least, it´s worth it.Character (9) - This is maybe the reason I like this anime so much. Kyouya is the male main character, and he is teased by ALL the 5 girls in the GJ club. He also has a hidden personality, Ore-Man, which is hillarious. The club president liked to bite Kyouya all the time, and she is behind all the funny incidents that happen to Kyouya. My favourite character, however, is Shion, I don´t know why, but I ended up liking her very much. She seems like a serious person inside the madness that is the club, but just wait and see her true "self". She also seems to have a thing with little sisters. As for the other girls, we have a weight-worrying girl, a first year girl that doesn´t get fat no matter how much she eats and a... wild...girl. Enjoyment (8) - I find myself laughing at every single episode, the comedy in this anime always puts you in a good mood, and you can get a good laugh at pretty much everything that happens throughout the anime.Overall ( 8) - If you are looking for a great comedy, harem anime, then this is for you. In a season with such a lack of good anime, this really stood out as one of the best.