Baka And Test: Summon The Beasts Season 1 Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review
“Baka And Test: Summon The Beasts” is a surprisingly charming series
In the 13 episode first season of “Baka And Test,” viewers are introduced to the students of the peculiar prep school Fumizuki Academy. The Academy is divided into classes A to F (A being the best and F being the worst). The higher the class is; the better treatment they get. Suffice to say, the students are NOT equal at this place. The only way for a class to get better treatment is with fights via avatars (AKA summoned beasts). The result of these battles equal better equipment, classrooms, etc for the victor. Unfortunately, the higher class students almost always have the advantage as the avatars power levels are based on the student’s test scores.
The main character of the story is Yoshii, a probationary student that is placed in the run down Class F. Also in Class F is the smart girl Mizuki who should be in Class A, but was placed in the lowest class because of health issues. Episode plots involve battles between the 6 classes, Yoshii trying to get Mizuki to a higher class, outings to the movies, food, a treasure hunt, pool cleaning, a park visit, the avatar program malfunctioning, romance, Yoshii’s sister, and a vault. Important characters to the show include Shouko (a weird class A student), Minami, Yuji (the Class F represenative), Hideyoshi and her twin sister Yuuko, Iron Man (the disciplinary master), and the Principal.
At first glance, ‘Baka’ looked an anime series that would have over-the-top fanservice and repetitive “Pokemon” esque avatar fights in each episode, but that turned out to not be the case. Instead, this anime turned out to be a fast-paced, character driven piece that is loaded with humor, weird (but likeable) scenes, fresh concepts, clever RPG esque battles, and even some nice swipes at the education system. In fact, the only real downside to the series is that it’s rather short on story. While I’m intrigued to see what happens in the second season, I am also unsure as to how the show can continue without retreading ideas. Still, I can safely say I look forward to further adventures of the goofball Yoshii and his fellow classmates. Check this show out. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by it.
Video/Audio:
The image quality looks clean on the DVD, but let’s face it, the show looks better in 1080p on Blu-ray. If you need a reason why, just compare the avatar fights and colors and see how much sharper they look in hi-def.
The DVD discs contain English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese Stereo audio tracks while the Blu-ray discs contain English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 audio tracks. For a change, both the English dub and the Japanese tracks impressed me. Naturally, the English track has more depth since it is of higher sound quality, but the Japanese track didn’t disappoint either.
Extras are the same on the DVD and Blu-ray except the Blu-ray has a trailer for “FLCL” and doesn’t have a “School Rumble” trailer:
* Trailers for “School Rumble,” “Bamboo Blade,” “Negima,” “RideBack,” ‘Shin Chan,” “Sgt. Frog,” “Spice And Wolf,” “My Bride Is A Mermaid,” “Fruits Basket,” and Funimation.com.
* Textless opening song and 2 textless closing songs.
* 2 DVD spots, 2 commercials, and 2 promo videos for “Baka And Test.”
* “Baka And Test Tales”- A nearly 5 minute animated storybook story of sorts.
* “Special Christmas Footage”- Mizuki, Minami, Hideyoshi, and the guy characters chat about Christmas.
* “The King Game In Fumizuki Academy”- Characters from the show play the king game in this 5 minute animated short.
* “Mizuki Himeji Girls’ Meal”- A Mizuki recipe.
* “Mission: Impossible: Baka Preview” and a 3 ½ minute short titled “Mission: Impossible: Baka Mission 1.”
* “Baka-Only Cross-Dressing Contest”- A self-explanatory 4 minute animated short.
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