Seitokai no Ichizon 12

Seitokai no Ichizon was most definitely the single most entertaining and rewarding show of 2009. Fun, light, and memorable. Those are the words that come to my mind when I think of it. It completly fulfilled its purpose as a comedic anime and still offered more. You might ask yourself as an anime that's centered around the main characters discussing pointless and random things all while parodying the anime industry can be funny, since it doesn't have anything that really stands out. In fact, the characters themselves comment that they can't have their anime to feature people having pointless talks about whatever comes to mind. Breaking the fourth wall much? Yes, but that's not the point here.

Seitokai no Ichizon's charm is in fact its simplicity. It doesn't have to rely on fanservice, ridiculous settings or unbelievable coincidences in order to be fun and entertaining. It's just a bunch of regular people with distinct traits having comical talks. And making such an ordinary thing fun to watch and re-watch, that's the touch of a genius. We ought to thank the original author, Sekina Aoi, for writing the original light novel. Behind the comedy, the series has a surprisingly deep and serious core that helps us understand the characters a little better. Those serious segments at the end of each episode really made reflect a bit about my choices in life, and sympathise with the cast some more, especially Sugisaki.

Ah, yes. And then there's Sugisaki Ken, our dear protagonist. He's awesome. Seriously. I'm voting for him for Best Male Character of 2009. I have been watching anime for a long time, and he is the first protagonist that I know whose focus is the harem ending! That's right, the dream of all men, but the one none ever tries chasing after, is Sugisaki's objective. And he doesn't mind screaming it for everyone (including his declared harem members) to hear. He most certainly isn't a wimp! That, coupled with his wittyness, and easy-going behavior makes him easily my favorite character in a loooong time. Still, there's more to him that meets the eye.

Underneath that bubbling exterior, he is a kind-hearted and caring person, that always helps others. This side of him is much elaborated upon though-out the series and its most serious portions. He oftenly does comments that get him exasperated with the girls that make up the rest of the student council, but they actually appreciate the work he does and are grateful to him. In fact his justification for aiming for the harem ending is a surprisingly deep one: because according to him, it's the ending where everyone is happy.

In the finale of the anime, we finally come to learn the reasons behind his dream to make everyone happy. The cast meets Nakameguro, who has just transfered to their school. Admist the jokes and Mafuyu's desolutions, he ends up walking together with Sugisaki to the bus stop. He confesses he changed schools because he was always being bullied, and he wanted to escape to a new fresh start, and labels himself as being a weak person. Sugisaki Ken, however, does not share his opinion.

In a long monologue, Sugisaki opens up to Nakameguro and shares a story of how he came to be the strong individual he is. A story of how a weak boy met four girls, and how they helped him to become who he was, and how they taught him to be strong. How they made that one hopeless boy happy. In his eyes, Nakameguro wasn't weak at all, because he made it through alone, while he had four people helping get to where he was. The four he came to love and decided to make happy.

All of this was followed right by Sugisaki noticing the girls were eavesdropping, by the way. And then the last bus passed by them. Resulting in them all running frantically after it. Priceless. XD

Seitokai no Ichizon is a show with a lot to offer that shouldn't be underestimated. To watch if you want a good laugh or just want to take a break from those fantasy battle animes. I guarantee you'll really enjoy it.

If I had to rate this anime in a 1 to 10 scale, I'd give it a 10 anytime! It's definitely an anime to rewatch once or twice after you're finished it. =)

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"Otakus are basically islamic extremists that traded
religion by an unhealthy passion of anime and manga. Well, otakus don't blow up towers, so they're a bit different."