My impression after watching episode 1: _this is an interesting premise I want to see more of, with the most annoying characters I would like to see all struck from the face of the earth._
My impression after watching episode 2: I will put up with obnoxious high school girls only so I can see more cool board games.
Premise is simple: two 10th graders discover their classmate works at a small board game store, she teaches them to play a game, and they are introduced to the amazing world of board games, which apparently are not super popular in Japan (or so this should would lead you to believe, no idea if that’s correct or just convenient for the plot).
One of the first things you’ll notice when the game shop is shown for the first time is they’re not just drawing generic boxes. No, they’re beautifully illustrated actual real-life games you could play right now.
A game gets played in every episode–I can honestly say I now want a chance to play Marrakech, a game in episode one that involves strategically moving a rug merchant around and trying to cover more of the board with your rugs than another player’s.
The games are the reason to watch. Each episode is a different game, and no game is played in more than one episode. Also going on my list of games to obtain is Kaker Laken Poker/Cockroach Poker, a card bluffing game, and I’m also interested in playing Incan Gold, a strategy game, and The Island/Survive: Escape from Atlantis, where players try to move pieces off a sinking island.
The games get a basic explanation—probably not enough that I could play right away, but enough that I think I got a decent understanding of whether I’d enjoy the game, at least.
It was also fun spotting games in the shop and wondering if they’d make an appearance (after yelling “PLAY BLOKUS PLAY BLOKUS PLAY THE FRIKKIN BLOKUS” at the beginning of every episode, they did, in fact, finally play the Blokus game I’d seen sitting in the background at the beginning, in episode 10). (I own Blokus. Good game.)
The downside of the show is…the main characters. Blue-haired Miki is terminally shy and I just can’t like her as a character. Pigtailed Aya is a Manic Pixie [Childish] Girl. Rules-loving Midori is pretty inflexible, but is mostly a nice character, actually. But my gosh, are the first two annoying. Later, a part-German girl shows up and I was like is there an epidemic of bad German accents going around this season because FIRST MOMIJI SOHMA and NOW THIS but it turns out they’re voiced by the same American voice actress, so that explains it. But it certainly didn’t help. (Her dad also has a not-super-great German accent, so.)
Verdict
English dub? Yes, and it’s OK. Actually, most of the voices are fine, but blue-haired Miki has a thin, high-pitched voice (that fits her character, but her character is wimpy), and part-German Emmy has the same pseudo-German accent that drove me nuts with Momiji in Fruits Basket. (How nuts? I spent half an hour searching Youtube for actual Germans speaking English just to remind me what it actually sounds like.)
Visuals: Characters a fine, nothing flashy. But the backgrounds are beautiful, and show many real spots around Kyoto, where it’s set (Crunchyroll has a blog post HERE comparing the anime visuals with real spots), and as noted above, the games themselves get beautifully illustrated.
Worth watching? Yes if interested in board games and you can stand a really whiny, wimpy 10th grader. (Miki does improve for at least half the episodes, but she’s often plagued by self-doubt or bad memories that slow everything down.) Even with the obnoxious characters, I don’t regret watching. Plus, it’s only 12 episodes.