
a review by BluBilly
5 years ago·Jan 11, 2021

a review by BluBilly
5 years ago·Jan 11, 2021
NOTE; Originally, the series began as a 5-min TV short and had 120 episodes, but later got condensed in other streaming sites, it should be around 24 "regular" episodes!
##Saiki K has qualities that stand out from other series i would love to discuss, one being the abundance of characters and all of them being a stereotype of certain anime genres/trends.
These 3 are the ones im focusing on for now;
##The most obvious one is Shun Kaidou, which is a chuunibyou, who thinks has the power that are sealed within his red bandages. In reality though, he just a regular nerd which acts shy around the people he likes, which is nice to see. Multiple scenarios pop up where he is forced to be serious but just ends up being a whimp in the funniest way, be it he just starts becoming nervous in tense situations or he just fantasizes of beating people up just like in regular Battle Shounens, but just...doesn't do it.

##Kusuo Saiki, our main character, is also a stereotypical tsundere, acting cold towards his friends which always try to cheer him up or just want to hangout with him, albeit sometimes its for the most ridicilous reasons. He typically never uses his powers for his friends aswell, but when the need arises, he is there to lend a hand to the ones he eventually warms up to, which is heartwarming to say. He is definetly not the funniest character but the situations he ends up in are just crazy in the most hilarious ways, and seeing him try solving them are great, especially with the voice actor delivering his lines which he does such a great job at it, especially with the low-tone voice!

##Finally we come to the dumb sidekick, Nendou. He is just lovable and although some jokes dont land with me well, overall he is just way too enjoyable to actually dislike. Already from when we first meet him, Kusuou already tells us about how stupid he is, that his brain is the same as an insect, which he can't read the mind off. What does that mean for our main character? Danger. Who knows what the hell is about to go down when Nendou is present...

##These 3 characters are just the tip of the iceberg of the amount of characters in the series, as we have Hairo, the parody character of Sports Manga with his burning passion for sports and competitive sports, Yumehara being a parody of a shoujo protagnoist looking for love, the delinquent Kuboyasu which resolves issues in the most brutal and tone-deaf way possible and finally, Teruhashi, which is the typical "beautiful girl looking for a loner". Every single character in the show really lift the comedy in the way that you expect them to do one thing, but they resolve it in another, although funny but stupid ways. I mean hell, who doesn't call their friend if they are confused about their location? Not these guys...

##The VA's also do a really great job at delivering their lines, with exaggerated lines done when needed. Usually, i dislike it when comedy animes are obnoxiously loud but this series balances it out pretty well. The super quick dialogue also blends well and can help elevate a scene, but sometimes it can be a bit too fast for my taste so it might be a turnoff for people. Another issue some people might have is the animation. Most of the time, the transitions lends well to the tone of the series, so it is not an issue for me, infact some scenes make it pretty funny when they just slide into the next frame out of nowhere. Some characters sometimes move by themselfs without real movement from their legs, but it makes it more funny, atleast in my opinion. That doesn't mean that all the scenes are "bad" though, some are definetly higher budget then others.

My verdict on the series; Saiki K is a really great comedy anime. Although the budget isn't THAT high from the animation and the dialogue is super fast, this is an anime where i enjoyed literally EVERY character, and made me laugh alot without the need of being loud/obnoxious moments, it utilizes characters tropes very well and is just a joy to watch. It is definetly a show you should watch if you really dislike comedy but you are still curious about the genre.
My favorite quote from the show;

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