It's Takashi Kamiyama’s first day at Cromartie High
School. Though he strives for academic
success, he’s entire school is comprised of delinquents…and everyone has a bone
to pick or a curiosity about Kamiyama.
In a school full of guys who claim to be the biggest bad ass of them
all, Kamiyama is about to learn that there’s more to being super tough than
just a scary face. You have to also
contend with Gorilla’s, a Robot unaware he is a Robot…and a guy who is a dead
ringer for the lead singer from Queen.
Welcome to Cromartie High School, Kamiyama…hope you survive the
experience.
High School Anime are a dime a dozen and many tend to
blend together at the end of the day, save for the ones with a unique stand out
feature like Haruhi Suzumiya or Bunny Girl Senpai.
Cromartie High School seems to fit into that
Unique Stand Out category simply based on its look and premise and I think I am
all on board for it.
I mean, it’s not
everyday that the first joke in the first minute and a half of an eleven minute
episode lands so well it basically set an immediate benchmark for the
rest.
But it’s that brilliant and that
funny and it only gets better from that point on.
Kind of in the same vein as Detroit Metal City, Cromartie
doesn’t look like it wants to overstay its welcome but rather be a quick little
distraction with its short episode run time.
The first episode throws us in quickly and maintains a great momentum as
we follow Kamiyama on his first day at the delinquent filled high school.
The art style feels as tough as its student
population claims to be and is Production I.G. pushing the limits of Anime once
again.
Though he looks just as tough as
nails as everyone else, I liked listening to Kamiyama’s inner monologues
breaking down everything he sees.
He’s
very soft spoken and you can tell he is a good natured guy beneath the
surface…how he ended up at Cromartie though is a mystery given the company he’s
enrolled with.
His reactions to the
feats these guys will go through to prove themselves are dead on how any sane
person would react.
Once again, the
opening joke of “He…ate…my…pencil…HE ATE MY PENCIL!!!” is pure gold and a great
way to kick off the show.
But it’s more than just the physical comedy at Cromartie
High.
While a lot of the thuggish
character designs can blend together, there are two of particular note that
bear notice.
The first is a robot named
Mekazawa…who seems blissfully unaware of his mechanical nature.
And yet they claim he’s one of the toughest
bad asses in the entire school.
He also
sounds incredibly intelligent and proper for a powerful robot bad ass,
interesting.
The second is an older
gentleman who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of the greatest rock artists
of all time: the lead singer of Queen himself, Freddie Mercury.
The guy even has an epic guitar riff that
plays when he first appears on screen and I can see that becoming a recurring
joke throughout the show.
And as an
added cherry, Kamiyama decides to call this nameless student “Freddie”…so
there, Freddie F’ing Mercury is in an Anime and it is as epic as you’d think
even with a small appearance.
Well…I guess with all this constant praising I guess I
should continue on with Cromartie High School.
Like I said, with episodes clocking in at 11 minutes total, it’s a nice
little snack to have every once in a while.
I suppose you could binge it but I think Cromartie works best in these
quick and small doses.
This aint your
average High School Anime.
Let’s hope
Kamiyama survives his experience.
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