Review of D-Frag!

Hello Everyone, I'm PyraXadon, a blue fire type. Today on MAL reviews, I will be talking about, probably one of the most interesting and random, but enjoyable animes out there. Everyone, this is D-fragments! Story (7.76/10): The story of D-fragments, or D-frag in its shorter name, is about a second year by the name of Kazama Kenji, who aspires to be a delinquent at his school with his friends Nagayama and Yokoshima, as the Kazama Clan, or whatever they're called. They're not really well known. It is then that Kenji meets a little girl by the name of Roka, who offers himto be part of her club, which after some insanity of the over 9000 kind and some running around the school, that Kenji agrees to be part of the club, and the story continues on from there.

When you're looking at an anime that's based on a club, you normally get the same formula of the characters of the show going to the clubroom and doing whatever, (which is usually nothing), making a couple jokes that are "funny" to us, the audience, then ending the episode off in a sort of episodic form. Now take that, and reverse it. That is what D-frag is.

The story of this series revolves around the antics of the game creation club (provisional), as they go through life at school basically breaking all of the school rules, breaking property, running around and attacking each other with RPG game style attacks, and overall just being as insane as possible. And that's only the first episode. Beyond that, the series doesn't really go beyond that sort of mindset. The whole series is essentially the game creation club's antics, explained in a great multitude of hilarious and VERY entertaining ways in an arcic setup, that actually works.

The series itself doesn't try very hard to be entertaining, and it doesn't need to, because its idea is just so damn absurd, that it is extremely entertaining and very fun to watch. The series was made to be very funny, and it succeeded in doing so in the end. Also, the end. This series has one of the most bullshit and random endings ever, that I laughed out loud because of just how absurd and hilarious it was when I saw it.

Overview
+ Absurd and entertaining plot
+ Many wonderful, memorable moments
- Somewhat arc heavy

Characters (8.78/10): Now, the characters. When you look at D-fragments' picture, the first thing that comes to mind is, harem. That is not actually the case. (The manga does have that tag for some reason.) This series does have a multitude of female characters, but it is in no way, a true harem. Because, these girls are much more interesting than most harem females you will ever see.

Kazama Kenji, as the main protagonist is the aforementioned delinquent of this series. With his spiky hair and rough way of talking, he is undoubtably someone who aspires to be one, which ultimately fails in the end. Kazama is an interesting male protagonist, in the sense that he really doesn't care much for what is going on, since he's just as lost as the audience is in any given situation, but when it comes down to it, he does care for the people and what he does, as he is shown to be helping out a lot in the game creation club's "quarrels". However, in terms of personality and favor from the audience, he is tiny in comparison to the greater majority of characters in this series. Mostly, he fills up the main role as the main guy, but other than that, I wouldn't say too much else. He mostly takes a backseat when it comes to things.

Next is the fire/dark aligned underground boss of the school, (I have literally no idea what all of that entails, Roka Shibasaki. Roka is definitely the main focal point of the show. From start to finish, she plays a pivotal role in the plot, and is seen to be around Kazama for the majority of the series. Personally, I have never really seen a character quite like her, due to the fact that she has this fire aligned moe thing, and this scary dark aligned personality that I would like to avoid if all possible. She likes bagging people, (putting bags over people's heads), and all sorts of weird things. I can't really explain her because she's just that kind of character that you can't really explain due to how interestingly weird she is.

Chitose Karasuyama is the earth aligned character in the series, as well as the school president. Personally, I don't get how she's the school president due to tyrannical and sadistic she is. Chitose is one of those characters that will do whatever it takes to complete a goal, while at the expense of someone else's pain and misery. What I think makes her a good character and a good fit for this show, is the fact that she has this authority, and thus the means to make the absurd things in this series make sense in terms of how they came to be.

Next, my personal favorite, Sakura Mizukami, or, the water type. (I'm not kidding. These characters all have some sort of element alignment like freaking pokemon.) Sakura is the youngest character out of the whole main cast, being only a first year, with an exceptional addiction, to water. She is always seen carrying a bottle, and even drowns her opponents with bottled water. She has this sort of child-like demeanor, being very respectful to her her elders, and even calling Kazama her Onii-san. (She just does it cause she can.)

And finally, Takao. (There's no last name for this one.) Takao being the only character not in the game creation club (provisional), is a rather interesting addition to the main cast. For starters, she is the only character that has her measurements posted on this site, so that sort of gives you an idea of what we're dealing with here. Takao is sort of that bystander person that sort of just stands there and watches everything happen. She doesn't really add too much to the series as it goes on, but she still plays a good part nonetheless.

The side characters of this series outnumber the main cast 1:10. What adds to this series's absurdity, is the fact that the series will add a few characters every few episodes or so, followed by a nametag on one of the screen corners, giving you a sort of idea of who this new person is. While most of the supporting cast get about 10 minutes of screen time each, the supporting cast that actually matter, such as the double masochist duo of Ataru and Hachi, the electric aligned game creation club's supervisor, the legendary pigtailed 3rd year Tama-chan, Kazama's sister Noe, and my personal favorite Funabori.

Personally, I think that the supporting cast is too big. (Even Angel Beats had a smaller cast than this series.) The fact that they add in characters left and right is a bit too absurd even for me, and their use and imprint on the series is as valuable as a dot you draw on your friend's paper in the upper right hand corner of their paper. Also, they didn't explore some of the more important and better known side characters as much as they could've, which I think really would've added more, since the supporting cast is just as interesting and weird as the main cast.

All in all, the cast itself was very well done for the idea they were going for, and I commend the people who made it, to make a series with a mostly female cast, not a bunch of girls who needed a guy to help them with everything. Cause these girls kick ass.

Overview
+ Very well thought out female cast
+ Somewhat original and thought out character personalities
+ Above average male lead
- WAY too big of a supporting cast
- Adding characters left and right that didn't even matter in the end

Art and Sound (8.31/10 and 8.95/10): The art is definitely a good highlight of this show, mainly because the art is so bright and vivid, that it looks like it was colored in a highlighter. The show has two main ways of presenting the characters. One in a normal format of presenting the characters, and the ever so common chibi format that we see today.

For the normal artwork, the series has a very detailed look to it, as well as a very nice and light color palette, that works very well to represent how light-hearted and fun this show is.

The chibi artwork on the other hand has this more comical sense to it. The actual color palette is still the same, but the way the characters are drawn is different, representing the characters in a smaller, shorter, and more cute form. (Mainly, they use this way of making the characters look chibi on Roka.) At times, the series intertwines these two art styles, that as mentioned before, works very well for what the series is trying to do.

The sound I feel is one of the more addicting things of this series. While the background music for the actual series is mostly average tracks that are mood fillers, the soundtrack for the series really shines in its OST, and ED. First, the OST. I cannot explain it. The OST has some of the most random lyrics, and an ever-changing tune that I can only explain as a song that is worthy of being this anime's OST track. The thing is, it's so random, that it's so enjoyable. Hands down, this OST is one of my favorite opening tracks for an anime period, because it's just so fun to watch and listen to.

The ED on the other hand is a very happy song that involves singing about a penalty game. It's a nice little finisher to the anime, as it still contains that vibrant energy that this series is overfilling with.

Overview
+ Aesthetically pleasing look
+ Good integration of both styles of art work
+ Addicting soundtrack
- There are none. =w=

Personal Enjoyment (9.56/10): When I first discovered D-fragments, I only chose to start with the manga because the manga was already present and ongoing. I had held off on the anime series because I wanted to get far in reading the series, just so I don't spoil anything for myself. That plan didn't work, cause I finished the anime before finishing the manga.

What I love about D-fragments is the sheer randomness that works just so well for this series. The series itself goes over the top and does not care if you go along for the ride or not. It goes, and continues, making you hope that you can keep up. As I was watching this series, the most memorable parts about it for me was how much I enjoyed the slapstick comedy that worked extremely well for this series. For a series that wanted to be random, it succeeded. D-fragments is one of those series that anyone can enjoy without thinking too hard.

Personally, I love this series because of how entertaining and enjoyable it was. It provided me some great laughs and no facepalmy plot points that I hate with all my heart. In the end, I would recommend this show to anyone who would like a good laugh, or even to just not think, because in the end, thinking while watching this, will get you nowhere. It's not the best thing to watch in the world, but for a comedy/school series, it's definitely top notch.

Overall Score: (9.15/10) Remember. I'm a blue fire type!