I never care to write reviews, but I can't believe that this show has zero reviews halfway through the cour and I mean to rectify that. The short of it is that Snack Basue is a unique gem which I strongly recommend people try the first few episodes of in spite of its low rating, especially if you're a fan of references, dialog-based comedy, and fourth-wall bulldozing. Describing Snack Basue is difficult; my first inclination is to compare it with similar shows, but shows similar to it are few and far between. Cromartie? Lucky Star? Bartender? It has bits and pieces of all of those, butit still doesn't quite get what Snack Basue is. Personally I find myself comparing it to Trapeze if only because of how unique they both are. But even that doesn't quite grasp it.

The first things everyone will notice are the character designs and animation. It's evocative of a mid-2000's Adult Swim original series or an old-school Flash animation, but there's more to it. The characters blink regularly, Akemi's hair moves fluidly, facial expressions are quite detailed, and background characters make small movements that other shows often leave out. While most of the time they're not moving at all, much of what is animated is done extremely smoothly. While the first impression is to call it flat and stilted, there's a real depth to what and when the studio chooses to animate.

The show as a whole is structured as a collection of vignettes or shorts, around three to five per episode. There's some light continuity between them and characters will reference earlier shorts, but there isn't much any plot to speak of. Most of the shorts involve Akemi and one to three of the other core characters with distinct personalities. Occasionally there are additional one-off characters for only one or two shorts as well. Each episode ends with a character singing a karaoke song from the 70s or 80s.

The real meat of the show is the references and the absurdist humor. Each episode is absolutely jammed packed with references to pop culture, music, television, and so forth. The sheer volume is comparable to shows such as Gintama, Hayate, or Nyaruko-san. Characters from other well-known media appear, it makes jokes about the voice actors and publishers, it even questions if overseas viewers will understand one of the references. It utterly knocks down the fourth-wall and dares it to stand up again. It's extremely dialog heavy, and the voice actors do a tremendously good job at carrying it.

Of course, the jokes will not land for everyone, and some people will want a show that has things such as character development and a storyline. Such people should move on; Snack Basue is absolutely not a show for them, and it makes no pretensions to being such a show. However, for people looking for a show that doesn't take itself so seriously, a show that goes good with a drink on a Friday night, and a show with a special sort of charm and wit like fresh air in a musty room, Snack Basue is a real gem.