English Dub Review: Anime-Gataris “Anime-Gataris, Assemble!”

Anime club gets serious in episode two.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Arisu and Minoa are on the hunt for new members. After passing out fliers while dressed as rabbits, they gain several new members including Miko the light-novel addict and an upperclassman named Erika.

The club members are a diverse group of people and they have fun talking about what makes a classic anime, whether to read the original novel before watching the show and how anime adaptations can change the original story’s meaning. When things get heated, anime newbie Minoa cools everyone down with her speech about “making anime cry”. But just as the club is beginning to bond, they’re interrupted by a girl telling them that from this moment on, they are not allowed to use the clubroom.

Our Take:

Episode two landed some great gags, like Arisu’a lecture about the importance of watching shows live as they air, Minoa’s amazement that her fellow club members watch shows more than once (“You don’t?”), or how Nakano secretly wears a nerdy anime shirt beneath his school uniform. The talking cat plot continues to be vague, but intriguing. Overall, a show focusing on how people can come together out of a shared love of anime is a welcome one.

Visually-speaking, the show has mixed success. Backgrounds are nothing to write home about, but the character designs themselves are colorful and cute. And the opening sequence is just so, so awesome.

The dub performances are generally solid, though Minoa’s VA still sounds awkward pitching her voice up to sound younger.

Score
7.5/10