English Dub Review: Anime-Gataris “Club Room Go Boom!”

It’s the anime club versus the student council in an ongoing battle to prove that anime isn’t worthless!

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After the student council president catches Arisu making some, er, extravagant expenditures, the anime club is issued an ultimatum. They have to make up for their misbehavior by assisting the other clubs around school for a week. Can they prove that they can be useful to the student body?

It turns out that they can’t. Or at least, not at first. In a hilarious montage, we’re shown highlights like Minoa trying to bow to a radio audience and Kaikai blowing up the cooking club room. (He refers to the microwave as an ‘electron purgatory’.) Eventually, they manage to find something they’re good at designing costumes for the drama club. Anime club president Erika has been cosplaying for years, as shown in several flashbacks, so she’s the perfect leader for the job.

Though the student council president’s plan to shut down the anime club has been foiled, for now, Tsubaki vows to continue the fight – and it looks like she may be taking orders from someone even higher up!

Our Take:

This episode provided a good balance of comedy drawn from anime references, and broader slapstick that everyone can appreciate regardless of their anime knowledge. The explanation of how anime productions make their money was educational, funny…and a little sad. Kaikai blowing up the cooking club’s microwave had me laughing, and it turned out to be a positive thing for everyone since the school bought the club a brand new unit.

Each character’s individual quirks continue to be interesting. Arisu’s wealthy background leads her to come up with an easy way out from under the student council’s thumb: she can simply buy out the entire school and kick THEM out. Luckily, the rest of the club quickly puts a stop to this plan. Erika and idol super fan Kouki were particularly level-headed in this episode, delivering inspiring speeches when their fellow club members were losing hope.

As for me, I remain hopeful that Anime-Gataris will remain a reliably-funny show that explores the wonders of anime in a fresh way every week.