Baka and Test is one of those animes that just came and went and for life of me I have no idea how or why this series dried up. When this anime came out it caught fire really quickly. Everybody liked it for its comedic writing, fun characters, and interesting concept. The anime follows a group of students who go to this special school where grades decide what kind of school experience you’ll have. If you get good grades your experience will great but if your grades are bad your experience will be bad. We focus on a group of students who get bad grades and thus are put at the bottom of the class. Not wanting to accept this they use the school’s summoner’s test war system which allows students to summon avatars of themselves who’s powers are based on their grades in each subject to battle their way up through each class in the hopes getting that great school life they dreamt about as well as prove that grades aren’t everything. What makes this anime great is how much you get behind the class F students. Everyone has been in their shoes at one time or another. You just don’t do well in school but you know you’re a smart person and they’re right, grades don’t mean everything, some of the smartest people in history did poorly in school. These were characters you easily found yourself getting behind and who you came to love because of their personality.
The first season of Baka and Test introduced us to the characters showing us their characters, relationships with each other, quirks, and how the summoner test wars worked. I have to admit the summoner test war system is interesting and something I would like to see done in real life just to see if something like this would work in the school system or not. Personally, I think it would work as it would encourage students to study harder but at the same time it might put unnecessary stress on some students but I think they’d be able to handle it. While the first season was more concerned with the test wars the second season focused more on the characters themselves as we see how some of their relationships came to be, how some characters met, and even get development on the part of the main character and his love interest. I really did like the direction the second season went. Instead of it being a repeat of the first season we actually got a chance to explore these characters and develop them more as well as learn more about their past and how they met. The second season really turned me into a fan of Minami. I was totally cheering for Himeji in the first season but after watching the second season I really did come to see Minami as the better match for Aki. Finally, this anime was just funny. Every episode you watch will have you laughing. If you manage to watch this anime and not laugh than you seriously might want to check your pulse because it’s impossible not to find this series funny. I gave the first season a 7.5/10 and the second season an 8/10 and I think these scores at fine the way they are. At times I often think the second season should be a little higher but no I don’t think it does anything really outstanding to break an 8/10. Baka and Test is a great and funny anime series and one that I honestly think needs to come back ASAP.