Forgetful and good-natured Run Momoki has been best friends with Tooru Ichii since childhood. Despite Run being one year older, her carefree attitude and popularity with the boys is a constant headache for the overprotective Tooru. To complicate matters further, when Tooru applies to the same high school as Run, she finds out that their little circle of two has grown into a quartet.
Their new acquaintances—Nagisa Tennouji and Yuuko Nishi—are classmates of Run and, in Tooru's eyes, the two must prove they are trustworthy. As a new high school year begins, the girls balance their friendship with the exhilarating opportunities of school life.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Exkalamity
Does a good anime need to have a good plot? The answer is: NO! Take a certain over-the-top mecha-robo anime with plenty of drills (and thus male Freudian artifacts) for example; it's plot wasn't the most original storytelling, but that didn't stop the anime from being explosively entertaining. But does good anime need to have ANY plot? The answer is undoubtedly: NO. If otherwise, the slice-of-life genre of anime wouldn't exist; and hits like K-On, Lucky Star, and Hidamari Sketch would never have gained the popularity that they did. So is A-channel like Lucky Star, K-On, or Hidamari Sketch? The answer is still: NO. The latterthree anime, although plotless, have some extra premise or setting in which the contents of the anime revolve around; K-On has the pretense of forming a band, Hidamari Sketch has the setting of an art school, and Lucky Star has an otaku as the lead. A-Channel, on the other hand, has nothing.
But is that a bad thing? NO! That just means that A-Channel is a slice-of-life in its PUREST form.
A-Channel portrays the easy life of four ordinary high school girls. The main focus if this anime is undoubtedly the characters and their interactions with each other. The biggest concerns or conflicts that the characters have are simple things like their weight, jealousy over different body proportions, or being over-protective of each other. The characters do ordinary things together like going to festivals, walking home in the rain, eating at fast food restaurants, singing karaoke, or playing in the snow together. There is no storyline at all, major, minor, or subplot; all A-Channel portrays are the sweetest moments amongst the smallest actions found in daily life. It's like someone cut out the most boring 23 hours and 40 minutes of the characters' days and turned the most lively 20 minutes of each day into a show.
The characters are what drive this show; they are indeed a good group to be friends with, being diverse and varied and yet not straying too far from the norm. We have Tooru, the clever troublemaker, Nagi, the ordinary one, Yuuko, the nice-bodied scaredy-cat, and Run, the airhead of airheads. Taken individually, these character may not seem like the most interesting ensemble. But when put together, it their interactions that make this anime shine. Character development doesn't come from the growth of the characters themselves, but rather that the viewer learns more about the characters as he or she continues to watch them, just like in real friendships. The diversity and depth of the interactions are astounding, and often it's the littlest of interactions that can send the viewer the biggest signals. (i.e. Yuuko showing slight interest in the idea of Run not wearing any panties.)
Being a slice-of-life, the production value of the show need not be very high. Most slice-of-lifes can get away with mediocre animation with a lot of still shots and mediocre sound with just an opening, ending, and a handful of background tracks. A-channel does exactly that. The animation is fine; the four girls look satisfactorily cute from most angles and distances, and the sound is alright, with an upbeat opening, a winding-down ending, and BGM that doesn't find itself to be to obtrusive to the ears. There is one praiseworthy aspect of the production, and it's the number of insert songs sung by the seiyuu. Often times, when wanting to show a collections of events, the producers would display a montage of clips accompanied by an insert song often times sung by the seiyuus themselves. This technique was most apparent during the karaoke episode, and I thought it was a nice way of letting the episodes flow rather than trying to directly tell the story. Voice-action, however, is a totally different story; this is the area where slice-of-lifes absolutely cannot skimp, and A-channel here delivers what it must. Each of the seiyuus for each of the character does a splendid job of delivering the right performance at each given situation.
So is A-channel something you should watch? Well it really depends. If you want something action, drama, romance, story, plot-twists, thrills, chills, or the like, then look elsewhere. But if you're into cute girls doing cute things from day in to day out, a light hearted slice-of-life comedy for a few laughs, I suggest you give A-channel a try.
Questions, comments, criticisms and compliments are welcomed whether you found this review helpful or not.
AquaHaze
For any slow paced slice of life series, there is always a challenge of not being boring. A-Channel does manage to stay above the boredom zone (most of the time) making it a decent slice of life anime. It is a nice series which makes for a very relaxing watch A-Channel revolves around 4 high school girls and their everyday lives. The setting itself is a bit overused but that doesn't mean that it's not good. The slow pace combined with the setting gives it a light and relaxing atmosphere. Despite the slow pace, rarely does A-Channel feel boring. The comedic moments are up anddown, some are pretty funny while others don't seem to work. Considering the setting, it's pleasantly surprising that only a few of the events are cliche. However there is hardly anything memorable in A-Channel because the setting is not unique and it's missing that wow factor
Being a slice of life, A-Channel is mostly character driven. There is the Run, who is an airhead, Tooru, who is overprotective of Run and reckless, Nagi, who is level-headed and Yuuko who is very timid. The contrasting personalities of each character really makes A-Channel fun to watch and it injects life into the series. Individually the characters aren't very diverse which has it's own pros and cons. On the upside it prevents the series from being confusing and makes the it a relaxing watch, not making us think. Also, because this is a slice of life series, it is really not necessary for the characters to be complex. However on the downside the characters aren't very memorable and makes the characters seem two dimensional. It would've also been nice to see a bit more of the side characters as they hardly made appearances at all.
The art is very nice. The characters look very cute, the animations are fluent and the backgrounds are nicely drawn. The art matches the the lighthearted mood of the series and also gives it a certain charm.
The sound is also pretty solid. The OP, 'Morning Arch', is very catchy and upbeat. The ED is alright, it did feel like a proper closing though. There are also numerous insert songs which are sung by the seiyuus, which was a nice addition. The voice acting was solid, each seiyuu did a good job voicing their character in every given situation.
Enjoying a slice of life anime is something not everyone can do, and A-Channel is no exception. If you are not into the slice of life genre, then the slow pace of A-Channel can make the series feel boring. However, if you are into the slice of life genre, A-Channel is enjoyable, relaxing and can clear one's mind if they had a rough day.
A-Channel has it's flaws but overall it's a nice series. It fails to be something really memorable but it was fun while it lasted
Hexrapper
A-Channel is like K-ON! or Azumanga Daioh if the characters sucked and there was no comedy. It starts off well enough. It has a really nice OP to pump you up for the antics to come. Fukuhara Kaori is back in the fold voicing a character much like her Tsukasa from Lucky Star. Kotobuki Minako of K-ON! fame is here too. They've even got Madoka. This is a nice cast lineup. Four girls in a high school slice of life with a cast like this, can it seriously go wrong? The major falling of A-Channel is that it isn't funny. It isn't a slice of life witha gimmick, so you can't latch onto one. Most of it isn't moe, so you can't just D'AWWW at it. This is an Azumanga Daioh, where the characters are the driving point and the *only* driving point and they need to play off each other. When all of your characters save one are this uninteresting and simple, that leads to some serious problems.
You have Run, who's ditzy and spaced out. You have Nagi, who's literally an inferior Yomi from AzuDai. You have Yuuko, who gets scared easily and has big boobs. You have Tooru, who's shy but aggressive.
For each of those characters save Tooru that's all there is to them. Tooru gets a little bit more to her in that she really likes Run, she has this conflict where Run and the others are a year older than her, and she's moe. And she's the most interesting character in this show.
Ugh.
This wouldn't even be so bad if the show was actually funny. But it isn't. It makes some awful attempts at comedy every now and then but they all fall flat. Oh, Yuuko has big boobs so Tooru flips them up for some reason. Oh, Nagi's qq'ing about her weight. Oh, Run's talking to guys so Tooru's coming to scare them off.
Hilarious.
The show couldn't stop there though. Bad characters and no comedy? They had to take it one step further. On top of that, they force insert songs into every episode. EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. And each time except literally once, in one of the later episodes, it's shoe-horned in so jarringly that it just feels completely out of place. And awful. With lazy animation. Most of the time it's just the music played to stills.
The best that can be said of this show is that some of the music is ok, the OP is good, and the characters at least look nice.
A-Channel is awful.
LightningHound
I liked A-Channel. Was it amazing? Well no. I'm going to be honest, it was a run-of-the-mill moe slice-of-life anime series that is supposed to entertain through hilarious incidents of normal day-today activities. Everyone is right when they criticize A-Channel. It lacks substance and is a subpar, repetitive slice-of-life anime with beach trips, summer festivals, school life and hang outs. It didn't make me laugh as hard as Yuru Yuri or Lucky Star. It didn't make me go "Awww!" for the cute touching scenes like in K-On! You possibly can't compare it to slice-of-life beasts like Lucky Star when it comes to uniqueness. Hey, at leastthe A-Channel girls did not have a club like the K-On! cast!
So why did I like A-Channel?
One of the main things people forget nowadays is the appreciation for the little things and learning certain lessons form a variety of experiences. Of course A-Channel is not a Clannad in terms of an emotional roller-coaster, but what I'm trying to get across here is that different anime can teach a variety of different lessons that we can apply in our lives. I've learned many deeper life lessons from Clannad about family and from Ano Hana about moving on, but I've also learned some general lessons about daily life. This is especially true after seeing Tooru progress through the series. Although development for Tooru is rather flat and lacks dynamic, she did remind me of myself at many times. Her cold attitude and distrust toward everyone in the beginning is pretty much how I am toward new people or just people in general. I share her same work ethic, get things done efficiently, respect older people, and help people where ever you can. Seeing Tooru all over Run definitely hit a soft spot for me. Why? Like Tooru, I only trust people who've I've known for a long time and learned to trust. It's hard for me to make new friends because of distrust of people that bullies instilled in me during my middle school life. Learning to make new friends and making new experiences is a vital part of living. It is something I always forget to do, yet Tooru's journey in this short series reminded me about that throughout life, you need friends, you need to have a lot of friends to live a happy life. Every time she learns some sort of lesson, I have this feeling of warmth inside. Even Run taught me a lesson. Despite the fact someone may be a bit torpid or even mean, there sometimes may be some goodness inside of that person. At many times I want smack people like Run upside the head at times, but in the end those people can be the most warmhearted people you can ever meet. Lessons like these, I know, remind me to do something trifle, yet so important to the actual living of my life. I liked the series not because it was entertaining, but I was able to take something from it and make that lesson mine.
I can't say I would recommend this to people who are familiar with the slice of life genre because it isn't amazingly funny or entertaining when compared to K-On! or Lucky Star. It will be repetitive to those who have seen many slice of life high school series. I can say though, if you try A-Channel out, you might learn a thing or two like I did. On the same token, you can say it's boring and move on to the next series: one that actually will entertain you.
Onward with the review:
Story (6): Most slice-of-life anime series have no plot. Just a simple get together and do something episodes that give a few laughs and may make you say feel fuzzy inside at the end. Again this is my standard for these types of moe slice-of-life anime series. This is not the judgement of entertainment I had from the series!
Art (10): What really blew me away here was the amount of detail put into this slice-of-life series. Most of these types of series are cheaply made and quickly released as a means to keep the audience's attention on the moe moe kawaii characters in the series. The amount of detail in A-Channel really added to the depth of connection I had with the protagonist. I know I'm exaggerating here, but I felt as though I was really in and feeling the setting. The details, especially depth perception and movement, were sharp and smooth. This was probably one of the most important factors in my actual learning from and enjoyment of the series.
Sound (9): This was the second aspect that really took me home. I really loved the background music, OP, ED, and Character Songs that were played during A-Channel. It really did add on to the mood of the series. I can't say the soundtrack was compelling here like in the soundtrack of Clannad, but the music was a major contributor to the emotional connections I was able to make throughout the series. In terms of character voicing and SFX, they were the same to me as every other slice-of-life anime series. Nothing special, just following the mold of slice-of-life high school comedy.
Character (7): "Wait! I thought you were able to learn lessons from these characters!?"
Yes I did say that. I also said I thought one of the above said characters was flat (no pun intended) and was not dynamic or interesting in any way. These characters fill in certain slice-of-life archetypes like Yuuko being the Mary Sue of the series and Run, the nice girl who is unfortunately the oblivious airhead. This is much like Mio and Yui respectively from K-On! Not that I have with said archetypes, sometimes it can get a bit repetitive. Yes, it's true. Girls do bicker and talk about the most trifle of things such as body weight, homework, or cute things, but I see and hear that already in real life. Yes, when exaggerated in anime form it can be very humorous, but this still doesn't dismiss the fact that I have heard these petty conversations that can get old and boring in a heartbeat. A-Channel pulls the character interactions and archetypes well, just like every other moe slice-of-life blob I have seen. There is no complex character development. Even Tooru, who goes through the most change, doesn't really go through THAT much change. Simply put, the characters were good, but not amazing or spectacular.
Enjoyment (7): While the comedy was humorous and managed to steal a laugh from me here and there I wasn't laughing hysterically like I did with Yuru Yuri or Lucky Star. The main selling point for me was the warm and fuzzy scenes in each episode. I was able to make a lot of connections and learned a few things from A-Channel. The entertainment level as a comedy was pretty low since I've seen many slice-of-life moe series already, but the everyday lessons learned from this series is something unique that I seldom get from most anime series.
Overall (8): No point in beating the dead horse. In short, if you like slice-of-life moe series despite the lack of depth the series presents, then by all means watch it. Maybe you'll take something from it like I have. If you're here find nonstop fits of laughter, this is not the anime for you.
hotsushi
Many people may not like A-Channel that much due to the fact that it bears a lot of similarities to other slice-of-life/school life anime in that it has 3-5 girls attending school and the end of the anime is either during Christmas or graduation. I can see why people may give a low score for A-Channel due to those reasons but I believe the anime deserve more credit than it was given. Many slice-of-life anime can get boring to some and I can see why. There's no real story and it's just the story of the lives of people who aren't real and you don'tknow. However, I felt that A-Channel kept this in consideration as I was not bored one bit. It may be due to the fact that I love slice-of-life anime but I don't think that was it. Sure, the anime had no real story but what kept me glued to the screen were the characters. The personality each character had was quite generic but the combination of these 4 different personalities and how it interacts in daily life was what made it unique. You had the girl who looked smart but has her dumb moments, the girl who seems perfect in every way, the air head, and the last girl who I will talk about later because I felt that her personality was the most unique.
The smart-looking girl may seemed typical. However, what really made me smile was that she was actually very pretty without her glasses and she has odd habits like the way she calls her brother aniki instead of onii-chan (aniki is normally used by a younger brother, not sister).
The girl who seemed perfect in every way is one of my favorite personality because this sets them up for so many comedic moments. I really don't want to spoil the fun so you'll have to really watch A-Channel to understand what I mean.
The air head is just pure laughter because they made her into an air head but not a stupid air head. She isn't dumb nor is she uneducated. However, the things she does for her friends really makes you want to laugh but can't help see it as something so sweet. My favorite scene would have to be the doll, again, watch A-Channel to really understand.
The last of our heroine! Her personality was simply unique. I felt that it was a combination of Nagato Yuki and tsundere with a bit of innocence and maturity within the body of a child topped off with a bit of moe. Yes, you may think that she'll be a super cute girl that you'll want as a friend one day but get this, alongside all those features, she also bears the wrath of an angry mother protecting her child. You'll understand when you watch the anime. You can't help but laugh at the things she does in some scenes, question what the heck or why the heck in another, or just have one of those "Awwww" moments. She has got to be one of my favorite characters in A-Channel.
There are two others but they're just comedic relief, but you see quite a lot of them!
About the artwork, normally, i dislike artwork where the arms, body, and legs of the characters are ridiculously thin but in A-Channel, I felt that the proportions of he body parts to their thin structure was just right and it did not bother me at all.
There is not much to talk about the sounds, it was like any other anime. The music really sets the mood but what music doesn't do that in anime?
There is also not much to say about the story line either because slice-of-life anime normally doesn't have one set story line, if any at all.. So why did I give it an 8? Because since it has no story it doesn't mean it deserves a bad score, but that also mean it can't really receive a 10 either. The smaller stories within each episode was great though, some I felt like it was a tad bit slow but some I felt was right on the dot and made me laugh.
Overall, I would recommend this anime to anybody that loves Lucky Star or K-On. Word of warning though, if you did not enjoy lucky star whatsoever then I would not recommend A-Channel. These types of anime are unique in their own way and it really takes a person that loves these types of anime to really appreciate them.
TwinofPower
A-channel is a very cute slice-of-life anime. Although it may have a plot like most school based anime, I think it deserves it's own special category. Story : 6 The reason why I gave this a "6" out of "10", is that the plot line sometimes gets old. You see so many slice-of-life anime, sometimes its hard to choose! Art : 8 I gave this an "8" out of "10" because the artwork was very good, and gave all the characters a "innocent" air about them. I think the artwork realy what made me stick to it. :) Sound : 9 A "9" out of "10" sounds reasonable, no? Ipersonally think that all the Seiyuu did an amazing job at giving all the characters their own charm. Yuki Aoi did a great job at playing Tooru, Fukuhara Kaori as Run, etc. They fully expressed their characters personalities. Kudos to them!
Character : 8
These characters definetely made this series. Each with their little side quirks. Tooru with her desire for Run, Run-chan ditziness, Nagi's dieting and Yuuko's low self confidence with her figure. The side characters always help with the story as well. The characters definetely deserved that "8".
Enjoyment : 10
I enjoyed this anime quite a bit. It's hilarious and never quite serious. The funny quirks of everybody and Tooru picking on Yuuko -chan always gets to me. :)
Overall : 10
Overall, I really enjoyed this anime. It's a sweet and innocent alternative to the everyday anime. This is an anime that I know I will watch over and over again.
usaking
A-Channel is another slice-of-life anime that doesn't stray far off from others of the same genre. It follows a girl, named Tooru, and her everyday life with her friends. There isn't much of anything else (in terms of story). Despite this, I really loved this series. PROS Once you start watching A-Channel, the very first thing you'll notice right away is the great sense of humor it has. Perhaps, this is the shows greatest strength. All the jokes are spot on and can be so funny that they will make you cry (at times). I'm confused why others have said that they don't find the comedy thatfunny (if at all). Obviously, comedy is subjective, and perhaps many people are turned off by the type of comedy in A-Channel. Nonetheless, I was more than entertained by the hilarious events that happened throughout the series.
Another aspect of A-Channel that is fantastic are the characters. Just like Konata in Lucky Star, I assume that most people who love this show, including myself, love Tooru the most. She has this presence of a person that is really protective -especially of her best friend, Run. She'll do almost anything for Run to please her. The other characters in the anime are interesting as well, although one is questionable, but I'll get to that later.
Friendship is the main theme of this anime, and rightfully so. Never before have I seen an anime so open about the up and downs of friendships. There are many times in certain episodes where this shines more than anything else.
CONS
As I said before, one character in this anime is a bit questionable, in terms of humor. That person is Sachiyo, a health teacher at the school that the main characters go to. He seems to have a weird fascination for foreheads (Run's in particular). It kind of made me feel uncomfortable. I know it was supposed to be seen as a joke and all, but really..... Some things aren't funny if not done properly.
As with most slice-of-life anime, A-Channel has no story. If you are expecting plot twists, new characters, and other things that regular anime shows give you, you won't find it here.
OVERALL
A-Channel is a great anime for those who enjoy the slice-of-life genre. It's nothing mind blowing or new, but it has a certain feel to it that is pretty unique compared to other anime series. If you are interested in friendships and how they work, I would probably suggest A-Channel to you. If not, then there isn't much to recommend here.
Jeffrey-sama
Art (8/10) Nothing too special about the art but it's nice to see that quite a bit of detail is put into everything. The characters are drawn well with a different look for each one, even the side characters. Run's trademark blank stare is what upped the score to an 8 because it was simple yet interesting to see at the same time as she is the only character (besides her mom) that had it. Scenery was illustrated quite well with a good use of color. Characters (7/10) Character archetypes were a bit typical but, nonetheless, enjoyable to watch. You have airhead-chan, overprotective chibi-tan, megane-san and "nicebody"-sama. With good variety like this, it's hard to go wrong in the audience satisfaction department. Personally, I found each of the characters moe in their own way (maybe not so much for Nagi), adding to my enjoyment of the series. The comedy included with a airhead like Run and the teasing of Yuuko surprisingly never got old, even after 12 episodes. Overall, decent characters but don't expect anything out of the ordinary.
Sound (8/10)
Catchy OP and ED coupled with an insert song every episode makes for a great music-based anime. Sadly, A Channel doesn't focus on music but the sounds for this anime is actually better than what I expected. Memorable BGM pieces also added to my enjoyment while watching A Channel and I will definitely have to obtain the OST along with the insert songs in the near future when they are released. Notable VAs: Yuuki Aoi (Tooru & Victorique de Blois from GOSICK), Fukuhara Kaori (Run & Hiiragi Tsukasa from Lucky Star) and Kotobuki Minako (Yuuko & Kotobuki Tsumugi from K-ON!). Now I'm kind of disappointed at K-ON!'s lack of music compared to A Channel.
Story (6/10)
Seeing as this is a slice of life anime, I decided to be a bit lenient with the scoring. Through the twelve episodes, it was nothing but "cute girls doing cute things". Besides their daily activities in and out of school, along with the passage of time, there wasn't anything else that moved the "story" (if that is what you can call it) along. On the other hand, at least each episode didn't bore me to death so I won't say that the "story" is horrible.
Overall (7/10)
It was fun while it lasted but nothing really memorable was left in my head after the completion of A Channel. It's something that is good to watch to help you relax and kill some time. If you're looking for a good story, I think you should stay away from A Channel to avoid disappointment. However, if you are just looking for some anime to watch leisurely, then, by all means, choose A Channel. Just remember, don't expect something extremely captivating and unique or you will just end up getting frustrated. Instead, just sit back, relax and let yourself enjoy the wonders of "cute girls doing cute things".
Notshane
To me, Slice of Life began to feel extremely repetitive recently. I normally enjoy them quite a bit, but I was coming across quite the heavy amount of repetition in content over the past few months. All of that changed when I finally gave A Channel a shot after glancing at it from a distance for quite the plentiful amount of months. My first thought was that the comedy, straight off the bat, proved to be HIGHLY enjoyable. The character designs, well, it's anime. Unless it's from Akira Toriyama or a few others, most of it will look generally the same. That being said, two ofthe four female protagonists have surprisingly original designs and visual comedy that is highly enjoyable. I usually love to let the reader know of the anime without going too much into detail, but I will say this much: as soon as you see the characters, you will know their personality traits straightaway.
The soundtrack is amazing. Well it's very simplistic piano, and very calm, it fits the mood really well and I was interested enough to learn two of the tracks on my own piano. The last time I learned the actual piano OST from an anime was a year ago before this one, so it had a unique sound that was enough to enjoy playing on my own. I just liked its mellow vibe and it has such a nice feel to it where you will probably always have a smile on your face when you listen to it.
The backgrounds are among the most beautiful I have ever seen in an anime in a VERY long time. Most modern ones I have seen looked fine, but this one made me tear up at one of the scenes. They animated a certain scene so well that, just for a few seconds, you would probably have a hard time telling if you were watching a cartoon or not. That I remember, I only felt this way for two of the scenes, but chances are you might be the type of person to only see it as it is, so this might be more of a personal preference in my own book.
And, to finish off, I can not recommend this one enough. If you like Slice of Life and felt like you were watching a lot of repetition, you have to give this one a go right now. In a vein similar to Yuyushiki, K-ON and Lucky Star, it does its own thing and it does so very well. At the very least, you would have a bit above neutral opinion about this anime. You would have to hate Slice of Life, or find it repetitive at least if you have seen a lot, to give it anything lower than that.
It was certainly enough for me to buy the Blu-Ray, even though I might not watch it for a while on account of how much I still remember of it. It may be quite a while before I find one as satisfying as this one was, given it met all of my expectations and tastes that I enjoy in a Slice of Life, but I said that about the one I watched not too long ago and then I found this, so maybe I might.
OtakuFox43
Story-7: Now, with A Channel, it looks like another one of those cute little slice of life anime series that become really popular, if you like series like Lucky Star or Azumanga, then you're gonna love this series. From what I see, it just follows the lives of four high school girls as they deal with everyday life and find humor in everyday situations. The plot is far from original and tends to be used a lot in these kinds of series but the key is the execution and use of this kind of story and I think that A Channel did a good jobat making this story a little more unique.
Art-8: The art style was really good, even though I didn't expect the color scheme to be used in the anime after reading the manga, like I thought that Run would have a lighter shade of blonde for her hair and that Yuuko's eyes would be a darker color then they were, but the scenery was all beautiful and the animation was beautifully done.
Sound-10: I have to give the soundtrack a ten here, in pretty much every episode, there is another insert song sung by the cast, and each one of those songs are adorable and fits well with what is currently going on during that episode, like when Tooru and Run were arguing and Tooru's song came on as they were about to make up, that kind of sound track shows that the right music can really make or break an anime and I highly enjoyed the music for this series.
Character-9: The characters for this series are a little unexpected for series like this, there's Tooru, the short, tsundere character, Run, the blonde ditzy airhead with a kind heart, Nagi, the tsundere megane who seems to be obsessed with her weight and constantly dieting (Which I can relate to), and Yuuko, the school beauty who is completely perfect in everything she does and is a perfect example of the 'Hime' character sub-type. Now all of these characters have their own moments when you just can't help but love them. My personal favorite character of the series is Tooru, especially considering that she is pretty much the only character in the series who has any character development. The anime shows that Tooru is anxious about her friends graduating from high school without her since she is a year younger then the other three and is afraid of loosing them as friends, which anyone can understand. And aside from the main cast are the teachers, who I really found enjoyable, especially the school nurse who seems to have a forehead fetish!
Enjoyment-9: With A Channel, I didn't expect it to be a little more dramatic then Lucky star is, but that just goes to show that despite the genre being essentially the same, that each anime can have their own style. I loved watching every episode, and I'm planning on watching them over again when I have the chance!
Overall-9: I would highly recommend A Channel to anyone who enjoys anime like Lucky Star or Azumanga Daioh, or just enjoys the slice of life genre or seinin manga in general. And this anime actually does have character development when it comes to the first main character, Tooru, it isn't a lot but it's enough to separate this series from being just another one of those 4-koma series that there are a lot of nowadays. I highly enjoyed this series and would really consider giving this series a try if you're a fan of lucky star or slice of life!
Radzeer
The slice of life genre became quite popular recently, studios have been adapting more and more titles. It all began with the release of Azumanga Daioh and the genre is blooming ever since. A-channel also belongs to the ever increasing list of slice-of-life anime and the title is originally a 4-koma comic like K-on! or Lucky Star, which also have an adapted anime form. The anime was made by the relatively new Studio Gokumi, which is known for its other title Koe de Oshigoto. The question about the show is: how is A-channel different from the slice-of-life shows listed above? The short answer is: there isno difference. A-channel follows the daily lives of 4 high school girls: Tooru, Run, Nagi and Yuuko. It's your standard high school setting with an almost all-female cast. Still A-channel turned out to be really enjoyable despite its flaws
Story:
Like in all similar anime, episodes can viewed independently from each other. There is no distinctive story that will develop throughout the episodes, there are rather stand-alone episodes which center on a certain event or setting. Since it was adapted from a 4-koma manga, it is a big question whether you can produce a continuous 20-25 minute long episode, or not. I think it did a great job with that. The episodes are nicely written; if some tension is built up during an episode it is usually resolved by the end of the show. A-channel moves with a really slow pace, so you might think it’s boring, if you're not used to the genre. I think the anime managed to put up a nice balance between the comedic and serious moments too.
Art:
The backgrounds are surprisingly well drawn in the anime. In fact there are very few occasions when someone seriously takes care of the backgrounds in a slice-of-life anime. The colors were vivid, they represented the mood of the scenes really good; overall it was a real eye-candy for me. The character designs are simple as they were in the manga, sometimes a little bit too simple for an anime adaptation. Most of the reactions and expressions were displayed through chibi faces, which they did a little too many times during the show. But the designs were appropriate.
Sound:
The background music wasn't anything remarkable, it was rather forgettable. The opening song 'Morning arch' on the other hand was very catchy and goes very well with the mood of the whole show. The songs at the end sung by the actresses were a nice addition and the lyrics also passed to the episode's story and mood, but they didn't make a great impression despite this. The ending song wasn't anything special either. The studio did a good job at selecting the voice actors for the show particularly with Yuuki Aoi, who almost single-handedly carried the whole show on her back. Kotubuki Minako and Fukuhara Minako already had some experience with the genre before and they did a good job with their characters too. The deep-voiced Uchiyama Yumi is a relatively new to the anime world, but her characteristic voice made Nagi unique.
Characters:
While the voice actors did a good job, their characters were just re-hashes from earlier anime. We can easily spot Azumanga Daioh's Yomi in Nagi, Lucky Star's Tsukasa in Run (I think it was intentional that they even share the voice actor), K-on!'s Mio in Yuuko's character (the producers managed to enroll Kotobuki Minako who had a role in K-on! as Mugi-chan, so I think she knew Mio's character pretty well enough, to play her counterpart in A-channel) and Mitsudomoe's Hitoha in Tooru (she can be also considered as a copy of Noel from Sora no Woto, since both characters have the same actress). While the characters are only copies from previous shows, their interactions and the story makes up for them, they really get along well together. Most of the stories somehow center on Tooru and events can be seen mostly from her point of view. We can also have some insights on other characters as well, but the only character, whose personality gets thoroughly analyzed is Tooru.
Summary:
A-channel is typical case, where a show offers the exact same thing we expect from it, nothing more, nothing less. Anime industry seriously needs more anime like this, where you get what you expect and the show manages to live up to the expectations of the viewers. A-channel is not the best slice-of life anime ever made, but is nicely done, and the studio managed to put up a heart-warming show from mediocre source material. It is the anime that you watch after a stressful day, when you finally get to sit down to relax. I can only recommend this show to those who like slower pace slice of life anime.
yaongyaongkitty
After binge watching, and still making only a dent in the sickeningly long One Piece, this was a very short, refreshing thing that I would most certainly watch again. It was sweet, and like a breath of fresh air for me. Story: While there wasn't really much of a plot or conflict anywhere in the story (the biggest thing that comes to mind is when Tooru is feeling stressed about her friends graduating without her near the end), I really enjoyed just smiling at the sweet parts every now and then and the subtle humor that came with each of the characters' individual, unique personalities. Art:The art wasn't really anything magnificent or out of the ordinary, but I was impressed with the character art, specifically. When I first started watching this anime, I immediately noticed how cute Tooru looked. Another thing I noticed about the art was the outstanding detail in the pet shop after Tooru found and decided to keep Tansan. And then I think somewhere in there there was also a line of posters or pictures with portraits of people in them and I was really impressed with how realistic they looked.
Sound: Unfortunately, even if I actively try throughout an anime to pay attention to sound, I just can't focus on it. So sadly, I don't have much to say about it. However, I can say that I loved the voices for each of the characters. They were chosen perfectly, especially Tooru's voice.
Characters: I LOVED the characters in this anime. They were so perfectly developed and their personalities didn't shift over the course of the anime, which I'm always keeping an eye out for. Their personalities were so distinct and unwavering. I just really loved them all and how they interacted with each other.
Enjoyment: I really did enjoy this anime. The only thing I didn't enjoy was how short it was. There were some things I'd change, but that's true of every anime. The characters, story, and overall tone to the entire thing were on-point. I really liked it.
Ibelucas
I'll admit, I wasn't going into this anime with much fervor. I had comparatively little hope, and I had heard almost nothing about this anime. This resulted in a dismal prediction: I thought this would suck. Bad. Though it did live up to my expectations, it had just enough story to sort of come out as merely pleasant. I've watched very few slice-of-life sort of shows, and I may not be one to judge, but I did love the story. 12 episodes, however, isn't quite enough to fully finish a story. I found myself left hanging; this could have so much more potential. The whole "highschool girls" theme seems prevalent enough and this anime is no exception. The ending felt rushed, but most of the time you lazily drift from episode to episode. If you don't like slice-of-life, DONT WATCH THIS. This has no major moral, lesson, or ending note; it melts your brain. Seeing that I have no brain left, I don't care anymore.
Story: 7/10
The art is cheery and friendly, with bright colors everywhere and the environment is full of light and happiness. There are no panoramic vistas, so don't expect anything exceptional or stunning. However, I did enjoy the artwork. The characters were drawn chibi-style, which I always enjoy. The attention to detail may have not been anything special, but it wasn't horrible either.
Art: 7/10
The OP is lively and upbeat, happy and cheerful. I always love the OP and EDs, and this was no exception. The ED was more slow and nostalgic sounding, but still carried a happy melody. What was most interesting, however, were the songs throughout each episode. Besides the OP and ED, a song sung by one of the characters was played somewhere through the episode. This was a pleasant surprise; each song was new and fresh, crisp and cheerful. There were three songs to listen to, and I was very satisfied.
Sound: 8/10.
The characters were nothing special; four high school girls. You got the leader, the slightly oblivious one, etc etc. Similar to both Lucky Star and K-On!; don't expect anything different. There were no especially tear-jerking moments, but the comedy was novel, and something to look out for. Many of the jokes were pretty subtle; other times, they were ridiculous. The characters' interaction were also so-so, just simple high-school life. Nothing stood out, but maybe simplicity made the characters seem more personal. I feel like newer anime tries too hard to endow the characters with unrealistic emotions and experiences; this simplicity was very gratifying.
Characters: 8/10.
Overall, this may not be your slice of cake. You may taste bitterness, maybe outright stupidity. However, I did appreciate this short but sweet anime. Though not overly completely satiating, like a whole piece of pie, this was just a sweet but fleeting taste, like a ripe cherry. Nothing overly dramatic or unique, yet delectable all the same. My final opinion? Try the first episode; if it's not your cup of tea, I'll hit you with a baseball bat.
ktulu007
A-channel is a slice of life manga about a group of girls written by bb Kuroda. I know next to nothing about it except that it's supposed to have a good level of les-yay. Let's take a look at the anime adaptation and see how accurate that is. There's not an over-arching story in A-channel. The basic setup is that a girl named Tooru is starting High School and she's excited because she got into the same school as Run, the girl she loves. You follow Tooru, Run and two other girls, Yuuko and Nagi as they enjoy their school lives. Frankly, I don't care aboutthe lack of a story. This is a comedy so the important aspect is the humour. How does that hold up? Well, it's pretty similar to Azumanga Daioh. The humour is derived mainly from quirky characters interacting and going through everyday situations. The major issue with the humour is that, in the first few episodes, they reuse the same jokes several times close to each other. Fortunately the series does get better about varying the humour pretty quickly so it's not much of an issue. They even have some reoccurring setups that result in different punchlines, all of them funny. Is it as funny as Azumanga Daioh? Not quite, but it comes pretty close.
The characters are pretty familiar. Most of them come close to following common character tropes for slice of life comedies. They do vary somewhat and, to be fair, the variation they do get is arguably enough to set them apart, but it does feel like they started with the trope templates and modified them only slightly. I thought that it was enough for what they were doing, but I can understand why some people might argue that point.
Now we move onto my biggest issue with the series, the art. I don't like the art style. It may even be more accurate to say that I heartily dislike the art style. Like Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight, the characters look like children with overly large heads, no noses (or noses that are so small someone couldn't possibly breathe with them), which begs the question of how Nagi keeps her glasses on. It has very basic sets and backgrounds. I'll be fair to the series, the art doesn't look bad. It's bright, colourful and cheerful, which arguably suits the series. My dislike of it doesn't have anything to do with the quality and is based entirely on preference.
A-Channel has a strong vocal cast. Uchiyama Yumi, Fukuhara Kaori, Yuuki Aoi and Kotobuki Minako (especially) all give wonderful performances. Then there's the music. For some reason there are a lot of insert songs in this, one in almost every episode. They aren't bad songs, even if a lot of them do sound really similar, but they do seem like a lazy way to extend the running time without having to come up with jokes.
The yuri factor is a 6/10. This is mainly a result of Tooru and Run but all of the characters contribute somewhat, especially the supporting characters Yutaka and Miho.
My final rating for A-channel is a solid 7/10. It has a few issues, and I didn't care for the art, but it's still a fun series with endearing characters and plenty of humour. If you like Azumanga Daioh or Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight you'll almost certainly have fun with this one.
Rogersss
So I just finished watching and I gotta say I really loved it, and going by mal scores it’s super underrated and also one of the biggest differences in scores I’ve given since I gave it a 9 and it’s not even at a 7. I don’t expect it to be that highly rated but I would of thought a gem like this would be at like a 7.5 at least It’s not hilarious but it’s funny but also touching and had me smiling more than I was laughing, it’s got a great cast of characters and they play off each other brilliantly, they aren’tall super unique but they’re well done. It also has a nice cast of side characters who really fit the show and make its better experience. Its mostly comedy but slightly and just enough minor drama to make it more interesting and to keep you more invested.
Also every episode feels different, different scenarios different things happening, it keeps the show feeling really fresh throughout, never a boring episode.
It’s a great adaptation too, really nice art style/animation, great voice acting and good music. It also has one of my favourite OPs, it’s so good. Nice direction and really sets it’s own tone well. For me it really does all the things I love in a SOL well.
Honestly it’s up there with my favourite SOL shows, K-on, strawberry marshmallow, saiki K. Like I said it’s not hilarious every episode like say Asobi asobase but it’s funny enough throughout and really sets it’s own tone and knows what it is. it’s not as good as those shows but I really enjoyed it. I’d recommend to anyone who likes slice of life and more specifically CGDCT.
I gave it a 10 more because of my experience rather than than being objective, usually I try and be more fair with my ratings but this is one of the exceptions because I enjoyed it so much, also because it’s one of the only anime to really hook me recently, I can’t watch anime quite like I used too but that didn’t affect me when watching this.
TatsuyaLZ
A-Channel is a very good series in my opinion. It reminded me of one of my favorite series, Acchi Kocchi, for various reasons. As you would expect, it's a regular slice of life comedy high school series whose main cast is mainly made out of girls. So the plot is more or less what you'd expect. However, unlike series like Lucky Star and others, A-Channel's ending is a bit more... rewarding, so to say. Not to say that Lucky Star's wasn't rewarding, it's just that it's ending wasn't as 'heavy' than A-Channel's on an emotional standpoint. The characters have nice personalities, and none of them were annoyingin the least, which some animes sometimes end up making by mistake, though not in the comedy ones as far as I know. But I bring this up because of one of the characters. She has a personality that some people could find rather odd and possibly annoying at first, but it isn't at all on the long run. My favorite character was, without a doubt, the main character. Despite being serious, she has many hilarious moments, which I guess makes it the more funny. Though I did not really understand whether she has a crush on her best friend or just cares for her a lot. I guess it's up for interpretation.
The music was... okay. It didn't particularly captivate me, but I recognize the songs they showcase as good songs nonetheless. I wouldn't really put them on my phone and listen to them, but maybe they're just not to my taste.
The animation and art style were also pretty good overall. Based off a manga series, the art style distinguishes itself from others, though only by a bit, and the animation was pretty good overall. It didn't have super amazing shots, but it was good nonetheless.
Personally, I really enjoyed the characters, the comedy, and the moments of friendship between the group. It's kinda like the other series of its genre, but still unique because the characters, some of its best moments, and the ending. I definetly recommend a watch to those who like hilarity surrounding cute girls and are fans of comedy.
zorapup
I admit it. I watched this due to the rolling success of K-on! (Sorry!). But I probably would not have looked at this series otherwise. This anime was better than I had anticipated. You could say this was more of a guilty pleasure anime considering the other shows that came out this spring. What I enjoyed about it though was the fact that it felt very relaxing to watch. No cliffhangers no heavy drama, just light antics that had me smiling and laughing with the occasional "aww". Story - 7 The beginning two-thirds of the series seemed to be more random and fun with interactions with differentcharacters mainly to show the personalities of the main 4 themselves. The last third seemed to focus a bit more on the friendship particularly with Tooru. Overall it was funny and interesting but not all that compelling. I could have just stopped anywhere in this anime and picked it up later and not miss anything. But I think the main focus of this anime was clear from the start that it was simply to entertain their audience and I felt the series accomplished that.
Art - 8
I was actually surprised at how detailed most of the backgrounds and objects of attention were drawn. Even simple things like a piece of candy, a can of soda, or a sign above a door were nicely animated. Unfortunately I didn't really take note of it until I skimmed through the series again. Initially, everything looked and felt the same. Only the first episode had bits of animation that were different from the remainder of the series. Aside from that, the animation wasn’t extraordinary but I suppose it did well to emphasize the everyday atmosphere of the series and bring focus to the characters.
The art of the characters themselves were cute. I found Run's expressions to be uniquely different from the others but otherwise everyone else had fairly common faces and reactions. What bothered me in the beginning was how young the female teachers looked but it’s to be expected for a moe anime. Eventually I got used to the character design.
Sound - 7
The OP was very catchy. It captures the mood of the series very well. The ED is appropriate but not something I found myself listening on repeat. There were also random insert songs in almost all the episodes which did add to emphasize an emotion or experience a character may have been having but I felt they were a little irrelevant and served as animation filler. Granted I did enjoy listening to some of them particularly in the karaoke episode. Presumably all 4 seiyuus can sing, but an insert song in every episode felt a little unnecessary.
Character - 8
I had to give this an 8 because the secondary characters really made it worthwhile to watch. Yes the main characters were likable but honestly, the teachers and Tooru's classmates made this more enjoyable. Especially Sato-sensei whose character I questioned in the beginning but later came to appreciate. The only thing I had hoped for was more involvement from the male students. Their presence played a small part in revealing personalities but did little to add to the series.
Of the 4 main characters Nagi was my favorite next to Run. Her character had a lot of potential with" hidden talent/beauty" but the focus was placed more on the other three. Plus her seiyuu Yumi Uchiyama seems new and does not have a following like the others. I thought she did a good job (Kudos to her in ep 7) despite being relatively unknown. The remaining three characters have fairly distinct personalities that are easily identifiable through watching.
Enjoyment - 7
This was fun to watch although I did stop watching at some later point of the series since other shows were more interesting at the time. I forced myself to finish the series but the last episode I felt was more or less satisfying. By the end of each episode, I found myself in a good mood. It was like an appetizer before watching other anime, or a nice dessert. (If the image fits).
Overall - 7
It's a fairly good series. I felt the side characters were great and occasionally the main cast was fun to watch. Some tunes were catchy although a little excessive. The show presents mostly light-hearted comedy that focuses on friendship and the characters' everyday happenings in a high school setting. I’d recommend this if you’re looking for a cute, easygoing series to put a smile on your face. :)
tomislol
At the moment i am looking around for a lot of random "Cute Girls doing Cute Things" kinds of animes. In the last week i saw a few other shows. Shows like Hyakko, Ichigo Mashimaro and Kanamemo. Those were some decent shows with cute girls doing cute things but nothing really all that special. Those three shows all had something about them that i didn't like or at one point i just got really bored and i had kind of drag myself to finish it. It isn't as bad as i make it seem i am just exaggerating. Later i was looking through more showsand i stumbled upon A-Channel, with a 7.16 average score i was a little bit skeptical. I always try my best to watch things that are 8 or higher. But the art looked really nice so i thought i would give a shot.
Man am i pretty glad i decided to pick this up.
Story: 8
The story of this anime is just 4 cute girls doing cute things. The main thing i was looking for. Other than that there is no story and i am completely okay with that.
Art: 9.5
One of the things that i absolutely LOVEEEE LOVVEEE LOVEEEEEEEE about this anime is the art style. Many would say it's just some simple arts and colors and moe blob Sh*t. My response? JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT. The art makes me feel so calm, it doesnt look all messed up sometimes like with J.C Staff, like their eyes get all screwy or in one scene the character is wearing shoes and the next scene the character is wearing a pair of different shoes. Everything is so simple and clean and it's really really nice. Love the art. It's not KyoAni but it's still amazing. It's the simple things in life.
Sound: 8
I really like the opening of this anime. It's so different from other animes. There is this one youtube video named "Every anime opening ever" or something along the lines of that that shows what pretty much every single anime opening has in common. Sky shots of birds flying, main characters running, zooming in into a characters eyes, weird shots of the characters naked and looks like their floating, stuff like that. There is none of that. O wait i am supposed to be talking about the sound.
There isnt really too much music that stands out in this anime but every thing just fits really well.
Oh i should also mention that every single episode has it's own Insert song. I think that is pretty damn cool.
Character: 8.5 ish
I like the characters. They are somewhat cliche'd but i still like em.
Momoki Run: This chick reminds me of the Hirasawa Yui characters. The dumb but funny and cute as F**K. She always has this thing where her eyes turn white with a shady-ish black pencil like outlining. I find that to be incredibly kawaii as F**K. Yui does it sometimes in K-On also. And the way she thinks is just funny.
Ichii Tooru: The quiet yet moe loli chick of the bunch. There's usually always a loli in every Cute girls doing cute things show. She doesn't speak much and her voice is rather low but she gets her message across and she is Loli-Tastic.
Tennoujou Nagisa: The supposedly normal one of the group. All her Diet crusades are hilarious as hell. She's someone that wants to lose some weight but is the weakest in terms of athletics among the group and is always so easy to eat a lot of sweets. eating two boxes of chocolates while reading a book. WoW!
Nishi Yuuko: This is the cliche'd Scardy cat of the group. She also speaks in Kansai-ben. All of her adventures of being scared are really funny to watch. And always seeing Tooru attack her with crushing hugs near the beginning of the show was real great.
Other peeps:
Kamate Taki: this teacher is one of the coolest teachers ever. She just doesn't give a flying F**K about anything. So chill.
Satou Sachiyou: This guy is creepy, he has a forehead fetish and he's voiced by Ono Daisuke , who does ALOT of really awkward roles.
Run's mom: She had a funny scene of bribing her daughter to try harder in school lol.
Imai Yukata: She is a creepy Tooru obsessed character but it's funny to watch all of her weird antics.
Enjoyment and Overall: 8.357238RANDOM23087235
This show was really good. It reminded me of K-On in many ways. I am just gonna assume all these bad reviews were because people are comparing this to big successors like K-On or Azumanga. People really should review things based on the anime themselves not comparing it to all these big names. I think A-Channel in itself is a really fun and great anime to watch. I definitely recommend this to anyone who is into Cute girls doing cute things.
~Til next time
Tomislol
KidKonseptual
I’m a little angry with how A-Channel ended. I thought the series had its ups and downs, which is fine, but why did it wait to the very last episode to be at its absolute finest? I’ll have some thoughts about the finale, mixing in my overall thoughts and observations about the series. That being said, the show didn’t always try to emphasize the slice of life part of the show. Specifically earlier in the season, when the fan service took just as much priority as any character or plot development. It was almost as if they didn’t want to alienate the slice of life fan,while they also tried to appeal to the fan who wanted to see loli-style girls in school swimsuits and bloomers.
Overall, I’ll be sticking with my initial impressions of the show and call it mostly ok. It was sometimes good, but never great, but most important for me, it was always easy to watch.
The show looked good, but the color palette and backgrounds always seemed to overwhelm the simple and at times limiting character designs. I mean, how many ways could they animate Run being confused? Not too many, and throughout the entire series she spends about half the time with that same blank eyed (stupefied) look on her face.
I would say the same about the voice acting. The main foursome were always ok. I don’t think I ever noticed anything horrid, but at the same time, I can’t remember ever marveling at their performances. In contrast the supporting cast, Kamade and Kitou sensei along with Yutaka were a lot more colorful.
The music. If you’ve read any of the previous A-Channel reviews, you know how I felt about the creepy inserted songs throughout the series. The lyrics have always creeped me out. It was as if they were written by a fat 52-year-old otaku describing how high school girls should feel. Creepy! In particular the song while they were cleaning the pool in episode 4. I really imagined the otaku-writer, writing that song while peeping through some middle school fence somewhere in Japan. I still haven’t gotten over it. The authorities should put that guy on the must-watch list.
I have always enjoyed the opening song along with the whole opening sequence, but the marketing push of the singer and song title in the OP left me keeping my hand on my wallet. The jokes on them though because there’s no money in there.
Ultimately, I’ve enjoyed watching A-Channel, but in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind way, the show will probably fade from my memories. Especially with the new season starting as it always does. This includes the characters themselves, who were done pretty well in the show’s environment, especially my Yuuko-angel, but honestly, they aren’t very memorable.
I’ll repeat what I said in the opening line of this post. This finale made me a little mad as it, by itself, lived up to the show’s potential. It’s just too bad it wasn’t completely representative of series as a whole.
[Thoughts about final episode removed due to spoilerish tendencies: go to http://moemonster.com/2011/06/24/a-channel-episode-12-finale/ for full unedited review]
