Or at least that's what Natsuki meant when she told fellow classmate, Karin, that her intention was to join said club. She definitely was not expecting Karin to drag her to a club room titled 'The Going Home Club' and finding three seniors inside! The Going Home Club was set up by Sakura for having fun and hanging out and before Natsuki has a chance to refuse she finds herself caught up in the madness of the going 'The Going Home Club'.
It is complete comedy gold!! Each episode is built up of shorter 'records' which makes it almost feel like a four-panel. There's lot's of pop culture references as well, and a lot more which I didn't get. I especially liked the indirect references to generic anime and teasing other anime for how they gain popularity. It doesn't take itself too seriously, in fact it's often making fun of itself, and fourth wall? What fourth wall? The Going Home Club has no need for that and they're not ashamed to let you know it! There's a complete disregard for any thing that's assumed in anime and the amount of discussions the characters had about how they want the anime to progress (i.e. should it become a fighter anime or a fanservice anime) are absolutely splendid! It's like the writers were simultaneously being clever and lazy, which is such a brilliant combination! There's also a lot what I like to call anime exclusive comedy. The stuff that only works because it's an anime, such as pretending they've ran out money and animating everything as sketches or using the backdrop.The anime encompasses all manner of comedy, whether it be the pop references, ridiculous over-exaggeration, slapstick or straight forward jokes. There's literally something for every one in here! Probably the best written comedy anime I've ever watched!
I could tell you about how my I enjoyed various jokes all day but I think they'd be much more enjoyable if you just watch it! Instead, I shall now give my analysis on the characters, starting with Natsuki. Natsuki is our straight man character and is completely necessary to keep the anime grounded. She's also responsible for pointing out all the funny and ridiculous things. Like a fish out of water, Natsuki represents what many of us would be like in the situation!
Then there's Natsuki's classmate, Karin, who is loved for her feminine appeal. She's incredibly ditzy and 100% adorable. But she has some of the best one-liners! Her complete innocence and stupidity lead her to say some utterly random things! For example, when the others were discussing novels they've read in class Karin mentions the tale about a boy who bought some apples: "Oh, that was a maths question!". If you don't laugh at things like that, said with complete purity and charm, then I don't know how you enjoy anything!!
Moving onto the seniors, next would be Sakura, my personal favorite. President of the Going Home Club and complete eccentric. Her 'act first, think later' attitude is cause for a lot of the ridiculous situations and also makes her a very fun person. She gets carried away easily and drags the rest of the Going Home Club with her! Once, the other members started playing a video game with out her so she played dead and made a 'creepy' video as revenge. It achieved nothing, but it was humorous to watch!
Botan is one of Sakura's classmate's. Her ridiculous strength is responsible for most of the slapstick and her anime mind set makes a lot of references! Also, she has this way of saying really absurd things in a totally casual manner so you almost think she didn't just say she thought a polar bear with ease. The final member of the Going Home Club is Claire who is probably my least favorite because I feel she adds the least to the anime. Her comedic value is purely to do with how filthy rich she is. Claire moved to Sakura's high school to try live a regular child hood, but she has absolutely no understanding of money, which is funny, but only to an extent. But you can see how the variety in comedy is thanks to the range of characters!
I think my favorite thing about this anime, however, is it's use of a soundtrack. The music is not usually something I pay much attention to in comedy anime, but Chronicles of the Going Home Club use the music to enhance the humor. The dramatic music that almost tricks you into thinking it's an emotional scene or the creepy music which is only used for funny scenes: it's all absolutely brilliant. Sometimes the music is suddenly cut to fit the timing of a joke but it never sounds awkward. Then there's manipulation of the main theme which is much more clever than any other comedy anime and the use of sound effects which are used just so. However, the best example of using the music for comedy would be when they start episode five with Schubert's Demon King. Why? 'The composer died more than 50 years ago. Which means, we can use it in our show with out paying any royalties!'
So, incase you hadn't guessed: I kind of like this show! Ok, so the animation isn't stunning, but they're use of animation more than makes up for it!! And the fact remains that the comedy in this anime is above any of the many comedies I've seen-anime or otherwise! I think it's the juxtapostion of how realistic Natsuki is compared to everything (and every one else) that really sells it. Her attitude which is almost sarcastic but mostly just honest that concludes most of the skits is the best! It's a shame it's only 12 episode long really!
Pie:
Many grammatical errors...
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