When I was in my teens I watched a lot of anime… Like a lot. I was 100% a full-blood Weebe. I used to check anime news websites daily and was “in the know” on all current anime. As I got older I leaned more towards reading. I read a lot of American Comics and Manga. I always read manga, but over the years I've just slowed down on watching anime.
The irony being when I was watching anime it was harder to find and now (2021) it’s so easy to find. Every streaming service from Netflix to Hulu has figured out anime will get them views. This isn’t even including CrunchyRoll or Funimation’s streaming services which are exclusively anime. Two of my coworkers are fellow weebs and are always recommending me series to watch. I always just figured I’d read the manga if I wanted to check out a series. I love how impressive my 72 volumes of Naruto look on the bookshelf. I just don’t get the same feeling of accomplishment from streaming 300 hundred episodes. Besides, it’s the smell of the tankobons, the ability to flip through to lend to others.
I need to chill out. I didn't sit down to write my love of print over digital. I came here to talk about The God of High School. This series has been on my radar for a long time as it originated as a Webtoon. Side note: for all the “anime purest” who are going to murder me for calling this an anime even though it’s based on a Manwah/Webtoon get bent.
As of right now, I’ve watched the first season (13 episodes) and really loved it. Right from the get-go, it starts off with high action and a tournament arc (a staple of anime/manga). The main premise to start the series is a martial arts-style tournament to determine The God of High School. We have our typical shonen lead Mori Jin who seemingly isn’t super-intelligent, but is a fantastic fighter with a heart of gold.
Mori is a good person who would do anything for his friends and ends up making friends as the tournament goes on. I won’t spoil anything, but each episode will have you going “What the hell just happened?!?!?” in a good way. The B plot slowly reveals things while the A plot features some fantastic fights. After each episode, you are usually left with more questions than answers, but they pull it off greatly. They give just enough payoff on the plot to make you know they aren’t going to leave you in the dark forever but instead are going to add more layers to what’s happening.
On the flip side, every single fight is exciting and different. At no point does it ever feel stale or predictable. They throw in some really great monkey wrenches to keep you guessing. One last thing they did I enjoyed was having a competent female lead who isn’t just around to be a supporting character. She can fight and has her own storylines. She doesn’t feel like she was just thrown in to be saved. I’m very excited to check out season two when it is released.
Stupid random thing they make both Webtoon and Crunchy Roll a sponsor of the tournament so you see ads in the background a lot. Meta.