Baka & Test—Summon the Beasts: The Complete First Season

At Fumizuki Academy, students who score highest on the entrance exams get the nicest and best-equipped classrooms; but classes can challenge each other to better their lots—using virtual avatars. Kindly loser Yoshii, stuck in the lowly Class F along with a bunch of other misfits, leads the charge against top-flight Class A, both to help out Himeji, who would be in Class A had she not been sick at the time of the test, and to demand more egalitarian treatment at the school. Based on a young adult novel series that led to a manga, Baka & Test is a stripped-down anime that knows exactly what it wants and aims no higher, combining elements of other successful comedies together with shallow but pleasant characters, running gags, and a relentless barrage of bawdy humor. B&T will inevitably draw comparisons to over-the-top productions such as Excel Saga and Pani Poni Dash!, but it lacks similar nuance and character development, relying instead on competent animation and a sure feel for delivering laughs to a certain audience segment. Compiling all 13 episodes of the 2010 first season in a dual-language DVD/Blu-ray combo set, rated TV-14, extras include related short anime pieces. Viewers outside the target demographic may find this extremely irritating, but for its intended audience, this is recommended. (L. Martincik)